Happy Fathers Day!!!!
Just wanted to say happy fathers day to the best dad and dad-in-law in the world!! I love you both and can’t wait for your next visit! Have a terrific day!!!
I love a good rainstorm
In the states I used to love summer and the thunderstorms that would come. Living in La Serena, we only get about 2 or 3 rainstorms a year and no thunderstorms. We get so little rain that the town has no run off system, so when it does rain, there’s usually flooding as well. Thursday marked our first rainstorm of the year. For about the past week or so, it’s been cloudy and overcast all day. On Friday though, after the rain, it was a beautiful sunny, clear day. While I was out driving to my morning meetings downtown, I could see that the mountains were covered with a beautiful blanket of snow. We were also being blessed with the absolutely clear visibility that a rainstorm provides. To celebrate this, Steve, Leynadog and I decided to go for a hike and enjoy the outdoors. Unfortunately, the great conditions were already leaving us as we arrived for our hike, but it was still a beautiful afternoon. Now, as I am posting this on Saturday afternoon, we are in the midst of our usual winter blahs.
It’s getting chilly in Chile!
Steve and I are trying to see how long we can go without using heat, so far it’s been almost 2 years. Sometimes though, it’s colder inside than outside, so Leyna and I have to snuggle in my poncho!
You want me to put the can of beer, where?
I found this recipe on line, and decided to make it. Steve had heard of it, but I never had. It ended up making a great and easy roast chicken. I did it indoors, since it’s cold and I didn’t feel like grilling. Hope you like it too!!!
Beer Butt Chicken (from Allrecipes.com)
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons paprika
salt and pepper to taste
chiken seasoning to taste
1 (12 fluid ounce) can beer
1 (4 pound) whole chicken
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat an outdoor grill for low heat.
2. In a small skillet, melt 1/2 cup butter. Mix in 1 tablespoon garlic salt, 1 tablespoon paprika, salt, and pepper.
3. Discard 1/2 the beer, leaving the remainder in the can. Add remaining butter, garlic salt, paprika, and desired amount of salt and pepper to beer can. Place can on a disposable baking sheet. Set chicken on can, inserting can into the cavity of the chicken. Baste chicken with the melted, seasoned butter.
4. Place baking sheet with beer and chicken on the prepared grill. Cook over low heat for about 3 hours, or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C).
Here’s a pic of my done chicken sitting up
My trip to Connecticut
As many of you know, my dad brought me home for a surprise visit for mothers day, and for my sisters graduation from law school. I was home for almost 2 weeks and had a wonderful time seeing my family and friends. My sisters graduation went wonderfully, the smarty pants graduated cum laude! Karin and Adam have since then sold their house and are road tripping to Idaho to start their new life. I also got to see my friend Lauren and her new litle baby Ryan, my friend Ana and her new little baby Enrique, my friend Jaime and her 14 month old baby Julia, and my friend Janet and her 7 1/2 month old baby Ella. Cara, Joel, and I stopped in Philly for a short visit, and Janet and Alan had prepared an awesome picnic for all of us. It was fabulous seeing everyone, including my friends Laurie and John who were also there!! Some upcoming plans that Steve and I have are my parents are coming in a few weeks for a 3 week visit and my sister is coming in August for a visit as well. Here are some pics from the visit…
Mom surprised at seeing me
Hanging out at Grandmas with the family
Hanging out with Jill and the kids
My cousin Kim and her daughter Zoe and new baby Lily came for a visit and we went to Westmoor Park (which is a 4-H farm) and to the park to play
Graduation Weekend
Law School Reception
Fort McHenry and Baltimore waterfront
Baseball game, Nats lost to the Orioles
Graduation Day!!!
Philly Visit
I learned how to knit while I was home, and this is my first project. A blanket for sweet little Ryan!
A special thanks to my dad, who made this trip possible!!! It was his idea and I had a terrific time. Love you dad!!!!
Vacation Pictures!
We took far too many pictures (1300+) to share here on the blog, but we have placed a selection of them online for all to see. Click here to view our photos.
The past month…
I wish I could say that I’ve been busy at work, but that would be a lie. To all my faithful readers (if I have any left), I’m sorry that I’ve been lax in my postings. No excuses. But, what has kept me away for so long? I’m happy you’ve asked. We’ve been busy enjoying our summer and the gorgeous weather. I’ve started running again, which is a real accomplishment for me. Since I started in the middle of January, I’ve clocked in 55 miles. I’ve even started Leyna on the running kick, and we run together for a mile and a half a couple times a week. I’ve been doing things with friends- weekly mah jongg games, walking tours of La Serena, going to parties, learning to salsa dance. Also, i’ve been working on my cooking repertoire, and have been busy adding new recipes to my collection. Some of my most recent favorites include black bean patties, asian salmon and fish tacos with a papaya coconut salsa. Steve and I are also bust planning our next trip which is at the end of April- we’re going to Easter Island and then on to Tahiti for a 10 day tahitian cruise. I actually finalized our accommodations for Easter Island today- it’s always an experience speaking on the phone in spanish. Oh, and how is my spanish coming along? Well, slacker that I am, I have still not gone back to my classes yet, but I have been practicing some. The other weekend, Steve and I went to a poker tournament at our friends house where many of the players spoke only spanish so I got to practice there for about 6 hours. Why so long? Because yours truly came in second place bringing home about 40 bucks!!! Steve had a busy 2 weeks at work while he was queue coordinating and acting head of science operations. To celebrate him being done, we snuck away for a couple days to our favorite town, Pisco Elqui. We stayed in a wonderful cabana and had a truly relaxing time. Leyna dog has been doing well, though we’re busy trying to curb some of her bad habits (biting and jumping). I have also been busy hanging out with my friend JOanna, who, sadly, will be leaving at the beginning of April to move to Portland. Well, that’s enough for tonight, don’t want to blog about everything at once. Hope all is well with you, and happy days, we are now the same time as you folks on the east coast, which makes my life much easier (yeah, yeah, because it’s so hard already). Here are some pics below to enjoy!!!
Leyna dog cute as ever!
For someone who pretends to hate “those damn dirty hippies”, he has now joined their ranks!!
A few pics from La Serena walking tour
Pisco Tour
Pisco Elqui
Not only did our cabanas have a beautiful view, nice pool, masseuse, a scrumptious breakfast brought out to the veranda, but it also had a putting green!
Before I sign off, I almost forgot to mention one of the biggest highlights of the past month, my grandma turned 90!! Happy birthday again, hot stuff!!!!!
Another Fine Day
What started out as another typical Saturday turned out to be another wonderful day here in La Serena. I’m currently the queue coordinator, which means I’m in charge of planing each night’s observations and managing our suite of instruments. I’m also the acting head of science operations which essentially means I’m the big boss for a time. Anyways, that means I have to work for at least a bit on the weekend. After putting in some hours, Lisa and I went to the park to play with the puppy (she’ll always be a puppy). While we were out and about, we saw some planes flying in close formation. We kept watching them as we went back home and were treated to a wonderful airshow over the bay. We really enjoyed the acrobatics while we drank some ice cold beers on our patio. I can’t think of any more ways of rubbing it in that we are enjoying a wonderful summer while our friends and family ‘enjoy’ a wonderful winter wonderland in the US, so I’ll just end it with some pictures.
