Feliz cumpleaños a Bailey y Gallo Pinto

Today is Bailey's 10th birthday - feliz cumpleaños, gatita! She was such a little thing when I first adopted her in 2001 - she's been a wonderful companion ever since. She loves her humans and is a great traveler (for which we are truly grateful).

Me with bitty Bailey in July 2001.

She loves it here, too - Graham thinks she wants to retire in Costa Rica. Lots of sun, lots of birds to watch, and her people are home more often. Claire ADORES her - it's very sweet to watch. The last week she decided that bedtime prayers need to be said with Bailey, so we have to find her wherever she is. Last night she obliged by waiting on the bed until prayer time. Happy birthday to our big squirrel...we're glad you came with us - it makes it more of a home.

Morning kisses from a girl. Claire loves giving her kisses and hugs (and Bailey is very tolerant).

Claire giving Bailey her birthday present.

As promised, here are the pictures of our Spanish lessons. Again, we're studying with José-Luis at LisaTec Spanish School, which is a 20 minute walk from our condo. So far we've had three two-hour lessons and feel much more competent in Spanish.

Our school, situated in a quiet tropical neighborhood just off the golf course.

Us in our classroom. (Notice that we don't face the great view...no distractions.)

With our maestro, the marvelous José-Luis.

Last night I made gallo pinto for the first time. I think it's actually the national dish of Costa Rica - the name means "painted rooster." I got the recipe from the aforementioned Tim, author of The Real Costa Rica Web page. A self-described gallo pinto connoisseur, he says this recipe is far and away the best he's tasted. We've been buying it pre-made at the local market, but this was my first stab at making it from scratch.

Simmering onion, garlic, cilantro, and red pepper in a little olive oil.

After adding the beans and Salsa Lizano, the key ingredient in terms of its unique flavor.

The final step - adding the rice.

Served with scrambled eggs and tortillas - we also topped it with plain yogurt. (It's most often a breakfast food here.) And that's the special sauce in the back - Tim says Worcestershire  can be used but it won't have the same taste. Salsa Lizano actually smells/tastes a bit like A-1 to me, so that might work as well.

¡Mi familia at dinner! (No gallo pinto for Claire...yet.)

It turned out to be much more flavorful (and colorful!) than the pre-made gallo pinto from the market - we liked it a lot. I made WAY too much of the beans and rice, so after dinner I made two more batches of gallo pinto so we could have leftovers. Yum! It was just as good for breakfast this morning...

For practice, here's the summary of this post in Spanish. (This is me using what I know at this point, so please forgive the simplicity and any errors, my Spanish-speaking friends. Though this is a TON more than I knew two weeks ago...)

• Nuestra gata, Bailey, tienes diez años hoy. Nosotros encanta que ella es aquí con nosotros. Claire adores su gata. ¡Feliz cumpleaños, Bailey!
• Estos estan los photos de nuestra escuela de idiomas, LisaTec Spanish School. La escuela esta tranquile y bonita. Nosotros tuvimos tres lecciones ahora y gusta mucho. Cada día, nosotros sabemos un poco mas.
• Yo cociné gallo pinto ayer con arroz, frijoles, cebolla, ajo, chile dulce, y Salsa Lizano. Nosotros lo comimos con huevos, tortillas, y yogurt. ¡Que rico! Hice a casa es mejor y tienes mas sabor.

¡Hasta luego!