Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

We were eating these chips when Rob pulled one out of the bag in the shape of a heart. What a great find for Valentines week.

The Dividing Line

Last week as we were driving along this street in a taxi, the driver pointed out to us how the sidewalk in the middle of this strip of grass is on the dividing line between two cities. Notice how one side is nicely trimmed and the other, which is in the other city, is not as nicely trimmed? We found it amazing, or was it amusing, the contrast that can exist so close together. 

Most of our time last week consisted of paperwork for past and future projects. Not too glamorous, but important work. The highlight was finally getting all of the used computers shipped off to their new destination, which is a school district that is very poor and will really be able to put these computers to use in helping the kids there. These computers have been in our office for far too long taking up far too much space while we found enough boxes to get them shipped off. This photo is of the computers a couple of days before we finished packing them up.

Lomo Saltado

And for some added interest this week, we thought we would introduce a typical Peruvian dish to you. Yes, we have eaten this and it was good.

Lomo Saltado

Lomo Saltado is one of the most popular Peruvian dishes and symbolizes like no other the fusion of Peruvian ingredients with Asian techniques of preparing food. Lomo Saltado is made of sliced beef stir-fried with red onions, tomatoes, yellow Peruvian chilis (aji amarillo), soy sauce, vinegar and cilantro. Mixed with French fries and served with rice Lomo Saltado can be found in simple restaurants and up-scale places alike.

French fries are often mixed into the dish instead of served on the side.  In case anyone wants to try their hand at Peruvian cooking, here is the recipe:

Ingredients for 3 to 4 persons

• 500g beef tenderloin or sirloin
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 red onions
• 2 aji amarillo / yellow Peruvian chili pepper (optional, but highly recommended) if you can't get it you can use any other mild yellow, orange or red chili pepper
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 500g potatoes
• deep-frying oil
• 1 – 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 – 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• Fresh chopped cilantro
• dash of lime juice
• Salt and pepper to taste