Sopa de Frijoles

My main mission in Honduras, after visiting my friends, etc., was to learn how to make a bunch of Honduran food.  I love Honduran food myself, but my husby really loves it and misses it after months and months of American food (or Indian food or Chinese food or any other food that's not Honduran).  I remember those days in Honduras, when I would crave something like couscous or Kraft Mac and Cheese - things that were non-existant in Honduras.  I'd find myself in the only air-conditioned restaurant in Choluteca: Wendy's.  Yup, the fast-food chain.  Wendy's never tasted as yummy as it did in Honduras!

So, I figured I could share a few of my attempts at re-cooking the Honduran food I cooked in my Honduran sister's kitchen.  First on the list was Sopa de Frijoles (Red Bean Soup).  Hondurans eat a lot of soup, which surprised me since it's so hot.  It took me a while to become accustomed to eating hot soup when it was 100* out.  However, back home in Maryland it is NOT 100* right now so Sopa de Frijoles sounded just right.

The only annoying part from this entire experience was hubsters trying to tell me what to do and insisting that he knew how to cook it - even though I'm sure he can count the minutes he's spent in the kitchen on one hand.

So, here's the recipe (although like a true Honduran, there is no measuring...so just go with your gut!):




One serving of soup - I love the eggs so I put lots of them in - it is not normal


Sopa de Frijoles

1. First, sort the beans.  I used small red beans but you can only find these in Latino stores and they are usually imported from El Salvador.  They are very different from kidney beans.  You might be able to use black beans but I've never tried it.  Even if you buy the beans and they are packaged it's a good idea to sort them and pick out ones that look funny or are cracked or shrivelled.
2. After you have a good amount of beans (maybe two cups or so, depending how many days you want to eat soup), wash them in cold water.  You'll notice a few beans that float to the top - these are bad beans so just pick them out and throw them away.  I have no idea why they are bad, but I follow directions and throw them out.
3. Start boiling the water - a big pot full.
4. When the water is BOILING, add the beans.  If you add beans before the water is boiling they shrivel and never fill out again.
5. After you add the beans, cut up large chunks of garlic.  I put about 2-3 cloves in and cut each clove in half or so.  I really only do this because hubster hates garlic and I need to be able to see it so I can throw it away before he realizes it's in there.  If you like garlic you can mince it or whatever.
6. Cook the beans until they are nice and soft.  This usually takes 1-2 hours, depending on how many beans you decided to cook.  Keep adding water so that it remains about the same as when you started - you can usually tell because a ring of dried bean juice sticks to the pot.
7. When the beans are almost soft, add salt.  If you add the salt at the beginning it makes the beans kinda tough so wait until they are almost done.  You can add as much or as little salt as you like, but if you want real Honduran beans, you need to add a lot of salt.  I added about 1-2 tablespoons.
8. Stir the beans very softly - they are delicate and will break.
9. Continue to boil the beans.
10. Cut up some onions (maybe 1/4 or so), green peppers (I'd say about about half), and cilantro (as much as you want).  I cut the vegetables into large chunks, like juilienned, but you can cut them up however you like.
11. Now, pour all the bean water into another pot and put in some cooked beans (maybe two cups or so depending on how much water you have - I'd say put in about 1/4 of the beans that you have).  If pouring the water is too annoying, you can do what I did - I removed the beans from the water and put them in the fridge.
12. The beans that you don't use in the soup can then be eaten separately - I like to make refried beans out of them.  Sopa de fijoles is mainly the bean broth, not necessarily a tons of beans.  This is why you remove most of the beans and eat them later, you want mainly broth for the soup.
13. Continue heating up the bean water and add the onions, green peppers, and cilantro.
14. When the bean water is boiling, add "especias" or cumin, black pepper, and dried oregano.  In Honduras this is called Comino con Pimiento but it's the same thing.
15. Then beat one or two eggs and pour it into the boiling bean water.  When the egg is cooked (looks similar to the eggs in egg drop soup), crack a few eggs over the soup so that they poach in the soup.  I usually make sure that each person that is eating gets a whole egg.  Then continue to boil the soup until the eggs are cooked.
16. Eat up the soup!  Usually you put some rice on the bottom of a bowl (I made Honduran rice, but that recipe is for another day), then put some beans and veggies from the soup along with an egg, then scoop out the water and fill the bowl with the broth.



That is the poached egg - my favorite part!  The yolk is cooked all the way through.



I'm not sure how complicated that sounds, but it's not really too difficult.  It just takes a while because the beans take a while to cook.  However, after that, it goes pretty fast.  Plus, you have an entire container of yummy beans to eat at a later time.

Feel free to email me with any questions - and sorry for the poor quality photos - I am not a very good photographer!

Life as a Honduran Wife

Life in Honduras, for women, is very different from that of men.  That's just a fact - maybe it's a bit different in the major cities, but in little ol' Yusguare, there is no such thing as equal roles.  It's traditional, traditional, traditional.

In all honesty, sometimes it's relaxing.  Here in the U.S. I sometimes feel confused by what I want and what I was taught to want and what society wants - I've spent my entire life educating myself and working hard to succeed professionally.  This felt great until I realized I also wanted a family. - I can't work and stay home and take care of my (future) kids.  Now that I'm married - life has become more confusing.  The drive I have at work is competing with the drive I have to create a home for my husband.  At times all I want is to have kids and stay home with them and not think about daycare and working until 7pm and missing out on their childhood and having another person raise them more than myself.  Other days I want to learn more and work hard and touch people's lives.  Yes, living in my head is confusing!

However, in Honduras it is simple.  I know exactly what my role is in Honduras - and I'm fine with that because I only have to do it for a short period of time

So, here is what my average day was like in Honduras:

1. Wake up at around 6:30am.

2. Soak clothes in bucket with detergent.

3. Make breakfast with Heydi (Honduran sister) for family (including my husband).

Baleadas - a traditional Honduran breakfast food
(toasted flour tortilla with beans, eggs, avocado, and Honduran sour cream)
Yum-a-licous!!

 4. Clean up dishes.

5. Wash clothes by hand in pila.

This is the pila - where the water is (no running water in the house).
One side is a wash board for washing clothes (we also wash the dishes here) and the other side is the shower - the middle is a big cement basin of water.

6. Sweep and mop house.

7. Take a shower and get dressed.

8. Get started on lunch.

Pollo guisado - this is one of Ivan's favorite.  If I make it this weekend I'll be sure to take photos!

 9. Clean up lunch.

The kitchen gets dirty really quickly and in about 5 seconds everything is covered in ants.
Not pleasant.

10. Visit with friends.

Every afternoon I headed off to visit old friends - this is Dinora, one of the health center nurses I worked with when I lived there.

11. Relax for a bit.

My favorite place to relax is the hammock.  Trust me - after all that work, a short cat-nap in a hammock does a lot to revive you!

12. Start cooking dinner.

Usually dinner is a small meal with less preparation than lunch, but this particular night I was teaching everyone how to make lasagna - lots of effort and we had to turn the stove on which made it extra hot (it's already like 95* without the oven), hence my shorts and tank top.

 13. Clean up after dinner and spruce up house.

14. Take another shower.

15. Go to church (if there is a church event that night).

Heydi is Baptist and they have a lot more nightly activities than the Catholic church.  On this particular night it was a Youth Service where the youth competed in activities (like being able to recite as many Bible versus before a match goes out).  You always put on your Sunday best for church - I had to borrow Heydi's as I didn't bring any of my "best" clothes.

16. Come home and go to bed (after watching numerous novelas).

17. Repeat the following day.


And although that probably sounds so horrible to many of you, I actually loved it.

I loved knowing what my role was and fulfilling it.
I loved the simple routine of it all.
I loved cooking and cleaning with my Honduran family.
I loved taking care of my husband and making him proud.
I loved the feeling of completely belonging in an adopted country.
I loved actually being a Honduran wife.

However, keep in mind I was only there for TEN DAYS. 

This is what hubby did all day...

 ...tooled around on his motorcycle all day and visited friends.

I think I would have gotten really annoyed on day 11 or 12.  But luckily we didn't stay that long so I was completely content!

So, I guess that gives you an idea of what my days were like on my "vacation"!

I would just like to say...

I can't give you any juicy details because I kinda promised my hubster that I wouldn't tell the entire world really embarrassing things about him.  And although he doesn't know enough English to understand this blog, I am still a girl of my word - so no absolutely humiliating stories.

First I would like to say, before hubster arrived last year I had never really lived with a guy.  Sure, I lived with my Dad and he's a guy but that's not really the same.  And yes, I live with my brother-in-law but that's not really the same either because he is usually on his decent behavior.

So, in all my many years of life I was never exposed to men in all their glory.

Enter my little husband.

My only comment is this:

Men/boys fart and burp way more than necessary.  I mean, way more.  And I don't think it's a cultural thing - I could be wrong but I think men all across the world fart and burp way more than necessary.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Our First Christmas Together

I definitely took a long break from the blog world but I'm back with loads of photos.  In a word, Christmas was GREAT.  I know hubs was missing his family and friends and all of his Navidad traditions, but it was great spending our first Christmas together.  From now on we'll be making our own Christmas traditions - whether that's a long drive up to Vermont every year or lots of Yahtzee and Sorry, it will be something that is just ours.  I love spending the holidays at my parents' house and hope we can continue that tradition, but know that it's also important for me to be flexible and open to new ideas and traditions as they present themselves (I sound so grown-up!).

In a nutshell, our week in Vermont consisted of lots of togetherness, building fires, long chats, snow shoeing, sledding, bowling, movies, Yahtzee, Sorry, Sequence, LOTS OF FOOD, snow, dog kisses, and much more.  It was such a great week and so wonderful to spend so much quality time with my family and hubs.  Here are some photos to give you an idea of what our week was like:



All our stockings ready for Santa



The tree after Santa visited



An intense game of Sorry



The promised photo of hub's Christmas dinner of turkey and roasted potatoes with ketchup with the added food item - deviled eggs!



Let's build a fire!

 

Getting more firewood


 

Prepared for a round of sledding with my mom




Ivan's first sledding experience

 

Our favorite place - in front of the fire


 

Some snow shoeing malfunctions



Relaxing in front of the TV



Yahtzee!

  

Quality time with the dogs


As you can tell, our first Christmas together was a hit.  I loved showing him what Christmas is like in the U.S. and introducing him to loads of new activities - some fun, some not so fun.  It was great finally being together and not having to truck a tiny Christmas tree all the way to Honduras in my suitcase and putting it up in our hotel for a quick weekend get-together (which is what I did two Christmases ago).

Who knows what Christmas will be like next year and what 2011 will bring, but we had quite a year this year: Ivan's arrival to the U.S., getting married, honeymood at Hershey, my 30th birthday, getting Ivan's green card, 4th of July in Vermont, Ivan getting his first paycheck, buying tickets to visit Honduras, the birth of my niece, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and many other events I can't think of.  I am excited to see what the new year has in store for us - starting with a trip to Honduras the end of the month!

A Different Christmas

This is Ivan's first Christmas in the U.S. and our first Christmas spent together.  Although my time in Honduras spanned two Christmases I never actually stayed in Honduras for the holiday.  Christmas is such a special holiday for me that I always wanted to spend it with my family, so I came home every year for about two weeks during the holiday season.

This year we're both together and both heading up to Vermont to experience an American Christmas but I think hubs is a bit sad that he won't be spending the holiday with his family.  Although, truth be told, he never really spent the holiday with his family, he mostly went to the fiesta in town and hung out with his friends.  I guess now that he's apart from his family he feels a bit more nostalgic though and wishes for his traditional and comfortable Navidad. 

The reason I never really stayed in Honduras for the holidays was because it was never a really big holiday in there.  They typically celebrate on Christmas Eve by cooking lots of nacatamales (Honduran tamales similar to Mexican ones but much larger and filled with chicken or pork and sometimes yummy raisins in the masa) then eating them at midnight. 

Nacatamales stewing in a pot - source: Bing Images

In Yusgare, where we lived, they always had a huge fiesta in the town salon and everyone (all ages!) would head over to go dancing and mingle until the wee hours of the morning.  Although I am a huge fan of nacatamales, that wasn't a big enough draw for me to stay in town.  We usually had a Christmas exchange at the health center, which was always fun, but that was done before I left. 

This year Ivan will have none of that - we aren't making tamales and there is no fiesta in the small town in Vermont where my parents live (nor would I want to go to a fiesta even if there was one).  However, I'm still hoping that he gets into the spirit of Christmas and loves our traditions too.  I know it will take some time because if I were in his shoes, I'd be sad too, and maybe he won't love Christmas as much as I do this year or even next year, but I'm hoping that it grows on him.  He  loves my family and is really excited about spending the week in Vermont - so that is good. 


How have you dealt with culturally different holiday traditions and being away far from home? 

License Failure

On Saturday we took a big step and headed to MVA to see if hubs could pass his learner's permit.  Yes, you read that right - he has to get a learner's permit, not an actual license.  Although hubs drove a bus all over Honduras he never had an actual license.  So, in order for him to qualify for a license here in the States, he has to get his learner's permit first.  Once he passes the written test for his permit he has to have his learner's permit for nine months before he can take the driving test for his license.  Yes, a very long process.

He's been trying to read the driver's handbook and understand the ridiculous amount of rules and laws that exist for driving but it wasn't quite enough to pass the test.  He ran out of time or missed more than two - both things don't allow you to finish the test, which he couldn't.  I thought he was going to be more upset but he just took it in stride.  I was trying to go over the book with him but the Spanish is actually very complicated and a lot of the words weren't common ones I knew - like the word for merge.  Took me forever to figure out what they were talking about!

So, now he'll study some more and take it again.  I'm kinda hoping he passes because if he fails three times he has to go to Driver's Ed which is far away, expensive, and not always worth the money.

Maybe one day he'll be able to drive around - just not this week!

O Christmas Tree



Putting up the Christmas tree is one of my favorite Christmas activities.  When we were young we'd put up the tree and decorate it as a family, talking about all the ornaments and reminiscing about the stories behind them.  Then, after the tree was up, my sisters and I would spend days sitting around the Christmas tree playing I Spy a Christmas Ornament over and over again.  The tree has always been such a sign of Christmas joy and I LOVE putting it up every year (I hate taking it down though, I find it so sad and I almost always make other people do it).



Husby with our niece P

So, while my mom was visiting for the weekend we went out and bought our tree.  As a kid we always had a fake tree (we lived overseas for most of my life and so it was easier to just put up a fake tree - my parents still put up that same tree, which must be at least 25 years old!), so it still seems odd to me to go and buy a real one.  However, there are numerous trees for sale near our house and for the last few years we've always bought a real one, sometimes even cutting our own tree down.



Standing next to the tree we picked

This year we just bought one.  This was husby's first time ever having a tree.  In Honduras some people have trees but in the town where he's from most people are too poor to spend the money for a tree, so it's quite unusual.  That just made it all the more special for us.



Next to an adorable mini-tree we found, but didn't buy.

After we finally got the tree home and up in its stand, we pulled out the boxes with all the decorations.  Husby was a bit nervous about putting up the ornaments for some reason but I gave him all our golf ornaments and he went to town.  I feel like I've been waiting forever to share all these Christmas traditions with my husband and sometimes I can't believe that we're finally together forever.



And we're already starting to dress alike



Our tree with all the lights, but you can't really see the ornaments



I also ordered us Christmas stockings, which he is very confused about.  I can't wait to see his face when he finds his full on Christmas morning!