Napoli's
Many
years ago, when we were still dating, Nora and I used to got to
Napoli's near the Instituto Nacional frequently. We had not eaten at
Napoli's in a lot of years, but decided to try them again recently.
This time we went to their Calle 57 location, 2 blocks off Via Espana.
What
can I say? The food was delicious, the service excellent, considering
the Sunday crowd, and prices reasonable. Granddaughter Ana Sofia and I
shared a combination pizza, and in my opinion it's the best in Panama.
To be fair there are some places I've heard highly praised that I
haven't tried yet. Nora had spaghetti with garlic clams, which were
excellent. For five adults and 3 children the bill was under $60,00.
They get my '3 thumbs up' rating.
Cerro Azul
On
the way to Cerro Azul, right at the “Cerro Azul" sign there is a
restaurant and small resort on the right side of the road. The
restaurant is called 'La Posada de Ferhisse. On a recent Saturday,
Greg, Cindy, Nora, and I stopped there for lunch. We had been looking
at houses and generally having a fine time in Altos de Cerro Azul, and
had worked up an appetite. The day had been cool and drizzly and while
we were eating, a cloud thick enough to hide our car parked 100 feet
away, rolled in and opened up. The temperature dropped about 10 degrees
and the rain came down in sheets. We weren't anywhere close to the edge
of the large open air covered dining area, but could feel a fine mist
of spray anyway. The food was good and very reasonably priced, service
good, and the beer cold.
I recommend La Posada de Ferhisse anytime you find yourself in Cerro Azul at lunch time.
French Fries minus the “Fries”
If.
like me, you love french fries, but have to avoid fried foods, you may
appreciate the following recipe. I wish I could take credit for it, but
I learned this one watching Rachael Ray on the Food Network.
Prepare
the potatoes just as you would for french fries. I like mine with the
skin on, so I wash them thoroughly and then run them through a cutter,
but you can skin them if you prefer. Don't be afraid to get creative.
They don't have to look like french fries.
Pour a bit of Olive
Oil, about a teaspoon per large potato or just enough to very lightly
coat each slice, over the slices and mix them around a bit.
This
next part is highly variable and you should make up your own seasoning
list to suit yourself. I sprinkle on garlic powder, curry, MSG, salt
and black pepper, then thoroughly mix it all up until each slice is
coated. Feel free to experiment. I think I'll try some cayenne pepper
next time.
Spread the slices on a baking pan lightly sprayed
with Pam. I use a sheet of aluminum foil over a cookie pan. Bake at
about 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. If the slices are stacked more
than about two high, you should stir them at about the 15 minute point.
You can tell when they are done by sticking a fork in them.
The Rising Cost of Living
Panama,
just like other countries, has inflationary forces acting on its
economy. The last couple of years have brought cost of living increases
unlike any I've seen in the years I've been living here. Now, don't ask
me for percentages, graphs, or any of that stuff. This is
'seat-of-the-pants' economics. The almost-export-quality bananas in
Riba Smith are up from $.17 to $.27 a pound. Meat, vegetables, and
canned goods prices are all up, and a case of local beer costs about
20% more than just a few years ago. Don't get me started on over $3.00
a gallon gasoline.
Some of this is market forces and some of it is government greed.
Electric
rates are right up there with some of the most expensive areas of North
America. A driver's license renewal now costs double what it cost last
year. Bribing a traffic cop is becoming insane. Forget the $5.00 tariff
of days gone by. One friend recently was offered the choice of having
his car towed or paying the cop $60.00
Panama is still a bargain
in many ways, and prices of most everything are still low compared to
the US, Europe, and most other Latin American countries, but the good
old days of living pretty nice on $1500.00 a month are gone. I've got
to redo some of the web pages one day soon to reflect the change in COL.
Another Irritant
OK,
this time it's about the internet, and those clever websites which read
your IP address and redirect you to a Spanish language page if you are
in Panama or some other Spanish speaking country. Now, this is all well
and good most of the time, but one site from which I foolishly bought
something, insists on sending me email offers and even replying to my
English emails, in Spanish. Just another little reminder that common
sense isn't very common. Anyway, if they are clever enough to write
website code that reads my IP address, why can't they just take a look
at what language my browser is set to?