The Life of a Young Expat: A Few of my Favorite Things

No, they're not raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but they're close!

Home roasted coffee
As a native Seattlite coffee is high up on my list of "can't live withouts" and yesterday my wonderful mother-in-law (Graciela, also known as Chela or Chelita) roasted coffee beans at home! Yes, she is my hero! She bought green coffee beans in Macara (you can also find green coffee beans in Loja and the surrounding areas) and brought them home to roast them herself. The entire house smelled of coffee. It was wonderful! We have yet to try the coffee, but I loved watching how simple the process was. Here is how to roast your own coffee at home, in the oven:

Turn the oven on to broil (so the gas on the top part of the oven is on, not the bottom)
Spread the green coffee beans on a cookie sheet or some other type of large baking pan
Keep in the oven until they turn a wonderful dark color (like a roasted coffee bean), but make sure you move them frequently so they don't burn (every 5 minutes should be enough)
Once beautifully toasted remove them from the oven and sprinkle sugar over the roasted beans while they are still warm (this changes the flavor slightly, but Chela insisted that this is definitely the way to go). I think you could also add things like flavors if you wanted to, but I haven't tried it, so don't take my word!
Grind and enjoy!

Half way roasted!

Moving the beans so they don't burn.

Chela roasting coffee... She's so amazing and can make anything from scratch!

Roasted Habas
Chela also made roasted Habas the same way. Habas are from the legume family and look a bit like Lima Beans whey they are uncooked. You find Habas in many different forms here in Ecuador, the most popular being Habas con queso (or Habas with cheese). You find these at traditional Andean restaurants around Cuenca (and other mountain towns). The other typical way to eat Habas is fried or roasted. You can get a small bags of fried Habas for $0.25 and they come with salt on them, or you have roasted Habas like Chela made. They are very hard and you have to suck on them for a bit before you can chew them (unless you have really tough teeth). Instructions for making roasted Habas...

Turn the oven on to broil (so the gas on the top part of the oven is on, not the bottom)
Spread the dried Haba beans on a cookie sheet or some other type of large baking pan
Keep in the oven until they turn a tan or dark brown color, but make sure you move them frequently so they don't burn (every 5 minutes should be enough)
Once they are browned (it's okay if some of them are slightly black) remove them from the oven and let cool.

Habas before they are cooked

Habas with cheese (Habas con queso)

Habas fresh out of the oven.

Cebiche (or more commonly spelled ceviche)
which many of you have already heard of, is a seafood marinade that can be made with just about any type of seafood, but I only really like shrimp ceviche. It is made with lots of lime, cilantro, red onions, and shrimp (of course). Some are made with a tomato base, but my favorite has a white base. It truly is an amazing dish!

Cebiche de Camaron Peruano (Peruvian Shrimp Cebiche)

Helados de paila...
but not just any helados de paila, but those that come from a store called La Tienda in the neighborhood El Paraiso of Cuenca. Helados de paila are ice cream that are made in a mold and have a little stick stuck in them. This place has flavors like almond, peanut, maracuya, coconut, and their most popular flavor amor brujo which is a mix of a while bunch of things. If you're in Cuenca and you haven't tried this ice cream yet, you really have to go!

Me with ice cream (helados de paila) from La Tienda in El Paraiso in Cuenca.

Fresh fruit from the loud fruit truck on Saturday morning
This truck dives around on Saturday mornings playing music that is way too loud and intermittently announcing over a loud speaker that you can get "25 naranjas un dolar 25 naranjas un dolar, pina ducle pina dulce, 25 naranjas un dolar 25 naranjas un dolar" and so on. Well, you really can get 25 oranges for $1, 2 pineapples for $1, and about 20 bananas for $1. Here are some photos of our fruit and the truck...