Happy Birthday, Polaris!


Birthday wishes to the baby of the family.
Happy 28th birthday, Polaris Maria! ♥





Birthday wishes to the baby of the family.
Happy 28th birthday, Polaris Maria! ♥




This week’s ingredient was chosen by Jerry, who says that he picked olives so that he could use some of the wonderful olives he brought back from his recent trip to Greece. Don't miss checking out his blog for two delicious olive recipes: a Swiss Olive Galette and Olive and Potato Balls with Pesto. Thank you Jerry for choosing olives!
I was thrilled to see this ingredient in our Small Bites schedule because I truly love olives. I’ve been eating them almost all my life. Green Spanish olives are a main ingredient in Puerto Rican cuisine, added to almost all stews, salads and rice dishes. My mom would usually use a mix of olives, red peppers (pimiento morrón) and capers that came in a jar, known as alcaparrado.
For today’s recipe I chose to make savory empanadas stuffed with olives, ham, egg, and cheddar cheese. I used Spanish Manzanilla olives stuffed with red pimento. Recipe is from The Essential Fingerfood Cookbook.
Ham and Olive Empanadillas
Ingredients:
2 eggs, hard-boiled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup stuffed green olives, chopped
2/3 cup finely chopped cooked ham
1/4 cup shredded cheddar
3 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry, thawed
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1. Place the eggs in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes, then drain and cool for 5 minutes in cold water. Peel and chop.
2. Combine the eggs, green olives, ham and cheddar in a large bowl. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Lightly grease two baking sheets.
3. Cut the puff pastry sheets into 4 inch rounds. (You should be able to cut about five rounds from each sheet.) Spoon a tablespoon of the ham and olive mixture into the center of each round, fold the pastry over to encase the filling and crimp the edges firmly to seal. I used a salad fork to make the seal.
4. Place the pastries on the baking sheets, about 3/4 inch apart. Brush with the egg yolk and bake in the center to top half of the oven for 15 minutes, or until well browned and puffed. Switch the baking sheets around after 10 minutes and cover loosely with foil if the empanadillas start to become too brown. Serve hot.
Last year, while traveling in Andalucía, we spent a day in the countryside admiring the endless olive groves that dot the Andalusian landscape. We spent a few hours in the environs of the town of Jaén. The oil produced in this province accounts for one-third of Spain’s olive oil and 10% of the world's olive oil production. Impressive numbers. This photo was taken almost a year ago, on November 6. The olives are not quite ready for harvesting. The fruit will stay on the tree until late November.
I’ve had this bag since 1977. At the time, I was living in Mexico City, enrolled in the National University. During a school break, Ivan and I decided to head south and visit Guatemala and El Salvador. In Guatemala, we spent a couple of days in the mountain town of Chichicastenango, home to a fabulous market where I bought amazing textiles, very colorful wrap-around skirts and this bag.
While attending grad school, my Guatemalan bag became my book bag and I carried it everyday around the Mexican capital, on the subway and buses and on the university campus.
I keep this bag in my closet, inside a plastic container and once in a while, when I’m feeling a bit hippieish, I bring it out and wear it. The letters that wrap around on the top and bottom of the bag spell out Chichicastenango and Guatemala.
Happy weekend! :)


Our ingredient of the week was selected by Deborah of the blog Old Shoes - New Trip. Thanks, Deborah!
I chose to make a pumpkin chutney. This is an amazing recipe with a creamy sweet/savory combination. It can be served as an appetizer with crackers or with slices of baguette or saved for dessert, like we did with a bit more chutney on the side.
I have some leftover chutney and I’m thinking that it will go great with chicken or pork.
Pumpkin Chutney
Ingredients
1 pound pumpkin flesh, preferably a sweet type pumpkin (I used an organic sugar pumpkin)
2 tablespoons good quality extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 large onion, preferably Walla Walla, Maui or other sweet onion
1 clove garlic, well minced
3 tablespoons white vinegar
3 quarter-size slices fresh ginger
Dash cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apricot jam
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 lemon, juiced
1 red chile, any kind or your preference, leave whole and pick out after cooking
Brie cheese
Directions
Put all the ingredients into a pot and cook slowly on low heat until thick. It will take between 2-3 hours for all the ingredients to become soft and blended together. Some pumpkins are dryer than others, so if it appears too dry then add no more than a 1/2 cup of apple cider or apple juice.
Cut off the top of a brie cheese. Top with the pumpkin chutney. Bake it in 325 degrees for about 5 to 10 minute or until the cheese inside the rind is melted.