Forty Weeks or Forty Winks...

RA informed me this week it has been 40 weeks since we entered the MTC at Provo.  I thought and expressed, "How can that be?" The time has gone by quickly. Maybe it has been '40 winks,' not 40 weeks. 40 winks has some deeper roots in the English Language and has been used by Lewis Carrol and others. Generally speaking it refers to a short sleep or nap outside of a bed. I have enjoyed that experience in the custom made recliner in our living room on occasion. It is not uncommon, as we work in the Temple, to observe so many who travel so far and work so long to be taking 40 winks wherever they can. I have come close to that myself. On occasion I have had to nudge the segadora with me on a session trying to take 40 winks. There is a biblical connection to this idiomatic noun. In a play by Robert Louis Stevenson named, "King's Evidence," two characters discuss the failings of a third person. One says to the other, "Give him 40 winks, and he'll turn up as fresh as clean saw dust and as respectable as a new Bible."

We are having to add to our wardrobe with smaller sizes, not all bad

For more than a few weeks we have been seriously dieting and walking. Our high for one week was 25 miles. Lately, due to colds and other distractions we have not been able to log as many. Walking back from the parking lot at the Temple this morning our friends the pigeons swooped down and were expecting a handout. I had none as I don't carry crackers with me on Sundays. I returned home, changed and walked back in civilian clothes wondering if my friends the pigeons would recognize me without my Mr. Mac suit, white shirt and tie. Sure enough they flew from a half block away and landed at my feet waiting for their whole wheat crackers.

My friends recognized me even in civilian clothes

I asked RA the other day what she missed most since our serious dieting began. Her list began, with some emphasis: 1. "Sweets, what do you think?" Next in order of priority...

2. A batch of cookies

3. An Almond Joy

4. All the stuff I like to eat

5. Ice cream. "Which one I asked?" "Don't know, too many I have not tried here in Peru."

6. Cakes and Pies

7. Chocolate. 

8. I miss sweets!

9. Chocolate covered cherries with fondant

10. Orange sticks

My list was a little different: 

1. All the potatoes I would want to eat. Peru, among other things, has the best potatoes on the planet. Papas Amarillas are my favorite but there are others that I enjoy. 

2. The above mentioned potatoes need to be accompanied with carne, i.e. steak, alpaca, chicken Peruvian style or just the Sunday dinners I cook.

3. Lomo Saltado.  This is a wonderful dish of onions, fine beef, tomatoes, peppers and more, piled on top of the best french fries on the planet.

4. Chocolate from Arequipa

5. RA's tuna casserole

6. Chocolate ice cream

7. Pancakes with real butter, or even with fake butter

8. Grilled cheeseburgers, french fries, and a Coke

9. Whole milk

10. A Snickers Bar

We will likely continue dieting and walking. The weather is cooler and pleasant most days to be walking in our neighborhood. My new Merrill walking shoes arrived from the US and they have made a change for the better. 

Too warm to hold, just off the stove

At one of our favorite markets we found, the original and native to Peru, ground cherries.  As a kid we used to have homemade ground cherry jam on waffles and pancakes. Now that RA has made jam from our recent purchase the diet will be set aside to enjoy it on some pancakes. We don't have a waffle iron but maybe for the occasion we will acquire one. It brings back lots of fond memories of home growing up in Centerville. Thanks Mom and RA for so many good things in life that I am the beneficiary of. Peru remains an incredible place with so much to discover and to enjoy.

Known as Inca berries though the Peruvian name is 'Aguayamanto'

Our friends from the Temple "came" to dinner at our place and instead they brought the best dishes on the table. We learned about a new vegetable native to Peru called 'Cayhua.'  It is a member of the cucumber family but does not taste like one, more like a pepper but not hot.  They were stuffed and delicious. We also had a quinoa dish with cheese from Arequipa, milk and other ingredients. It is the best way to enjoy quinoa we have found.

The Caihua fruits are hollow for easy stuffing. The seeds are removed during preparation.

Caihua like many other foods, plants, and vegetables in Peru is being studied for their medicinal uses. Among the claims for Caihua are blood pressure, cholesterol lowering, and diabetes prevention. Caihua was taken to Florida and planted and has become a pest, not as prevalent as kudzu but bordering on the obnoxious due to its vines that when mature can be climbed on. One other verified claim we can make for Caihua is that it is very pleasant to enjoy with friends on a Sunday afternoon in Lima Peru.