Closing the book on the effluvium. The final chapter (God willing)

Good news for all of you who were very worried about My Foot Falling Off! The doctor was over the moon this morning and said my feet look very bonito. They have responded well to the three kinds of antibiotic pills I was given in the last few days, and this opportunity has provided me with ample time to practice my frontier medicine skills. All I need is a little office and unlimited amounts of chloroform and I will be Panama´s own Dr. Quinn.

But anyway, my main goal for today is to announce THE WINNER OF THE RECIPE CONTEST. I received a total of three submittions (Mom, your 150-recipes-with Bacon email forwards don´count. I don´t have Bacon.), and after hours in the kitchen, the results are in. I bring you, the winning entry from James Ian Basham. He wrote:

Dear editors of Cooking with Gringa,

Please consider my submission for your recently published recipe contest. Stir fries are all about the sauce, and this is how I make my Teriyaki sauce for stir fries or similar dishes. I never really measure things so measurements are approximate. For a large stirfry:

1/2 cup orange or pineapple juice

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 small clove garlic or maybe 1/2 teaspoon dried

about the same amount of ginger, perhaps a bit more

1 tablespoon vinegar, you could probably also substitute lemon or lime juice

1-2 tablespoons honey or brown sugar, depending on how sweet you like it and how sweet or sour your juice is

its best to make it in a separate little pan and reduce it while you stir fry the veggies. It needs to be cooked down quite a bit due to the juice, and I have found that if you try to cook it down while simultaneously trying to cook the veggies, they end up getting overdone and soggy.

Enjoy!

How can you not love that? Even if he is a science nerd who works with dyes and solar cells and speaks DorkSpeak that no one else understands? It´s all okay because this recipe is amazing! It wins extra points because many of the ingredients are available in my community`s tienda (little store), and those that aren´t are shelf-stable and can be used for other things. I make this sauce at least twice a week if I have the veggies, and have made it for some other PCVs who also awarded it a seal of approval. Congratulations, James!

The second-place winner was submitted by my dear friend Ms. Ashley Connie Confetti Constituion. Which is her real name. Constitution wrote:

simple black bean burritos
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 onion
1 pepper (any kind should do)cayenne pepper
salsa

sautee the onion in a pan
add in the pepper and continue to sautee
pour in the black beans and corn and simmer until warm
add cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper and any other spices you find appropriate
serve w/ warmed flour tortillas and salsa and voila! only takes about 10 minutes!

I have adapted this recipe by making the salsa from scratch, cooking bagged beans, and serving over rice instead of tortillas (less interesting, but cheaper!). I have no way to dispose of cans and glass jars, so I to avoid buying them if possible. But I make an exception here because the sweetness of the corn makes this recipe soar into divinity.

Thank you for your submissions. James won a week-long vacation with his best-looking sister here in sunny Panama! Ashley Connie Constance wins my lifelong friendship. Felictaciones to the winners!

As for me, I am heading back to site, and plan to stay there for a good, long while. With no more conferences or trainings to attend in the foreseeable future, I am looking forward picking up some momentum and getting some good things done in April and May. Til next time.