Julia and Drunken Iggy.

I love this town. And I love the people who live here. A new addition to town is a young married couple, Brooke and Craig, along with their two dogs. They plan on living here for the next year. Craig is real laid back and reminds me a bit of Shawn concerning his demeanor around a group of people. Brooke is much like myself, a chatty Kathy with lots of enthusiasm. Every day the high season shows more and more. Town is filling up, the highways are more crowded with lots of rental cars and there’s unfamiliar faces cruising the town. Susan and Iggy arrived yesterday and we got them settled in at the house, we played with Newman and relaxed a bit before heading back to the beach for a sunset surf. Waves were so so so small, and the lineup was surprisingly crowded. The water was a nice 80 degrees though, with a beautiful sunset in this magical beach town. Also arriving in town were two of Shawns friends from Germany…a bit jetlagged after traveling for 30hours, but stoked none-the-less. I decided that I was craving a very NON-tico meal….pork loins, with apples and mashed potatoes!! I love rice, but I needed a break- I’ve been having it with breakfast lunch and dinner, and I hadn’t had mashed potatoes in months and months. We invited the Germans over for dinner and had a meal that would make Julia Child proud (by the way, I just cracked open Julia Childs’ novel “My Life In France”. Its wonderful!). The salad was romaine with pickled red onions, sunflower seeds, raisins and dried cranberries dressed with a raspberry vadalia onion vinagrette. For dinner I roasted peeled, cored Granny Smith apples at 350 degrees for about 20minutes. They were lightly dusted with sugar before putting them into the oven. Once roasted, they were put into a bowl and honey and cinnamon were added. Oh-My-God AMAZING. I want to eat roasted apple-applesauce every day of my life. With every meal. In addition to the muy delicioso apples I made mashed potatoes from scratch. I decided to leave the meat in the MENS hands, with an emphasis on Iggy who afterall is a CHEF. All three of the men went to the butcher to pick up the pork loins, and they came back with a great story! They asked for the loin, and the butcher walked into the back. Not sure if there was some miscommunication, seconds later the Butcher returned with a huge pig leg. He pointed to the spot where the pork loin was and when Iggy shook his head up and down, the butcher got down and dirty – slicing the loin out of the intact pig leg. Talk about FRESH! Iggy seasoned the loin with just salt and pepper – searing it in a hot pan before placing it in the oven. The result…an amazing, delicious meal that was such a treat to have had in Costa Rica – the land of rice and beans. Iggy wholeheartedly said that the pork loin we got from the butcher was the best pork loin he had ever had. The meat came out of the oven, dripping with delicious juices – the perfect temperature, and the perfect cut. Shawn also agreed that it was the best pork loin he’d ever had. And Mom & Dad – I hate to say it, but I have to agree – the best, hands down. The Germans, still sleep-deprived and now full to the gills got a ride back down the hill to Soda Mary. When Shawn came back we all just hit the hay – exhausted and stuffed and ready for the next mornings surf. This brings me to present day, Friday. Shawn and I woke up at 5am, as usual. We played with Newman, made some espresso in the Bialetti - and I surprisingly surpassed my beloved Bialetti and opted for black TEA! Crazy I know, but sometimes I need to take a break from coffee to realize how much I love and appreciate it. Distance makes the heart grow fonder kinda thing. Woke up Susan and Iggy about an hour later – made them a fruit smoothie (papaya, banana and pineapple…with strawberry yogurt) and Iggy jump started his day with an energy drink. We waited around for Iggy as he putzed around the house, dilly-dallying as we waited in the truck. Finally loaded him up, poked fun at Susan for Iggy being “HER husband” and then realized that Iggy should never ever drink energy drinks in the morning – atleast when we’re around. We picked up the Germans and from Esterillos Oeste all the way to our unnamed beachbreak Iggy had the Germans in a verbal headlock. I don’t think that they quite knew how to handle someone so hyper, talkative, enthusiastic and absolutely insane – at 6:30 in the morning. Arrived at the beach and the waves were small and clean. About waist high, perfect lines, beautiful water and only a few people out down the beach. Susan hung on shore and had coffee at the one and only hotel in town. They must have thought she was a guest because they gave her coffee for free and she lounged in their lounge chairs on the beach. Ha – go Suzie! Surfed out, we packed up the car – headed home for breakfast burritos and then cleaned up to head up to Jaco for the farmers market. Loaded up on vegetables, fruits and some Amish sticky buns and then cruised back to Oeste for a much-needed nap. I was out cold, literally drooling, for well over an hour. Susan had gone down to the beach for a walk, and in the hour she walked and I slept – Iggy got trashed @ Vagos. I’m not talking buzzed, I’m talking shit-faced, random-rambling, “I’m so fucking drunk” kinda-trashed. Ayeyaya. Again we taunted Susan “Hahaha YOUR husband”. We brought Newman down to the beach with us and he played long and hard for well over 2 hours. This dog is OBSESSED with his ball. At 430 in the morning when you let him out to pee, he has the ball in his mouth. He naps with the ball, walks with the ball, and dreams about the ball when hes asleep. He swam in the ocean, rolled in the sand, played with the ball and chomped on a few coconuts. While we were at Vago’s we SKYPED Mom and Dad. We carried the computer over to the beach so they could check it out, we walked it over to Vago so they could meet the main man, introduced Newman and then everyone took turns coming up to the computer to say hello. It was great. By this time we decided that Newman and Iggy had both had a bit too much fun so we threw their asses into the truck and headed home. Having missed the fish truck, we were directed to a fish market just across the highway, about a mile from Adam’s house. Pull into a guys house, he opens the fridge to the days catch and we walked away with 5 beautiful filets (1 kilo) of Corvina for 6mil (this is about 12USD). VaVaVoom! Iggy was so drunk he just passed out but Shawn, Susan and I sat down for ANOTHER nice meal. I whipped up some salsa and guacamole to snack on and then sautéed the Corvina {salt & pepp, top with limon…amazing}, rice, black beans and a little salad. Casado. MmMm. Iggy popped his head outta the room briefly, rambled and ranted and raved about having lost his passport – stomped around and slammed doors….and then found the lost passport, under his pillow…where he’d hidden it. Susan did dishes, we played some Dominoes, laughed about the passport thing and then parted ways to read our books. It’s 8pm and it is bedtime. Buenos Noche.

Saturday afternoon, I’m a dozen pages into “My Life In France” by Julia Child and already I’m drooling, completely in awe of someone who shares my insatiable passion for good food and beverage. An excerpt:



“I closed my eyes and inhaled the rising perfume. Then I lifted a forkful of fish to my mouth, took a bite, and chewed slowly. The flesh of the sole was delicate, with a light but distinct taste of the ocean that blended marvelously with the browned butter. I chewed slowly and swallowed. It was a morsel of perfection. …And I tasted my first real baguette – a crisp brown crust giving way to a slightly chewy, rather loosely textured pale-yellow interior, with a faint reminder of wheat and yeast in the odor and taste. Yum! We followed our meal with a leisurely dessert of fromage blanc and ended with a strong, dark café filter.”

Dear Julia Child, I love and respect you. We’ve been doing a bit of our own ‘cheffing’ around here, as I’m sure you’ve already caught on to. Tonight I believe we are having a shrimp and sausage fra diavlo pasta dish, compliments of Chef Iggy. It’s a shame that he missed out on our dinner last night, but atleast he made it up this morning for the surf. We headed out around 6am and were in the water by 6:45. Ig was a bit tired and a bit hungover, but happy to be in paradise, in beautiful waves in beautiful water. Susie got her complimentary cup of coffee at the local hotel for being such a good “guest” and we traded off some solid sized waves from this new swell. I drove there and back…no one died and there was no whip-lash which is good. I’m “relearning” how to drive the truck (1973 Toyota Land Cruiser w/ no power brakes and no power steering). We’ve had a tranquilo afternoon, trying to stay out of the intense sun and heat that Costa Rica sends with all her fury. It’s usually safe to reenter the sunshine around 3 or 4. Susan of course is outside baking herself like a roast in the 100degree blazing sun. Iggy just left to try his luck at fishing, and Newman and I have been coming up with a yoga routine for this Monday’s class. Shawn and I both came to the agreement today that Newman is officially the best dog ever. Literally. The BEST DOG EVER. He cuddles me in the morning, lies alongside my mat when I do yoga, eats the leftover fruits and veggies, and listens to everything I say. The three of us are going to head down to the beach pretty soon to meet up with Sue and Ig, throw the ball around a bit and maybe have a club soda. Life is tough in paradise.

Newman.