WELL here I am in sunny, gorgeous Costa Rica after a somewhat easy journey, which is unusual for me. Not the same for my friend Kim, however, who happened to be travelling with us. Poor girl, while Billy and I were swigging back Bloody Mary's to celebrate the start of our holiday, Kim was trapped in the back of the bus, so to speak, with gangs of kids climbing all over her.

How she got in the midst of a nursery school travelling to Costa Rica, of all places, is quite unbelievable. There appeared to only be about two sets of parents who had what seemed like about 12 children under the age of four in their charge. Kim was in the midst of this mayhem suffering, most unfortunately, from the after effects of a birthday party she had attended the night before. This was definitely a case of no peace for the wicked. She had a can of Coke poured over her head, a crayon embedded quite close to her jugular vein and her right leg was used as a race track for a dozen or so miniscule racing cars.

There weren't enough miniature bottles on the plane to placate her humor. In my mind there is absolutely nothing worse than having to endure a plane journey when there are unruly, screaming little brats on board with parents doing nothing to attempt any form of supervision. It was at this point, when Kim had decided her upper body was not going to be used as a Formula 1, track that the flight attendant swished by and asked her if there was anything he could get for her. Without missing a beat Kim said in a very loud voice "Yes, could you please get me a parachute!" Unfortunately for her there didn't seem to be one available. So instead she yanked down the oxygen mask and simulated very deep breathing and this miraculously seemed to shut everyone up!

The days here are just whizzing by and I get tears in my eyes when I realise that within a matter of days we will be back on our way to Denver. Our house here is located in the middle of a partially cleared out jungle. In the mornings we sit out by the pool with our very strong Costa Rican coffee (not dissimilar to rocket fuel!) just perusing this unbelievable scenery. I have never been much of a bird watcher as I have always considered this pastime to be a little like stamp or coin collecting. However here I have become an ornithologist extraordinaire. I don't know how many varieties of birds there actually are but it must come close to maybe 60 or so, all beautiful and all of them trying to outdo one another with their melodious songs.

Yesterday we had a little incident with a baby green parrot. He'd see his reflection in our glass patio doors and had flown into them full bore thus suffering extreme parrot concussion. When we came anywhere near him he hissed like a snake and as you know they can if they want just about take your finger off if you're not careful. We very gingerly put down a little bowl of water with a few drops of rum in it to try and revive him but all to no avail. I was beside myself with sorrow as this poor little fellow appeared to be dying. If I could have done mouth-to-beak resuscitation without fear of having both lips pecked off (and perhaps contracting rabies), I would have gladly done so.

These nasty little black semi-vulture type creatures had obviously sussed that this poor boy was on the way out and kept trying to come up and finish him off. I wanted Billy to stand on guard as a scarecrow to prevent this happening but he didn't consider this to be part of his job description and so that didn't happen. (his remedy was to give him a cracker, because isn't that what parrots like?)

We finally devised a makeshift cage from a hanging basket to protect Percy (his new name) from his predators. Feeling satisfied that dear Percy could die in peace if need be we set off for our daily, most exciting trip to the supermarket to sift through the three quarters dead "fresh" produce that is to be had. I was more than thrilled that upon our return. Percy was chirping and preening himself and was probably two-thirds cut on the rum and water that he'd guzzled back during our absence. Despite much parrot hissing and squawking we turned the cage on its side and within a matter of seconds he was up and out and flying back to his wife and family. It just goes to show that a tot of rum or maybe two is extremely medicinal!

My ornithological activities came to an abrupt halt slightly later in the evening as I was sitting under our covered wooden porch. I thought it was rather strange that there were about ten or so large black holes up in eaves that I had never seen before. I was just staring up at them thinking that maybe they were some form of ventilation that I hadn't noticed before. It was as this thought was going through my head that the "holes" suddenly vanished before my very eyes and 10 pairs of scaly wings skimmed the top of my head at about a thousand miles an hour. As you have probably figured out by now the "ventilation holes" were small bats, I don't know whether bats are considered birds or not - probably not but I screamed blue murder and moved out of there faster than they did. I can still hear that dreadful flapping of wings as they passed over me (and thoughts of them possibly having become entangled in my already thinning hair make my blood run cold) and so I have decided that my bird watching will strictly be limited to daytime hours.

The recipes that I have for you this week all come courtesy of the latest magazine that I have been drooling over on my flight from Houston to Liberia (the airport in Costa Rica). Read but not tested so hopefully they will turn out to be as scrumptious as they sound.

2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice wine or sherry, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon corn starch, salt, 4 skinless duck breasts - about 6-ounces each. (I have found these in the frozen section at the Supermart but am sure that you can get them elsewhere) cut crosswise into 1/2 - inch-thick slices, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 4 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced, 1 large shallot, thinly sliced, 1 jalape?o, seeded and thinly sliced, 1 red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1/2 cup chicken stock, 1/4 cup salted, roasted peanuts, 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

In a medium bowl stir 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce with the wine, sesame oil, cornstarch and a pinch of salt. Add the duck and turn to coat. Let the duck marinate for 10 minutes. In a large skillet or wok, heat the oil. Add the duck reserving any excess marinade. Cook over high heat until medium rare, about 2 minutes per side and then transfer to a plate. Add the garlic, shallot and chilli to the skillet and cook over a moderately high heat, stirring until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, reserved marinade, sugar and stock and stir fry, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the skillet. Return the duck to the skillet and stir fry for a further 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and stir in the peanuts. Transfer to plates and scatter the cilantro over the top.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1 garlic clove finely minced, 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest, 1/4 teaspoon (or to taste) ground cumin, salt and freshly ground black pepper, one 19-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed, 1 pound of English cucumber, very thinly sliced crosswise, 6 large radishes, thinly sliced, 1/2 medium red onion, very finely sliced, 1/2 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley

In a large bowl combine the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, lemon zest, cumin, salt and pepper. Add the chickpeas and allow to marinate for at least 25 minutes (overnight if you like) stir this mixture every now and then. Just before serving, add the cucumber and radishes, onion and parsley and season with salt and pepper.

2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, 1 cup sugar, 2 large egg yolks, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 3/4 cup seedless raspberry preserves or jam (8-ounces) confectioner{s sugar for dusting

In a bowl whisk together the baking powder, salt and flour. In another bowl, using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar at a low speed until well combined, then beat in the egg yolks and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and beat at a low speed until a soft dough forms. Halve the dough and form into logs, wrapping in plastic wrap and refrigerating for at least an hour or until firm. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter an 8 1-2- by 11 - inch glass baking dish. Working over the baking dish, coarsely shred one log of dough on the large holes of a box grater, evenly distributing the dough on the bottom of the baking dish. Do not pat or press the dough. Using a spoon dollop the preserves over the dough and gently spread it in an even layer. Grate the second log of dough on the top. Using a rubber spatula tuck in any shreds of dough sticking to the sides of the baking dish to prevent them from burning. Bake the shortbread on the bottom rack of the oven for about 35 minutes covering it with foil halfway through baking. The shortbread is done when the pastry is golden all over. Let cool completely and then cut into 24 bars, dusting the tops with the confectioner's sugar and serve.

2 sticks unsalted butter, 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped, 4 large eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup packed light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 3/4 cup flour, 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter and lightly flour a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. In the top of a double boiler or in a microwave melt the butter with the chocolate and allow to cool. Meanwhile in a large bowl beat the eggs with the sugar and the brown sugar until nice and thick then beat in the vanilla. Using a rubber spatula gently fold in the chocolate mixture until combined. Sift the flour over the batter and fold it in followed by the pecans. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 25 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out with moist crumbs attached. Let the brownies cool in the pan for 1 hour before cutting into squares.

These brownies can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated or frozen for up to a month.