When we lived in Georgia, I was in the catering business and liked to entertain at home as often as my schedule would allow. Since choosing to live the homesteading life in Nicaragua, I've been able to continue my hobby and this past week we enjoyed some of my 'almost famous' chili and the company of some of this country's Gringos, established and newbies.

There are many aspects to throwing a good party down here, not the least of which is being able to find the ingredients you're looking for. Inventory is not an understood concept, and what one finds in stores one day may never be carried in that same store again. There are also many essential products (for me anyway) that simply aren't here. Tiger sauce is one example, and I get deliveries twice a year just to keep my kitchen cupboard happy. An online friend recently brought 4 bottles down here for me and the timing seemed ideal for yet another get together.

I purchased this rustic Guanacaste seating set from a friend for $50 and hired two locals to do the heavy lifting for us. What I had thought would be a two hour job max, turned into half a day and my husband had some seriously sore muscles that evening from helping out. It was worth it though as we had plenty of easy care seating for the guests, which hailed from New Jersey, Colorado, Canada and Mexico.

The chili, a huge pot with two kinds of beans and four kinds of meat, was a big success, and we cooled the heat with lots of ice cold Toña (Nicaragua's national beer). One of our new friends demonstrated a coconut-opening technique that he picked up in Hawaii.

By impaling an immature coconut several times on a sharpened stake driven in the ground, turning the fruit as you go, it's easy to get the outer husk off the nut. A few taps with the back of a machete and the thing just pops right open. I didn't have any knives handy to scrape out the flesh, but that didn't seem to slow the guests down at all. Folks in Nicaragua tend to be a creative lot! : )