The Quest for Cheese - Una búsqueda de queso

I recently read an article in the Tico Times about a cheese making enterprise in Santa Cruz de Turrialba. The business is called Le Chaudron Artesanal and what caught my attention was one of the cheeses they make - raclette.

We first tasted raclette at the Swiss pavilion at Expo ‘86 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  We enjoyed it so much that we would buy the cheese and have our own raclette meal. We even had an electric tabletop grill designed especially for serving raclette.

Le Chaudron is selling their cheeses at the Auto Mercados, at El Mercadito Azul in Cartago and at the Feria Verde in Aranjuez, San José. We decided to drive to the Auto Mercado in Alajuela to see what varieties of cheese Le Chaudron had there.

Alas, no raclette but we did buy their Petit Blanc Cebollino (green onion) and it was tasty. 

I will keep watching for this brand of cheese goodness. After shopping at Auto Mercado, we drove to Price Smart in Alajuela and picked up a big block of cheddar, some fresh asparagus and mini frozen egg rolls.

 We made a dashcam video of our drive to Auto Mercado and back home.

The dates on the video are incorrect - we forgot to change the settings.

Click on images to enlarge.

QR Codes, Boosters, and the Covid 19 Situation in Costa Rica

The Tico Times has a recent article on how to go about getting your QR code in Costa Rica. We have our QR codes and we had them printed onto plasticized cards about the size of a credit card, using this company in our town of Grecia:

It was so easy - we sent our information via e-mail to Imprenta Grecia and picked the cards up a few days later. Cost: C5,000 per card (about $10 CAD). With the card, it makes showing that one is fully vaccinated very easy. Then, if we go to a restaurant or any other place which requires proof of vaccination, all we have to do is flash our card and allow them to scan our cards.

We also received our booster shots last Friday. How did we know when and where we needed to go for these? Facebook! I belong to quite a few Costa Rican Facebook pages and these are invaluable sources of information. Members freely share information and this link for vaccination shots was posted. By looking for our town - Grecia (page 7) - we learned where the boosters would be given and at what times. Salón Parroquial is right across from the Catholic church.

People also shared the wait times they experienced and based on this we opted to wait until the second week before attempting to get the boosters. This proved to be a good idea as our wait outside the building was no more then ten minutes. Once we were inside, there were chairs to sit in. Everything was very well organized. Staff take your carné de vacunación (vaccination card) and eventually your name gets called.  I think we sat inside for no more then 45 minutes before receiving our boosters.

In my blog post on December 12 (and as I have done in some earlier posts), I provided a table of numbers from Worldometer with calculations comparing the evolving situation of Covid 19 in Costa Rica with that in Canada and the United States. However, unlike the earlier posts, I did not include any link to where one could go to obtain more comprehensive graphic information unique to Costa Rica. The link had been to a special web page of the La Nacion newspaper, but it appeared that the page was no longer being kept up to date.

It turns out that up to date graphic information the same as or similar to that previously provided by La Nacion can be obtained by going to the web site of the Costa Rican Ministry of Health ("Ministerio de Salud" in Spanish).

Another way to get graphic information not only for Costa Rica but also for many other countries is to Google the phrase "covid 19 graph". At present, a page headed "Coronavirus disease" should then appear. Under the sub-heading "Statistics", a chart showing the evolution of covid cases in a selected country should also appear. The selected country can be changed to any other country which may be desired. For example, the charts for Costa Rica, the United States and Canada are presently as follows:

The information provided by Canada is not as up to date as that provided by Costa Rica and the United States. Nevertheless, like the United States, the number of new cases in Canada appears to be surging whereas the number of new cases in Costa Rica has been steadily dropping towards zero. This may change if the Omicron variant of Covid-19 takes hold in Costa Rica as it has in the United States and Canada. On December 19, the Ministry of Health confirmed detection of the first case in Costa Rica (an 8 year old boy).

As reported by the Tico Times on December 20 the boy and his family had recently travelled to the United States.

Click on images to enlarge.

Cabbage Rolls, Rainbows, Haircuts and COVID-19 - Costa Rica

Here is an update on the coronavirus in Costa Rica as of Saturday, May 23, 2020, https://ticotimes.net/2020/05/23/coronavirus-in-costa-rica-7-new-cases-7-more-recoveries.

We are still on driving restrictions. We cannot drive on Fridays or Sundays (determined by the last numeral on our vehicle’s licence plate). No car travel at all between 10:00 pm and 5:00 am during the week and between 7:00 pm to 5:00 am on the weekends. The repercussions of not following these restrictions can be severe - heavy fines and removal of your licence plates to name two. Beaches have opened but only between the hours of 5:00 am to 8:00 am - I believe this is primarily for the benefit of surfers (world class) - and of course with everyone following the usual protocols for keeping distance, etc.

A well known landmark restaurant in Atenas - Kay’s Café Pequeña Polonia (previously Kay’s Gringo Postres) - has reopened with limited hours and takeaway. They have a free lending library. Since we needed new reading material and were craving cabbage rolls, I put in an order and we drove there last week and picked them up, plus some new books. One order had dill sauce and the other tomato sauce and the orders included mashed potatoes, pickled beets, and cucumbers and onions. The portions are really large (two rolls each) so we got four meals out of the one order. Here’s the dill sauce version:

It’s really important right now to support all your local businesses. This is a very difficult time for them and many have closed, some permanently. 

We haven’t been going to barbers or beauty parlours and Lance really needed a head shave. He has a set of clippers so I volunteered to do the deed. Turns out I’m pretty good at it.

Tools of my trade:

Here’s Lance ready for the clippers and pretty relaxed.

The one thing I stupidly did not do was take an “after” photo - but the buzz cut came out so well that Lance has said I can do it again.

We found face masks at Compre Bien in Grecia. This one is washable and made here in Costa Rica. We are using them when in shops or around groups of people.

We saw a double rainbow from our house the other day - very rare. Isn’t that tree amazing? It’s the Guanacaste tree I mentioned in a recent post and it’s absolutely enormous.

I have a couple of orchids blooming:

So that’s about what is going on with us during this awful virus time. We are happy to be in this little country. Costa Rica is doing an excellent job of controlling, tracking and treating. Citizens are taking the recommendations and restrictions seriously for the most part.

Kermit is wearing his mask. Are you?

Coronavirus, Gallo Pinto and Costa Rica

We are now under new driving restrictions, curfew hours and so on - a relaxation of the stricter requirements imposed during Semana Santa (Easter Week). This Tico Times article explains the latest requirements to help the country deal with COVID-19.

Another Tico Times article from today has the current information on the coronavirus stats in this country. 

We cannot drive on Fridays and Sundays but this is no real hardship (our licence plates end in 9). We can attend dental and doctor appointments, go to drug stores, the hospital/clinics and grocery stores. Yesterday I had a dental appointment in the late afternoon. Lance was waiting for me in our car - he brings a book to read. If the appointment is going to be a long one, he drops me off and I take a taxi home. As we pulled away from the curb after my appointment, we realized we had a flat front tire. Curses.

I went off to the parada de taxi (taxi stand) not far from us to see if one of the drivers would change the tire for us. They do this all the time. One driver agreed to help after he checked with his dispatcher. Meanwhile, Lance was doing just fine as two young men had already volunteered to change the tire. This is Costa Rica - somebody is always ready with a helping hand. I’ve had a flat tire when on my own and experienced the same thing.

They observed that the spare was a bit soft and needed air and to drive to a gas station right away to get that done. One of them advised us to buy a stronger jack. We were ready to go in ten minutes! Nobody would take any payment and when we persisted, were told to give it to the taxi driver as he may have missed a fare helping us out.

We decided to buy two new tires and went to our local tire shop today. We had bought two tires from them a year and a half ago and the two that needed replacing came with the car when we bought it. We considered this an essential trip. The shop was practicing the recommended precautions - hand gel, face coverings, keep your distance. They had fresh, strong, hot coffee too!

Back home, I decided to make gallo pinto - Costa Rica’s famed rice and beans - a national dish. It is called gallo pinto (spotted rooster) because the black beans and white rice resemble the speckled appearance of a rooster. I turned to my trusty Costa Rican cookbook:

I see that I bought it in August, 2011 - a couple of months after we moved here.

Here’s part of  the recipe:

I used ghee (clarified butter) and achiote when sautéing the bell pepper, onion, and garlic. I bought the achiote from a vendor at our Grecia feria (farmers’ market) and the ghee is a Costa Rican product.

I cooked the rice in our rice cooker. For the black beans, I cheated a bit and bought canned:

The brand name Goya is an interesting one. I see their products here in Costa Rica and have no hesitation in purchasing them.

Here is my final version of gallo pinto. I love cilantro so used lots of it. Lance was my taste tester and pronounced my pinto “very good”. That’s high praise because he is a fan of gallo and rates every restaurant that serves it. So now we have a delicious addition to our morning eggs.

Covid-19, Costa Rica - Update

After not being able to drive our vehicle since Monday, April 6, because of Covid-19 control measures during Semana Santa (Holy Week/Easter), today we had no restrictions except a curfew of 5:00 pm. Restrictive days are based on the last number of our placa (licence plate).

So we decided to take advantage of PriceSmart’s (Latin America’s version of Costco) seniors only hours - 7:30 am to 8:30 am. We left home at 7:00 am and were at the Alajuela PriceSmart by 7:30 am. A very quick drive with minimal traffic. It was rather strange to see the almost empty roads. 

Hardly any vehicles in PriceSmart’s parking lot and no wait at all to get in. Carts are cleaned on entry and hand gel was available at the door. Staff were all wearing gloves and masks. This was the best shopping we’ve ever experienced at this store - no crowds at all (and they can be mega) - maybe six or so other senior shoppers. We breezed through our shopping list in no time. The usual - kitty litter, frozen berries, a big block of aged cheddar, mozzarella balls, olive oil, razor blades, a BBQ chicken, etc. - items that are sometimes hard to find in our usual groceries. Kitty litter is very pricy here and PriceSmart has the best price and it’s in bulk packaging so lasts a while. We also treated ourselves to a large box of Ferreo Rocher chocolates.

Checkout staff were protected behind plexiglass and wearing gloves and masks. We keep hand wipes in our vehicle so once we’ve loaded up our stash, we wipe down our hands. We have cleaning methods in place once we get home.

Starting tomorrow, the vehicle control measures have relaxed a bit until the end of the month. We can now drive from Monday, April 13 to Thursday, April 16, and also on Saturday, April 18. This continues until the end of April. Curfew is now from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am. We had cancelled dentist and doctor visits at the beginning of April. Today my dentist emailed me and said he can see me tomorrow so I took that appointment. Beaches, churches, parks, public gatherings, etc., are still off limits and being strictly enforced. Borders are closed.

Here is recent information from the Tico Times regarding our novel coronavirus figures: https://ticotimes.net/2020/04/11/costa-rica-confirms-health-measures-and-vehicular-restrictions-to-continue-all-month-coronavirus.

Totally unrelated to the virus and just to take a break from it all, here is a photo of one of my orchids presently flowering. It is of the Brassia genus and the flowers resemble spiders! It’s not the best of photos but the wind was blowing the very large basket around.

The Great Atenas Wed-In

On Sunday, February 14, 2016, over 71 couples remarried in the central park of Atenas, Costa Rica. Lance and myself were one of those couples. Why? This link explains it all. There is a great deal of information on this site, so scroll all the way down to get the entire story.

It was a beautiful day - breezy, sunny and quite warm. We met up with our friends Diane and John, who were also remarrying.

Lance and myself, before the ceremonies.

The ceremony went surprisingly quickly and smoothly, considering how many couples were getting remarried. This was all due to the skilled organization of Rafael Valverde and associates at Outlier Legal Services, Pat and John Wegner, and David and Norma Jean Manheimer (witnesses).

The service was very nice, starting with a welcome statement and consecration by Rafael, followed by an exchange of vows (exchanged in unison by all couples), individual couple's declaration of intent, pronouncement of husband and wife, and then our attorney presented all the newly married couples to the public.

Each couple received a keepsake marriage certificate. The authentic certificates will be available at the Registro Nacional in due course.

For our wedding luncheon, we went to POPS Ice Cream, across from the central park!

Professional photographs were taken by Melissa Michaud, Bebecitos Fotos and will be available next week at which time I will post our photos in this blog.

Here are some more links to the Atenas Wed-In:

Tico Times

A.M. Costa Rica

 

Learning About Costa Rican Plant Life

Our Tico friend, Luis, stopped by our gate today bearing gifts and those gifts were ...... sticks.

Here is what the sticks look like:

He indicated that we should smash them with a hammer, put them in water with a bit of sugar for two days and, voila, we would have a very refreshing drink. He said the name of the plant was "mozote" and his wife drinks the prepared water to settle her stomach.

Well, I certainly had to learn more about this plant/bush/tree, whatever it is.

A Google search led me to Finca El Tigre where I learned that mozote is a rural Costa Rican drink. The locals drink it regularly to maintain intestinal health. But, besides that, apparently it is just a nice cold drink. You are going to have to search their site for September 24, 2010, to find this article. I couldn't do a direct link to it.

Another Google link to the Tico Times explained more about this plant.

I decided to peel the bark after reading up on preparation, rather then smashing it with a hammer. It peels very easily but you will get a glutinous substance on your hands, which washes off easily. Instead of leaving the concoction to sit for two days, I have opted to refrigerate it for one day.

Here are my sticks in their water:

I'll follow up on this tomorrow when the drink is ready!

 

 

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Volcano Trouble in Costa Rica

It appears that the Turriabla volcano in Costa Rica is acting up. It can be found on Google Earth.

I have been hearing complaints ranging from swimming pools being dusted with a bit of ash, to farmers concerned about their crops and livestock being endangered if the situation becomes more serious.

Today (March 12) my husband Lance had his own complaint. He often works in his outdoor patio office as opposed to his indoor less laid back office. But, for the first time and over the span of a few hours, his computer keyboard and mousepad have been continuously speckled with a very fine grit which could be ash from Turriabla. Lately, the winds have been in the right direction for this to occur.

As the crow flies, we in Vista Atenas are only about 43 miles (69 km) from the Turriabla volcano. The situation is not particularly serious for Lance (poor boy – he might have to move inside the house), but for others closer to the volcano the economic consequences could be devastating and that is sad – especially if the volcano really blows its top. For a current update from "The Tico Times" go here.

 

 

 

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