Recipe: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

This recipe is a mish mash of a few recipes I found on allrecipes.com. Below is my created version, which I just tried - take it from me, they are waaaay better than sliced bread!!

* 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
* 1 cup flour
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 cup peanut butter chocolate pieces (Trader Joe's)
* 1/2 cup salted butter (or unsalted and add some salt)
* 1/4 cup milled flax seed
* 3 tablespoons milk/creamer
* 1 teaspoon almond (or vanilla) extract
*1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 egg

Preheat and bake at 350. Crunch up your graham crackers - really good or a little chunky if you wish. Combine with flour, sugar, flax, baking powder and mix. Then add your liquid ingredients - milk, extract, melted butter and mix into dry mix. When well mixed, carefully fold in peanut butter chocolate chip pieces. Pour into butter or greased baking pan. Bake, cool, cut and enjoy!

Depending on size of pan, cook between 20-30 min

I definitely recommend eating these warm so that all the chocolate and peanut butter are mmmmelty :) Enjoy with a dollop of vanilla ice cream for added extreme deliciousness. YUM!

2012 in summary

As the world has kindly greeted us into the new year (by not ending), I'm taking a moment to look back at the rollercoaster that I've been riding this year.

WOW, so the first time I started writing this I actually started writing about 2011...2012, you sure have happened in a quick flash!!

The year started off bittersweet. I went on a quick border-hop to Chile to renew my visa - some delicious food, beautiful and HOT beaches, bank issues, and playing music and vending jewelry to alley-strollers made a thrilling adventure. Returning from this trip, I had the stark realization that I was in a relationship that was completely uninspiring and unfulfilling. Measures were quickly taken to end that. My life quickly began to transpire into more positivity, meeting new friends and having new adventures. I lived with a really fun and interesting couple and their cats. A more meaningful work situation transpired and soon I was teaching 4th graders in English and Math...this was quite a challenge but also super rewarding. I miss those little punks.

From the plaza of the desert-beach town of Arica, Chile.

Early April friends and I went on a brief weekend trip to a nearby jungle of Puerto Maldonado and had a great experience staying in cabanas on a local alternative tourism site (www.elplatanal.com). I looooved being in a tropical place and learning about the different plants and their medicinal uses. We saw a bunch of tarantulas (and one made my shoe his/her home), some monkeys, and parrots. On the long bus ride back, I met a cute boy who worked on the bus and put on good movies. He had interesting tattoos and seemed eager to converse with people, so we started a conversation. Long story short, we became instant friends and were together from then on.

Natural dye from plants!

Me and Rafa at a concert

The school months kept me very busy - classroom time, report cards, and silly planning documents (darn, I guess they exist everywhere). From this experience I learned that being a full-time teacher is really a full-time commitment and I don't want to pursue it, at least at this point in my life. I also learned what it's like to have 28 kids and I'll do great with just having a few when the time comes :) 

Ausangate Bilingual School, 4th grade class. See me??

After much anticipation, my parents came to visit in May! We went to Machu Picchu and to several other archaeological sites, the floating islands of Lake Titicaca, an awesome family home-stay on a farming peninsula - all in just 10 days. We really packed it all in, from trying new cuisine (including cuy and granadilla) to taking the combi (just to have the experience). To have them there was like showing them a jewel of my heart. We even hiked Wayna Picchu and my dad flew home with a charango (to add to his instrument collection).

A night of dancing with the local children with our home-stay in Luquina Chico, Lake Titicaca.

Touring the sites of Cusco, Peru

Fast forward a few months, spending time with Rafa and working, lots of working. But I began to fit work into my life by meeting with friends and doing fun things during the week, definitely essential to well-being...I was also really glad to be connected to a yoga class, a type of kundalini which also incorporated chanting. It was new for me but became a weekly spiritual practice and positive self-time to look forward to.

Kitchen window view

August came along, and with it, a long awaited adventure with my friend, Megan. Since the day she arrived we literally started out on a 5 day trek to the ruins of Choquequirao - more about it here (links to my old blogsite)

One of many, many jumping pictures

(Ad)venturing!

From there we were off to Colombia to explore and taste the flavors to be offered (arepas, bandera paisa, aguardiente, and salsa. Yes, the dance!). We couchsurfed and made some good friends, travelers and locals. We witnessed the most creative and beautiful displays of flowers I've seen at the Feria de los Flores. And we had fun venturing to the humid jungle-y coast of the north. Awesome trip!

Our awesome couchsurfing friends in Bogota, Colombia on our last night.

Scoping out the Flower parade, after buying hats :)

Silleta gigante! 

At this point Rafa and I had been together for awhile but were still having to travel across town to see each other. So we found a great place to move into together. we were excited to be able to be with each other often in our funky bright colored flat. He found an in to a TV station and began a new chapter in his career life, which I was glad to witness and be apart of. I continued my hobby of jar collecting and a few craft projects. If you're interested, check out my tutorials: learn how to wire-wrap objects or create a crafty recycled wallet.

Me and Rafa on the Golden Gate Bridge Look-Alike

Thanksgiving came along and we really cooked a feast. Read more about it here: 

The plethora of food. Preparation time: approx. 4 hours.

Diane's mulled wine and strawberry sauce (which was the closest to cranberry we could get).

In the last few months of the year I found more adventuring buddies! On weekends I would go to visit my friend who works with plants to learn and laugh. With other girlfriends we explored ruins and went on some treks, which I'm getting hooked on! The hiking (especially in high altitude) can be challenging but the thrill, nature, and people make it special and worthwhile. On one trek we decided on a theme. It goes along the lines of this quotation by Ralph Waldo Emerson: ”Life is a journey, not a destination.” Basically, who cares if we don't end up in the exact place we imagined. The best part is to be with good people and experience every moment as it comes.

Thank you 2012 and everyone who was apart of it. Cheers to another year!

1....2.....3.....Tira!

The mother vine

Playing carnavales on Sundays around Easter 

Celebrating birthday parties

Visiting the Sacred Valley for the day

Sacred Plant Spirals

Cultural Bit: Top 5 Awesome Things About the US

After being abroad for the last 15 months, I have a new-found appreciation for the US. Of course, seeing friends and family is the best thing about re-arriving but the following are close behind...

Top 5 Awesome Things About the US
1. water pressure - it's a little thing, but makes such a difference.
2. hot water - not only in the shower, but there is actually a handle for warm water when washing hands.
3. toilets - they're clean AND they flush!
4. cheese - pepperjack, cheddar, parmesan, oh my!
5. helpful people and customer service - this my be the thing for which I am most grateful. I really appreciate that people care to help, or at least they pretend to.

DIY: Rock Wrapping for beginners

Hey all! I'm thrilled to have created my first legit jewelry video with the help of my boyfriend, Rafa. A big thanks to him for his video expertise (Cinergia Cusco).

If you want to wire-wrap rocks, sea glass, or any other object I hope this DIY helps. Please leave a comment, thanks for watching :)

Como el sol y la lluvia ...

Timothy M. Marston

Como el sol y la lluvia …

como el fuerte sol cusqueño

(que brilla y quema)

se convierte a la lluvia intensa

(que llora, que refresca)

viene y va otro año.

Como el sol y la lluvia,

al final del año representa

la extensión de todos sentimientos

que hemos experimentado y sufrido.

De los intensos momentos de tristeza y conflictos,

los lindos recuerdos de sonrisas y palabras felices,

un gran lección que aprendemos es que todo se cambia.

Un año acaba, recordándome que ya es tiempo

de reflexionar y agradecer…

a todas las hermosas almas que conozco,

las que me enseñan,

las que me inspiran.

Gracias a las compañeras de trabajo,

a mis alumnos,
a mi familia (no tan lejos de corazón),

a los amigos y viajeros irreemplazables

que han cruzado en mi camino con tanta elegancia.

Y en un minuto, aun segundos se transforma en algo nuevo.

Como un viento furioso se apaga una vela y se enciende una nueva.

Un nuevo año de sol y lluvia ...

Feliz año nuevo, que todo se transforma 

en algo nuevo y aun más bonito.

A Cultural Bit: American Thanksgiving in Peru

Celebrating American holidays in another country is always fun. Here´s what this really entails:

1 - Explaining the bizarre story of the holiday based on American history. So the history is pretty much that the new colonists claimed the land of the natives and then everyone celebrated a giant feast together and lived happily ever after. I believe the modern tradition of Thanksgiving is not to celebrate this destructive history, but rather to be thankful for the many things we have.

2 - Stereotypes shine through. If you think Americans eat a lot, this holiday is the testament. On Thanksgiving we slave away many hours making all types of delicious and fatty foods. Then we stuff our faces until we can´t anymore, and then squeeze in some extra dessert (because what is Thanksgiving without the pumpkin pie?). Proceeding face-stuffing commences couch-laying food coma.

3 - Making cultural substitutes. If Peru were to have a Thanksgiving, the dishes would be quite different because of the foods here. We had to make some creative replacements for the classic Thanksgiving dishes this year. For example, squash pie make an acceptable adaptation for pumpkin pie. Diane made a sweet strawberry sauce instead of cranberry sauce, which was a mega-hit according to a certain guest. Perhaps the most monumental adaptation was the main course. In November, one can hardly find turkey so chicken breasts were the replacement. The gravy made it just as good.

We decided instead of on real Thanksgiving we would wait until Saturday so we could really cook and have a party. During the work-week would have been quite the feat to pull off. So we had our American feast with a great group of friends and had a fun evening together. I´m so thankful for those who celebrated with us and Diane for allowing us to blow up her kitchen.

The menu:
-chicken breasts and veggies
-ginger carrots
-garlic green beans
-apple stuffing #1
-apple stuffing #2
-mashed potatoes (or puré as it´s known here)
-sweet potatoes
-an Indian dish of lentils, rice, and yogurt
-gravy
-strawberry sauce
-mulled wine

A sample plate of our feast.

Strawberry sauce and mulled wine :)

Cheers, chicas!

A New Oldie

A newly old-found favorite, acoustic latin folk singer Silvio Rodriguez steals my heart with his heart felt guitarra and profound lyrics. As part of the Nueva Trova moment, he was a prominent musical folk figure in the Cuban Revolution in the 70s-80s. He has been referred to as ´´Cuba´s John Lennon´´.

I found this song to be one of my favorites. The first time I´d heard some of the songs was when I made a friend in Chile who was playing his wonderful music on the streets of Arica. It warmed my heart and put a smile on my face, as I hope it does for you. Well, if it doesn´t...at least it´s past Thanksgiving so  Christmas music is technically acceptable. Here´s the song and a few favorite lines, enjoy :)

´´Canción de Navidad´´ Silvio Rodriguez

Por eso canto a quien no escucha,

a quien no dejan escucharme,

a quien ya nunca me escuchó:

al que su cotidiana lucha

me da razones para amarle:

a aquel que nadie le cantó.

So I sing to those who do not listen,

to those who no longer listen,

to those who will never hear me:

their daily struggle

gives me reasons to love them:

to those that no one sings to.