Pucon

Volcan Villarrica. The two words needed to explain my experience in Pucon. This monster of an active volcano took all that I had to give on the Fifth of May 2013.

In reality, Pucon is a delightful city in the most Northern portion of Patagonia. We spent time at the hot springs Los Pozoles, relaxing our sore post-harvest souls



Finding yummy local delights such as cheese,




beer


And a chocolate volcano





And we even spent a lovely afternoon searching out Salto el Claro, a semi secret, but very wonderous waterfall.




But it was really about conquering this volcano and getting to the top



Our day was absolutely gorgeous-the first sun Pucon had seen in really a week, and though warnings of wind, a relatively calm morning. The whole trick to the climb is the weather, and the exposure is as such that you chances of getting to the top can change in a matter of minutes. Even with these rumors of sudden snow storms, high winds, and nasty conditions we all arrived ready with our guides, rented gear, and newly found friends after being cooped up in a tiny, albeit awesome hostel, waiting for the weather to clear.


The first two hours of the climb start steep, on lava rocks from eruptions past, underneath a sometimes functioning chairlift that when working, takes off an hour of hiking straight uphill. Alas, not our day for a lift, and our group, plus three others, totalling about 60 people, walked longingly under the defunct chairs.



The next step, is stopping just before the snow to put on crampons, and learn how to walk using the ice pick. Such a thing I never thought I may need, but writing this now owing my life to it.


The first part of the snow was pleasant, relatively unsteep, and a whole new take on the world below you.


In good spirits and in a pleasant temperature with little wind, we continued onward and upward.


It is after about another hour or so of climbing do you realize how tough this is going to be. The top seems to be getting further and further away, as the groups behind you get smaller in size and in numbers



Conditions do indeed start changing, and as the temperature starts dropping, and the wind picks up the newly laid snow turns into a slick, crunchy path.


About thirty minutes from the top, I really started to wonder if making it was an option. After four and a half hours of straight 40-45 degree incline, it seems so close, but so far away at the same time. Muscles are achy, thirst and hunger are high, and the wind starts gusting at speeds that make you want to hunker down as close to the ground as possible, digging that ice pick the most you can manage.

But then, you get to the top and it all seems worth it.


The skies were incredibly clear-vistas to three lakes and three volcanoes below,



And into Argentina beyond



Were stunning. Not to mention the fact, you ARE on top of a steaming, active volcano, with a crater beckoning you to come closer to see. However, the wind was blowing steadily between 35-40 km/hour, strong enough that I let my zoom on the camera do a little bit of the work for me.



The group spent about twenty minutes at the top-enough time to see the sights, eat lunch together behind a little protection from the wind, and get sufficiently chilled with the -10 degree celsius wind chill.




Unfortunately, as difficult as the battle was up the hill, I waged a more intense one on the way down. We took a different way and as we approached the side, an incredible fear of falling and heights kicked in, rendering me relatively useless.



That valley floor was just SO far away, and the ground was SO slick and steep my mind played one hellavu trick on me and all confidence went right out the window. After a few minutes of minimal, stressful movement downhill, the guide decided that we would walk the entire way down together, pretty much hand in hand so I would make it down, mentally and physically in one piece.

It was just as gorgeous on the way down as up with even more vistas and crevices.



The moment you reach the 'ground' or rather, lava rocks, was the best feeling in the world. Taking those crampons off, and putting the ice pick away I felt a sense of relief take over and you have done it. It also helped knowing there was about a hour more to go, then thirty minutes on a bus, before I had a beer calling my name, appropriately named Crater





Am I glad I did it? Absolutely. Nothing like pushing yourself to the limit in mind and soul to know what you can do. Will I do it again? Somebody would have to do some extreme convincing.

Ski Bum

Living in Northern California, I am very fortunate to live so close to one of the States most beautiful areas, Lake Tahoe. I have spent at least seven of the last ten days in Tahoe, skiing, snowboarding, sledding, basically being the biggest ski bum I could possibly be before heading into some semi-sorta real world life for a little while. The first weekend was spent in South Shore, for some New Years celebrating, and some fresh powder on New Years Morning.

Early Morning Snow

10 am blizzard

Frolicking

New Years Day was spent in the fresh snow, cooking for some friends (and friends cooking for me), and a fabulous rowdy game of Taboo.

I braced home for two days before heading back up to the snow with the family for four nights. With a house full of 18-24 year old boys and girls (the house held 15 and my parents were the only 'adults'), we planned feasts to feed the masses. Days were spent skiing our hearts out, and nights were pleasantly filled with good food, wine and great people. Night one had rib-eye steaks, night two was a duck chili that had been simmering on the stove for two days, night three had ribs slow roasting in the oven for five hours, and night four we had roast beef.

Cheers to a great day

Ribs, potatoes, broccoli

Slicing the roast

Whewwww! Then there was dessert, a Dutch Apple Pie from Ikeda's, which was eaten too quickly to get a photo of but for anyone who is heading to North Shore from the Bay Area, a stop at the cute country store is a must. We also brought up some Payard chocolates from New York, and Peanut Butter Cups from Bert's Desserts in Petaluma. Both very decadent and delicious.

Pretty patterns

Like a Reese's but WAY better

Of course, you can't forget breakfast, in which a pound of bacon was eaten in the morning. Hello food coma. Luckily, the skiing burns a calorie or two!

Sarlat Market

Wednesdays and Saturdays are Market Days in Sarlat, the largest town in the immediate area. Much like the other markets we have been too, with produce stands, meat markets, fish stalls, foie gras producers, you name it! But it is much bigger and therefore much more crowded with people. Coming down the hill into town is stop and go traffic, and once you find your parking spot (if you ever do) you have to trek into town, to find the goods you are looking for. The clothing, kitchen goods and toys pleasantly line the Rue de la Republique while the food stands are stationed just an alleyway's walk below on the Rue Tourny, Place de Peyrou, Rue de la Liberte, and Place de la Liberte. What does this mean? That the entirety of the market is centered in some of the most interesting Medieval streets I think I have ever seen. The old town was mainly constructed in the 14th century and has kept much of its originality-down to the narrow winding streets through town and the similar use of the square for selling goods (though they aren't bringing in live animals anymore). Walking along, with the masses of international people, you can almost squint your eyes and imagine these little lanes as it was back in the day, with the lights replaced by candles, and the modern refrigeration booths simply removed.

Taken on a Wednesday Market

Romantic alleyways

Taken on last Saturday's Market

Place de la Liberte

Two of my most favorite local products, Walnuts & Strawberries

French butcher-men

After wandering through the maze of people and stands, we had luckily worked up a lovely appetite, just in time to meet some friends for lunch at Chez le Gaulois, a traditional French restaurant but nothing like you would normally run into in the Dordogne where menus are normally full of foie gras and duck items. This food is traditional Mountain food-full of cheese, potatoes and ham, and all delicious!

When I say they served ham, I mean, they served ham and lots of it! Walking in, this front door, one is greeted by 20 legs of ham hanging from the ceiling and more upstairs where the waiters would go up and retrieve more ham for the ham slicer. Yup, the ham slicer. During the entirety of the lunch service (we were there for almost two hours), there was one man standing in the back slicing ham. A plate would pass through the window from the tiny kitchen with the melted cheese or the vegetables and he would load the order up with the appropriate amount of ham.

Ham Slicer in the back

Our menus were written on individual chalkboards and was fairly short, with about 10 total items on the menu-all including ham and all including cheese.

In trying to watch my acid-intake, I opted for the less intimidating option a Cassolette de Legumes, basically just a casserole of yummy vegetables with a cheese melted on top with a side of ham and a salad.

Other people on the table ordered the L'Assiette de Montagnards, a lovely melted cheese served with ham and roasted potatoes

Complete with special wooden spoon for serving the cheese

And the Tartiflette, a luxurious combination of cheese, onions, bacon, and potatoes.

The Tartiflette was a real treat and would be perfect on a cold winters evening. Though it was already fairly warm outside, a bite of this warmed you straight to the soul. I found a fairly good recipe to use for the next cool day!

To cool off after our warm, yet utterly delicious meals, we ordered some ice creams, made by a local regional producer. Our friend got his favorite, 1,2, 3, boules-a house specialty of three kinds of chocolate-dark, milk, and white. The white chocolate was surprisingly good for someone who doesn't normally like white chocolate. He also added a forth boule of licorice, which I was most definitely hesitant to try since black licorice is something I reach for less then white chocolate. But it was actually refreshing and good, I may have to re-think my licorice dislike...

1,2,3 boules + 1 more!

I opted for a single boule de noix, or walnut ice cream. Since being here, I have taken a fancy to anything walnut-especially walnut breads and desserts. This ice cream did not disappoint.

A perfect way to unwind after a busy morning of fighting the crowds and a large meal.

Joyeux Anniversaire

Joyeux Anniversaire, Happy Birthday...to me! Yesterday was my 22nd birthday and it was a day full of celebration and good food! Within minutes of meeting Albert a month ago at the airport, he told me he made a mean paella, as long as he had the reason to make it. I thought it was a match made in heaven, blending my love for Spanish food on my birthday in France! So the plans were set and we sent out invitations to some of their closest friends to come celebrate. It was more then my birthday, but a celebration of summer, a celebration for the end of the tourist season, and a celebration of good food.

Not a bad place for a birthday party!

We started out with Gazpacho, a cold tomato soup and also Spanish! It has origins in Andalusia, in the 18th century, to feed the field hands.  It is a raw soup, nice and crisp for a hot summer day!

Gazpacho for 15!

You can find the Epicurious recipe we used here. The only change is the addition of cumin to give it an extra little kick!

Paella is a traditional Spanish dish, created in Valencia sometime in the mid-nineteenth century. There are many variations, with all meat, all seafood, all vegetable, green, red, and a combination of it all! The Paella that we made was a mixture, with shrimp, mussels, scallops, chorizo, chicken, onions, tomatoes, peppers, and green beans. The secret ingredient to all Paellas is the saffron and smoked paprika. Yum!

Below, is a picture step by step of how we prepared our Anniversaire Paella!

Browning the Chicken

Adding the Stock, Spices and Rice

Seafood!

Add back the chicken and chorizo on top

And ENJOY!

This is the basic recipe we used, adapted off of The Spanish Table's recipe. Make it however you want, just a suggested preparation!
1/2 Cup uncooked Valencia Rice per person
1 Cup chicken stock, per every 1/2 cup rice used
5 threads Saffron per person, dissolved in 1/2 cup white wine
4 tablespoons or more olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan
1 peice of chicken (thigh for example) per person
1/2-1 soft chorizo per person
1 teaspoon smoked paprika per person
1 clove garlic minced per person
1/4 cup chopped onion per person
1/8 cup grated tomato (cut in half and grate, discard skin) per person
2 shrimp/prawns per person
2-4 small mussles and/or clams per person
3-5 small scallops per person
red peppers cut in strips
artichoke hearts, green beans and/or peas
lemon wedges for garnish

heat stock and keep warm. Toast the saffron gently in a small pan, when aroma is released, add the white wine. Allow to come to boil and remove the heat.
Heat the paella pan over medium heat, add olive oil and fry the chicken. When the chicken is golden, add garlic, onion and saute till translucent. Add chorizo and cook until heated the remove the chicken and chorizo.
Add the rice and stir until well coated with oil (about a minute), add the paprika and grated tomato, stir in saffron flavored wine and hot stock, being all to a boil, then add the red pepper, artichoke heart, green beans and peas.
Adjust the heat to a slow boil, after five minutes, add seafood then place the chicken and chorizo  back on top of the paella mix
Cover, and cook about 15 minutes or until the rice is done. Don't ever stir!! The goal is to get a caramelized layer of rice on the bottom of the pan. If doing it on a BBQ, the fire should start to die down as the rice is cooking. On a stove, you may have to stir the paella or move the pan around over the burner(s) to not burn in one place.


So delicious! The full dinner included lots of wine, and fresh tomato and zucchini salads from another guest's gardens, and of course, a lot of vino!

bon appetite!

They got me a lovely cake for dessert, complete with Joyuex Anniversiare Duck-Girl written across the front.

Paired with champagne, what more could a girl want?

The cake was caramel flan on top, with a layer of thin slices pears both perched over a walnut crumble base, officially called the Louvre Cake. Amazing!

I could not have asked for more for my first birthday outside of California, away from my friends and family. The food was amazing and the people were lovely, and it put a perfect start to my 22nd year.