A Few of My Favorite Things

One gift Guatemala has given me is TIME.

Time to rest, time to think, time to read, and most of all, time to do the things I love the most. Some of those things are photography, cooking, arranging flowers, and volunteering.

Sunday breakfast is a tradition for us. Today I made baguette french toast which we had with a big plate of fresh local fruit.

This is Rosa de Jamaica. They are dried flowers that you boil in water and then add sugar to make a delicious drink! Its very popular here. The flowers are for sale in the local markets as well as big stores, and you can find it on the drink menu at every restaurant. Its a little bit tart, like raspberry. I LOVE it.

This was our treasure from our first venture together to La Villa market by our apartment. ALL of this is fresh fresh fresh. We got all of this produce as well as the tortillas and a bag of maza (what you use to make tortillas) for less than 140Q which is about $17. You can't tell from the photo, but that pineapple is over 12 inches tall.
The brown fruit in the front that look like kiwi are called Zapote. (see photo below). The green squash veggie to the left of the zapote are guicoyitos. They taste like zuchinni.



This is the zapote cut open. It has a similar texture and taste as a papaya, but the flavor is slightly different. The best way I can think to describe it is avocado, papaya and brown sugar. The little green things are loroco. They have a very strong distinct flavor. People use them in many different dishes here. We put them in an omelette.



This is the omelette we made with our fresh veggies. Yum.

Another delicious creation! I bought basil from La Villa last week and made pesto with it. Lucas made a honey whole wheat pizza crust and we tossed on the pesto and some of our fresh veggies. So good, so filling, and so healthy!



Last but not least...the flowers. Flowers here are unbelievably cheap. All of the flowers in these arrangements cost $6. I was glad I had 3 vases, because the bunches of flowers are so large. I once read a book on how to spruce up and simplify your life. It said something about having fresh flowers in your house. Check and check!