Chicha Morado

This post took about a year to get from the planting stages to the product! Last summer I wanted to grow the Three Sisters which I wrote about HERE, and was especially excited about the famous Maize Morado corn from Peru. It turned out to be an extremely tall plant as well! After raccoon damage, I gleaned 1.5 pounds of dry corn kernels.

I used a compilation of several recipes, and was thankful that my mom sourced me some quinces last fall, which she cut into small pieces and froze with some sugar. I should have re-hydrated the corn, because I got almost no liquid purple juice from the first boil. Since the kernels were still intact, I decided to try a second boil, which produced more juice, but got re-absorbed somewhat during the cooling time. The flavor was less intense, so I didn't do a third boil. The kernels were still not used up, so I decided to eat them like a cooked breakfast cereal. Pretty good! Next time I make this, I will re-hydrate the dry corn and then pour off the purple juice while it is still hot. It seems like a lot of gardening and cooking for such a small reward otherwise!

I added the lime juice and sugar before serving, and I must say that the drink was very festive! The cinnamon, allspice, and cloves really added a lot of flavors, similar to a mulled wine, but with no alcohol. I served it with my birthday cake: Chocolate Turron with chocolate fudge topping. Delicious!

In addition to the cake and chicha morado, the birthday dinner featured an appetizer round of Tequenos with avocado cream. This delicacy is originally Venezuelan, but Peruvians are crazy about them as well. 

Since Peruvian cooking takes a lot of prep, I served the main course on a different day. This is Vegetarian Arroz Tapado with Peruvian rice. Now that I know how much time it all takes, I could probably serve all of these things at once. They were certainly well-received!

Knitting in Peru

I was so fortunate to make a return trip to Peru this month. Peru is a country where knitters sit on every street corner, though they are reticent to have photos taken. The highlands are filled with shepherds and their animals. Here is a posed view of the last rest day in the Cordillera Hyuahuash. I was actually sitting facing the mountains to see them myself.

Thanks to my two beautiful nieces for modeling the fruits of my labor: a second Fortnight hat by Jared Flood. The yarn is worsted weight by our late alpaca, Cassidy. (Thanks to all for expressing condolences after my previous post.)

The second hat: Squish Me by Anne Hanson in DK weight yarn from our alpaca, Moonstar.

Soft hats inspire sisterly love! (Click pics to en-bigger and see whole landscape view. For some reason blogger is not cooperating with the showing of sideways views...)

And lots of silly fun!

Joining the Yarn Along at Ginny's today: http://www.gsheller.com/2016/07/yarn-along-290.html

More posts on Peru coming soon. Stay tuned!

Spin & Knit 2015: A Resolution

Happy New Year!

I gave up New Year's resolutions a decade or two ago, but I thought I would give this year another try. My title sounds pretty misleading, since I do have one of these spinning beauties, but I'm afraid that I need to spend some time on the (recumbent) stationary bike instead. Must keep in shape for upcoming hiking adventures after all, and knitting seemed like it would be a good pairing with all that peddling. So my goal is to ride and knit 30 minutes on any day that I don't visit the gym or don't have evening orchestra rehearsal.

Looking into the Black Mountain Range at sunset. (Peru)

I gave it a whirl this evening. (See what I did there?! OK, go ahead and groan...) Instead of knitting, I ended up talking on the phone and then writing an email on my phone. So we'll have to see if there will be any additional knit items to blog about. Ready for finishing are a sweater, a hat, a crafty blanket I started as a pre-teen, a jacket, and some fingerless mitts.

I'll keep you posted, but don't hold your breath...

May 2015 be an enjoyable one for you!

Peru 5: Final Thoughts

Going through my pictures again, I felt like taking one last abbreviated trip before I stop blogging about Peru and move on to the many other posts that are on the back burner. 

The Wilcahuain Ruin near Huaraz is a burial site. There are two sites a short distance apart.
There are many small alcoves inside to facilitate meditation and a place to leave offerings. 

One of the pottery artifacts in the small museum at the ruins.

Agriculture on a hillside. I love the patchwork feel of the fields.

Lupine grows wild and is also cultivated in Peru. The cultivated seeds are about the size of Lima beans and are toxic! So after the harvest, the beans are boiled all day long, then put into a burlap sack and placed in the river for two weeks. The river water washes the toxins away. Afterwards, a traditional salad is made with the beans.

Temple ruins at Chavin. This complex was inhabited by elite priests who practiced their spiritual crafts. Chavin is thought to be the "mother culture" of Peru, and pre-dates the Inca by quite a few centuries.

Typical stone masonry of the period and culture.

One of the most interesting things about this site are these acoustic canals. The people who designed the site moved the nearby river so it would flow underground canals. The holes in the ground amplify the rushing sound, which in turn enhanced the spiritual component of the rituals.

No ritual is complete without a mind-altering drink. The priests imbibed in some sort of concoction made with this cactus that was growing on the premises.

On the solstice, the priests would drink the cactus beverage, meditate in complete darkness, and at sunrise approach this carved stone stele which the light would only hit and light up on that one morning. Even without a drink, meditation, or the auditory enhancements provided by acoustic canals, I felt a magnetic force pulling me in toward this carving. There are things on this planet that defy logic, and I felt that here.

Carvings of different important totems. I believe this is supposed to represent a jaguar, which corresponds to an important constellation and the altar in front of the temple.

I wish I had more pictures of the market and all the ladies in their traditional dress. They don't like their picture taken and I was the only non-Native person present, so I just snuck a few pictures in the animal section. Those guinea pigs are ready "for the restaurant" and housed in a mesh bag. 

Galcier-fed lake surrounded by arboreo del papel, or paper tree.

Our pack animals coming up a mountain trail.

Re-adjusting the packs on the animals before going downhill again.

We found these butterflies half frozen on a very cold morning. They still moved a little and were just waiting for the sun to come up so they could fly again.

During this trip we had to hike over nine passes.  The next few pictures commemorate some these passes.

 

15,600 feet - the highest I have stood on this Earth thus far.

At 14,500 feet, it is always surprising to find fossils!

One of the unique traits of this trip was experiencing the immense empty valleys. Well, almost empty. Farmers leave their animals here in the dry season and their poop is all over the place.

Another magnificent valley.

When you think Peru, you often think Inca, and terraces. The Inca were not as active in this mid- to northern part of Peru, and thus these terraces were the only we got to see. They were not impressive, but nonetheless interesting to see them carved into a hillside.

Coming up to the Santa Cruz mountains. 

The Santa Cruz chain of mountains were the ones I found most beautiful.  The 45 minutes we spent resting with this viewpoint was one of my favorite memories of the trip.

As mentioned before, there were lots of animals that we encountered.  This cow followed us for about a mile.

There was a canal system that brought some of the lake water down to the villages. 

The quinoa harvest!

Saying good-bye to our donkeys at the end of the trek.

Peruvian National Flower: Cantuta

Adios Peru! I miss it and think about it daily. I can't wait for the next trip. So much for one just one "trip of a life-time!" I'm starting a new savings plan...

Peru 4: Alpamayo: Sunset, Sunrise, Repeat

One of my favorite things about hiking in the back country is having access to sights that not everyone can take a picture of from the road. Mount Alpamayo is one of those amazing places. This mountain is an almost perfect pyramid, leaving room for only four people at the summit. We hiked two days worth of mileage so that we could have a rest day at this campsite and plenty of photo opportunities in case there were too many clouds.

Approaching Alpamayo Campsite

Sunset pictures begin. Note the red "toilet tent," but don't get too excited.
There is only a pit under there. Privacy was nice though!

Sunset time lapse

Going...

Going...

Gone.

EXCEPT, suddenly the whole range turned a brilliant reddish pink color.

It was like magic.

Fire on the mountain

Crack of dawn

A little sun

East face lights up

Time for some day hiking!

The destination is always further than it looks...

Coming over the lake embankment.

Alpamayo presiding over its glacier lake.

Fun with photo settings. I do like the drama of this shot.
(Don't ask me what I did. I am awesome largely by accident!)

Relaxing and enjoying the view after hiking and eating lots of pachamanca.

Another great sunset.

Sunrise number 2: cloudy with a chance of hiking all day!

The clouds lift as we settle into the next expansive valley.

One last zoomed view.

Adios, fair mountain.