TODAY'S DINNER RECIPE THAT WE BOTH LOVED!!

ONE-POT EASY PEASY PASTA>>>>>>>3 sun dried tomatoes, cut into slivers.......2C boiling water.......2t sugar.......mix and set aside>>>>>>>3C grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced(i used 1/2 red and 1/2 yellow---pretty!).......1/4C diced onion.......1t chopped garlic.......3T chopped fresh oregano (or 1t dried or just leave out).......saute.......add water/tomato mix and bring to low simmer>>>>>>>add 8oz penne pasta (raw).......cook, stirring often until almost all of the liquid is absorbed and penne are al dente (mostly cooked but still firm, not flabby and overcooked)>>>>>>>swirl in a knob of butter or spoonful of cream or Greek yogurt>>>>>>>serve topped with feta cheese>>>>>>>tell NO ONE how easy this was!

Pourquoi Français?

Before we moved to Costa Rica, when we were still thinking "maybe this might be a good idea....?", i started doing Spanish lessons on Duolingo. Every day for the year that we were deciding and planning. Every day for the first two,nearly three, years that we lived here. Joe started too and, having had Spanish in high school and college, was really enjoying it. But....it was not such a home run for me. I had French in high school and spoke French with the kids for years. Many words in Spanish were similar to English or French which, one would think, would make it easier but i found it very confusing. The languages would swirl in my head. I would do Duolingo every day until i was to the point of crying with frustration and failure, then i would stop for the day, only to start and do the same the next.>>>>>>>After a period of this, i decided, with discussions with Joe and others, that it was just not worth my mental health to have the daily frustration. That the Spanish that i was learning was not enough (i was not making amazing progress, despite my efforts)and i spoke enough "restaurant/food Spanish" to get by.>>>>>>>I really don't speak to anyone here except other ex-pats (those who have moved here frm the US and Canada, primarily). I go to the grocery and the fruit/veg market but speaking "restaurant/food Spanish" and knowing the common numbers (prices at the fruit/veg market), i can get by. So, i went back to studying French.>>>>>>>I read and study the "new words" daily for a 1-1/2 hours or so. I find, however, that i have no other use for French. I don't have the kids to speak to in French. I don't know anyone else that speaks French. We are going to Europe for a month on vacation, yes, but to Spain. So...no need for me to brush up on my "travel French" for this trip. We went to France already when the kids were young so i don't know that we will be going back anytime soon. There are just too many other places that Joe wants to travel (see the Northern Lights! see Australia! Amsterdam and the Netherlands! Scotland and Wales!). So, why do i torment myself learning the French to "espionage, counterfeit, blood-splattered, Swiss chard, building terms-- caustic, wood putty, table saws, overly ripe fruit, spoiled child-- not to be confused with spoiled milk" and other words that i find in my reading.>>>>>>>Like so much of my life, it seems hardly worth the effort. Like cooking a new recipe for the two of us or sewing a new dress...what is the point? He is happy with "food...whatever" and i'm the only one that sees my new dress. I could wear the same capris and tee-shirts that i moved here with in 2019 and no one would notice or care if they did. I guess i need this vacation this month more than i appreciated, if only to "shake things up a bit". And, Joe will be able to brush up on his "Castillian Spanish" which is different than the "Latin American Spanish" that he speaks here. And, he'll get to have _good_ beef and fancy restaurants, neither of which we have anywhere in Costa Rica.>>>>>>>And, maybe, just maybe, we will come across some French tourists....crossing my fingers (and brushing up on my verb tenses!)>>>>>>Adieu pour maintenant (bye for now).....i'm off to study those pesky new words.