Ready, Set, Wait

We haven't broken ground yet for the pool or pool house, as the contractor and his crew are still working on the remodeling project for Dave and Dianna.

However, there have been a few things happening here in preparation for the big day.

First and foremost, our building permit was approved by the Ranchito Village Council. YAY!

The other piece of business that gotten taken care of was amping up, so to speak, our breakers and breaker box outside.

A real beauty, no? The extra breakers will allow power to be run from David's shop to the pump house. We also opted to have a weatherproof, lockable box. The other box had no cover, no lock, was rusting, and filled with a variety of dead insects and geckos. Now the breakers are protected from the elements and can't inadvertently turned off.

This shot shows where the pool house and pool will be located.

The building in the background is David's shop. See that pile of sand? That's about where the beginning of the pool house will be. And the dug up area in the foreground is about where the pool will be.

We had our veggie garden in the dirt area, so we needed to move that.

We had a raised bed made at the other end of the yard, where our above ground pool was located. David built the PVC frame, which will be covered in shade cloth. We also will have a skim coat put on the block to give it a finished look.

The other project involved re-routing a water line. 

These are the water pipes coming out of the side wall of David's shop. We weren't quite sure where they hooked up with the lines for the house. Trenching was in order and thank goodness we have Fernando and his strong back.

It turns out that the line ran in a straight line that will be our pool house floor and part of the pool. 

It then ran at an angle to the water line for the house. Clearly, this wasn't going to work. (Olivia decided to do a butt photo bomb in this shot.)

David and Fernando mapped out a new angle to run the water line, and after much trenching, pipe cutting, fitting, and gluing, the new pipe was installed in the space of one morning. Great teamwork and, best of all, there were no leaks!

At this point, we've done as much as we can to be ready for our construction to begin. We're keeping fingers crossed that it could happen in the next week or two. Check back here for updates.

From Mundane to Mayhem

I know it’s been a long time between posts, but there just hasn’t been anything all that interesting to blog about. We’ve spent the last number of weeks doing routine home maintenance. You know, things like reorganizing cupboards and closets, rearranging furniture, and scraping, sealing, painting exterior walls. All activities that needed to get done, but are about as exciting as watching paint dry.

But come the end of this month, a bit of mayhem will be introduced to our lives. The reason? Well, we decided to have a pool and pool house built! And for those of you thinking we already have a pool, well, we did but the liner needed to be replaced. The UV rays here took their toll and we developed a pesky leak that was beyond patching. We looked into having a replacement liner shipped down from the States, but it would cost almost the same price of buying a whole new above-ground pool here. With that information in hand, it was only a small leap to decide we would go with having a pool and small house built.

Here's a look at our floor plan (click on the image for a larger view):

A key feature of our design is having the entire area -- pool and house -- under a roof and screened in on all sides. This should eliminate the amount of debris in the pool, plus dramatically cut down on the mosquitoes. To ensure the temperature of the pool doesn't drop with it being under a roof, we will install a solar heating unit. This means we should be able to take a comfortable dip even during the winter months.

We also will be creating a hallway from the back wall of our spare room that will lead directly to the pool house. This will give us and guests access to a bathroom and changing area.

These drawings show a side view (top drawing), the screened wall at the pool end (bottom left drawing), and the semi-walled area for the back of the pool house (bottom right drawing).

All of this will make way more sense once construction starts and we take pictures. We will be using the same contractor as our friends Dave and Dianna Rider, who are undergoing their own remodeling project. You can read all about that on their blog. Once the contractor and his crew are finished with that job, our project will be the next one they tackle. 

We're very excited to get things going and only find it a tad bit scary. We've never been involved with a construction project this big. You can be sure that we'll document the whole shebang here. Stay tuned!

P.S. If you have a spare moment or two, why not pop on over to The Wright Table to check out my latest recipe adventures?

Besties

After weeks, no, months of almost no rain, the weather gods have decided we are due for precipitation. Of course, with rain and occasional bouts of thunder and lightening, it means our outside dogs spend time on the porch, in the house, and generally being underfoot.

And while they frequently spend their days sleeping, no matter where they are, sometimes the monotony becomes too much and some wrasslin' needs to happen.

Sigh, we're bored. What should we do?

BWAHAHA! This is what happens when you say I wrestle like a girl.

Sorry, you know I was just kidding.

What were doing before this? Oh yeah, sleeping.

And by the way...

There has been a slew, a bevy, a veritable plethora of culinary experiments going on for The Wright Table. Check them out, whenever you have a moment.

Vinegar Braised Chicken

Pasta with Shrimp and Chorizo

Ricotta Stuffed Pork Chops

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

Homemade Pici Pasta

Man the Barricades

Our fence line has recently come under attack, necessitating the creation of barricades.

Along various sections of our fence, sticks have been driven into the ground to keep the intruder at bay.

And who or what might this intruder be? This wily little creature:

It's our next door neighbor's dog. She has been getting out of their yard and coming by to say "Hi!" to our dogs. As she runs around our fence line, she figures out a spot she can dig under the fence to come on in and play. 

It's obvious that she's lonely and wants to be friends, going so far as to immediately fall to the ground with her belly up to show she isn't to be feared.

And while I feel sorry for her, every spot she digs under the fence means an opportunity for our dogs to get out. Hence the barricades.

We've brought the situation to the attention of our neighbors, but results have been rather hit or miss. Some days she stays in their yard, other days, not so much.

One might ask about contacting an agency, such as animal control, to help resolve the problem. The thing is, there are no such agencies like that here. Matter of fact, the overriding attitude toward dogs is pretty abysmal. Not many dogs are considered pets, but rather four-legged alarm systems who live their lives chained up. Most dogs have never been to a vet, had shots, been fixed or even adequate nutrition. Strays roam almost all the streets scrounging for whatever scraps they can find. It's sad, disheartening, and difficult to deal with. 

There are some grass roots efforts taking place to raise awareness about animal welfare and some slow, but steady progress is being made. 

In the meantime, we have sticks at the ready to build more barricades.

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Updates to The Wright Table

Even when living in a tropical paradise, there are days/weeks that feel like I've been given a free rail pass for the Crazy Train. To regain some balance, I spend time in the kitchen.

Here are some dishes that soothed my soul and appeared on The Wright Table:

Chicken Tinga

Nicoise Toasts

Slow Cooker Balsamic Pork Tenderloin

Whitefish with Citrus-Olive-Caper Sauce

The New Normal during Rainy Season

Rainy season is upon us. 

Now that we've lived here for three years, we know the drill that becomes our new normal from June through October. Some examples:

• Online, local weather is checked frequently, as well as postings from the National Hurricane Center.

• We realize, but don't always graciously accept that there will be stray storms that occur in the wee hours of morning. These storms will wake us up from a deep sleep and require herding dogs inside and battening down louvers. Sinking back into REM sleep will not happen on those nights.

• The dust pan, brush, bucket, and mop are on constant standby. This is due to the muddy paw prints that inevitably appear on the porch floor. No matter how fast you try to snag the dogs as they come inside, chances are the one with the most mud on their feet will slip by.

• Unpaved roads, of which there are many, will become mud slicks hiding pot holes. Part of the challenge and adventure is trying to guess how big and deep the pot holes are.

• Unexpected rains will almost always occur when (a) laundry is on the line, (b) the pool has just been filled, or (c) the floors are freshly mopped. If all three of these actions happen the same day, you can bet Mother Nature will get even...big time.
  
• Power outages will occur, sometimes multiple times a day. This will mean resetting clocks and the pool pump multiple times a day.
  
• Sinus medication will be kept in supply for me, especially if there is a slow moving front that comes through. Puffy eyes and congestion are not things of beauty.
  
• We will have all three dogs inside the house during the time it is raining, especially if there is thunder involved.
  
  While Sam and Olivia seem unperturbed by wet weather,

  

  Sam

  
  

  

  Olivia

  Lizi is a whole other story.

She can sense thunder when it's miles and miles away. Panic quickly sets in and she needs the safety of being in the house, near one of us, to calm down. 

And the cat?

Oy, the cat! During storms she either is asleep in one of her various nooks (like the top of the kitchen cabinets), tantalizing Olivia, or seeing how far she can push her luck with Lizi. Bronte and Lizi have a begrudging acceptance of one another, but there are days when all of the animals are inside that growls and hisses are overheard.

All in all though, we are fortunate that all the pets do get along for the most part and would make it through a major storm without mishap.

And what about David and me and how we spend rainy days? Well David is usually on his computer, puttering around his shop, or reading books.

I am usually in the kitchen, especially if I know we will be getting hit with wet weather for a couple days running. Matter of fact, I just spent the last two days making two dishes -- Lasagne Bolognese and Sticky Chicken. Take a side trip over The Wright Table to get all the yummy details.

Slices of Life from Belize: December 28, 2014

Driver's License

Now that we’ve acquired Permanent Residency, we can move ahead with getting our Belize Driver’s Licenses. The first step was to get our Social Security cards. Natural born Belizeans are entitled to a variety of benefits, similar to ones found in the States. However for expats, the Social Security card provides a means of official identification – other than your passport.

The process was easy-peasy. We visited the local Social Security office, filled out a short form, had our pictures taken, and a week later picked up laminated cards. Mine is good for 10 years, then will have to be renewed. David, being of a certain age, received a gold card with no expiration date and is entitled to receive small discounts at local pharmacies, some stores, and other businesses that have enrolled in the Seniors program.

Our next stop will be the Ministry of Works sometime in the coming weeks to apply for driver’s licenses. Our understanding is that you can pay to have them expire in one or three years. Will report back with more details once we’ve gone through the process.

Banana Blossoms

I caught an episode of Chopped not long ago and one of the mystery ingredients the chefs had to use were banana blossoms. I was like, “What the heck are those?” Even a couple of the chefs had never encountered them. After doing some online research, I discovered that this is the source of the blossoms:

When you peel off the outer leaves, the pale green ones are very similar to artichoke hearts. And guess what? We have these blossoms in our very own backyard.

Fernando was kind enough to cut a small one for me so I could experiment with it. After doing all the peeling...

...I put the leaves in some acidulated water so they would keep their color. 

As I was making a stir fry dish that night, the leaves got tossed in with the veggies.

To be honest, the banana blossoms really don’t have much taste. Then again, neither do non-brined artichoke hearts. And while there are a number of “gourmet” ingredients that are difficult to find here (if available at all), I think it’s rather cool that we have something exotic within reach of a ladder.

Cable TV

When we moved here 2 ½ years ago, there was no access to cable television at our house. At the end of our lane, yes, but the cable company had no plans of extending it down to us.

The only other option we had was to go with a satellite dish provider. As I recall, there were only two dish providers to choose from back then and both were based in Canada. We decided to go with Shaw Direct.

And while we had access to nearly 200 channels, we came to find that many shows were duplicated.  If we wanted access to channels like HBO, Showtime, Encore, etc., they couldn’t be purchased separately. They were part of a bundle of channels, most of which we knew we would never watch. We also discovered that often the HD channels wouldn’t be available or only available at certain times of the day. On top of that, we had the privilege of paying an additional $6 every month because we were using our US-based credit card to pay our bill. But crappy satellite was better than no satellite.

From time to time, we would check with the cable company to see if their plans had changed and even offered to pay to have the cable run to our place. Still no dice, until about two months ago.

We saw one of the cable guys at the end of our lane and asked if there was any chance of extending service to our place. He said that his supervisor in Orange Walk would need to make that decision. We were given the supervisor’s name and number and David got in touch with him.

After repeated calls, the supervisor finally agreed that it would be an excellent idea to run cable to our place. The only problem was they didn’t have enough cable on hand to make it happen. Weeks passed, more calls were made, and finally, finally on Christmas Eve our cable dreams came true.

The reception is way better than we expected and we get a whole slew of premium channels. Best part about it is that it costs almost half of what we were paying for the dish and we didn’t have to pay any installation costs because of a holiday special the cable company is running until the end of the year. 

Slices of Life from Belize: September 16, 2013

Don't Know Why, There's No Sun Up In The Sky -- Stormy Weather

Well, it seems my Open Letter to Invest 93L produced results, just not the ones I was hoping for. The storm made a name for herself, now known as Tropical Storm Ingrid, and it has been pounding Mexico, along with her brother, Tropical Storm Manual. And here in Corozal? It's still been raining. Matter of fact, as I write this there is a rather large cell hovering over us, and we're just waiting for the skies to open up...again. And unfortunately, the forecast doesn't look too promising for the next couple of days either. Rumblings of ark building are starting to take over many a Facebook chat. A number of people who have lived here far longer than we have say they can't remember it being this rainy for so many consecutive days. 

And if you recall from my note to Invest 93L, I posted some pictures of the road in front of Dave and Dianna Rider's house. If you want to find out more about what it's been like having a quagmire at your doorstep, then pop on over to their blog and read the latest entry, "Stuck in the Muck Again." 

Photo courtesy of Lynn Nichiporowich 

All I know is that this weather has gotten really old and my laundry pile is almost out of control.

Art In The Park

On Saturday night David and I decided that no matter what kind of weather we might have, we were going to check out the Art In The Park Festival in downtown Corozal. Specifically, we wanted to see the latest paintings from Ashani and see what other vendors might have to offer.

Unfortunately, it was a bit of a bust. The rains put more than a damper on the turnout, and it wasn't the best weather to display water-based paintings. 

But I thought I would share a painting I bought from Ashani last month:

David made the frame and we have it hanging out in our porch. Of course, he had some help with the installation.

Miss Bronte (a.k.a. KitKat, a.k.a. #$%&^&% when she is really bad, which is frequently) found out that ladders can be great playthings. However, it does make it a bit more of a challenge to do anything while she's on it.

Temporary Guests

As a result of the rain we've been having, we had an unexpected visitor on the outside of our screen door:

And yes, it is a tarantula. I named her Clarice, and she hung out with us, shielded from most of the rain, for the entire day and part of the evening. Bronte showed some initial interest in her, but quickly tired of that game and left Clarice in peace.

The other visitor we had was...

...this incredible moth. With no exaggeration, its wingspan was at least six or seven inches and it's coloring was exactly like tree bark. 

Thanks to my fellow blogger and Facebook friend, Papi Thomas, he enlightened me on what it was: "We've been visited as well. I think it's called the Black Witch Moth. "Mariposa de la muerte"...in Mexican folklore, a harbinger of death. But in Yucatek Maya it is X-mahan-nah which means "borrow house". Ours just borrowed the bathroom for a few hours before we released him."

And hey, speaking of Facebook, feel free to send me a friend request so you can find out some of the whacky and not-so-whacky stuff that goes in our lives here in Belize between blog posts.

Quick Bites

I had fun in the kitchen last week making some old favorites and trying a couple of new recipes. Here are some of the things that appeared on our dinner table:

Asian Chicken Burgers with Cabbage Slaw - the burger is a riff on a recipe from Sara Moulton. It's nice change of pace from a beef burger, and the soy sauce, ginger, and sesame oil add amazing flavor. For the slaw, I used the leftover cabbage from the burger, julienned some carrots, and made a cooked dressing that included eggs, apple cider vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt, pepper, and a bit of crema.

Black beans, Tomatoes, Italian sausage with white rice - One of the things I love about this dish is that it is incredibly versatile. Have leftover chicken bits or ground beef? Substitute it for the sausage. Want a veggie version? Skip the protein altogether. If I'm feeling ambitious, I'll soak and cook dried black beans. But if you're looking for a quicker method, canned beans work just fine. Saute some onions, stir in some cumin, a touch of cayenne pepper, the beans with a bit of their juice, tomatoes, and browned sausage, and you've got dinner! If David had his way, we would have this once a week, every week.

BLT with Fried Egg served on Homemade Cuban Bread and Pan Fried Potatoes - These are all my favorite foods right on one plate. Swoon! This is the dish I would eat at least once a week, every week. I want to send a shout-out to Mardi and Mike Rathbun for sharing this sandwich recipe with me on Facebook.

Garlic Roasted Shrimp with Sherry-Tomato Sauce served over Homemade Pasta - I often make garlic roasted shrimp. Super simple to do, too. Just smash up about four cloves of garlic, throw them into about 2/3 cup of olive oil, and saute until the garlic starts to brown. Discard the garlic, then pour the garlic olive oil over the shrimp and pop into a pre-heated 425-degree oven for 8 minutes. But this time, I wanted to try a different direction. I made the shrimp as noted above, but also put together a sherry vinegar and tomato sauce that we had in another fish recipe not too long ago. For that, I put some chopped tomatoes, onions,  sherry vinegar, salt, and pepper into the food processor. Whizzed it around for a bit, then added about 1/2 cup of the garlic olive oil the shrimp cooked in. After cooking the homemade pasta, I piled on the garlic shrimp and drizzled the sherry-tomato sauce over everything. Very tasty! Next time, I'll try to remember to sprinkle some chopped parsley over the top to add some color contrast to the plate and be able to say in all honesty that there are greens in the meal.

  
 Pan Grilled Fish Fillet Sandwiches with Onion Strings - That sherry tomato sauce I used in the pasta dish? Well the leftovers got used on this fish sandwich. And please don't ask me what kind of fish it is. None of it is labeled in the stores, and when I've asked the most common reply after, "I don't know" is "It's seafish." But whatever it is, it tastes great and only takes about seven minutes of cooking per side on medium(ish) heat. However, the real star on the plate, in my humble opinion, are these onion strings. They are so seriously good that you can't stop eating them and may not want regular ole' onion rings again.

Chicken Pot Pie

While today dawned sunny and bright, yesterday was anything but:

It was dreary, rainy, and the kind of day where you find yourself casting around for something, anything to do indoors to keep your mind off the fact that it was so yucky outside.

In other words, it was the perfect day to cook; especially something like comfort food. 

And what could be better than some chicken pot pie? I dug out this recipe from Anne Burrell and set to work. Now I realize I could have searched out something that could be made in the slow cooker, but quite frankly, I needed some quality bonding time with my stove. This dish was the perfect solution.

The first thing that needed to be done was to make the pastry for the pot pies.

First I cut up a stick of butter and 8 ounces of cream cheese.

That got added to the 1 1/2 cups of flour and a pinch of salt standing by in the food processor.

Everything got pulsed together until the dough started coming together. I added a couple of tablespoons of cold water and one egg yolk, and pulsed some more.

The dough got turned out on some flour, was kneaded briefly and formed into a ball.

I covered it with plastic wrap and popped it into the fridge until I was ready to use it later in the day.

Next it was time to work on the pot pie filling. The recipe calls for chicken legs and thighs, but I used only thighs because...well, I could, and I think they taste better than legs. But hey, use whatever parts of the chicken that float your boat.

  
Then it was on to prepping the veggies.

Carrots, onions, and celery all got a good chop, and some garlic was minced too.

All but the garlic was tossed into a large pot, seasoned with some salt, and left to saute over medium heat for about 7 minutes.

The house was starting to smell wonderful. 

Once the veggies had softened, I added the garlic and let that do its thing for a couple of minutes. Then I nestled the thighs on top and poured some chicken stock, which I had made the day before, over everything.

The stock was brought up to a boil, then reduced to a simmer and was left to bubble gently away for 30 minutes.

At this point in Anne's recipe, it calls to roast off some butternut squash. However, I gave this step a pass because (a) we're not particularly fond of butternut squash, and (b) there wasn't any at the market even if we did like it. That being said, I have roasted off potatoes to add when making this dish before and it adds a nice component. But this time, I just skipped this element altogether.

Anyway, back to the chicken that had been simmering away. Now that it was done, I removed the chicken and veggies to separate bowls and set the stock aside.

When the chicken was cool enough to handle, I took the meat off the bones and added it into the veggie mixture. Now at this point, you're supposed to add some chopped haricots verts. And as lovely as those might be, I went with their pedestrian cousin, the regular old green bean.

Time now to make the gravy. I love gravy of just about any sort, but this one is one of my favorites.

Step One: make a roux.

After whisking together 4 tablespoons of melted butter and 4 tablespoons of flour, it was time for Step Two -- adding the reserved stock. This got ladled in a bit at a time, until everything was incorporated and smooth.

The gravy was brought up to a boil, then reduced to a simmer, and left to bubble away for about 20 minutes. You want to be sure to stir it on a regular basis, otherwise an icky film will develop on the top.

With the gravy done, I added the chicken/veggie mix into it and let it all warm together over low heat.

We're into the final stretch!

While the gravy was simmering away, I had removed the pastry dough from the fridge to let it come to room temperature.

As I was only going to be making two pot pies for this go round, I cut the dough in half and put the portion I didn't need back in the fridge. I'll use it later in the week when we have leftovers.

I rolled the dough out on a floured surface...

...and cut out two lids for the ramekins I was using for the filling. The edges of the ramekins got brushed with an egg wash, then the lids got put on top, some vents were made, and the lids were brushed with more of the egg wash.

The pot pies were popped into a pre-heated 375 degree oven and left to bake for about 30 minutes.

As far as I'm concerned, this is a nice warm hug in a bowl and the perfect thing to chase away the blues of a bunch of rainy days. As soon as you dip your fork or spoon into the crust, it flakes oh-so-nicely and bits get worked into the chicken and gravy. And the filling? Oh my. It's sooooo good. The dark meat of the thighs adds an element of richness to the gravy that makes you want to gobble it all up. Actually, the filling would stand fine all on its own as a stew, if you aren't inclined to make the pastry.

So the next time a batch of yucky weather comes your way, this might be something to try. In the meantime, we're back to having the kind of weather we love here in Belize -- blue skies, a great breeze, and lots of sun. Now if we could only do something about those pesky mosquitoes...