Te-where?

Tegucigalpa!

Yup, that's where I currently am!

Have Dog, Will Travel

Went skating on the canal again yesterday. The conditions were much better than last time and I managed to complete the run all the way to the Hartwell Locks and back (12km). It was a picture perfect day with the sun shining gloriously throughout the daylight hours.

Speaking of picture perfect, I wonder what this little guy was thinking?

See You in the Spring!

Ha!

These were taken on the fifteen minute walk between the canal and home. I wonder how many (temporarily?) abandoned bikes there are citywide....

Forays into Brazilian Baking - Part I

I have discovered that there is a reason why I am a bureaucrat and not, oh, say a caterer specialising in Brazilian sweets....

It all started a few weeks ago, when we began preparing for our Carnaval Bash. My goal was to serve a totally Brazilian menu. I started trolling my cookbooks and the internet several weeks in advance and within a few days, the menu was set: brigadeiro (cannot believe that wikipedia has an English entry for this totally Brazilian chocolate/condensed milk chocolate ball), beijinhos (whoa - wiki has this coconut ball sweet listed as well!), docinhos de uva (take that wiki - I have something that you don't with these pastry covered grapes), bolo de macaxeira (cassava cake) and an eggplant and pepper salad being the show stealers. May the preparations begin!

Docinhos de Uva
First we tried to make the docinhos de uva. A simple recipe, found in abundance on the net. There are only five ingredients -

1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 Tablespoons powdered milk
1 teaspoon butter
grapes
crysalised sugar (preferably green!)

- and four steps -

1. Mix the condensed milk, powdered milk and butter in a pan and place on low heat until the mixture comes to a low boil and starts to lift off the bottom of the pan when stirred. Stir constantly.
2. Remove from the heat, let cool.
3. Once cool, shape the mixture into small balls and then wrap around each grape.
4. Roll in the crystalised sugar and place in individual mini pastry cups.

- Pretty easy eh? Claro! -- provided you read the recipe properly! Our main error was adding, well, a 1/2 pound of sugar to the condensed milk concoction, when in fact we were actually supposed to roll the balls in the sugar at the end of the process. We all know that Brazilians have sweet teeth - but really, it was too much sugar! Opa! Somehow, though, people still seemed to really like them, so I imagine that were they to be made properly next time, they would be truly wonderful.

Next stop: Bolo de Macaxeira....

Long Time, No Skate

Four years, to be precise!

Taking advantage of the fact that i) despite being in full winter mode since mid-November, the city finally managed to get the Rideau Canal flooded and groomed for skating by late January (hurray!); ii) I had a couple hour lull in Saturday's schedule; and iii) it wasn't human-popsicle inducing weather, I finally managed to lace up my skates and head to the canal for an 8km spin. Turns out that much of Ottawa had the same brilliant idea! Despite the crowds, though, I had a good run from Laurier to the Bank Street Bridge and back. I would have gone further, but the conditions between Bank & Bronson were appropriately labelled "poor". After a few metres battling the bumps, ruts and faults, I decided to cut my losses and turn back.

Overall, it was a snowy but good introduction back to the Rideau skating routine. Amazingly enough, my muscles aren't even too sore today!

Happy Carnaval!

It's Carnaval 2008. Except instead of shaking it down in Olinda and Recife as I did for the past two years, this year's rendition was spent in Ottawa, bracing myself against the ice & snow. In order to not let Carnaval pass by totally unnoticed, we did organise a small costumes & caipirinhas party for Saturday night. Let's just say that many many limes sacrificed their round green lives for the occasion (fortunately, we recently discovered that the Chinese grocers around the corner sell limes for half the price of our local super market. And as we all know, half price = twice as many limes!). In addition, the small-fortune investment that I made in Carnaval masks also paid off, as everyone who came to the do was able to adorn themselves with a bit of holiday glitter. Still, it was a bit of a culture shock:

How Brazil Celebrates Carnaval: Dancing in the Streets!


How Ottawa Celebrates Carnaval: Massive Ice Sculptures during Winterlude!


Okay, I do admit that the ice sculptures are pretty cool! It's just that its hard to dance if you are a frozen popsicle!