Friday, April 25, 2014
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Reptile magic
ok, i apologize for my lack of technical magic in my last post, in that the video link failed to direct you to the dancing domestic diva. oh well. maybe that's a good thing.
so instead, i shall share you with my real magic: reptile magic. Seems to be the popular thing these days: I step out the back door on a sunny day, and there, basking leisurely in the spring sunshine that warms that south-facing porch, is some kind of reptile. A couple weeks ago it was a baby copperhead, today it was one of those funny black-ish blue lizard creatures...what are they called, a salamander, or a splink, a sphynx, ooh-ooh, i got it, thanks, wikipedia, it's a blue-tailed skink! (one of the 11 types of lizards in NC!)
Anyhow, what's cool is, usually these guys go skittering away so fast i can barely get a good look at them, but this little guy, he was just a-chillin on the warm cement, so lethargic that i thought he might be injured. I took several pictures from a few feet away, but when he still didn't run away, i knelt down and got closer, and closer, till the little sweetie let me pet his head and back! I watched his legs when he crawled a bit, worried he might be hurt, but no, I think he was just so relaxed from the warm sun on his cold-blooded little body that he didn't even feel like skittering away. Or..he just had a big lunch and is ready for siesta time. Or...I just have a sort of reptile magic. hmmm...what should i name him?? how about skinky.
goodnight, skinky! hope i see you again tomorrow!!
kitchen dance
The original intent of this blog was to post something about my everyday life, every day. Thus the name jennerosity everyday. But alas, time goes by and the good intentions fail. But if I were to try resuming this challenge of throwing something up here every day, just for practice and for future reference back to the not-so-private boring details of my everyday life, here is what I would probably end up sharing: In-between my daily writing blurbs or silly random photos of me and my cats, I would throw in a few ridiculous videos of what I do best, and the most of in my kitchen: dancing and singing to music. No it's not the most efficient way to get the food cooked, the dishes washed, the floor (occasionally) swept, but it's sure a heckuva lot more fun!!
So without further ado, here's the domestic diva dancer, whirling away to the song Breathe by Anna Nalick. In a mellow mood today. Next time, I'll break out the Guns n Roses while I put away the steak knives!!!!
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/FTSL2GLPGTw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
there. one day of everyday foolishness down. let's see if i can go for a whole month. oh boy.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
climbing rocks & trees in PR
So I'm going through all these pictures of our awesome vacation in Puerto Rico, and putting them in unique categories. This one is entitled climbing rocks & trees in PR, because, well, that's what makes this place so fun. I can't just go to a beach and lie on the sand. ugh. I get bored. restless. I gotta either surf/boogie board, snorkel, swim, or climb stuff. And we found lots of good stuff to climb. Puerto Rican beaches are often quite rocky, we've found, and full of trees (and lizards!) as well. It's just like being a kid again..you see all these big rocks and sideways-leaning palm trees, and you just gotta climb them!!! Here we go!
up & down for mofongo & flan
Tonight I had a hankerin' for some real Puerto Rican cuisine. Love their beans and rice, seafood, their bbq chicken, deep-fried everything, and tonight I wanted to try something I haven't had before: mofongo. It's mashed plantain served with some kind of meaty soup. oh and I also just HAD to have some flan, that delicious caramel-y dessert pudding, so light and fluffy on top with that sweet coffee-like syrup on the bottom....ahhh, heaven.
ok, so where to go for such heavenly entrees? Google for typical Puerto Rican food in Rincon, PR. Found a few, chose one in an easy enough location. Still a long drive down the mountain and back up again with the take-out fare, but would be worth it. Checked the website, translated the menu, googled directions, checked maps and phone GPS, as it was on a street without a name. ("where the streets have no name...uhhhh-huhhh.." thanks, U2) Hop into the car, stomach growling, here I go!
Here are a few short clips of the road down our mountain, just to give you an idea of what the perilous but beautiful drive is like: (ignore the random narration, these are random clips from previous trips)
I get there around 6 pm and the place is empty except for a woman sitting at the bar and a couple cooks in the back room. I ask if she speaks English, she says a little, but I think the important word there is "little". So we collaborate our 2 languages and I manage to communicate that I'd like my order to go, "para llevar". My order:
Surtido pequena (an appetizer sampler of all kinds of deep-fried, heart-attack-producing yummlies...)
Arroz con Camarones (rice and shrimp)
Mofongo Relleno con Pescado (traditional dish of mashed plantains with a fish soup over it)
Flan. (that wonderful, sweet, caramel-y dessert pudding)
She puts in my order, and I wait. Enjoying the scenery of this open-air restaurant....
Finally...my order is ready and bagged up, still hot and ready to take back up the mountain. I try not to look at the price as I sign the visa slip, and I"m off. I should've checked to see if everything is there, but I"m too excited to get these goodies home!
It's starting to get dark now. Getting used to driving this route. One nice thing about Puerto Ricans, they drive really crazy, just cutting in front of you constantly, but the thing is, if you're stuck trying to make a left hand turn into traffic, they actually expect you to cut them off, too, so they slow down, and will often motion for you to go, even if it backs up the long line of traffic behind them. nice. wish they'd do that in my home town.
Back to the house, same neighbors sitting outside on their porches, playing their music, same dogs barking at me, home sweet home.
yum yum!! The kids are especially enjoying the fried stuff, the chicken wings, deep-fried mozzarella sticks, bread thingys, pork thingys, and I am love-love-LOVING how they put so much heavenly cilantro in all the rice and beans here!!!! Much tastier than the Dominican variety, though that was good too. But then I realize, quite sadly, that there is NO. FLAN!!! That wonderful dessert I've been dying to try since planning this trip. I can't tell if the price on the receipt includes the flan or not, but I grab the receipt and get back in the car, after inhaling my portion of the goodies, of course.
This is ridiculous, I'm thinking, driving all the way back down this crazy mountain on these twisting roads that take me on the edges of cliffs, sometimes while passing a huge truck or bus on the narrow road...eek! All for the sake of a dish of flan. But I've got the windows wide open, romantic salsa music bouncing out of the radio, loving every minute of this solo adventure in Puerto Rico.
Return to the restaurant, my waitress friend is seated at the bar, devouring her own little dish of mofongo. I explain my predicament, she says she forgot the flan, but that I also did not pay for it, so the guy gets me my small portion, packaged up, I pay and go. adios!
Back up those crazy winding mountain roads. I wish I had a photo of this cherished treat that I worked so hard to get my hands on, but alas, as soon as I got home with it, I lost all control and it was gone before I had a chance to snap its picture.
ok, so where to go for such heavenly entrees? Google for typical Puerto Rican food in Rincon, PR. Found a few, chose one in an easy enough location. Still a long drive down the mountain and back up again with the take-out fare, but would be worth it. Checked the website, translated the menu, googled directions, checked maps and phone GPS, as it was on a street without a name. ("where the streets have no name...uhhhh-huhhh.." thanks, U2) Hop into the car, stomach growling, here I go!
Surtido pequena (an appetizer sampler of all kinds of deep-fried, heart-attack-producing yummlies...)
Arroz con Camarones (rice and shrimp)
Mofongo Relleno con Pescado (traditional dish of mashed plantains with a fish soup over it)
Flan. (that wonderful, sweet, caramel-y dessert pudding)
She puts in my order, and I wait. Enjoying the scenery of this open-air restaurant....
It's starting to get dark now. Getting used to driving this route. One nice thing about Puerto Ricans, they drive really crazy, just cutting in front of you constantly, but the thing is, if you're stuck trying to make a left hand turn into traffic, they actually expect you to cut them off, too, so they slow down, and will often motion for you to go, even if it backs up the long line of traffic behind them. nice. wish they'd do that in my home town.
Back to the house, same neighbors sitting outside on their porches, playing their music, same dogs barking at me, home sweet home.
yum yum!! The kids are especially enjoying the fried stuff, the chicken wings, deep-fried mozzarella sticks, bread thingys, pork thingys, and I am love-love-LOVING how they put so much heavenly cilantro in all the rice and beans here!!!! Much tastier than the Dominican variety, though that was good too. But then I realize, quite sadly, that there is NO. FLAN!!! That wonderful dessert I've been dying to try since planning this trip. I can't tell if the price on the receipt includes the flan or not, but I grab the receipt and get back in the car, after inhaling my portion of the goodies, of course.
This is ridiculous, I'm thinking, driving all the way back down this crazy mountain on these twisting roads that take me on the edges of cliffs, sometimes while passing a huge truck or bus on the narrow road...eek! All for the sake of a dish of flan. But I've got the windows wide open, romantic salsa music bouncing out of the radio, loving every minute of this solo adventure in Puerto Rico.
Return to the restaurant, my waitress friend is seated at the bar, devouring her own little dish of mofongo. I explain my predicament, she says she forgot the flan, but that I also did not pay for it, so the guy gets me my small portion, packaged up, I pay and go. adios!
Back up those crazy winding mountain roads. I wish I had a photo of this cherished treat that I worked so hard to get my hands on, but alas, as soon as I got home with it, I lost all control and it was gone before I had a chance to snap its picture.
So here, below, is a non-authentic, Googled photo of a piece of flan.
mmmmmmm, so good. and worth every mile.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Sounds of Puerto Rico
Hola! Aqui esta un video... oh..hable ingles? lo siento. me gusta mucho hablando en espanol, pero....ok. ingles.
hi, here's another sampling of the wonderful sounds of Puerto Rico, taken from our back terrace early in the morning, as well as at night. Coqui frogs & roosters. Enjoy.;-)
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