Month: June 2020

muffin and coffee cup

quick strawberry muffins

Today, my plan was to drive out to Pt. Reyes to get coffee and pastries at the Bovine Bakery, by far my favorite bakery in Marin. Before heading out, I did something I rarely do. I called to make sure they were open. No luck, closed. This is something I learned from Patrick. When we first moved to Marin, I would often come home after going out shopping and complain about all the different stores I had needed to drive to to finally find the thing I was looking for. To what he always replied, “Why didn’t you call the store before you left?” It had never occurred to me to call a store to ask if they had something I needed before leaving my house, but it really saves so much time. I think that this is something people don’t do in Costa Rica. Do they? It seems so simple. Do you have fresh halibut today? Do you sell turmeric? Easy, right? But, to be honest, I think that my impulse to call the …

Learning to Make Fresco de Tamarindo

Today I made fresco de tamarindo for the first time ever. As someone who grew up drinking fruit juices (frescos, as we call them in Costa Rica), this is a bit embarrassing. In Costa Rica, you can find frescos in almost every color of the rainbow: limón, cas, guanábana (white); carambola, maracuyá, piña (yellow); melón, papaya, naranja (orange); fresa, sandía, frutas mixtas (pink); mora (red), and tamarindo (brown). * Almost any fruit can be transformed into a refreshing drink by adding a little water, sugar, and ice. Growing up, I liked frescos that were a little tart, and tamarindo was one of my favorites. Tamarindo is super refreshing and a perfect drink to enjoy in the summertime. It’s finally warm again in Marin, so I decided it was about time I learned how to make this. I was able to find tamarindo pods at the local supermarket in downtown Fairfax. In Costa Rica, tamarindo is sold in little compact blocks, just the fruit without the shells, and I believe you can find it packaged in …