Fab Foodie Mama

Today to celebrate day two of Sandwich Week, I made a lovely concoction that I tried in Chile when we were there in December and January.  It seems that most food in Chile is smothered with smashed avocados and tomatoes, two of my favorite foods so I was on board with that right from the start.  Vienna with the Typical Avocados and Tomatoes (not my photo) I had blogged about the  El Lomito Italiano previously.  We stopped at a Chilean Fast Food restaurant (they all are very diner-like, with long counters and a narrow dining room, and often open-air) on our way to Vina del Mar for New Year's.  I didn't actually have this delicious choice but almost everyone in our party did and I had a bite of Ron's.  I had a hot dog (vienna) also covered in avocados and tomatoes and sour cream (they call it mayo, but it is sour cream) - also yummy.  Avocados in Chile are about $2.00 a bushel since they are native and as we know, back here, they are sometimes $2.0...

I almost don't want to write this posting.  No more blogging on Chile.  Well, I will then be on to blogging other things; but it has been so nice recalling our memories from our wonderful vacation.  All the great food, wine, adventures and friends.  But all good things must come to an end so we can make room for the next good thing.  Good quote - I think I might post it as my Facebook status - ha ha. Day 11:  Woke up early and began packing before breakfast.  Veronica and I went on our last walk together.  Given all of the stuff I bought on the trip, I was tight for space.  Juan had borrowed a large suitcase from us when he went back to Chile from the states, so he offered to give that back to me.  That was great because then I could also pack two more bottles of Chilean wine to bring back home. We had no big plans this last day.  Juan was going to bring us to the airport at about 7:00 PM.  Our flight to Atlanta was schedul...

Veronica and Juan Carlos had to both work so Juan had plans to take us to a local winery.  After a morning swim and lunch, we drove to the winery which is right in Talegante.  It is called Undurraga.   Here is a link -->> Undurraga Winery . It is actually within walking distance from the house but we decided to drive because I knew I'd be purchasing some wine and didn't want to have to carry it.  Juan, me, Ron and Rachel went.  Will didn't want to go; he wanted to stay and play on the computer.  I didn't mind letting him stay at the house.  I just told him he could not swim.  We asked the housekeeper, Julia, to let us know if he tried to go into the pool. Our reservation for the tour was at 2:30.  There were only the 4 of us in the English group so we had our own personal tour.  Our guide's name was David and he spoke perfect English.  Better than Juan even.  He had really no accent at all and I could tell h...

For staying out until 3:00 AM and not going to sleep until after 4, I was up surprisingly early.  Veronica and I went for a walk.  The streets in Vina are very steep.  We walked down quite a ways and got a decent workout.  We all had breakfast and went on our way to another tour of the coast.  This time more North, past the town where Pedro lives.  It was another beautiful day.  We were getting a bit crowded in the truck so Ron got out and sat in the back.  He ended up with a terrible sunburn because of the reflection on the dark truck on the back of his leg.  But he said it was better than having Will sit on his lap for one more mile. We stopped at some points along the way to take photos and went to another beach and Will swam again.  Emilia, Juan's oldest sister, and her fiance, Sebastian, had arrived at the house so we went there to meet them.  Emelia is a physiologist and works in social services and Sebastian is an architect...

We landed at Santiago airport at about 9:30 AM and made our way through customs and immigration checkpoints without too much trouble.  I found out that the US is one of the countries that Chile has a reciprocal agreement with, which meant to us that we each had to pay 140 USD to enter the country (but did not need a visitor visa).  The weather was beautiful.  It is rare to see thermometers in Chile because the weather is always the same:  sunny and warm, not too humid - Perfect. Juan was waiting for us after we picked up our bags.  It was so nice to see him after such a long time.  We drove the 20 minutes or so from Santiago to the suburb where Juan lives with his family, Talegante.  There was a traditional Chilean breakfast and the open arms of Juan's parents, Juan Carlos and Veronica waiting for us. I knew the minute I met them that we were going to be great friends.  The make up of our families is similar.  Two older daughters and a youn...

I'm new to blogging.  I'm 43, have been married for almost 25 years, have three kids ages 22, 17, 12.  I am an engineer and am a senior manager at a large IT company. I love to cook, I love to be outdoors, I love to exercise and love movies, music and travel.  My political views are progressive and socially liberal.  I thought I'd start a blog to see if anyone cares what I have to say.    I had the fantastic opportunity to visit Chile for ten days with my family over the New Year's holiday.  It's been a week since we have been back home in northern Michigan, and I miss the great food, wine and friends in Chile. I'll post some of my recipes and photos of dishes and parties; a big goal this year is for me to cook and entertain more often, and to try more ethnic and interesting foods.  Italian is my forte, but I want to branch out.  I also want to get all of my favorite recipes in one place. Since I am still so high on Chile, I wil...