Archives (page 12 of 19)

March 31, 2017 / 0 Comments

Five recommendations for an awesome picnic | Lifestyle

The first time I had a picnic I cycling to a busy park with a friend and a large plastic container of tuna and potato salad, and two plastic forks. Looking back on it, we hadn’t really thought out the logistics of our activity and it got very messy. My second experience was stellar. A very special school friend’s sister and friends orchestrated a beautiful picnic for her baby shower. Now I love picnics. Español aquí.

Today’s lifestyle post brings you ideas about this fun outdoor activity that you can share with the people you love. I am including some notes on how we carried out the baby shower picnic which was in Lima. I’m sorry I didn’t take any photos of the baby shower, but my battery died and I choose a bad time to live the moment. Thank you so much to Maria Grazia Peña who kindly shared the baby shower photos in the blue and white checkered cloth with me.

1. Make it pretty
Doing something out of the ordinary like sharing a meal with your friends in the park calls for making it something special and memorable. Pinterest is an excellent source to inspire you on how to decorate and set up your picnic station.

The baby shower picnic I participated had a blue and white checkered theme. For decoration we used fruit crates that we painted baby blue, white flowers in white tins and various cute baskets. We also bought blue plastic dishes and cups for the food and drinks. We went all out because it was a very special occasion for us.

2. Go somewhere nice
Think ahead and pick out where you want to carry out your picnic in advance so that you are aware of any permits or norms. I recommend choosing a park that offers safety, parking and isn’t over crowded. It’s not a bad idea to locate yourself at a walking distance from a public bathroom. The Miraflores and San Isidro districts in Lima offer nice parks and many look out onto the sea.

We learned that San Isidro don’t have a norm for picnics so you don’t require to have a permit. What you can do is deliver a letter to them letting them know about the event. I strongly recommend visiting their office to discuss it directly. Our phone calls and facebook messages with them were misleading. Of course, drinking alcohol is not permitted in public places.

3. Think finger food
Eating outside favors finger food. Petite sandwiches and healthy snacks are picnic friendly. For fruits and vegetables you should wash them in advance and cut them in a way that is easiest to eat. Lemonade and infused water are refreshing beverages for picnics. Potlucks are a fun way to share a group meal without having to bill your friends.

Baby shower snacks

My friend’s sister and friends made a beautiful spread of sandwiches, fruits and sweets. I especially liked the fruit kabobs and baby bananas. I volunteered to bring iced tea. For making the drinks cold we bought a bag of ice and added it in each cup. If you have a cooler, it’s a good time to use it.

4. Get comfortable
Bring enough blankets or mats for laying out your food and sitting your guests. Your normal beach blanket may be large enough for two friends, but after you put food on it, it probably won’t leave room for either of you. Color combination is a nice idea for making your event look handsome. If do, you can all agree to bring one color or print, or buy the same blanket or cloth for everyone. Don’t forget some pillows as you could become tired of sitting on the same flat spot.

For our baby shower picnic we took the second route and the mommy-to-be’s sister provided a large blue and white checkered cloth. As our group of twenty trickled in, the cloth because scarce, but she saved the day with roll of ultra resistant printed towels.

5. Arrive early
Plan on arriving early or designate someone for the task in order to scout out your spot and do any unplanned cleaning. If you all arrive too late, you may not find the seat you wanted.

We had to do some unplanned cleaning for our picnic, as we chose a spot with a beautiful view, but it was littered with cigarette butts and empty beer bottles.

Bonus: Be thoughtful
Be thoughtful to your guests by planning out for any accidental spills and other natural human disasters. If you are in Lima, be careful with your personal belongings and don’t leave them unwatched or laying out. You can also be a good guest to your park and remember to collect your trash. You will be an even better guest if you sort it out for recycling.

Personally, I was a little nervous about have a picnic in the park because Lima can be unsafe but we picked a park which was very nice and well guarded. We had no problems.

March 27, 2017 / 0 Comments

Recipe: Tuna fritters #PortiPerú | Video | Easy to Make

Hiya! This week’s post joins the Cookpad Peru # PortiPerú challenge to share recipes for Peruvian flooding victims that use non-perishable ingredients and don’t call for a lot of water. We propose this easy to make recipe for tuna fritters. Español aquí.

Fritters are a very simple dish that isn’t exclusive to Peruvian food. There are numerous other variations that originate in Asia and Europe, some of them are salty and others are sweet. What I like most about this recipe is that you can change the tuna filling for any one you prefer.

Making fritters brings back very special memories for me. Its flavor makes me remember being seven years old and spending the afternoon with my grandmother. She made fritters with lettuce and tomato that smelled amazing. I hope you like it!

Ingredients
1 can (170 grs with water & 120 grs when drained) of tuna
4 eggs
1 medium onion minced and browned in oil
3 tablespoons of flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil

Preparation
Add the egg whites to a bowl. Beat the whites until stiff.

Join in the yolks one by one and mix them in.

Add salt and pepper. Mix in the onion and flour.

Add the drained tuna and mix in.

Heat an oiled pan.

Add the batter with the help of a spoon.

Flip over to cook on the other side.

Repeat.

Serve with white rice, spaghetti or cooked greens.

Makes 8 to 12 fritter servings.

March 24, 2017 / 0 Comments

Five reasons to drink water | Lifestyle

Drinking at least two liters of water a day makes you pretty. If you do not believe me, here is one of various posts with before and after photos of convinced women. Most of them recommend drinking three liters of water a day. Good luck with the multiple walks to the kitchen and, promptly, to the bathroom. Español aquí.

With all that’s recently happened plus the United Nations World Water Day this week, I am convinced that water is life. We couldn’t survive without it, at least not after seven days without it as I’ve read on Wikipedia. With that in mind, here are five reasons to tote your water bottle around the office. I hope you like!

1. Makes you pretty
Our skin contains many liquids and drinking water prevents it from drying out and wrinkling in an abnormal way. The kidneys intervene so that we do not take more water than necessary but can reinforce the hydration of your skin with creams.

2. Takes care of your muscles
The lack of fluid and electrolytes causes the cells to be reduced and the muscles to become tired. Experts recommend drinking water when you do exercises to replenish fluids lost while sweating.

3. Keeps you healthy
Our body is made up of 60% water, which we use for different bodily functions such as digestion, circulation, and regulation of our temperature, among others. Drinking water replenishes this liquid and keeps us healthy.

4. Helps your kidneys
Our body fluids are like a drainage system that carries what our cells do not serve to a pair of treatment plants known as kidneys. Our kidneys need to have an adequate level of liquid to process what our body does not need.

5. Avoids constipation
Not drinking enough water causes the colon to remove fluid from the stools to hydrate and cause constipation. Drinking water makes everything flow and you avoid those problems.

March 22, 2017 / 0 Comments

Recipe: Peruvian style cheese, corn and flava bean salad | Solterito Salad | Video | Easy to Make

Solidarity was palpable during this past week of hard trials for Peruvians. So many good deeds made me feel very proud to be Peruvian. Pride reaffirms this blog’s commitment to share Peruvian food with the world – I hope – in the simplest of ways and with lots of photos! Español aquí.

That is why this week I am very happy to share this week’s Peruvian dish with you: Peruvian style cheese, corn and flava bean salad otherwise known as Solterito. For those who aren’t familiar with it, solterito is a cold dish from Arequipa. Arequipa is in both a southern region of Peru and the main city. The food from here absolutely delicious.

But coming back to the solterito, it’s traditional recipe includes flava or broad beans, peruvian corn, onions, tomato, rocoto pepper, cheese, potatoes, olives and parsley. Other variations depend on the region where you prepare. If you are not in Peru, look for andean corn and rocoto peppers in latin markets. The rocoto pepper has black hot hot seeds inside. For the fresh cheese we talked about in the our pesto recipe you can also look in latin markets or replace with feta.

Today’s recipe is based on my Nicolini recipe book, and does not include olives, although you can surely add them. What I love about this recipe is that you can eat as you want. While it is usually served as an entrée, you could add grilled meat or chicken and serve it as a hearty salad.

In Peru it is usually served with cooked potatoes, although flava beans have the same amount of carbohydrates as the potatoes. Doing that is double your share. If you are looking for a healthy option, I recommend accompanying it with fresh vegetables. I hope you like it!

Ingredients
1 cup of peeled flava beans – Before cooking the beans, remove them from this pod and the first sachet that covers them. I did it this very carefully with a knife.

1 cup of Andean corn
1 finely chopped red onion
250 grs of white cheese
2 tablespoons of finely chopped, seedless and veinless, rocoto pepper or Peruvian peppers
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Juice from 2 peruvian lemons
Finely chopped parsley leaves
Salt and ground pepper to taste

Preparation
Cook the beans in water or steam them.

They cook in about five minutes. Repeat with the corn.

Set both aside.

Bring the onion and pepper together in a bowl. Add the beans and the corn.

Add the cheese. Season with oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Add the parsley leaves. Let it sit for at least five minutes so that the peppers will cook in the lemon juice.

Serve as starter as main course. It is customary to accompany with potatoes boiled in dice. Some people enjoy it with olives.

Serves 4 to 6 servings.

March 21, 2017 / 0 Comments

United for Peru | Official Peruvian Government, Banks’ and Channels’ Campaigns

Since last week when I shared some campaigns to help our brothers and sisters affected by massive rains, floods and landslides in Peru, many other public and private initiatives have begun to take place. I’d probably spend all day trying to list them as they are so many, and though they all deserve recognition for their invaluable initiatives today’s post will try to keep it short. Español aquí.

Today I’d like to follow up and share information about the government’s official campaign as well as a list of private institutions you can collaborate with from Peru and abroad – I consider these the most transparent because they are banks and television channels. Together, we can become one single force.

Peruvian Government
As I had previously shared, the Peruvian Government’s official campaign for this emergency is called #UnaSolaFuerza and through this site you can keep informed about safety recommendations, collection points for donations, and actions from different government institutions.

Banks
The Red Cross and the Banco de la Nación
The organization is receiving donations through its account with the national bank organization, where they also receive monetary donations from abroad. They are also collecting food, household items and cleaning supplies in the areas indicated in Lima.

The NGO ADRA Peru and the Banco de Crédito del Perú
BCP has partnered with the NGO ADRA Peru to enable the receipt of monetary donations from through its mobile application or directly to the organization’s accounts.

The NGO is also receiving donations from abroad. Click here for more information.

The NGO CARE Peru and Interbank
CARE Peru is also receiving cash donations to their Interbank bank account, where they also take donations from abroad.

The CARE group has enabled this site for donating clean water or hygiene kits. They also receive monetary donations from Peru and abroad to their Interbank, BCP and Scotiabank accounts.

#UnaSolaFuerza and BBVA Continental bank
Through its “Unidos por el Perú” campaign, BBVA Continental Bank has also enabled its mobile banking platform and a bank account to receive donations in benefit of #UnaSolaFuerza.

Channels
TV Peru
The government channel supports the #UnaSolaFuerza campaign and this link shares information about more ways to support, not only from Lima but also from Piura, Chiclayo and Trujillo and Ica.

Latina
The Latina channel receives physical donations outside the channel in Jesús María.

America Television
The América Televisión channel also receives physical donations on its channel in Santa Beatriz. For more information click here.

Panamericana Television
Panamericana, together with the ADRA organization, are also receiving donations for their #PorElPerú Juntos campaign on their channel in Santa Beatriz.

RPP
The RPP radio and television group and other organizations such as the Municipality of San Isidro, have joined to help collect donations with Caritas of Peru through their “Peru da la mano” campaign. Information for Caritas here.