Piña colada in Manuel Antonio

I'll add more later, but this was easily the best piña colada I've ever had!

Dulce marzo cafe in Monteverde, CR

Oatmeal raisin cookie (homemade) with an iced cinnamon latte. Stephanie, Rebecca and I stopped in here one day during our weekend trip and we were pleasantly surprised to find tasty baked goods and quesadillas, plus good coffee drinks! The owner is a lady from Texas (been meeting a lot of those lately). We sat and chatted with her for awhile. This was after...? Our morning of ziplining, which I can't believe I did!! Anyway, I also got a peanut butter cookie. They are so delicious when made right, and this one was perfect, with little sugar crystals on top. I went back on our way out of town and got another :)

This was my last excursion outside of the city, and it was my favorite.

Iced caramel mocha and Apple cinnamon cake

My last day in Manuel Antonio, CR. I went to this neat cafe called cafe milagro. Tasty! But touristy. It was a nice treat after walking in the HOT sun :)

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Manuel Antonio was the second vacation we took outside of San Jose. There's really not much to do in San Jose so we were gone pretty much every weekend, especially the two long weekends we had, in order to explore the parts of Costa Rica that people *really* go there to see. Manuel Antonio proved to be a beautiful, although extremely touristy, place to visit. During the time that it's not raining, the beaches are beautiful and the water is perfect for wave jumping! :D I didn't even encounter a jelly fish.

Rebecca and I arrived Friday morning and met Gina, Miranda, Alex and some other people from our program. Rebecca and I went to have some lunch, which involved the frosty pina colada I've posted about, and then ran into the ocean! It was great fun but the waves were pretty powerful which meant some violent crashes to the head. Once the waves started to defeat me, I got out. Don't wanna mess with the sea!

The next day we went into the Manuel Antonio national park, which has quite a few hiking trails that lead to beaches, for the most part. The first beach was extremely crowded, but the second beach ended up being perfect for a few people... and, as it turned out, non-people. I was visited by monkeys, giant iguanas and an anteater type creature. Not to mention all the hermit crabs!

By the end of that day I was really exhausted, so I stayed in and watched ghost stories (after catching a little bit of an episode of True Blood!) while the other ladies went out on the town. It was relaxing until Rebecca woke up at 3 AM afraid that there was a spider in our bed :-P. There probably was! Better safe than sorry. The next day we slept in a little, had a delicious breakfast at the hotel's restaurant and headed into Quepos to catch our bus. Just before it was time to leave I took a little journey to this cafe.

Unfortunately, the burger that followed afterward in the bus station was really disgusting, turning me off from burgers pretty much for my entire stay in CR (if I'm not mistaken, it was my second burger in a year... pretty disappointing!). I'm looking forward to redeeming my burger relationship perhaps by heading to Bare Burger with Josh / Ben or making some at home...! But right about now I'd like to go back to that cafe and get a nice cold coffee drink. Mmmm.

Chalupas ticas

These chalupas were made of toasted corn tortilla (the best kind), molé de frijoles, cheese, avocado and chicken. So delicious!! This, aside from the fish our mamá tica makes, is the favorite meal of both me and Rebecca. So far.

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Since I was making ALL of these posts from my phone, I didn't have the patience to write much! So I'm going back into my posts from CR and adding some information. This dish, although simple, was definitely my favorite. Our host mom ended up making them the very last night, which made it bittersweet for me and probably for Rebecca as well. I tell you what, these little chalupas are just so tasty. And so easy to make! As we gathered around the table for our last dinner in Costa Rica, our host mom gave us goodbye gifts. It was actually very sweet, because she knew I had been looking for a flag and although I had already bought a tiny one (the big ones were so expensive!), she got me a slightly bigger one. It was nice!

And that wasn't the last of our interactions dealing with gifts... because I left a very important gift for Josh at the house when I left for the airport! So now she is going to mail it :D

I can't say I'll miss my host family experience in general, but I will miss some of the meals and stories we shared with our host mom.

Chicken and mushroom crepe with chocolate frappe

Wayyy too much food and nowhere near as good as a broccoli cheddar and mushroom crepe at Paris in Boston (+ a frozen Nutella hot chocolate), but a nice break from the traditional rice and beans to be sure! Plus... there's a frozen yogurt place next door...

Cappuccino frozen en calle de amargura

Rebecca and I went searching for the university bookstore and ended up in this cafe. Delicious! And really cool art :)

This was one of the few cafes I went to during my stay in Costa Rica. The frozen drinks were on the whole very VERY good! This place was close to school in the Calle Amargura area. There are lots of shops and sodas - bars where you can get food for pretty cheap - but unfortunately this area can get kind of shady at night so I never really saw it after 5:00 pm. This was one of the many things Rebecca and I would end up doing to kill time before going back to our house in Sabanilla, because there is absolutely nothing to do there except go to the supermarket. Which we did! If I remember correctly, this was a pretty rainy day. In fact, most days were rainy days! We were there during the Green Season (cleverly put) or the it-rains-like-hell-every-day season. Apparently it's worse in October, but I can't imagine! In any case, this was a great little find.

Costa Rican sushi

Rebecca and I were needing some sushi so we went to this place right near the uni. It was delicious! Obento número 1 came with California roll, miso soup and green tea for like 3,000 colones! Mmm. We went with a guy from Texas, who told us about getting arrested for something to do with chili...

Plátanos with queso and cinnamon, sopa, arroz

Our mamá tica made this interesting dish with baked plantains, cinnamon and cheese. What a combination! She also made soup with lentils, carrots and pork. Dinner is usually really heavy, which is hard to get used to. Rebecca and I always gather at the table wondering qué diablos (kind of like WTH, what on earth) we are going to eat at each meal. It's always a surprise, and usually tasty! We talk with our tica mom about our day at school, about life in the states, and about food :) and of course, escrappy is always waiting in case something falls...

ARENAL!

This is my pack travel food: pb and j on wheat roll, pb and apple, apple slices grapes and cheerios. There's more in my backpack.

This food is for the arenal volcano!!! PURA VIDA.

First meal in Costa Rica!

My host mom made this for me, Rebecca (from Colorado) and Juan (my host brother). There is also Escrappy, the dog, whom I love dearly. It's going to be a fun month :D

Last Tasti d lite for a month!

On my last day in the city, Ben and I walked around Central Park for hours. It was a great deal of fun, including carousel ride, lots of neat sights and unfortunately lots and lots of sweating. It started with a visit to Tasti d lite at Columbus circle. It was the perfect cool down from the hot humidity.

Then we burned off all the calories on our walk and ended up at bare burger in astoria.

I'm waiting now in JFK with Gina, getting ready to fly to Costa Rica! I'll miss the city :'( but hopefully I'll find some food adventures there too.

Obligatory Waffle House waffle

In Mt. Juliet, TN where my nephew had a baseball tournament going on. Coincidentally, my parents' hotel was only ten minutes or so from the Nashville airport, so my surprise visit ended up fitting in their schedule (more or less). Aside from airport food, this was my last memorable meal in the south. I didn't even taint it with syrup! Can't get Waffle House where I'm headed!

I actually have lots of fond memories associated with this establishment (there are two within 10 minutes of my parents' house in Knoxville so it wasn't hard to end up at one). Not the healthiest by any means but can be just the right food given the appropriate circumstances. :)

I'm making this post from the Charlotte airport, waiting on a flight to Newark and back to nyc! Just sitting here, obsessing over my flight to Costa Rica which is coming up on Monday the 28th.

Josh is currently in other parts if NC for his dad's wedding, and I wish I could see him.

Unfortunately I've got no reason to post on any food I've had today. Grosss. But hopefully my last day in nyc will produce something interesting and tasty!

White wine penne with mushrooms and multigrain French bread

This was a delicious and easy dinner that I made with the help of my mom. I made a white wine béchamel that I found in a book of sauce recipes (title of book forthcoming). My mom prepared the mushrooms and the pasta. I will edit this post later with all the details (on my phone now). Just trying not to get behind!

Just a little news!

 NPR.org » 5 Surprising Salt Sources In Food 

Menchie's fro yo in Knoxville, TN

My addiction to Tasti d lite has been quelled by this place I found in Ktown. It's self-serve and by weight. They have lots of flavors, tons of toppings, and every machine does a swirl of its two flavors. So I tested out the pomegrante and country vanilla swirl. I added dark chocolate chips, strawberries, and a fat-free brownish cube. Mmmm.

Thus yogurt is especially special because I'm here in TN for my mom's birthday. I came up with the crazy idea to hitch a ride with josh on his way to the south and detour to TN so that we could make it in time to be home when she got home from dinner. I had pizza with my stepsisters while we waited for my parents to get home, then when they arrived I hid upstairs. I called the house as my mom walked in, asking her how dinner was while I creeped down the stairs. As she was talking to me on the phone, I walked around the corner into the kitchen area, only for her to be messing with the phone in her hand and not notice me at all. I then asked her to look around Becky and she complied, although confused, and the look on her face was priceless. She said, "I have to hang up the phone now," and then it was laughing and chaos and birthday cake fun.

I owe a lot to Josh for making the surprise possible. It was a lot of driving and very little sleep, but worth it! I'll be taking her to Menchie's soon.

Menchie's fro yo in Knoxville, TN

My addiction to Tasti d lite has been quelled by this place I found in Ktown. It's self-serve and by weight. They have lots of flavors, tons of toppings, and every machine does a swirl of its two flavors. So I tested out the pomegrante and country vanilla swirl. I added dark chocolate chips, strawberries, and a fat-free brownish cube. Mmmm.

Thus yogurt is especially special because I'm here in TN for my mom's birthday. I came up with the crazy idea to hitch a ride with josh on his way to the south and detour to TN so that we could make it in time to be home when she got home from dinner. I had pizza with my stepsisters while we waited for my parents to get home, then when they arrived I hid upstairs. I called the house as my mom walked in, asking her how dinner was while I creeped down the stairs. As she was talking to me on the phone, I walked around the corner into the kitchen area, only for her to be messing with the phone in her hand and not notice me at all. I then asked her to look around Becky and she complied, although confused, and the look on her face was priceless. She said, "I have to hang up the phone now," and then it was laughing and chaos and birthday cake fun.

I owe a lot to Josh for making the surprise possible. It was a lot of driving and very little sleep, but worth it! I'll be taking her to Menchie's soon.

Midnight snack: strawberry banana Nutella smoothie

Frozen strawberries, one banana, and a tablespoon of Nutella. Plus a little more on top! Would be great with some cool whip on a summer day.

Egg and cheese croissant at Carnegie Deli

So as you may have noticed, I am a sucker for egg and cheese sandwiches, especially croissants! Josh and I went to this place a few weeks ago while awaiting the arrival of a friend, and I literally ordered the smallest thing I could, which was still enormous!! But it was fantastic. I couldn't finish it, but man I enjoyed what I could eat.

Don't eat at this place unless you have money falling out of your pockets - we regretted it when we got the bill. But like I said, very tasty!

Red velvet cupcake!

Exploring the city with Josh and his friend Eugene, we came across this cupcake shop. I can't remember the name unfortunately, but will look it up later!

Red velvet cake is a pretty difficult piece of culinary mischief because it can easily turn out dry. This was an example of defiantly dry red velvet :( However, it was a really fun evening and I should mention that we also had Tasti d lite. I think I'm an addict.

French dip and swiss at Tastee Corner

Tonight after a long evening of going stir crazy and singing too much and too loudly for anyone's good, Ben and I convinced Josh to take us to calm our hunger needs. Funnily enough, I was flaunting my blue moon bbq chicken stirfry and it made us even more hungry than we already were, leading to a serious diner attack.

Like I've said, the diners here just don't compare to Brighton Cafe, but this French dip and swiss made my night. Tastee Corner is just a few minutes' walk from Josh's apartment and they have my kind of service (don't bother you and let you hang around until you ask for the check). I could only eat half of this beasty sandwich, so I'll be enjoying a beefy, jus-y and cheesy lunch tomorrow. Fries weren't bad either :p