Chicken & Rice Anyone?

It is always a great feeling to be invited to a national’s house.  They are typically very warm and aim to please, usually with food!  This night was no different, except that we, the Gringas (the white girls), would be learning how to prepare the delicious Costa Rican meal from scratch that we’d all share in later that evening.  Yeah, no pressure! 

DeNiel, Tiffany and I stepped into Jasmina’s humble kitchen and I began taking notes on how to prepare Arroz con Pollo.  After admiring that Jasmina not only had one rice cooker, but TWO, ( I still make rice the old-fashioned way, boiled on the stove, okay, maybe not THE old-fashioned way which would probably be over open fire, but close enough!) I was feeling a little envious, that is until we got to the part of the recipe where we fry up the ham and bacon.  She proceeded to put oil and the aforementioned contents in the second rice cooker when the following thought ran through my head, “Ohhh, that’s what the other rice cooker is for…she doesn’t have a stove…”.  My envy soon turned to shame and, in the same moment, I had an overwhelming appreciation for people who make the best with what they have.  Yes, I have a special and growing admiration for resourceful people!!

While Jasmina did most of the work preparing the food, we (the ladies) hung out with her darling kids and the guys (Scott and Anthony, DeNiel’s husband) had coffee and sweet bread with Pascual.  But soon, it was dinnertime!  Jasmina served up each plate with the Arroz con Pollo and potato chips, yep potato chips (think Lay’s plain potato chips).  I don’t ask, I just eat!  And eat we did, until we were stuffed!

After dinner, we brought out the playing cards and the games began.  Jasmina was becoming so good at the game that Pascual accused her (jokingly) of “playing dirty”!  We had a great time and the kids had a great time playing with each other, even though, they don’t speak each other’s language.  Take a look at the slideshow above to get a better idea of our time together.  If you are not able to see the slideshow, please visit our blog by clicking on Bennetts OnMission above.

P.S. Oh yeah, when we get to Mexico, I’m buying a rice cooker!