Eight Months and Apple Hill

Has eight months gone by already? Eight months since I packed up my things in Lima, Peru and moved myself back to the states. It was heartbreaking to leave Peru and my life here has been anything but settled. Just last night I was walking through the grocery store (yes, my life is that boring that I can go to the grocery store on a Saturday night!) and I realized that I really miss the variety of potatoes in Peru. Here I find the russet, red and white potatoes. I miss being able to buy papa negra, papa amarilla, papa blanca, chancan, and on and on. I miss so many things about the streets, the people, the language.

In eight months, I have moved TEN times. Yes, I agree…it is a lot. I have tried to cook in all of those kitchens. But as I have been constantly on the move, the foods I have made and eaten seem to be rather the same over and over. Things here are beginning to settle down, I have actually moved into a place with the plan to stay until at least May 2010. For me right now, that is amazing! And the kitchen! There is a gas stove! I say all of this to say that I have been in the kitchen again, enjoying some things that I haven’t tasted in a while and making some recipes that I have wanted to make for over a year! This kitchen will be a place to create, enjoy, relax and be inspired.

Being that it is fall here in the states, I wanted to share one of the traditions that my friends and I have of going to Apple Hill – a collection of 56 farms where you find crafts, animals and of course, apple everything! These photos are from a recent trip I took to visit. I hope to get back there soon in order to capture the beautiful change of colors in the leaves. There are many days when my heart is sad to be here in the US, but when I get to play like this it is a reminder that there is a lot of things to enjoy and cherish here too.

I hope to get back into sharing Peruvian recipes, markets and kitchens with you as well as begin to tell you where to find Peruvian restaurants and ingredients even here in the US. My desire is to give you a greater love for Peru and is delicious flavors!

Forgive me for my absence. I look forward to getting back to reading some of your blogs soon too.