Just like everyone else, when we travel we take photos of all of the major sites to see as well as a selfie here and there. We love taking photos of the various architecture, cityscapes, landscapes, and major landmarks. With that said, we often take random photos that don’t necessarily represent the place that we are visiting. If we happen upon some beautiful flowers, perhaps a courtyard with a fountain, or perhaps just an interesting scene or group of people. Although the photos don’t necessarily represent the place that we are visiting, we find the pictures interesting never the less. This week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge are photos that contain the words that contain a U and an O, so we have decided to share some random photos that we took while we were in Quito. Do you ever take photos of random things while you are traveling?
Flowers in a ParkShoeshine Boys Relaxing in the Town SquareFlowered Trees in a CourtyardArt on the Side of a BuildingCuddling ParrotsColorful FlowerGuarding a ProtestBright Orange Flowers
Whether visiting Peru or Bolivia, it is definitely worth taking the time to visit Lake Titicaca. The lake extends into both countries and has several islands with Incan ruins that are thousands of years old. Obviously, we visited from the Bolivian side of the lake and we visited both Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) as well as Isla de la Luna (Island of the Moon), which were fascinating. There are several tour companies that will take you out to the islands via boat or hydrofoil and it is even possible to spend the night on Sun Island. Our trip out onto the lake started out a little choppy as a single rain cloud seemed to follow us out to the island. We even saw a waterspout at one point and had to take cover inside of the cabin of the boat. This week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, words that have two T’s, we decided to look back on our time on Lake Titicaca. We saw many interesting things during our time in Bolivia, but visiting the ruins on the lake was certainly one of the highlights of our time there.
Cruising on Lake TiticacaTemple on Sun Island with Moon Island in the Distance on Lake Titicaca, BoliviaRuins on the IslandStart of the Waterspout
One of the things that we were told that we had to try during our recent trip to Ecuador were empanadas. We got a sampler platter of them, which was a great way to try several varieties. Empanadas are dough stuffed with chicken, beef, cheese, or other fillings, usually they have some spices like cumin and chili powder that can be baked or fried. They can also be sweet and made with fruit for a dessert. We decided to make ours using ground beef and peppers, which made for a nice flavor profile. Although you can make your own dough, you can also choose a pre-made dough or even phyllo dough. You can make the stuffing as spicy as you like, but we found the ones in Ecuador to have spice, but not be spicy. They are usually served with some sort of dipping sauce like guacamole, salsa, or we made an adobo aioli. They might not be the prettiest, but they were very tasty. We made a small batch, but you can certainly can increase it to feed a larger crowd.
Empanadas in EcuadorOur Version of Empanadas with Aioli Sauce
INGREDIENTS
1/4 lb Lean Ground Beef
1/4 tbsp Garlic Salt
1/2 tbsp Tomato Paste
1/2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
1/4 tsp Chili Powder
1/4 tsp Dried Oregano
1/4 tsp Seasoned Salt
1 Clove Garlic – minced
1/4 Green Pepper – chopped
1/4 Red Pepper – chopped
1/4 Yellow Onion – chopped
Vegetable Oil
Peppers and OnionStuffed Empanadas
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat a medium frying pan to medium-high heat with a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Brown the ground beef with the garlic salt and drain off the grease and set it aside. In the same pan, add another tablespoon of vegetable oil and then add the tomato paste, vinegar, cumin, chili powder, oregano, seasoned salt, minced garlic, bell peppers, and onion. Cook until the vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes. Add the beef back to the pan and heat for another 5 minutes. Put the mixture aside and let it cool to room temperature. Roll out the dough on a cutting board with flour to keep it from sticking. Cut the dough into 4 to 6 inch rounds. Spoon filling onto each round making sure not to overfill them. Wet the edges with either water or egg so that it will stick when pressed together. Carefully fold the dough over and press the edges together with a fork or with your fingers. At this point, you can deep fry the empanadas until golden brown or bake them in the oven. We did a combination of the two where we fried them in a tablespoon of vegetable oil until the sides were golden brown and then finished them in a pre-heated oven at 325 degrees.
