This is how the car looked after the ride home yesterday through the mud roads in San Pedro. I tried to upload this yesterday and my connection wasn't good. So, this picture goes with yesterday's story.
Today's chapter is about my cooking experience. My grandpa loves going to the country when he comes. I think he remembers when they used to do everything by scratch. No...already prepared packages to buy in the store!
Anyway, well Oscar took his mom and Dolores to the doctor’s and I stayed home with 6 little cousins/grandkids to cook for. Remember, this is San Pedro…it is the country! Cooking styles are very different than the city. The oldest girl, Deborah, 17, killed 2 chickens. (I wasn’t about to do that!) She knew how to grab them (Edson thoroughly enjoyed the chicken hunt as the girls ran around trying to grab the squawking things), kill them and take the feathers off the chicken, but never cut one up…that was my job. Usually we get the “nice” plump ones at the supermarket with no innards inside. This one had all the guts still in it, it was still warm, and it was very skinny. Its corn breakfast was still in the neck! I started cleaning, cutting and washing each piece, trying not to think that it was a little bit gross. The animals (cats and dogs) were waiting for any little waste we would throw to them as we cleaned the chickens. We quickly prepared Vori-vori – polenta ball, chicken soup…OVER COALS! Working over the hot fire and blowing to keep the flame going was challenging since the charcoal wasn’t real good and kept burning out. That worried me a bit because a farm chicken has to be boiled a lot longer or the meat will be tough. Our meal had to be done by 11:45 since the girls go to school in the afternoon session. Thankfully I had MANY babysitters who took care of holding Edson and we soon got our soup boiling.
The next step was to make Vori-vori…little polenta balls. Since I came from the city I expected to have the polenta already ground. In the country…you have to make your own! The girls were experts at that, also and already had the corn seed boiling over a campfire and were soon grinding and sifting it. The polenta is mixed with farmer’s cheese, an egg, and some of the broth. After mixing it well, little balls are formed and set aside. When the soup is almost done, you add the balls, boil an extra 5 minutes and it is done…it was 11:45! We made it.
After lunch the cool air was settling in and I smelled like a burning log since I was working over fires all day long, I decided to leave the cleaning up to the girls and took off to clean myself up and sleep a siesta.
The next step was to make Vori-vori…little polenta balls. Since I came from the city I expected to have the polenta already ground. In the country…you have to make your own! The girls were experts at that, also and already had the corn seed boiling over a campfire and were soon grinding and sifting it. The polenta is mixed with farmer’s cheese, an egg, and some of the broth. After mixing it well, little balls are formed and set aside. When the soup is almost done, you add the balls, boil an extra 5 minutes and it is done…it was 11:45! We made it.
After lunch the cool air was settling in and I smelled like a burning log since I was working over fires all day long, I decided to leave the cleaning up to the girls and took off to clean myself up and sleep a siesta.
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