Punta Culebra

I had a great Sunday that started with Dim Sum and ended with a 15k run in Clayton.  In between we went to the Smithsonian's marine exhibit at Punta Culebra.  We hadn't been in a while and I was happy to see that they've made some improvements.  It's looking really good.  The exhibit is small and ideal for little kids.  There is a tank with sea turtles and nurse sharks, there are a couple of touch pools with star fish and sea cucumbers which are always fun and there is an indoor aquarium exhibit.  The kids' term break is next week and we are planning to do some snorkeling.  This was a good way to get them primed.

5 observations and quinoa pudding

gratuitous lapin lovelies

5 observations:

1. I am on the verge of supreme nerdiness.  I finished Dances with Dragons on Monday and I'm suffering a little.  I've even been lurking on A Song of Ice and Fire discussion boards.  My enthusiasm for the series has definitely cooled but I would be lying if I said I wasn't anxious for the next book.
2. Panamanian drivers have no respect or compassion for people running on the street.  I'm not really surprised by this when I'm running in my neighbourhood, but I expect a little more from people durring a race.  Seriously dude, where do you have to be at 7:00 AM on a Sunday that you can't slow down and let runners go by?
3. Renovations are torture even before they've begun.  We will be starting some work on our house in October, and getting quotes and answers from contractors has been an ordeal.  I know it will only get worse once we actually get started.
4. Short stories should get way more love.  I was blown away this week while rereading some Raymond Carver and Alice Munro.  There is nothing like dipping into a favourite collection of short stories--novel shmovel.
5. "Lay of the Last Survivor" is my favourite song (right now) on Okkervil River's latest.  I am a big fan of Will Sheff's writing.   I enjoy his lyrics like poetry, rolling the words around in my head...  And old, piled fathers/ Soft-sighing daughters...

We are heading into the thick of the rainy season.  It's perfect pudding weather.
Quinoa Pudding
3/4 cup rinsed quinoa
3 cups whole milk
1/4 turbinado sugar
1 egg
1 small stick cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon butter


In a medium saucepan, bring quinoa, 2 cups milk, cinnamon and lemon peel to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, unti tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, and remaining cup of milk. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stirring constantly, slowly pour egg mixture into quinoa; add raisins.

Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 3 to 5 minutes (be careful because it can curdle at this stage if you leave it too long). Stir in vanilla and butter.   Pour pudding into a glass dish and let cool slightly. Cover surface directly with plastic and refrigerate until cold.

mental health day

every day is a mental health day for her

On Monday my daughter called from school with a stomach ache.  These stomach aches are becoming a bit of a thing with her, and are usually the result of some stern words from one of her teachers.  Sometimes I talk her into going back to class and sometimes I let her come home.  On Monday I let her come home (she was particularly pathetic).  We talked about how she needed to face her problems and accept her mistakes.  I believe that, and I hope she gets better at dealing with problems.  But I also think, everybody needs a mental health day once and a while.  She read some books and did her homework, we went to the supermarket.  It was nothing special or particularly indulgent, but it seemed to be just what she needed.

15 km

I didn't feel anxious about this race, in fact I slept in.  Within minutes of pulling on my race clothes I was out the door.  I drank a protein smoothie in the car while I fastened the chip to my shoe (I didn't get to have a coffee--totally my own fault).  It's not really the way I like to do things, but it did mean I didn't have time to get stressed out.  I ran from the car to the starting line-up.

The morning was beautiful.  In my rush I had forgotten my hat but realized in time to get my husband to bring it to the halfway point (it was great to see them there).  I felt good.  One of my hips has been bothering me, but it's more like tightness than pain and it seems to warm up just fine.  I drank water at every water stop and I thought a lot about breathing and smiling and looking around.  I felt strangely calm.
My mantra was, "there's still a long way to go."  Which was good because I did not kill myself but I was disappointed with my time (1:41).  I came in with energy left over, that's it? I thought as I saw the finish line ahead. I needed to push harder in the second half--I had it in me to do better.  This is something I need to figure out.  I fear over doing it, but now it seems like I'm under doing it.  In a month I'll run a half marathon, my goal is a time of 2:15 (I would be happy with 2:20)--I'm going to have to step it up a bit to do that.

5 observations and roasted sweet potato wedges

an embarrassment of papayas

1. There's such a thing as too much papaya.  We have more papayas than we can eat.  We've been giving it away, and there are still more to come.  My kids are sick of it (me too if truth be told).  I was thinking of this dish made in Costa Rica with green papaya and ground beef... but I really only half liked it and I know my kids wouldn't eat it.  I suspect we'll end up giving away most of the remaining papayas and then there will be none and I will miss them.
2. I saw a beautiful young woman with a plastic bag on her head.  She was waiting to cross the street.  She was protecting her hair from the humidity and drizzly rain.  I admired her defiant beauty; I could never pull off that particular look.
3. The metro seems like it's really going to happen.  Via España is a mess.  I noticed a lot of standing water when I was there yesterday and I hope they fix the drainage problems while they have the whole street tore up.  I am cautiously optimistic about the metro; It's definitely needed.  I just hope all the contractors and engineers are competent (and not too corrupt) and that the work gets finished.  Oh, and I hope people leave their cars at home and use it.
4. I feel a little wary of one of my daughter's friends.  This girl calls on Monday to plan what they will do on Friday--like she needs to lock her in before anyone else can make plans.  It's her pushiness that bothers me, but I can't pick my daughter's friends and my daughter adores this child.  Maybe I'm just jealous because lately my baby always has somewhere more fun to be.
5.  This is a great song that will definitely be on my playlist on Sunday when I run my 15k race.  This is not the official video for the song but a video of some women long-boarding in Spain that uses the song.  The song is "Rox in the Box" by The Decemberists. 

I don't think that roasted sweet potato wedges should just be served beside veggie burgers in funky vegetarian restaurants, I think they should replace all fries everywhere.  My kids would certainly disagree, but I'm hoping to one day bring them around.  Sweet potato is as certain in my week as good dark chocolate and a glass of wine.   I love it and I especially love it like this:

Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges with Tahini Dipping/Glopping Sauce
4 large sweet potatoes (called camote here in Panama)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt or to taste

3/4 cup tahini
juice of one lemon
1 clove of garlic (finely minced or pressed)
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°.
Cut the sweet potato into wedges.  Toss the wedges with the salt and olive oil.  Spread the sweet potato out on a baking sheet.  Roast for 25-30 minutes depending on how thick your wedges are.  
While the sweet potato is roasting, make the sauce.  Combine the tahini, garlic and olive oil.  The mixture will probably be quite stiff  so add water to give it a lighter texture.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

blooming in the backyard

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Caesalpinia pulcherrima

There are beautiful things blooming in my backyard.  We spent the weekend at  home and enjoyed them.  We barbecued on Friday night.  The kids had friends over on Saturday and the detritus of their play is still in evidence all over the house.  It was alternately rainy and sunny and perfect for napping and reading.  I feel it is my duty to get my family out of the house and go for a walk or a bike ride, but this weekend I didn't insist.

ylang-ylang

We even went to the mall on Sunday.  I avoid the mall on the weekend; actually I feel that going to the mall on Sunday is a kind of surrender to the superficial tendencies of urban Panamanians (people here really love the mall).  But we did get some errands done and some some lovely ice cream was eaten.  It wasn't completely evil.

Also I ran a 10k race on Sunday morning.  This wasn't planned, I signed up on Saturday afternoon.  Thinking of it as a training run, I tried for 75% effort and ended up finishing with the same time I had three weeks ago when I raced.  I had to go to the bathroom the entire race.  I would tell myself that I would duck into the next gas station or restaurant and then I'd keep going.  This is pretty dumb I know, but it was easier to keep going, stay in my groove, than stopping.  It wasn't horrible, just uncomfortable.    I will be racing 15k this coming Sunday.  I'm feeling optimistic and ready and I'll definitely be making one last visit to the toilet before the race starts.

5 observations and a sweet spicy coconut cashew snack

to the outhouse

5 things I noticed this week:

1. Sometimes a cute shack at the end of a dock is not a place to tie boats up.  You will feel silly if you are taking pictures when locals push past on their way to the privy (they will look amused).
2. I haven't felt as physically weary as I felt this week since my tree-planting days (the good old days when you would fall asleep easily on the cold, hard ground with body throbbing and dream about planting more trees).  I had a high mileage week in my training this week and I'm bone tired.  It's a good tired though (not like a mental tired), and over all I'm feeling great.  Next Sunday I will be running a 15K race and I'm ready. 
3. I'm goofy, baby-talk, crazy, about the bunnies.  It took over a year for my daughter to convince me to get rabbits and now I'm probably the one most smitten.  They are not affectionate but trusting.  There is something so sweet about a vulnerable little animal looking at you with trust...  it melts me every time.
4. I love teaching English to beginners.  It requires more energy than an intermediate class, but it so rewarding.  I love the physicalness of it.  Things need to be acted out and choral repetition is important; every class is like a performance with lots of audience participation...  so satisfying.
5. This is a very pretty song from a very pretty album:

And now for this Friday's recipe.  One definite advantage of living in Panama is how cheap and abundant things like cashews and fresh coconut are.  I love fresh coconut and would miss it terribly if I moved back to Canada.  Use raw almonds if you can't get fresh coconut.

Sweet and Spicy Cashew Coconut Snack
1 1/2 cups of raw cashews
1 cup of fresh coconut chopped into bit-sized chunks
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
3/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350.
Spread the nuts and seeds on a lined baking sheet and lightly roast them for 5-10 minutes.  They should be just starting to smell good.  Don't turn the oven off.

In a bowl large enough to hold the nuts and seeds, mix the remaining ingredients.  Add the hot nuts and mix until well coated.

Put the nuts back onto the lined baking sheet and return to the oven.

Roast for 5-10 minutes.  Stir them mid-way and make sure they don't burn.

Enjoy!