Day 1 slow cooking

When I was a little school girl, my family lived in Willard, Utah. It was a dreamy neighborhood for a kid. We played all of the outdoor games, Hide 'N Seek, Kick the Can and baseball using orchard trees as bases, Our street sloped down from the mountain.  It was great for sledding in the winter and racing hot rods (that's what the older boys called their creations) in the summer. My most favorite thing of all was playing house with my BFF, Laura.  There was an old chicken coop on her family's property. It had a real door and a couple of windows.  We made shelves and furnished the place with all kinds of improvisations. Stocking the kitchen shelf with pieces of this and that, making do, delightful!
Renting a house for an extended stay like this, flashes me back to that imaginary time of kid bliss. It's the kitchen. It comes empty.  No food. It calls for improvisation, making do.
We made a quick stop at a Mexican grocery store on the way in. We had 5 minutes, no, make that 3 to grab some basics for dinner and breakfast. Funny what one grabs under that kind of stress!.
First up, explore the kitchen. Usually these rentals have an eclectic stash of spices left behind from previous guests.Well, no orphaned spices this time. Nada. No salt, pepper, sugar, chili powder, nothing. There's a small room like a pantry, the "platos" room says the hostess. That's all that's in there, assorted plates, cups, pans and some utensils. Sooo I pretended up a dinner. It was fun. Then came breakfast. Creating from fresh, whole foods grabbed in a hurry was fun.
This place is no chicken coop but the improv factor takes me back.
Today I studied a stack of magazines searching for recipes. With unhurried time, I chose some and went grocery shopping.  I loved trying to translate English recipes into Spanish ingredients.  I really love unhurried time and the thought of cooking for pleasure.
Tonight I am cooking Chicken Corn Chowder. There will be a few substitutions and no requisite dutch oven. Oh, well. Just found out that the Eco-Tent village down the beach serves meals if necessary.
Tomorrow morning, Whole Wheat Plum Berry Tarts. Uh oh. It calls for a baking sheet and parchment paper. I didn't notice either of those things in LePlatos room. There is an 8X8 cake pan. We'll see. . .