The Story of Bianca

Yesterday, after 5 months with her in our lives, we said goodbye to our wonderful Bianca. She was a uniquely confident and stoic cat, who made everyone fall in love with her immediately. This is her story.

On July 6th, before my alarm had even sounded, I got a call from Brian (who wakes up for work long before I do). As he was leaving our house, he had found a sick cat on our block. "You gotta get out here babe; she needs your help." I threw on my clothes, grabbed a cat carrier, and found myself looking at this weak, pathetic little creature covered in dust with a crinkled right ear.




She let me approach her and was having labored breathing. I scooped her up and put her in the carrier. A quick physical told me she was at least 12 years old. Shortly, she was on the way to work with me at Caring for Cats. I talked her through intense car-sickness, petted her head the entire drive, and immediately felt a bond. Working with cats every day and loving every single one of them, I know when there is something more. I felt that spark with this little white cat. I found myself calling her Snowflake.

After a more thorough physical at work, it became clear that this cat had had an owner at some point. She had a spay scar but no microchip. She was deaf. She was clearly a senior kitty and wouldn't have lasted on the streets of Philly out on her own for that many years. From her physical I suspected she had chronic kidney disease and hyperthyroidism at minimum. She was very thin and her heart was racing. I imagined how worried her owners must have been and my heart broke.




We drew some blood, gave her a bath, some food (which she chowed down on), and she promptly went to sleep.




Needless to say, she came home with me that night and snuggled with Brian and I in our guest room bed. We put up fliers, posted on our neighborhood forum, and hoped to find her owner.

The next day, her bloodwork showed that she did have hyperthyroidism and kidney disease, so we started her on treatment. Her high thyroid hormone could have explained her fast breathing, but after a few days of treatment, it didn't resolve. Being the worrier that I am, I took some x-rays of her chest and found that she had two tumors in her lungs. I started her on a steroid for the inflammation. Still no responses to our lost cat posters, but our little girl was eating great, gaining weight, breathing better by the day, and snuggling better than ever. We were starting to selfishly hope we wouldn't find her owner...

Brian had made a post about her on the ACCT Philly Lost and Found Facebook page. In 24 hours it got over 2000 views.

One of the comments held a promising lead!

After a series of phone calls...we found the owners! Thanks to the post, we were able to track down the kind, elderly 83 year old Italian lady who cared for the kitty for 17 years after finding her as a tiny kitten in her garage. The cat started acting different a couple of months ago, and she was voraciously hungry all of the time. She became extremely difficult to manage, and she ended up escaping out the back 2 weeks prior to when we found her. She and her son searched for days, but it is hard to summon a deaf cat! She wandered 0.8 miles due north to land on our street. It all began to make sense; the reason she was acting differently and escaped was because she had hyperthyroidism. After explaining to her owner her various diseases and that she would require medication twice a day and bloodwork monitoring for the rest of her life, her owner concluded that she would be unable to care for her, given that she was elderly and disabled herself. We promised to care for her and love her as our own. Thats how we ended up with an open adoption. We learned that her name was Bianca Neve, Italian for Snow White.

They sent us an amazing photo showing how well-fed (ahem) she used to be!

By this point Bianca was very happy and had already gained a pound. She was making herself right at home, but our cat Beeb hated her. We also had discovered that one of her great joys in life was peeing on soft things. In my line of work, I deal with cats peeing outside the box on a daily basis. We did every work up for a medical cause. We tinkered with her litterbox options more than I ever thought possible. We had four boxes with clay litter, one with wheat litter, one with a pee pad in it, and various pee pads all over the floor. She used all of them, but because her kidney disease caused her to pee about 7-8 times daily, she also would gleefully pee on pillows, blankets, towels, mattresses, papers, you name it. At the end of the day it really just came down to Bianca loving to pee on soft things. Loving it.

So we decided that she would move into Caring for Cats and become the first clinic cat! Caring for Cats was the perfect place because she would have people to hang out with every day, and given that its a hospital, there aren't a ton of soft things around. She also wouldn't have to suffer through her intense motion-sickness every time she needed her bloodwork checked.

She settled in right away and quickly promoted herself to office manager. She had gained two pounds since we found her (from 6 up to 8). She gave the best lip rubs you could imagine. When she was in the mood for hip hop, she liked to be known as Lil' Baby B. She made herself busy checking on the boarders,

organizing the food samples,

taking x-rays,

doing invoices in the office,

filing,

seeing appointments,

and doing the laundry.

Christine, Kortney, Renee, and Dr. Guth loved and cared for her just like she was their own. She received an exceptional level of compassion and attention. She got to dress up for Halloween,

and just for fun.

She got her own pumpkin,

and she even helped catch pokemon.

As we got deeper into November, her appetite started to wane. She got what we think was a paraneoplastic skin reaction and infection that required weekly medicated hot tub soaks. Without her baths she would quickly become dirtier looking than the day we found her and became affectionately known as our little grub.

She was becoming more and more picky since her nausea was hard to control and she was getting food aversion to everything she would eat. She started losing weight and recheck x-rays showed that her lung tumors were growing. Dual anti-nausea therapy, more steroids, and antibiotics helped her some but it wasn't enough. She still felt like herself but was just disgusted by food. She had lost so much weight that she was actually thinner than when we found her. We decided to do a quick anesthetized procedure to place a feeding tube so we could give her nutrition without having to force her to eat. It also allowed us to deliver the medications directly into her GI tract without having to pill her multiple times every day. Not only did she get a bit more energy, but she looked adorable in her fashionable new collars.

The tube gained her two more happy weeks of no pilling. She would still eat temptations treats on her own. This past weekend she started to show signs that she was no longer feeling herself. All she wanted to do was sleep, her breathing seemed worse, and her purr changed from her content purr to what I perceived as a self-comfort purr. After discussing with her large adoptive family, we made the decision to peacefully put her to sleep. She was surrounded by friends, she crawled into my lap before falling asleep for the last time, and that was it. It was beautiful and dignified, just like her life. She was the queen of Caring for Cats, and I'm sure she was the queen of her house for the 17 years before that.

Here we are spending time together on her last day.

Brian and Bianca got to have one final FaceTime date.




Bianca, Princess of the Grubs, you have brought so much joy into our lives. We knew from the moment we fell in love with you little old lady how hard this would be and that our time would be limited. It was worth it.

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." -Winnie the Pooh (A. A. Milne)



A heartfelt thank you to ACCT Philly for connecting us with her previous owner and to Caring for Cats for welcoming her into the family with endless love.

potato and gruyere tartlets.

here is a delicious recipe that i made with my friend sarah j berg.  we ate it too fast and did not take a photo.  also it was months ago but it was so good that i wanted to share!  the recipe is from a cookbook my meem gave me as a housewarming gift; its the williams-sonoma vegetarian food made fast, and seriously is a really quick and easy recipe.  this makes four servings, so if you have friends over and are ravenous and like to eat lots then probably double it.


potato and gruyere tartlets.

ingredients.

2 T olive oil

1 T fresh rosemary, finely chopped (or 1 t dried)

salt and pepper

1 russet potato, peeled, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced

1 small yellow onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed and cut into 4 5-inch squares

1 cup shredded gruyere cheese

directions.

1.  preheat oven to 400.

2.  in a bowl mix the oil, rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 t pepper.  add the potato and onion and toss to coat.

3.  put the pastry squares on a baking sheet.  use a knife to cut a 1/2 inch border along each edge, being careful not to cut more than halfway through the sheet.  prick the pastry all over with a fork.

4.  sprinkle 2 T cheese inside the rim of each tart.  divide the filling evenly between them, and then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of each.

5.  bake until the rims are puffed and brown and the cheese is golden, about 20 minutes.  let them cool for 10 minutes before eating.

butternut squash casserole.

the recipe i based this off of calls it a "gratin" rather than a "casserole."  now i don't know if there is a technical difference...but no need to use a fancy pants word in place of the glory that is CASSEROLE.  there are few things i love more than one-dish meals.  oh and did you want one with butternut squash, gruyere, sage, and caramelized onions?  YOU GOT IT.

butternut squash casserole.

ingredients.

1/4 c olive oil

4 c thinly sliced onion

4 thyme springs

2 t dried sage

salt and pepper

6 cups butternut squash, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (see this post for a super trick)

1/2 c flour

2 T chopped parsley (or 2 t dried)

1/2 c grated gruyere

1/2 c grated fontina

1/2 c plus 2 T heated milk

1 c breadcrumbs

directions.

1.  preheat oven to 350 and lightly butter a casserole dish.

2.  heat half the oil in a skillet over medium heat.  add onions, thyme, and sage, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are lightly caramelized, about 15 minutes.

3.  season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste.  spread in the dish. return the skillet to medium heat, and add the remaining oil.

4.  toss the squash in the flour.  add it to the pan and cook until it begins to brown in places, about 7 minutes.

5.  add the parsley, salt and pepper, and cook for 1 minute more.

6.  layer the squash over the onions, cover with cheeses, and then add the milk.

7.  cover and bake for 25 minutes, then uncover, add the breadcrumbs, and bake until the top is browned and the liquid absorbed, about 25 minutes more.

8.  get ready to have a food-gasm.

cheese is really hard to photograph nicely.

vegetarian shepard's pie.

there was a shocking unfortunate oversight in my childhood called i was never introduced to shepard's pie. BUT when Christina described it to me a few years back i was certain i had to get to know this amazing food.  i love vegetable pot pie and this sounded similar but with an amazing twist.  THERE ARE MASHED POTATOES ON TOP.  are you KIDDING me?!?!  mashed potatoes!?  really?!  mashed potatoes are my favorite form of potatoes which are my favorite food.  hence, this saturday called for a shepard's pie making extravaganza with Cait.  and we wanted to adapt it to be vegetarian.  SO this is what was born:

shepard's pie.

ingredients

1 3/4 c vegetable broth
1/3 c dry red wine
1 heaping T tomato paste
1 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1 T flour
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2-1 c milk
5 T unsalted butter
1 package (16 oz?) cremini mushrooms (baby bella), sliced or quartered
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 celery stalks, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
4 carrots, peeled and diced
3 parsnips. peeled and diced
1 c frozen corn
1 c frozen peas
2 t dried sage
2 t dried thyme
1 t dried rosemary
salt and pepper

directions.
1.  start by reconstituting the dried porcinis.  whisk together to broth, wine, and tomato paste.  add the mushrooms and let it sit for 30-ish minutes.  strain em and save the liquid.  whisk in the tablespoon of flour after the mushrooms are strained out.
2.  while the mushrooms sit, start the potatoes.  boil them for 20-30 minutes or until they are tender.  drain them and mash, adding milk and 2-ish tablespoons of butter until the texture is to your liking.  don't forget salt and pepper!
3.  melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter in a very large skillet/wok or pot.  add the porcinis and creminis and cook, stirring frequently, for about five minutes, or until the mushrooms are a little browned.  set aside the mushrooms.
4.  melt another tablespoon of butter in the pan and add the onion, celery, and garlic.  cook for about 3 minutes or until softened.
5.  add the carrot, parnips, corn, peas, herbs, and salt and pepper.  cook for 5-7 more minutes or until softened slightly.  now is a pretty good time to preheat the oven to 350F.
6.  pour the wine mixture back into the pan and deglaze by scraping all the bits off the bottom of the pan.  simmer for about two minutes or until slightly thickened.
7.  add the mushrooms back in and simmer for 5-8 minutes.
8.  transfer the deliciousness to a buttered casserole pan and then layer the potatoes on by plopping them on in globs then smooshing those down into a thick layer.
9.  bake for 15-20 minutes at 350F then broil for the last 2-3 minutes to brown the potatoes.
10.  FEAST.


i'll give you a photo when i find my camera...

squash soup ecua-style.

now that it is super chilly out, i have been feelin' in the mood for soup.  everyone loves butternut squash soup....SO i wanted to share a interesting twist on it.  i like to make it like i've had it in ecuador.  don't be put off by the mixture of sweet and savory.  just trust me.  (as usual with my ecua-recipes, this one comes from laylita.)


sopa de zapallo.

ingredients.
3 T olive oil
1 white onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 t cumin
4 roma tomatoes, chopped
6 c vegetable stock
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks**
s and p to taste
shredded cheddar cheese to garnish
avocado to garnish

directions.
1.  heat the oil in a large pot and add the onion, garlic, cumin, and tomatoes.  saute for about five minutes or until the onions are translucent.
2.  add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil.
3.  add the squash, return to a boil, then let simmer for about thirty minutes or until the squash chunks are very tender.  (right now the word tender is really weirding me out).
4.  let the soup cool a bit to prevent injuries (we already conquered the squash) then puree it using an emersion blender.  if you aren't lucky enough to have one of these totally awesome items, then just use a regular blender and work in batches.  but be annoyed that it was inconvenient.
5.  add salt and pepper to taste.
6.  serve topped with grated cheese and avocado slices.

this immediately made me want to eat this again.

**ever lost a finger trying to peel and cut a butternut squash?  never again.  boil water in a large pot.  take the whole squash and put it in the boiling water (covered) for 3 minutes.  remove it from the water and let it cool til you can handle it.  NOW you can just peel it like a potato with a regular peeler and cut it with a regular knife and not worry about blood and frustration.  BEST TRICK EVER.

cranky distracted dinner.

tonight i got home from work cranky and tired.  and of course hungry.  i immediately poured myself an enormous bowl of trader joe's o's and scarfed it.  it was one of those nights where i stare grumpily into the fridge then close the door.  try the freezer.  close the door.  back to the fridge.  close the door.  and so it continues.  as i was eating my cereal i decided i wanted something warm and comforting so i decided to make muffins (had some frozen cranberries).  as the muffins were cooking i decided that this meal was lacking in protein (the milk wasn't enough) SO i decided to make hard boiled eggs.  (i only like the white part).  THEN as the eggs and muffins were cooking, i was impatiently looking in the freezer again and noticed these vegetable gyoza i had from trader joe's and decided to make those too.  so to recap, what did morgan eat for dinner tonight?

-huge bowl of cereal
-a cranberry walnut muffin
-vegetable gyoza
-two more cranberry walnut muffins
-two white parts of the eggies

i am much less cranky though...


oh and what did gypsy eat for dinner?

-her cat food
-amanda's crumbs
-beeb's crumbs
-a muffin top (she always manages...)

a fun way to eat tofu.

i happen to be one of those people who likes tofu.  however, i am always looking for more fun ways to eat tofu!  today i found one!  it comes from the cookbook "the enchanted broccoli forest" which was an awesome gift from my friend marianne.  i switched things up a tad from the original recipe by using a variety of nuts even though it calls for almonds only.  the book tells me even kids will eat tofu in this form and i believe it!


tofu-nut balls.
(ha, i said nut and balls)

ingredients.
1/2 c uncooked brown rice
1 c water
2 T soy sauce
1/2 lb firm tofu, mashed
1/2 c ground walnuts, almonds, and cashews (i used perhaps a 2:2:1 ratio here....improvise!)
1/2 c bread crumbs
salt to taste

directions.
1.  cook the rice (i use a rice cooker...just follow the package).
2.  preheat the oven to 350F.
3.  put the soy sauce, half the mashed tofu, and about 3/4 of the rice in a blender or food processor.  blend to a thick paste (this sounds really gross, but just go with it).
4.  put the remaining tofu and rice in a medium bowl and add the blended mixture, the nuts, and the breadcrumbs.  taste for salt.
5.  form the batter into 1-inch balls and bake on a greased cookie sheet for 30 minutes.


i ate these (really quickly) with lots of ketchup!!

next time i'm doubling the recipe.

this is my bed sometimes.

a wonderful book and a wonderful cat!

please don't judge me because of the cathairsheets situation.
white was an exceedingly poor choice.

(she is grooming).

sushi surprise! (in a good way)

the other day this amazing thing happened called morgan comes home from work exhausted and cranky to find her roommate and friends making a feast, including....SUSHI.  that's right, you can make sushi in your home.  whooda thought?  these kids are rad!

oh and by sushi i mean there is not fish involved.

check out the stuffingz.

cait had a lovely assortment of goodz: carrots, cukes,
scallions, daikon radish, zukes, eggplant!

then you use this bamboo thing to help roll em up!

THEN you slice em into little round guys!
and i'm really sorry about that yucky on the plate...clearly didn't plan
for that when i was taking this photo.

aceite de achiote or annatto oil.

i have probably mentioned aceite de achiote in a few of my recipes by now.  so i've finally gotten around to actually explaining what that means!  i'd never heard of it until i went to ecuador.  but perhaps you have heard of annatto seed?  so, what i have been calling "achiote oil" is spanglish.  it would be aceite de achiote in spanish, or annatto oil in english.  i also see how this might be confusing...i'm not talking about oil from the annatto seed, but rather vegetable oil that has been infused with the annatto color and flavor.

in ecuador i was surprised to see that a lot of the cooking oil in peoples homes was bright red.  after some research (read the label and translated it) i discovered that people were using annatto oil.  interestingly enough, annatto seed doesn't have a very strong flavor (it definitely has its own smell that i can recognize by now though) but does give a glorious bright red color to everything.  also, my host mom told me it helps counteract the unmentionable intestinal side effects of eating beans.  yay!  but yes, why are llapingachos bright orange?  the answer would be this oil!

when i got back to boston i was dismayed to discover that aceite de achiote is basically impossible to buy even though annatto seed isn't ("ethnic" aisle).  after communicating this to my mother she made me my first batch!  its actually really easy and now i will teach you how to do it!


aceite de achiote.


ingredients.
2 c vegetable oil
1 c annatto seeds
(want to make more?  want to make less?  thats a 2:1 ratio kids!)

directions.
1.  place oil in a heavy saucepan and heat to about 350F.
2.  add annatto seeds and remove pan from heat.
3.  allow to cool and strain oil into a glass jar.
4.  store in the fridge.


i would show you guys a photo but my jar is pretty gross looking at the moment (had some renegade oil cover the outside forever).  next time i make it i'll try to remember to put a photo on here!

potato and quinoa soup.

we all know i love me my potatoes and i love me a good soup.  other things i love?  quinoa and ecuador and cheese.  hence, this soup is my PERFECT soup.

i love sneaking protein into my meals in the form of delicious crunchy grainy things.

as with most of my ecuadorian recipes, this on is based almost entirely on one from laylita.  also i made an ENORMOUS batch so i can freeze some for a cold and lazy day! (feel free to halve the recipe).


potato and quinoa soup.

ingredients.
4 T achiote oil
4 medium onions, diced
8 garlic cloves, minced
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 t cumin
2 t oregano
1 t coriander
12 small to medium-ish russets, peeled and cut into small-ish chunks
2 c uncooked quinoa, rinsed
16 c water or broth (i did half and half for this batch)
2 c milk
4 c grated monterey jack cheese
one of those plastic trader joes packages worth of cilantro, finely chopped
salt and peppa

directions.
1.  heat the oil in a huge pot.  add the onions, garlic, tomato, cumin, oregano, coriander, and some salt and pepper and cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes.
2.  add the potatoes, mix em up real nice, and cook for 5 more minutes, giving em a stir every once in a while.
3.  add the water/broth and bring to a boil.
4.  add the quinoa, reduce the temperature, and simmer for about 25 minutes (until the potates are tender).
5.  stir in the milk and cheese and cook for about 5 more minutes.
6.  stir in the cilantro right before serving.  also, you'll probably need to salt the buns offa this thing.

normally i would put a few avocado slices on top of this bad boy, but
today i was forced to accept that the ole brown paper bag trick
takes longer than six hours to work....

sad gypsy.

(cat) feeding time in this household is kind of an ordeal.  they are all on meds.  amanda is on three.  and they are all food-obsessed.  seriously.  the moment my alarm goes off in the morning or i walk in the door from work at night i am surrounded by all the different mews just begging me to please save them from imminent starvation.  oh and on weekends did i want to sleep in?  HA.

in the rare event that i do walk in the door to a quiet apartment i IMMEDIATELY know something is wrong.  that something usually being gypsy has managed to open amanda's food container and eat SIX CUPS of food (for context, she normally gets 1/8 cup twice a day...).

that isn't actually the topic of the post, but you needed to know how much gypsy loves food for this story to make sense.

gypsy gets quarters of pills hidden in a delicious pill pocket which she eats directly from my hand before i can even walk over to her food station.  quartering pills usually leaves a nice bit of accumulated pill dust in the bottom of the pill vial.  so, in a moment of laziness, i decided to put that pill powder to use.  instead of giving her a pill i decided to just sprinkle an amount of powder that looked-ish like a quarter-ish directly onto gypsy's food.  i figured, she'll eat anything even remotely food (dairy) flavored, so there was no way she would turn down her food.

wrong.  wrong wrong WRONG.  well, kind of wrong.  she did eat it.  but SO slowly.  and all the while sadly looking up at me as if i were poisoning her.  i mean, there was no way she wasn't going to eat it, but she was real sad about it.  i'm sorry gyps!  i'll stick to pill pockets from now on!

so sad.
and yes, she eats on a plate.  under normal circumstances this
slows down her ravenous gulping and sometimes make her chew.

chocolate birthday.

why hello!

a few weeks ago it was my birthday and cait brought me to the taza chocolate factory!  something i've always enjoyed is finding out wonderful things about a person/company/place/entity of some sort that i already liked a lot and the new information makes me like it even more!  REALLY convoluted way for me to say that taza has exceeded my expectations and i love 'em!  who would have thought that such an awesome chocolate company comes from right here in boston.

why are they so great?  okay, well i'm not trying to sound like an advertisement here, so i'll keep it short (check out their website instead).  but one superfantastic tidbit is that they buy their beans DIRECTLY from farmers in the dominican republic.  i feel like nowadays this is practically unheard of.  but i think its great that there is no middle man and the farmers can get direct support.  pretty neat!!

oh, and their chocolate is freaking delicious.

boston, meet llapingachos.

i've referenced llapingachos maybe more than once.  if you know me in real life it's likely that i've mentioned them many a time.  even though i recently feasted upon them in ecuador, it still wanted em!  plus i wanted cait (my roommate) to experience their glory.

so lets just think about how potatoes are really high up in my favorite foods.  i love potatoes in every form. now, lets think about how mashed potatoes are my favorite form of potatoes.  the potato king.  okay, now lets talk about how things are better when they're cripsy and browned.  oh, and we can't forget about how cheese makes everything more delicious.  so, are you ready to behold the glory of llapingachos?

make some mashed potatoes, form them into cheese filled patties, fry the patties on both sides.  SERIOUSLY.  i'm gonna have to say that the ecuadorians do this better than the jews.  its a wonder that llapingachos haven't globalized more.

the recipe i use is from one of the best websites ever to be created, but i shall post my version of it here.  thank you laylita.


llapingachos.

ingredients.
5 russets, peeled and cut into chunks
2 T achiote oil (i will explain this in a post soon i promise)
1/2 of a white onion, finely chopped
salt to taste
1 c shredded monterey jack cheese

directions.
1.  boil the potatoes in salted water until a fork easily goes into them.
2.  saute the onions in the oil over medium-high heat until the onions are soft (perhaps 5 minutes).
3.  mash together the onions and potatoes til you get orange mashed potatoes! let it sit for about an hour.
4.  form the potates into balls perhaps the size of a plum.  make a hole in the center, fill it with cheese, then seal the hole.  squoosh the balls into little round patties.  let them rest in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.
5.  heat up a nonstick skillet but don't oil it.  cook the llapingachos until browned on both sides.  they can be finicky.  i will bestow what advice i have.  let them sit for about 5 minutes before even touching them.  then when you want to flip them, make a quick, smooth jab under them because the delicious crispy brown part has a  tendency to want to stay on the pan.  let em sit on the other side and put em right onto your plate!  they are kind of like muffin batter....you want to mess with it as little as possible for best results.


BEHOLD.

one had more success than the other in retaining the crispy part.

so, as you can see, i like to eat my llapingachos with a fried egg.  they are also usually served with rice (ecuadorian style, of course), but my impromptu llapingacho making necessitated some TJ's harvest grain blend as there was no white rice to be found.  i did adapt it for ecuadorian style preparation though!  also, this dish is perfect with avocado slices.

i provide you the evidence of the rice and avocado from a previous
llapingacho-making voyage that was poorly documented with my
computer camera.

oh and by the way, one of the other reasons llapingachos are like gold is that ladies all over the place just have these outdoor cooking carts set up where they make and sell this meal (llapingachos, rice, beets, fried egg) for like 70 cents.  


i should mention, for those of you who didn't learn spanish, that llapingachos is pronouced like yah-ping-GAH-chose.

kolaches.

(something terrible is happening with the line breaks and i can't fix it.  i'm sorry for the ugly.)


you probably don't know what kolaches are unless you're from texas.  which is funny, because they're czech.  you might be able to find kolaches (kuh-LAH-cheez) in other parts of the country, but even if you do, i bet they aren't like the texas one.  these are a very specific blend of cultures and cuisines...think tex-mex...tex-czech?


anyways, i haven't had a kolache in my mouth since i moved away from houston eight years ago.  I WAS REALLY CRAVING KOLACHES.  thankfully, i found this absolutely amazing blog that provided a solution to my problem.  now, i've been eyeing this kolache recipe for a few months but it just seemed so intense with the whole yeast dough thing.  but i finally built myself up to it and i did it.  i made kolaches.  and i am so happy i did.


now, usually i adapt recipes to my own liking, but i'm not going to lie.  i almost word-for-word used the recipe from Homesick Texan.  so, i'll put it down here, but i want to give credit to the original source.


kolaches.


ingredients.
1 package of active dry yeast
1 cup of warm milk
1/4 cup sugar
3 cups of all-purpose flour
2 eggs
3/4 cup of melted butter
1 teaspoon of salt


directions.
1.  in a large bowl, combine yeast, warm milk, sugar and one cup of flour. cover and let it rise until doubled in size.
2.  beat together eggs, 1/2 cup of melted butter (reserve 1/4 cup for brushing on the pastry) and salt.
3.  add egg mixture to yeast mixture and blend.
4.  stir in about two more cups of flour, 1/2 cup at a time. the dough should be soft and moist.
5.  knead dough for about 10 minutes on floured surface. don't worry, it’s a joy to knead as the dough is smooth and highly malleable.
6. put dough in a greased bowl and let rise covered until doubled in size—about an hour.
7. after dough has risen, punch it down and pull off egg-sized pieces. in your hands, roll pieces into balls and then flatten to about three inches in diameter. brush with melted butter.  if you are making jalapeno cheddar kolaches, place some cheese and jalapeno in the center of each piece, roll it up, seal the edges, and place seam-down on the cookie sheet.
8.  place flattened and/or rolled pieces on a greased cookie sheet, cover and let rise again for another half-hour.
9.  to make fruit-filled kolaches: after second rising, with your finger gently make an indention in the center of the dough (be careful not to flatten it too much) and fill with one tablespoon of fruit filling (recipe to follow) and sprinkle with posypka (recipe to follow).
10.  ake in oven at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. serve warm.


i decided to make two types of kolaches: apricot and jalapeno cheddar.  the jalapeno cheddar ones are self-explanatory and use shredded cheddar cheese and the pickled jalapenos from the jar (cut them into smaller pieces first).


here is the recipe for the apricot filling (you could use any dried fruit).




apricot filling.


ingredients.
1/2 pound of dried apricots
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t lemon zest


directions.
1.  soak the dried fruit in water for a few hours (i put them in water as i started the dough).
2.  when fruit is re-hydrated, cook on low for 15 minutes with cinnamon and lemon zest.
3.  mash with a potato masher until you have a puree.




posypka.

ingredients.
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
directions.
1.  mix all ingredients until crumbly.


so these were a grand success if i do say so myself.  i think i liked the jalapeno ones better, but that could just be because i was craving those more.  hopefully this can hold me over for a few more weeks until i build up the courage to make them again!

apricots!

jalapeno cheddar surprise!!

this is what happens when i turn my back for five minutes.
gypsy's face full of flour gave her away.

a journey to ecuador.

i did it again.  i abandoned my internet friends.  but this time i have a really good excuse.  I WAS IN ECUADOR.

ecuador is my favorite place in the world.  i spent a semester studying abroad there and have been itchin' to get back ever since.  enter Darwin Animal Doctors.  basically, i was volunteering with some ecuadorian veterinarians down on galapagos islands giving free treatments to any animals who needed it!  but that is longer story for another time.

one of the MANY reasons ecuador is my favorite place in the world is the food.  boston, for all its wonderful food offerings, is totally, one hundred percent, lacking in the ecuadorian food department.  i did manage to learn to make some things during my two years back in boston, but going back to ecuador and eating everything in its perfect authentic setting was a dream come true.  (literally, i dream about food.  whatevs).

so get ready for a photojourney through the food of ecuador!  oh, and most of the time i forgot to take a photo until i had already started eating, so i apologize for the many half-eaten meals!

jose, the vet for isabela island, had a lovely wife who made
lovely meals three times a day!  cheese empanadas?
banana empanadas anyone?

paco, the vet for santa cruz island, has the best
improvisation skills i've ever encountered.  he whipped
this up for lunch at his house one day.

we all know that almuerzo means lunch in spanish.  in
ecuador, almuerzo specifically means that you pay $2 for
whatever the restaurant is serving that day.  it comes with
soup, main course, juice, and sometimes dessert!
here we have rice, beets, llapingachos (cheesy fried
potato patties), and a fried egg (instead of meat).

wonderful ladies sell delicious cheese empanadas on
the street.

they also sell grilled plantains.

totally unexpectedly i had one of the best salads i've
ever had.  ecuador is NOT known for its salads.

lets talk about patacones.  they are made from plantains
when they are still green (not black like the sweet ones).
you fry em, then smoosh em, then fry em again.
better than french fries.

menestra is a staple of ecuadorian cooking and one of my
absolute favorite foods.  i usually make it with lentils, but
was served the pinto bean version the majority of this trip.
always served with rice and i mix the crap outta it.

oh and i usually get a fried egg with it too!

this water kills me.  babies don't drink water.

naranjillas.  you can't find them in boston (maybe even
the US, who knows).  but they are the source of my
FAVORITE juice.  it is normal to have homemade juice
with every meal.

i went to visit my host mom (the BEST cook in all of
ecuador!) and she totally pulled this one out of thin air.
fried tilapia and cauliflower (i used to eat fish back when
i lived with her...i bit the bullet and just ate it.  truth).

perfect breakfast that i am going to make all the time.
scrambled eggs with green plantains, bell peppers,
onion, and cheese!

something when terribly wrong with their translation.
"popes join themselves sea breams, with sauce of meat,
fréjol, cheese."

but i did end up ordering a veggie burrito that was
particularly nicely presented.

i love street food.  stopped at a gas station
and bought these fried dough things
from a guy in the parking lot.  didn't
even have to leave the car.

you can also just yell what you want out your window to
the fruit guy and buy it that way too.

drinking a coconut!

oh batidos.  when ecuadorians are feeling
a little fancier than juice, they blend the
fruit with milk instead of water.  we might
call this a milkshake (no ice cream).  and i
drink them ALL THE TIME in ecuador.

we had a dog come in who had been gored by a wild pig.
after sewing all his guts back into his belly (he lived!), the
owner took us up to his coffee farm and showed us the
whole process.  from left to right the beans go from just
the way you pick em to roasted and ground.  pretty cool way
to get paid, considering we give free services!

SO.  there you have it.  a tiny sampling of the delicious wonders of ecuador.  soon i will teach you all how to make some of these wonders.  get excited, because your life is about to change in the best way possible.