Virtual SA: Guatemala...Coffee...Coffee..and More Coffee

 

This is why the whole place smells like a great coffee shoppe today!

Guatemalan Coffee from Antigua.

Said to be the second best coffee in the world...and that encompasses a LOT of coffee.

Start with the green coffee beans...you can buy them here...

https://www.gilliescoffee.com/green-coffee-guatemala-antigua

and roast them yourself.

It only requires a skillet (...I used iron...) and a metal whisk...and a really good exhaust fan on your range.

Tutorial

https://youtu.be/cEbMNpKqWL0

At around 10 minutes you will have first crack and should have a light roast.

A few more minutes and you will have a medium roast, which is how I like mine.

Longer and you will hear a second crack  and your beans will be darkly roasted.

Let them cool...fresh roasted coffee is hot.

At this point it will be obvious why you need a good exhaust fan...and your entire house will smell amazing.

After cooling, scoop a small amount into a coffee grinder...electric is fine.

Grind to your specifications and you can use this is a coffee-maker...or a pour-over ( which I find vastly superior).

There you have it.

Quite possibly the best cup of coffee you've ever tasted!

And we will finish Guatemala soon with 

The Volcano Hike

A two day and overnight trek up the side of a live volcano!

(...with "Beans"...remember "Beans"???)

Until then....

Memorial Day...Sisters Day...Spring Brunch...Kayleb's Celebration and Gardening

 

Beginning the day with a hot cup of coffee and a slice of Kayleb's Graduation Fudge Cake...and maybe a dollop of vanilla bean ice cream in the coffee.

Although Graduation proper isn't until next Friday, we celebrated early with pizza and a double layered fudge cake and chat...and talk of college...and future...and dreams.

Dreams of starting out.

Last, a very people-y week...Don and I and our Spring Brunch on Tuesday with Chinese and chat and speculation about Richardson and football this season...and damn...when did we get so old...lol.

Sisters Day and laughter and chat...did we REALLY eat that whole pan of brownies???? And planning June's with all things strawberry!

And Sunday, with Kayleb over.

Today I am officially peopled out.

Somewhere, between here and there, I managed to get the flowers bought and planted.

Tah Dah!

My hummers are back and they just love the red petunias!  Must get their feeder up soon.

The newest planting for me is Celosia...which is related to the stiff cockscomb flower.  These are feather-tips and are not so rigid. I found them in yellows...oranges and reds...so the patio is a fiesta of colors.

Today is all about relaxation.

I have pulled-pork to simmer in BBQ sauce, baked beans and corn on the cob.

Aside from watering the plants and collecting the rubbish for Amber...nothing but a hot bubble bath, a nap, and maybe starting a new painting on the agenda.

Started the day with coffee and John.

Life is good.

Happy Memorial Day!

"Let the RELAXING begin!!!"

                                      Gadget

SA: Guatemala...Chocolate Museum

 

Guatemala is known as The Birthplace of Chocolate.

The Mayans created chocolate bars long before their commercialization and drink.

It was known as The Food of the Gods.

(...some of us still feel that way...)

Today we will explore ChocoMuseo.

The chocolate museum is interactive...and we will be creating our own masterpieces to enjoy later.

Slightly pricey..the bean to bar tour in Antigua is about 220 USD.

Today this is virtual...so aside from the cost of the chocolate and mix in ingredients...FREE.

Complete Tour

https://youtu.be/kPyJTaHOiSM

Our Guatemalan chocolate is much different than what we are used to in the states. It is very dark...80%...less sugar...and processed to withstand the high heat and humidity.

You know how good chocolate melts with body heat.

Not so with this chocolate.

A high melting point is a must when the temperatures can easily reach over 100.

 

We also learn how to use the pre-roasted shells of the cacao beans to make a tea with honey and chilies.

 Or infused with mint or vanilla.

You can try it yourself, here...

https://www.amazon.com/Cacao-Tea-Loose

The mix-ins for the chocolates are varied. 

Nibs...jimmies...fruits and my favorite, nuts!

Yes, even gummy bears.

They even offer a mini-workshop for the kids.

This is priced more reasonably at 25 USD per child.

And mine...

Mixed in cashews and almonds with mine.

Very nice and the chocolate has a slight taste of chilies, too.

 

 

Next, we will will check out a coffee plantation and some Guatemalan coffee!

 

Sofi

 

Lost my beautiful Sofi-Cat this week.

Sometimes there just aren't enough tears.

Or time...

 

 

A Covid-Filled Week...Mothers Day and Quarantine.

 Yeah....

This was John's 2 days after the Memorial for Rick.

 Two day's later his son tested positive.

I tested, and came back negative.

Went about my business this week, and out Wednesday to take care of bank and bills, groceries and lunch out & such.

Oh...and get Covid for Mother's Day.

Started feeling bad, Friday...and really rough by 3 AM with fever and chills...Tested positive this morning and feel like someone has beaten me...and soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired. 

So, now into quarantine for 10 days...hoping before the end to play in the plants and resume some Spring Cleaning.

Have a T-Bone, Morels, Peppers & Onions, Corn on the Cob and ice cream for dessert when I'm feeling better...so there is THAT to look forward to!

 

Very lucky and still have my sense of smell..for now.

Anyway, John is much better and stronger today...Robert is getting there...and me??? Well, I'm headed toward another nap.

(...think I'm turning into a cat...)

Wishing everyone a Happy Mothers Day!

Love,

Carla and Sofi...

 

May...A King and Queen...The Run for The Roses...and More

 

And why has Chuck got the Holy Hand Grenade????

(...come on..admit it....it was your first thought, too...)

Watched highlights of the Coronation yesterday because it is probably the only one I will see in my lifetime...and it is history. 

Whether you are happy about it or not...

They are now King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

(...and to all you Diana-philes out there...you seriously need to get a life...to answer your question about WHAT she thinks about Camilla being crowned Queen...she doesn't THINK a damned thing...she has been dead for nearly 26 years....)

But the pomp and show was beautiful...the turnout was incredible...a truly once in a lifetime event.

Face it...this guy was damned if he did and damned if he didn't.

 At least he showed up.

The press was on about him being solo.

Trust me, if he had been accompanied by Meghan and his children they would have had something negative to say about that.

Soon after the Coronation he left back to the states for his son's birthday...and to be with his family.

They had plenty to say about that.

Haz, you don't owe them an effing thing.

And yesterday was Derby Day!

Where the mint juleps flowed...

  And both men and women wore crazy hats...

Celebrities abound.

Including Mahomes who actually gave the "Riders Up" this year!

There wasn't a dry eye in the house when Cody's Wish won the earlier Churchill Downs race.

And then MAGE won the Kentucky Derby...at 15 to 1 odds!!!

(...I had picked #5...a gray roan...at the first turn he was dead last...and I think by the end he had wandered off into the infield to graze...okay...not really...but STILL pretty bad...)

On a semi-related note:  I did a thing this week because I was sick of my willy-nilly strands of gray hair...and....well I might have picked a mahogany coloring that makes my hair color exactly that of Cody's Wish now...

Maybe a bit too deep reddish brown for me.

I'll darken it later....no gray, though.

John and I lost two friends this week...it has been tough.

Life, it seems, is a crap-shoot.

Charlcie fell earlier, and succumbed to her injuries.

Rick had a massive heart attack and died while shopping.

Rick's Memorial was Thursday.

 And Charlcie's will be early next week.

Wednesday we had an early celebration of 5 years together...which seems pretty amazing!!! We enjoyed Mexican, being together, and hanging out with Sofi a bit.

Just planning a restful soak in a hot bubble bath...shrimp scampi over Fettuccine Alfredo later and starting some planting next week.

I finished 

 this week.

A poignant memoir of the life of Prince Harry.

Gritty, sad, at times funny and hopeful.

An excellent read.

 

"See you later..."

                                  Gadget

Virtual SA: Guatemala- Antigua

 

 

Tour

https://youtu.be/907_8dRquPQ

 

In the early 16th Century...this small colonial Spanish town was the capital of Guatemala.

The earthquake of 1773 changed all that...and Guatemala City became the new center, but Antigua was rebuilt and is one of the safest and most popular tourist spots in Guatemala, today.

The name means Old Guatemala.

Come...let's explore!

We will start here...

The Santa Catalina Arch.

Now a tourist photo opportunity...the arch once was a walkway for nuns to cross over to school without being exposed to the streets below.

All of the streets here are cobblestone and the buildings are brightly colored.

Three live volcanoes form the backdrop to the town.

(...later...we will take a hiking trek up the largest...shown here...)

Best known for its churches...and ruins of churches...but also beautiful beaches.

Reportedly some of the best in Guatemala...and numerous. There are said to be so many beaches in Antigua that one could go to a beach every day of the year and never go to the same one twice.

Beaches

https://theculturetrip.com/caribbean/antigua-barbuda/articles/the-most-beautiful-beaches-in-antigua/

And shoppes and museums...in fact our next visit is to The Museum of Chocolate!

Where, not only can we learn about the history of chocolate-making in the area, but we can make and eat some ourselves!

Until then...