Maria generously opened her own home and kitchen to my husband and I for this hands-on cooking experience. We learned how to choose green plantains and make cheese stuffed empanadas, which are delicious and healthy - a real game changer if you want to avoid gluten or typical wheat flour doughs. Pressing the empanadas was fun - we have already ordered a tortilla press for our home use and will make this recipe frequently.
We also made fresh shrimp ceviche and learned that Ecuadorians cook the shrimp first. Many of the ingredients came from Maria's own backyard, which is an amazing array of fruit trees (50 foot avocado trees!) and herbs. The lemon verbena lemonade was amazing!
We had Maria arrange a private ride for us from the Wyndham Quito Airport hotel for a very reasonable extra fee. I highly suggest this, as she lives in a gated community and our driver knew how to get in. The drive was beautiful and interesting - especially the neighboring town with all the guinea pigs hanging on the street. We did not eat any of these, but wow are they huge!