It was great to get home and see my parents after such a long time away. The trip went well and, since I know some of you wanted to know what we'd be eating, here's the list (Although I helped with most, the ones marked * are the ones I made):
- Kefta Tagine
- Beef Stroganoff
- *Chuletas Encebolladas (Onion-Smothered Pork Chops with Lizano Sauce)
- Crab Cakes with Red-Pepper Sauce
- Corned Beef and Cabbage
- *Fish Tacos with Cilantro Slaw (Vicci, my parents LOVED these! My mom made more of the Cilantro Slaw for herself, at lunchtime, two days later!)
- Chinese take out (General Tso's Chicken)
- *Spanish Omelette
- Thanksgiving turkey dinner
- Various leftovers of many of the above on various days
- My new Kindle!
- My pasta maker! (It had been too heavy to pack when I had first come down here).
- Fennel seed, rubbed sage, marjoram and star anise - a few things that aren't always easy to find in Honduras.
- Canned Brown Bread (Honduras? Heck, a lot of people in the States have no idea what this is (except for those of us who have lived in New England) and it was even used on Chopped a couple of times recently.)
- "Knorr Homestyle Stocks" - beef and chicken.
- A selection of Lindt chocolate to give to some friends who have never had it. Got 70%, 90%, milk, chili and a variety pack of the Lindor Truffles.
- Cashews and macadamias (cashews are easy to get here, but my mom wasn't sure; macadamias cannot be found here, at all).
- Almond butter.
- Olive oil (not difficult to get, here - just very expensive).
- A salad spinner (especially useful, here, since the salad greens really should be soaked in some chlorinated water and rinsed before using).
- A tapered-rod-style rolling pin (just never really have been happy with the roller type with the handles and, always wind up using them as the rod type, anyway, for my best results).
- A battery-operated fan (I'll be able to use it with its AC adapter most of the time, but the battery mode will be great when the power goes out around here).
- FOUR bottles of Sriracha (can't take any chances of running out - especially when the bottle that costs $2.67 in the States costs $5 or more here, when it's available, although I do still want to try that copycat recipe I posted a couple of weeks ago).
- Parchment paper (not always easy to find here).
- Cheesecloth (haven't seen any here, yet).
If blueberry muffins have blueberries in them, what do vegan muffins have?