Elementary School...

Some, adorable, some just... scary...

Second Grade

Third Grade

Fourth Grade

Fifth Grade

Sixth Grade
(when cute ran out!)

hurray for braces and hairspray!

More to come...

Tomate de Arbol Sorbet!

Found a place that sells frozen Tomate de Arbol (or tomatillo), and figured, might as well make some ice cream!

Cut your tomates de arbol in half

Squeeze the pulp out of the peel into a food processor

Blend well

Using a sieve separate the seeds

Whisk in syrup made by:

• Mixing in a saucepan 5oz (150g) sugar and 1/2 pint (250ml) water
• Gently heating the mixture making sure you stir it continuously until the sugar has fully dissolved.
• Bringing mixture to a boil then boil it for 5 minutes or so until you have a syrup.
• Let syrup cool down
  

Fold in a beaten egg white

Chill mixture (I put it in the freezer for 20 minutes) then follow your ice cream machine instructions

A few minutes later... Voila!

Mmmmhh!

Nomnoms!

Ecuador!! Part 6

Last day in Quito was spent running errands and doing some last minute shopping.

Kerry in front of the Basílica

Then off to Chantilly, to the pastries of my youth!
Churos...

Milhojas...

And Borrachas! I dream of these because I haven't ever seen them anywhere else.
Boozy and delicious, they were just as good as I remember them...

nomnomnom....

Stopped to say hi to the owner, an old friend of my mom's

Oh, and I noticed that they have a bike path now!

Lunch at Plaza Foch

That is, an executive lunch:
Locro de chochos, beef gordon bleu, cheesy risotto, and Maracuyá mousse.
All for 5.95!

I mean seriously, how much more Quiteña can this picture be?
Locro, half a pack of Marlboro lights and a Pilsener.

I miss eating like this for so cheap...

Oh yeah, this is La Boca del Lobo, we ate there 2 days before
but didn't have the camera with me...

And in the evening we had dinner at the Pachano's.
Got to see my grandma again too before leaving.

And that was our week in Ecuador!

We had a fun time exploring and going to new places, visiting family, eating lots of delicious food, and Pilsener with everything! I didn't get to see all the friends and family I wish I had... time went by too fast and ran out before I knew it. It's jut gonna have to be next time!

Ecuador!! Part 5

Cotopaxi trip!

On our fifth day in Ecuador, we went on a tour where they took us to Cotopaxi, and then provided us with all the gear necessary to ride down the mountain by bicycle!

..... I chose to stay warm in the car while all the super heroes rode down on mud and in rain and hail... Nuts....

Getting there

Our guide, Fernando

Cotopaxi!

4,500m = 14,764ft
That's 350 ft higher than the top of Mt Rainier, and we didn't even reach the snow.

Gettin' geareded up

Chilly!

A bit further down, stopped for lunch

The spread

Panoramic
(click it!)

On the way out of the Cotopaxi national park

Hail!

Flooding!
(by this time we were all back in the car)

And then in the evening, I got to see my nephews!!
Sergio y Julian
Gorgeous!

lol!

With mom!

Aunt me!

Ahhh, the irony...

Look at the tiny hands!

Oh, to have tiny dirty hands again ;)

And another wonderful day ends...