January

Good afternoon to everyone, I have been out of the office for a few days. My dear friend from the US was here so was hanging out with him and of course Miguels widow, had a few different things to do with them, and he will be back to visit in July where we will go with him adn his wife to do a trek from HUancacalle to Machu Picchu which I am really looking forward to.

Then it is the normal catch up on all the emails that back up when you take time away from the computer.

As it is the season we have been eating a lot of Kapchi de Zetas a yummy veggie dish that people make at this time of year. I have taken this recipe from Taste of Peru website.

INGREDIENTS:

For seasoning: ½ Tablespoon Peruvian yellow aji chilies paste ½ Tablespoon Aji Panca paste 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 tablespoon garlic paste 1 bunch black mint 1 bunch lemon grass 1 big red onion Peruvian hot pepper Salt & pepper to taste 1 ¾ 2.2 ¾ 0.55 2 cup fresh andean mushrooms cup green lima beans lb. potatoes cup evaporated milk lb. fresh cheese eggs

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In a large frying pan, add the onion, pepper, salt, garlic paste, "aji panca" and chilies. Then add the mushrooms previously washed, the black mint, lemon grass and the Peruvian hot chili and cook for 15 minutes. Add a cup of water, the milk, eggs and finally the shredded cheese. When ready, add the green lima beans and the potatoes, which have to be boiled in advance. Finally boil all this mix for 10 minutes more. It can be served with rice or "waro" bread (Cusquenian typical bread).

In addition we have had a few problems with our soap production as our coco oil has not arrived apparently due to torrential rain in San Martin, hopefully by Friday as our coffee and chocolate soaps have become really popular, so we need to keep on top of that.

It is also holiday time of year so we are taking it in turns to have our 2 weeks off, I get mine last in March when I will be running off to the jungle to stay in the lodge that Mick Jagger stayed in.

Thats all for today lovelies, hope everyone is well and happy. Remember we are always here at www.tikatrek.com and www.tikasoapperu.com