ruthkennedysretirementblog

Learning new baking skills

I had never made a pizza crust using plantains. One day Daryl was reading a blog by an expat and came across a recipe. Just maybe it is possible to have a gluten free pizza crust in our little town of Pedasi. During last trip here a chef made a hamburger bun out of plantain which was very good… and filling. Definitely something to be tried!

We bought two of the ripest plantains we could find, and then waited for them to turn black. Apparently they are too starchy if used before becoming black. It actually took quite a few days.

We have quite a lovely stove and oven. But as you can see, there are no temperature indicators for any of the dials. The stove top is fine as you can see what is happening. The oven is a different matter altogether.

If you look closely at the oven dial, there is one tiny black dot. That is my guide and I am saying it is somewhere around 350 degrees F. Mind you, it is totally a guess!

The ingredient list was quite short. So far, in this little town, we have been able to buy pretty well anything we have needed. Even Kirkland almond flour. As I have noted previously, anything imported is fairly pricy….but you can get it.

Peeling an over ripe plantain is so much easier than a green or yellow one. Once the black skin was peeled away, the plantain was still kind of firm, but easy to mash.

Not a Vitamix, but hey, it works.

Into the blender everything went, it ended up looking like pancake batter.

I think it is time to put the Christmas decoration away…haha

We made two sizes of ‘pizza’ shells.

Baking was a little iffy without knowing the oven temperature. I tried to do it so the shells were soft, but not too soft, baked but not over baked. And when you have no idea what that is supposed to look or feel like it’s tough! At least it didn’t burn.

A cheese grater would have made it look prettier.

The shells held up quite well. You could pick it up and eat it ‘just like a pizza’ and not need a fork and knife. I made a sandwich out of mine.

I am not sure that I will do it again as a pizza shell. It would work quite well as a dessert. For me, the very ripe plantain was too sweet, even with oregano in the batter.

Then we went for our daily walk along the beach, although we never thought to track the distance until part of the way back. We walked at least two kilometres each direction and passed one other couple. I’d say that is good social distancing with plenty of fresh air and exercise. The big bonus for me was the one meter elevation….and that was walking back ‘up’ to the car.

Cheers!

Ruth

Octopus Anyone? Pedasi Dec 2021

The last time the ‘shrimp guy’ came by, he was also selling octopus, or as he called it ‘pulpo’. Although we have eaten octopus, and have seen lots of pictures of giant octopus from Daryl scuba diving trips, we have never had a raw one before. So do we buy it or not? Of course we do! At $3.50 a pound, not much to lose if all goes awry.

First we had to do a search of how to clean and cook those creatures. There is a ton of information on the internet with lots of differing suggestions. Luckily for us the head, ‘beak’ (whatever that is) and guts….oops I meant entrails, had been removed. Thankfully Daryl did the dirty work. Although if I am being truthful, Daryl did all the work and I took pictures.

We now had two beautifully cleaned octopus….except for the skin. We tried removing that but it did not come off very easily.

Pretty well everything we read said to dunk the cleaned octopus in a large pot of boiling water. I think the purpose of this is to curl up the tiny little ends. We did it, although it wasn’t clear if just the tips should be dunked or the entire thing…..so in it went.

After dunking the skins came off much easier and the tips were nicely curled. Then back into the pot of water the octopus went to simmer for another hour and a bit. The information said to simmer until a fork inserted into the thicker part went in easily. I had no difficulty sticking a fork into the flesh at any time so we weren’t sure just how long it would take. We also could not get the gas low enough to keep the water from furiously boiling, so it was a constant “turn it on, turn it off”.

They were now ready to eat or to use in a recipe. We cut the octopus into tentacles because it seemed to be the most common thing to do. Although it didn’t look as pretty as when whole.

Several website suggested to put the octopus on the BBQ to char. We tried that, but no charring happened, only drying out. This BBQ was blazing hot and Daryl used his bare hands and not the tongs, so the smaller pieces would not go through the grill!!

We obviously missed something in the preparation. Maybe the black skin should have stayed on so there would be something to char.

A quick saute in butter seemed to be just what was needed.

And Done! I am not altogether sure how to describe the taste. Maybe a cross between shrimp and squid. It was firm, but soft, and a little chewy but not at all rubbery, with a very mild flavour.

Another culinary adventure in the books!. If Daryl is up for future cleaning then we will certainly do it again.

Cheers, Saludos

Ruth

Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder, Playa Los Destiladeros

As Covid rages through North America and Europe, we are living a very quiet life here in this little town in Panama. Our major source of entertainment, and exercise, its beach walking. The beach looks different in sunshine or cloud, low or high tide and calm or stormy seas. It’s all beautiful.

Yesterday we went to Playa Los Destiladeros. Again, another deserted beach. We saw one small group having a picnic under a tree, and another couple “way” up the beach.

This is the beach we visited a couple of years ago when Alicia was here. A rogue wave quickly came up the beach and washed away some of our stuff. The most important being Daryl’s prescription sunglasses! And my hat! Everything remaining was wet. Daryl was in the water and went for a good spin. Scared the heck out of me so we were extra cautious….well at least I was:)

As it gets too hot for me, we have been going a bit later in the day. We parked the car, took off our sandals when we reached the wet sand (otherwise ouchy on the feet) and started walking. When you get to ‘the point’ another entire vista opens up. And then another.

There are lots of trees along the banks that have fallen over, or look about to fall over, or have exposed roots. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. I spend as much time looking along the banks and at washed up tree stumps as looking at the beach and ocean.

When we turned around to come home the sun was shining on the water. nowhere near sundown although it looks like it.

Another hat for me! I seem to go through them rather quickly. This one was made locally, and bonus….it fits!

Cheers, Salud, Merry Christmas

Stay well and healthy.

Ruth

Beach Walking At Dusk

Yesterday I went to yoga at 0715 hr., it was a little cloudy with a temperature of 27C, and I thought it felt a little cool. After arriving home a couple of hours later, I was listening to Calgary news, the announcer said it was -27C with the windchill. That is a 54C degree difference!! Even with all the uncertainty in the world today, this reinforced our decision to be snowbirds. (By the way, the yoga class had two participants, we were wearing masks and well spaced.)

As I lay in the hammock thinking about reading a book, I actually looked at the sky day dreaming. It was mostly bright blue with a few puffy clouds. Big birds were flying overhead. It was very hot with a gentle breeze flowing through the bohio. Felt wonderful. As a matter of act, it was so hot we waited until closer to sundown to go for a beach walk.

You get a totally different perspective of the beach later in the day. This is Playa El Arenal. At the end of the day the fishing boats have come in and are all lined up. It is colourful and beautiful.

However, the darker the sky, the less clear the pictures.

The other big difference was the number of people, usually it is just us. There were so many local people fishing (at least 20 on this very long beach), most were standing on the shore casting with a rod and reel. Others were just using the reel and seemed to be throwing it like a cowboy with a lasso.

Some people were carrying 20 litre pails, which made for a handy seat and a good way to carry their catch. Other people were wearing those straw baskets like backpacks, I don’t know if this would be any good as a seat but seemed to be a handy way to carry their fish.

At the end of the day those boats have to get on shore, it’s full steam ahead!

This is a great place to be, in this, another winter of Covid fear and anxiety. We spend most of our time outside in the fresh air and we are not being constantly exposed to Covid information. Let’s hope it stays that way and this 5th wave is short lived. Look after yourself and stay well.

Salud, Cheers

Ruth

Birders Paradise, Pedasi Panama, Dec 14, 2021

Birding in and around Pedasi is paradise for those interested, but you need two thing that I don’t have, patience and a good camera.
Every day as I sit outside in the bohio, I hear all kinds of bird sounds and see flashes of bright blue or yellow or red as a bird goes zipping by. Hummingbirds visit hibiscus flowers not 20 feet from me. Am I able to capture any of it? No.

We are part of a Facebook group that has a member who posts the most incredible nature photos “Kathleen Howard Nature Photographer”. Kathleen has kindly given me permission to share her photos. The photos and bird names come directly from Kathleen’s posts.

The pictures show the variety of birds in this area, and the amazing talent to capture these incredible poses.

Kathleen posted quite a few pictures of this pair going through the mating ritual.

What amazing photography, to be able to catch this Keel-billed Toucan eating a berry.

As I sit here posting Kathleens picture of the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, I watched one just a few feet away flit from one hibiscus flower to another….to another…and then gone.

We have had an Egret come visit our yard on several consecutive days constantly searching for worms and bugs (I think). This photo by Kathleen captures the big bird eating a tiny little something!

And last but not least. This picture of a Great-tailed Grackle was taken at dusk and posted yesterday. The caption says it was flying up after taking a bath.

Okay, this little gecko is not a bird. but it is so darned cute. There are tons of geckos both inside and outside the house. Most I see are brownish or greenish. There is an occasional flesh coloured gecko but I have never seen this much colour.

This is just a sampling of the many pictures posted on Kathleen Howard Nature Photography Facebook page. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I did.

Cheers

Ruth

Living in Pedasi, Panama in Dec 2021

Moving to a new country, even for three months, takes a bit of time to adjust to the day to day living needs. We have been fortunate to join a What’sApp group that posts throughout the day on what is currently happening. What we have found (from previous trips also) is shopping and eating local products is quite inexpensive. This week we visited a produce truck that was “loaded with everything you could possibly want”. All of the produce in the picture above cost $10.26 US (USA dollars are used here). At home the papaya alone would have probably cost that much. Imported products costs about the same as we would pay in Canada, maybe even more.

The oranges were 10 for $1. They were sweet and juicy, and well worth the effort to take the pits out. Might be time to invest in a juicer! The pineapple was also incredibly tasty.

In the past we have been able to buy fish out of the back of a truck. This year has started out similarly, just a few days after arriving a car came by with fresh shrimp for $3.50 a lb.

Daryl cleaned the shrimp, then we gently sautéd them in butter and onion. Just imagine, for $7 being able to eat all the fresh shrimp that you want.

For all the meat lovers out there, certainly no problem getting good beef. This ribeye at a half kilo, was definitely enough for the both of us. Cooked to perfection on a charcoal BBQ made for a wonderful taste sensation. Every bite was tender, juicy and flavourful. The only seasoning we added was salt and pepper!

Our neighbour makes mozzarella cheese…. 100% milk and a little sea salt. Very good!

We haven’t been out to eat much yet, except for one restaurant and a juice bar. But from what I have gathered there are minimal restrictions. Everyone wears masks practically every where. There are no restrictions on the number of people allowed in shops or restaurants. Even in Spanish the posted recommendations are the same: Keep your distance, wear a mask and wash your hands. Hate to say it, but I think Covid is with us for a while yet. I like that it is having minimal impact on our daily life.

As always we try to go for a walk every day. Mostly we have had the entire beach to ourself so easy to keep our distance:)

Cheers

Ruth

Coming back to Panama Dec 2021

After almost two years of not leaving Canada, we decided to “bite the bullet” and be a snowbird again. March 2020 we were in Portugal when we got the call to come home now or “you will have no covid insurance coverage”. At that time, who knew the world would become such a different place?

Finally, we are on the go again.

Booking airplane tickets and renting a house was the easy part. Doing the required documents to get out of the country not so easy… took the better part of two days. Maybe I am just not very savvy, but the information required to be uploaded was totally unclear. After many frustrating hours, a phone call to a real person solved the issue.

We were not able to get electronic tickets so had to go to the counter at the airport, where we were issued paper boarding passes for the three legs of our trip. In hindsight, the frustrating days spent getting all the documents approved was well worth it. The entire trip went effortlessly and smoothly, even arrival in Panama City (except for losing my Nexus card!!).

A word of advice: think carefully about booking a flight that arrives at 3PM on a Friday afternoon in Panama City, if you intend to immediately leave the city. It took us about an hour to get through immigration, our driver was there to meet us and we started our journey to Pedasi. Getting out of the city itself was relatively painless as we took the toll highway, far away from downtown.

However, the next 100 km or so (seriously, I have no concept of distance) was stop and go, stop and go. We stopped for dinner and when we came out the traffic had thinned considerably. Still lots of traffic but mostly we were able to go the speed limit. Our driver gave an emphatic “NO” when asked if he would like to live in the city!

I hate to admit it but I have become a bit of a clean freak in my golden years!! The house was spotless but I still felt like I had to clean every drawer and shelf before putting away my personal belongings. Also I had to organize the furniture to my liking…. that and shopping took two days, but hey, no hurry. Unless our country goes crazy again and tells us to come home we have lots of time to do ‘stuff’. And if we don’t get to come home, this is a great place to be ‘stuck’.

Shopping and cleaning is thirsty work in the heat and humidity, and then it is relax time.

Now it is time to kick back and enjoy life in this lovely back yard…. rain or shine. Trying hard to not think about all the crap going on in the world.

This is our third trip to Pedasi and for the first time ever it really does not feel like vacation, we are just living the life!

Cheers

Ruth

Day Trip to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake

Taking a day trip from Calgary to Lake Louse, and then on to Moraine Lake is a full day, but so worth it. Just outside the town of Lake Louse you can take a “Park and Ride” shuttle which will take you right to Lake Louse, and then on to Moraine Lake when you are ready. Our trip was early in July, with Alberta just easing its Covid restrictions. There was a fair number of people visiting, however, no where near the usual packed crowds.

A very popular activity is taking a canoe ride on the lake.

Not everyone in our party went canoeing, some went exploring. There was lots to see and a quiet place to have a snack.

The views from the dining room were spectacular.

After lunch it was time to take the shuttle to Moraine Lake. Parks Canada has set up canopies/kiosks at both the park and ride, and Lake Louise. It was staffed with very helpful people.

The shuttle only took about 10 minutes. It had been years since I had been to Moraine Lake and had forgotten just how magnificent it really is.

A walk around Moraine Lake ended at a pretty babbling ‘brook’. Then a climb up the rock pile led to a spectacular panoramic view.

I do believe Alberta has some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.

A day well spent.

Cheers

Ruth

Fall Camping in Kananaskis

Calgary and area has had fantastic weather this fall. We were able to go camping twice in October which is practically unheard of. The yellow and green foliage was very pretty, red definitely missing.

We went to Gooseberry as it was one of only two campsites in Kananaskis that was still open, and it is close to home, plus it has electricity.

We did a bit of biking, and some walking, fortunately we did not see any bears.

Gooseberry has a lovely little path that runs parallel to the beaver ponds, I think there are five ponds that those industrious little beavers have built.

This little chipmunk was curious to see what we were doing….just cooking baby back ribs in the hot coals.

This deer practically posed for his photo.

The squirrels were busy little critters.

Elbow Falls is just a short drive from Gooseberry.

I am sure I remember the falls as being much larger. Guess we have to wait for spring run off to see lots of rushing water!

Sometimes we just get to sit back and relax.

And sometimes we just have fun!

Even the dead fall has its own beauty.

I searched long and hard for a bit of red…..not much!

Darkness comes early in the foothills in October. For a brief period the sky is glorious.

Our travel has been severely curtailed for this coming winter. I am thankful for the beauty surrounding us.

Until next time.

Cheers

Ruth

Kananaskis Country

Since we have been home from Portugal, in this summer of Covid, we sure haven’t been very far. This year is the time to showcase our beautiful backyard. Kananaskis Country is a short drive from our house with sweet camping. The drive has spectacular scenery, even on a cloudy day.

And what would be a drive on a country road without having to slow down for roaming cows.

We stayed at Beaver Flats campground, it is “first come, first served” and was packed, but luckily a family was leaving and we were able to pull in. Set up was quick and then time to enjoy the peace and quiet.