Eating Well, Means Living Well

Ajiaco! 
Finally I learned how to make my favorite Colombian soup: Ajiaco Santafereño.

Last weekend my adoptive mother taught me how to make a soup that can solve all problems if given a chance. Potatoes, chicken, corn on the cob, and a hand-full of things I am not sure how to translate into English.

 

Cook, serve with rice, avocado and of course a glass of freshly made fruit juice.

I will post the recipe here one day soon. In the mean time, I will just taunt you with the pictures.

 Inspired again to cook, after two weeks of not even walking due to a fractured heal bone, I am back in the kitchen, with a vengeance.

Roast chicken, potatoes, apples, celery and HERBS, lots of herbs.

A treat every night, and sometimes when ever I have a hankering:
Homemade yogurt with Maple syrup.

I have been making yogurt since I moved to Colombia and couldn't find plain yogurt (without the fruit and added sugar etc). So I learned how to make it... very simple and comforting. Delicious too.

 It may not look like much, but that is why we don't eat pictures of food, we eat the food itself.

 Chicken last weekend was such a hit, that is was time for another this weekend.
During the week I don't always have the time to cook and this week, in particular will be hectic getting my photo exhibition printed, hung, publicized etc. So I thought in the quiet hours of my Saturday afternoon and my lazy midday Sunday that I would cook up a storm, so I can fuel my week well.
I know the junk that I eat when there are not enough homemade options. I know how I feel when I eat that. And this is not a week for that. This is a week for hard work, celebration, self-care and good eats.

Saturday I roasted some potatoes that have already served as all or some of 4 meals and I have one more portion to repeat this (Sunday breakfast) for Monday Lunch.










And so the cooking continues: I have to get myself through Thursday without making another meal besides my morning fruit smoothies (which I indulge in because I live in a tropical climate where fresh, local, delicious fruit is in abundance).

So one more meal came about because of what I had in my fridge.
Broccoli Goat Cheese Quiche- crust made from scratch
I made the goat cheese last weekend- that is remarkably easy too. Another post forthcoming.

So 45 minutes later (from start to oven) I have a

dish that will feel me for the rest of the week. This is what it looked like on the way into the oven...

it is cooling now. The sun will set soon and my afternoon ritual of eating dinner on my balcony to watch the day end will be hosted by a delicious slice of this.

* For someone who speaks so disparagingly about "food porn," at least in this post, I may well be guilty myself.

Roads to Nowhere: Photo Exhibition

Announcing: If you are in Colombia this week, please come and enjoy the show, the live music and have drink with us. 
 If you can't make it to the opening, the exhibit will be up for 14 days. 

When so much of life is achievement and so much of travel is destination, it is easy to lose sight of the magnificent beauty along the way, on the side of the road, down some alley or that which we see ever day. The exhibition of photographs, "Roads to Nowhere" pauses to glimpse and capture moments in time from the Mediterranean coast and more. Relishing the simplicity in the moments that accumulate to equal a life. 
"Well we know where we're goin', but we don't know where we've been and we know what we're knowing, but we can't say what we've seen." - Talking Heads

En Medio De / Gallery / Cafe / Cinema 
CALLE 58 NO. 32-66 / 657-2727 
Bucaramanga / Colombia 
http://www.enmediode.co/ 
 FREE Admission * Pictures and posters will be for sale* 

La primera exposición de una colección de obras de Sierra Melcher (viajero del mundo, Couch Surfer- y maestro). Por favor, ven y disfrutan del espectáculo, la música en vivo y han de beber con nosotros. Entrada gratuita Si no pueden asistir a la apertura, la exposición estará hasta por 14 días. 

"Cuando gran parte de la vida se convierte en buscar el éxito y gran parte de los viajes sólo en llegar a un destino, es fácil perder de vista la magnífica belleza que se encuentra en el camino, ya sea al lado de la carretera, por algún callejón o en lo que vemos todos los días. La exposición de fotografías, "Roads to Nowhere" hace una pausa para vislumbrar los momentos capturados en el tiempo de la costa mediterránea y otros lugares más; disfrutando de la sencillez de los momentos que se acumulan y que se equiparan a una vida." 

 “Bien sabemos dónde vamos a ir, pero no sabemos dónde hemos estado y sabemos lo que estamos conociendo, pero no podemos hablar de lo que hemos visto.” - Talking Heads 

 This picture is a teaser for my next show: