Carnaval 2011!!!

We've never been to a Carnaval in New Orleans or any place else, for that matter.  We've now been to our second Carnaval in La Paz. In the past we never got to see the burning of "the bad humor" dude.  The bad humor guy stands for everything bad and we especially liked seeing him burn this year!  We enjoyed the parades, or is it the friends and parties that take place because of the parade?   We enjoyed the churros, again, or is it seeing the faces of friends who taste them for the first time? Steve especially liked that they had a Negra Modelo Chope booth this year, a very big 24 oz cup for $25.00 (pesos)!  We enjoyed some of the entertainment and were amazed that we forgot to take our earplugs, AGAIN!  But, the costumes, the general people watching and the faces of the little kids are the best.  Here is a photo recap of this year's Carnaval:

El Hombre de Mal Humor

One Of The Nicer Parade Floats

Crit Buying Churros

Steve With His Big Ole Cup of Chope



Not Enjoying This Entertainment!

The Crowds.........

In All Directions

Kids Even Hung Out In Trees So They Could See

Bill Avoiding This Gal's Eyes!

Wanted To Buy Something From These Folks, But Didn't Have The Heart To Walke Them!

The Happy Prize Goes To This Little Boy

After It's Over. All That's Left Are Tired Kids and..........

The Clean Up of Those Darned Confetti Eggs.

Playa Azul Igloos

Steve's video says it all, a great time was had by all!

Kim and Mike Visit 2011

Wow, what a whirlwind of a visit we had with Kim and Mike this year.  Kim and Mike arrived on a Sunday evening and left the following Friday!  Of course we take what we get but there were definite tears this year saying our goodbyes.  It wouldn't be a proper visit without the box of See's Chocolates which were delicious, as usual, a real treat.



There Was The Usual Eating and Drinking



Huachinango, Yum

There Was Fishing



There Was Dancing



There Was Rummi Kub

There Was A Lot of Loving



And, Sadly, Hasta Luego



Up to Date

Well, where are we?  Oh yes, we left off with our cooking class! 

Since we've been in La Paz we've had the pleasure of attending two "Dia De Los Reyes"  celebrations at Judy and Alex's house.  In a nutshell, on January 6 Judy and Alex invite people to their house, they serve wonderful Mexican hot chocolate and a delicious sweet bread called a "Rosca".  As I've mentioned before, there are little plastic babies baked into the bread (I know, doesn't sound great, all that plastic melting into the bread!) and each person in attendance cuts their very own piece of bread off.  There is a lot of laughter as the numbers of babies appear, there may be one baby or as many as five like happened this year.  The bearer or bearer's of these plastic babies have the responsibility of providing a tamale dinner for all of those in attendance, which takes place on February 2.  Here is Wikipedia's definition in case you want more information than my nutshell:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_cake



La "Rosca" and the Baby





Alex Making Us Hot Dogs Afterwards




Our Lovely Hostess, Judy




From The Left: Sharon, Donnely, Pat, Ginger, Helga, Ray and Judy




Ana and Oralia



From the left: Ginger, Ray, Alex, Nick and Judy








 

Alex's Hot Dogs Which Tasted A Whole Lot Better Than They Looked!









How to Make Chiles En Nogada

Here is a step by step lesson in how to make this delicious dish: 

First, find yourself a beautiful teacher....





Next, you will need willing students.....


Buy Chiles Poblanos, Meat (either ground pork or beef),  Apples, Pears, Peaches, Macho Bananas, onion, tomato sauce, raisins,
almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, and dried fruit. 
 

Love your chiles, then roast them......

Now you are ready to chop, chop and chop some more! 

 

 Meanwhile cook your meat  throwing in all the chopped "stuff".  Remember to salt and pepper your meat.

Now you are ready to fill your "loved", "roasted", and "peeled" chiles.

Make your Nogada sauce by blending (in a blender) 100 walnuts (be sure and count accurately!), 100 grams of goat cheese, 1 shot of port or sherry (we had niether so used mescal with Maracuya), 1/2 litre of evaporated milk.

 

Pour Nogada over chiles and decorate with pomegranite seeds and parseley.

Set a beautiful table because food always tastes better when you are surrounded by color and beauty!

Finally, lift a glass and enjoy the wonderful food and the delicious company!  Aprovecho!

 

Oralia's Visit

Christmas Party at Casa Ana 2010

And what a party it was! We had the biggest crowd ever, the most impressive dishes of all time and the beer, wine and champagne was flowing all evening!

Darrell and Sarah

Alex and Judy

Bette, Sharon, Susan and Dennis

Brian and Dot

Cam, Brian and Dot

Carla and Doug

Carol and Dennis

A full courtyard

Crit, Oralia, Rick and John

Darrell and Marv



Barb and Bill

Art and Jaye

Joanne, Liz, Bette and Ron

Kate, Nancy, Barb and Fern

Rick and Pam

Tim and Karen

Carol, Kay and Steve

Maria and Oralia

Dot, Steve and Janie

Maria, Steve, Brian Oralia and Bill

Oralia, John and Liz

Ros and George

Pam resting in the Papa chair!

Steve and I want to thank Doug and Carla, Tim, Karen and Oralia for flying to La Paz to join in the festivities and to all of our guests that made this the most memorable Christmas ever. It was great seeing all of our friends after such a long absence.   I don't know if this one can be beat, but we can try!