How to make the Perfect Rice

Get out the frying pan and put it on the stove.

Chop some onions and sautee them in Corn Oil.

Add the rice and stir it around a bit, letting it fry until it's a light golden color.

Pour in warm water (careful- the steam will attack you!).  You don't need to measure it, just add it.

Cover it completely with a lid or a plastic grocery bag :)

When all the water is gone, test the rice.  If it is too crunchy, add more water and cover it again.

When the rice is the perfect texture (soft and chewy but not too gooey) add a bunch of salt.

Voila!  The perfect rice!

And if you want a real Nicaraguan meal, fry some red beans and add them to the rice.  Mix together...  and you have Gallo Pinto!  The famous meal that all Nicaraguans eat all day every day.  It is SO delicious.  Try it with some sour cream and some chips.  Mmmmm good!

Or, you can make ham fried rice!  Like I did last night!  Scramble some eggs, cut up some ham, add some peas, mix it all together with a bunch of Soy Sauce.  So easy and SO delicious.

Fruit Juice

So, I went to Nicaragua over the holidays (for those of you who don't know- that's in Central America, not Africa hahaha). It was so amazing and I could write a novel about all the amazing experiences I had there.  But for this post, I just have to tell you- their fruit drinks are to die for!  I had probably 3 a day.  Fresh-squeezed, sugar-sweetened, fruit juice.  It was sooooo good!  I also got to drink out of a real coconut!  The hotel man chopped it down from the tree and chopped it open with a machete.  It was amazing!  And the coconut juice was also delicious :)

On our last day there, I decided this could not be the last time I experienced those beautiful delicious drinks.  But our store bought juices here just do not do them justice.  I had to find a way to do it myself.  So the first thing I bought when we got back home to Logan was....  can you guess?  A Juicer!!!

And I bought oranges.  And I juiced them in the juicer.  And I made orange juice!  And it was delicious!!!  It was not quite as good as the Nicaraguan drinks, but don't worry.  I'll keep practicing, and learn, and master the art of the perfect fruit drink.  Hooray!