So the holidays are over and here we are at the start of a new year. Today I had my first (of many, I'm sure) "ah crud" moments when you write out the date and realize the year is wrong because its no longer 200_, its now 200_+1! January is quite annoying because of that every year! Maybe I'll start writing 2008 on everything next December to prepare me for the switch next year... oh wait, that won't work- dang it!
My mom was down here for Christmas and New Years and it was quite fun! The house had to be *perfect* and so the days leading up to this momentous visit were full of last minute cleaning, organizing, and panicking! But alas, all turned out well and we had a grand ol' time! Along with presents (ooh!ooh! I have a creme brulee set now, ramekins, blowtorch and all!) she also brought some tasty treats that I can't find anywhere here. Sad thing about Oklahoma is that its not very diverse... well, unless you're Mexican. Lots of shops and international markets here for those of that heritage and culture, but nothing-zip-nada if you're of any other decent. Uruguayan and Colombian cuisines are absolutely NOTHING like Mexican so I am forced to rely on my mom to bring/send me yummy treats and condiments to cook with.
One such treat were my Alfajores! They are traditional Uruguayan cookie things that have Dulce De Leche (caramel) in the middle and are dipped in chocolate or merengue powder... mmm mmm gooooooood! Ben hates them (too sweet for him) which means more for ME! She also brought me my favorite Italian cookies! No, I'm not Italian, but Uruguay's cuisine and culture is very much Italian influenced b/c thats where pretty much everyones' ancestors are from, if not from Spain. And living in NYC there are scrumpdidlyumptious Italian bakeries everywhere and oh my gosh, I love their food!!! By the way, Shannon, did you read my comment on your Chimichurri entry? Its good stuff, very common in Uruguay too!
Now my mom is gone and although I miss her, I am glad to have life go back to normal. Its nice not to have to play hostess all the time and well, I know we're boring, so I'm sure she's glad to be home too. Sirius misses her quite a bit and goes to the guest room and lays on her bed and cries every morning, its quite a sad site to behold.
2 comments:
So, I went up to Idaho once with my dear friend Nate because one of his friends was coming home from his mission to Uruguay. He brought home Alfajores, and they were quite delicious! But i do have to say that Nate and I had no idea how to spell Alfajores, and when we first heard the name, we gave each other this look like, "That can't be what they are called. We MUST have heard them wrong." So now it just makes me giggle.
And I was just about to tell basically the same story. But from my stand point, I just got a letter from Nate which asked: "Do you know what Alpha whores are? Do you have them in Brazil?" The answers were no, and no. Though I did later eat one that was from Uruguai and packaged only in Spanish.
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