The Chili Cook-off

After a long period of meditation, including a call to my mother just to verify, I concluded that I had never eaten Chili in Perú and had only tried a little bit from Wendy's, maybe 4 years ago. I didn't like it - it was fast food!. So I decided to choose one from all the fabulous recipes our blogger buddies have been sharing... but then decided to look for a similar dish so I can post something different!


"What are we cooking today?"

"Aguadito de lentejas"

I got this recipe from a book my mom brought from Perú. The recipe is in spanish and is at home so I will just write what I remember. The ingredients are lentils, swiss chard, chicken broth (or veggie broth), cilantro, yellow chili (spicy!), onion, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and cumin.

"Do I smell something here?"

The peruvian yellow chilis are spicy and tasty.

"Why did you put my veggies in here? To my plate, NOW!"

The lentils have to be cooked previously. First, I cook the onions in the olive oil until brown, add garlic and a paste made with cilantro and chili.

Season with salt, pepper and cumin.

"What? Are you cooking my veggies?"

Add the chicken broth and the swiss chard, bring to boil for a few minutes.

Add the cooked lentils and chopped cilantro and cook for some more minutes.




"Yummy!"

Spanish Lessons

- camión -

- supermercado -

- botes -


- semáforo -

- ómnibus -

- carro -

Sharing the Love Award

This is my third award, given to us by three wonderful bloggers: Winston & Clemmie; Herbie, Ricky, Fatty and Nixon; and Sophie, Dixie and Harley (OK that was like 9 bloggers, not 3)
Thank you very much!

This lovely award is created by Crystal @ Memoirs of a Mommy in honor of Noah and the donor of his sweet little heart who ENCOURAGES us to SHARE THE LOVE ! Thanks Crystal! [Click on Memoirs of a Mommy to learn and read this special love story!] The rules for this award are to pass it along to some people whose blogs you love. They make you laugh, smile, leave encouraging comments on your blog. You would like to share some love with them because they have uplifted, inspired, encouraged or prayed for you. Please include this paragraph with the link to Memoirs of a Mommy so that everyone knows where this award originated from.

It is hard to choose who to pass this award to, especially since most of our friends already have received it. I would like to give this award to:

- Puglette
- Clover
- Jemima
- Nevis

Thank you all for the nice comments!

Oh, before I forget, the pool from my previous post is a kid's pool that closes for the winter and the last weenend (mid November) opens for dogs instead of kids. This year there will be 3 different water parks opening 3 different weekends of November. They are located in the Fort Lauderdale area, like 30 to 45 minutes from Miami.

Wordless Wednesday

Pug Meetup

Last Saturday was our monthly meetup. As always, I took some pictures but since there was a Halloween costume contest, hubby was in charge of the camera this time. Our meetups are indoors and it is very hard to get a nice and clear picture but this time... hubby didn't put much effort and almost all of the pictures are really bad. This is what I chose to post:

- the frog -

- the lamb (the contest winner) -

- the police -

I brought a costume for the meetup but ended up dressing Coco with the costume I made a while ago. The picture is blurry, but you get the idea.

Coco didn't wear the costume that I got because when he tried it on at home he did this * see video * and when I took it off the nose was messed up. I am waiting for my mom to come in December so she can fix it (she loves to sew). We have another costume contest in February, and that one is BIG!

NOTE: he does this ALWAYS. He is on a diet now... and I am, too, because if I open the fridge he will steal something.

(sorry it is crooked, but it was my first video! - after having the digital camera for 6 years... oh and it has no sound, I don't know why)

Spanish Lessons

- rio -

- cielo -

- vacas -

- puerta-

- edificios -

- casa -

- calle -

- piedra -

A long delayed post

It's been a while since I wanted to do this post, but I always come up with an "idea" and end up writing about that idea (I have a new idea for tomorrow!) instead of writing about my initial thoughts. First of all I want to thank everybody for making me feel welcome and for reading my stories. I really appreciate it and I love the comments, too!

I had been reading pug blogs for a year or so, from my sidekick. I have a laptop with tons of pictures but I don't have internet connection at home, so the idea of starting a blog seemed kind of difficult at first. I finally decided to bring my pictures in my memory stick to work and stay a little longer to start blogging.

Guess what? A week after I started my blog I had a car accident. Nothing happened to me besides the huge headache I have gotten ever since because I have to wake up super early to drop my husband off at 6:15 am. I arrive at the office at 6:30 a.m. and business start at 8:30 a.m. It has been a month and my car is not ready yet. Lately I feel like I have brain damage for my lack of sleep. You will see.

Last saturday I was at a very fancy restaurant with hubby and a couple of friends. We were telling the Inka Trail anectode and I was trying to explain how I hit my head with a tree branch so hard I almost fell to the floor (and the abyss) and to add a little emotion to my story I slaped my forehead. REALLY HARD. The whole restaurant remained silent for a few minutes and lots of eyes were watching our table. Uh? Then I realized that it sounded as if somebody had slapped somebody else on the face. And my forehead still hurts!!!

A couple of months ago, everybody was doing the cold box meme. I didn't have my blog back then. Anyway, I want to share a picture of my fridge just because I like it. :) In the top door I have cute stuffed animals and some magnets. In the bottom door I have pug magnets. It looks clean and empty but it is not always that way.



I also want to share some pictures of Coco's dining corner.

In the left there are some family pictures (my mom, sister, nephews, brother in law). On the top right there are two cross-stitched pictures I got from our local pug rescue. The bottom one says: Warning, Pug hair sticks to everything but the pug. I think this is true and funny.

I usually hang Coco's leashes and harnesses from this Ikea butts:


Finally, Coco enjoying his bone. It entertains him for a few minutes. Then he runs to the fridge to ask for food. It doesn't matter what time of the day it is or how much he had eaten already. He always "needs" more food.



To end this post, I would like to introduce Nixon to Coco's peruvian cousin: Valentina. She is young, beautiful, successful and single.

The Seasons

Fall in Coconut Grove (Miami, FL)
Winter in Key Biscayne (Miami, FL)

Wordless Wednesday

"Why, Dixie. Why?"

All About My Mother

Having introduced myself to my blog friends, I think it is time for me to write a little bit about my mother. Beware, this story will reveal a few secrets.

First things first. I am a pure breed pug, as you all know. My mother is not; thence she is not my real mother. She doesn't have to know, though.


My mother's first name is Sandra. The origin of her last name is the Vasque Country. Her late father was born in a little andean town 3 hours away from Lima, Perú. A little town with lots of history and proud hard working people.

Her mother was born in the southern part of the country, where vineyards and olives grow at its best.

Sandra was born in Lima but, according to my very own father, she looks like an andean girl. She has one sister, six years older and as different to her as a sister can possibly be. Genes, they say. And I am not talking about the physical appearance.


Anyway, the whole family used to go very often to this little town where the father was born. Soon, he built a small house to better accomodate family and friends. To my mother, this place is paradise.


There is a lot more to tell, but I already got writer's paw cramp. To not dissapoint my readers I will let one more secret escape from my little wrinkly mind: My mother is not faithful. You can see the evidence with your very own eyes: