Welcome to Ecuador!

So I decided to take my family and friends on a little culinary journey to Ecuador during our vacation in Maine and took along with me several recipes from this gorgeous blog I've discovered, Laylita's Recipes (see sidebar for link). It was great fun and I cooked off and on throughout the day (between beach naps). The fellas I was cooking for also got totally in to the spirit.

Isn't this a gorgeous display of produce? I used nearly every single element from this basket in my meal.

Beautiful avocados.....to.....

...delicious guacamole!
As you can see, the appetizer course was served on the porch overlooking the ocean sunset.

Laylita's amazing arugula/mango/avocado/red onion salad with a fresh dressing made with fresh squeezed orange juice and other perfect ingredients.

The progression of the centerpiece of the meal--her fish with coconut sauce--what fun was that to make! I loved every step along the way. First I marinated the fish in all these fruit juices and gorgeous spices then it cooks in the coconut milk sauce shown here. YUM

I could hardly believe I found plaintains in a generic grocery store in Maine...wow! These turned out well but I think they could have been alot crisper. I never seem to get anything fried quite right.

The finished plate!

It looked, and tasted gorgeous thanks to Laylita's fabulous recipes/instructions!

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

I made her orange coconut flan for dessert. As I couldn't find a mixer (I later did) , I used the blender to combine the ingredients! You can see the coconut milk layered with evap milk, sugar, eggs, etc. I thought it looked pretty cool before blending.

The finished flan. The shaved coconut "rose" to the top, which became the bottom so it made almost a little crust.

Thanks to Laylita...it sure was a fun opportunity to use her recipes "soup to nuts" and share them and have everything turn out so fabulous!

Buen provecho!