merry almost christmas

I had forgotten how bad a hangover I get from too much pisco. Let's just say that it totally sucks. And I now recall why I only drink pisco in small amounts. Ouch.

Apart from that, good times are had by all in this neck of the woods. It's crazy hot, people wait until the last minute to shop, and we're doing (we being my mother in law and I) a cross-cultural Christmas Eve dinner - I think they are a little freaked out about the sound of the Green Bean Casserole, but they'll come around once they taste it. Or I'll be eating a lot of green beans.

I also just read a quick book that an aunt lent me (yay totally exciting) called Bonsai (Alejandro Zambra 2006), I'm still not sure what my reaction to it is. But it was a random book to read, and everyone knows I love that.

Merry Almost Christmas!

I can roast a chicken

I made a delightful lunch today.

When I told my mother about it, she was asking who I was having over. But no, it was just me.

I roasted a chicken. Yes, I did.

And I made roasted garlic mashed potatoes.

With a glass of red wine.

Sunday lunch is the best.

More empanadas for me, then.

I wish I had someone to celebrate Chilean Independence Day with.

It doesn't help that the dieciocho is a Tuesday this year, which means class class class for me.

But I don't want to eat my empanadas and drink my red wine and mango sour all by myself. However, that is sadly what appears to be on tap for me, considering that the usual suspects aren't anywhere near here.

Thank goodness that next year S and I can celebrate it together (I forget, did I mention we're now at the next step? Because we are. More money. Yay.)

I don't always have gourmet

For all of you out there who think I just make tons of gourmet food (though I was raised well... :-) )...

My dinner tonight? Meatloaf (albeit my mother-in-law's recipe) and a twice-baked potato (though I don't generally keep bacon in the house. Now I wish I did). Delicious homey food. Though now I kind of want some stuffed chicken breasts. Or other good-old classics. I have everything I need in the fridge...

sublime but solitary sunday lunch

Today I had a sublime (but solitary, tear) Sunday lunch. Because I wish I were in Chile. Because that is where S is, and things here haven't started up yet.

So on that note, here is a picture of the lovely Chilean lunch I made myself - I admit, I'm missing the "salads," be it plain lettuce, plain corn, etc, but it is just me. So here I have Carmen's Baked Chicken and Papas Duquesas with a nice Chilean red wine. Given the fact that I can have the windows open (because it isn't soooooooo hot!), this is great. If only I had someone to share it with.


So, here are the recipes:

Carmen's Chicken

5 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs (you can use boned ones, or breasts too, or chicken with skin)
Salt
Pepper
Oregano
Cumin
Paprika
Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a baking dish, rub salt, pepper, oregano, cumin, and paprika on the chicken (the mix is up to you - I like lots of paprika but that's just me.) Place in dish. Drizzle olive oil over chicken. Bake uncovered in oven 50 minutes.

Papas duquesas

2.5 pounds of baking potatoes
Salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. flour
Pinch of nutmeg
Vegetable oil (for frying)

Peel and cut potatoes into chunks and boil in salted water for 25 minutes. Drain, then heat in saucepan on high heat for 2 minutes (to dry them out some). (If you don't have a Kitchenaid [MY BEST FRIEND IS AWESOME AND WE LOVE YOUR PRESENT!!], make something up as to how to get everything together, I think potato ricers are silly but I'm also an improvisational chef - I don't really measure things most of the time). In the Kitchenaid, combine the remaining ingredients (minus the vegetable oil). Gradually mix in potatoes, using the whisk attachment.

Heat oil in frying pan. Place teaspoon sized gunks of the potato mixture in the hot oil ; fry until golden brown crust appears on all sides (you'll have to turn it.) Drain on paper towels. If you can't wait until they cool a bit to taste them, use chopsticks. Trust me on this one.

If you need to reheat them, do it on baking sheets in the oven.

it's been a week...

Happy Flag Day. Because no one knew that today was Flag Day.

Class goes well. It's exhausting but quite rewarding so far. However, I am definitely looking forward to the weekend, and sleeping past 7 AM. Have I mentioned that I'm not a morning person?

The only thing I have really done besides preps has been cook. My house is still a disaster from when I unpacked... must take care of that at some point...

I was almost freaking out earlier because I need to get a piece of furniture that I purchased, but had no way of transporting to my house. Church saved the day! I emailed one of the pastors and he sent out a call for help, and someone responded. Yay!

I have a few scholarly ideas floating around my head... if I can get my work space straightened up at all, I might even dive in to them. And no, parents, they do not involve translating anything. Sorry there.

1 more day until the weekend... and I don't usually even count them!

On the verge of collapse...

The title is a bit of an exaggeration, but I am absolutely exhausted.

I haven't quite settled into a routine yet, but I'm getting there - and I was definitely tired and irritable today. Whoops.

I made the dough for sopaipillas, but I used zucchini squash so it is not the right color. I haven't fried the dough yet, though, because I only really like to eat them hot, and I'm not really hungry right now. I didn't even make too much of a mess. So that was exciting.

I miss my husband a lot. This whole distance thing, um, still sucks. In case anyone was wondering.

Fun-filled (and kid-filled) weekend

I love family time.

Since I got here on Friday, we had a whirlwind weekend of good times with little kids. And I am still like, oh, yeah, I'm in Chile. And I don't have any work that I need to do. Which feels very, very odd.

Saturday we went to a birthday party for S's twin cousins, who turned 4. This is the birthday party that last year I was miserably sick at due to the supposed anti-airsick medicine that the doctor prescribed. Whoops. This year was much more interesting. The baby is huge now and says things, and the twins are gigantic, remember my name, and with the cousins in the same age range run wildly everywhere. Somehow, the adults ended up split by gender, with all of the men shivering outside while the women sat inside at the table. Someone thought it would be a good idea to have a barbecue around 9 PM, so they went to buy meat and we had a barbecue, too. The men had their meat outside (I don't know if they even had plates) and had wine and cognac while us women enjoyed our meat on plates with silverware and had tea. It was actually a lot of fun but I especially found it amusing how the genders split. It was also funny because my sister-in-law was the only non married woman at the table and I think she was embarrassed by some of her aunt's jokes. Oh, well. The only downside was that we didn't get home until around 2:30 and the twins and the 5 year old who adores me all thought it was great fun to pile on my lap as if I were a horse. Actually, when the twin who came to lunch yesterday saw me, he came running to give me a hug and ask, horsey? horsey?

I forgot how much I love the food here. My father will be jealous because we had sopaipillas last night at onces but what I didn't tell him was that we had it with... PEBRE. Quite delicious.

I also have been playing a bit of guitar hero, which I had never played before yesterday. That, and LEGO Star Wars, and Mario Bros. games. It's nice to be on vacation.

lazing around

I have gotten through the first three Harry Potter books. They have been fun. I've also done food shopping, cleaning, and general lazing around. It is kind of boring, to be honest.

I woke up with a splitting headache this morning. Painkillers aren't really helping it. I'm wondering if higher humidity levels may be behind it? Or having the window open and a psycho neighbor (some of them really are "characters" to use a charitable word) smoking a cigarette and shouting into a cell phone while I am trying to be relaxed in bed reading? Who knows.

I successfully made an Ave Pimenton sandwich yesterday. I am so proud.

Part of me wants to link the title of this post to something insightful about Neruda's Walking around poem, but I am, again, being lazy. So there.

I fear no more. I wish...

S appears to have broken his toe. One of his little toes, to be precise. He appears to have kicked the door frame. I'll admit I'm not quite sure how that happened, but I think he was imitating a comedian from TV. He hurts. That's not fun. But the good news is that this morning, it didn't hurt as much as last night. That is very good news.

A friend and I tried the polenta recipe that was in the Times last week (or was it the week before?) There were moments of doubt as to the success of our meal as the polenta was cooking, but in the end it turned out quite nicely. Very enjoyable. Though it's very heavy. But it was delicious, yes it was.

At our review session yesterday, the professor made a joke about the person in sackcloth and wearing ashes would have been more appropriate to the Wednesday. I chuckled. I'm suck a dork. But in that Lenten spirit, here's a poem (that is also a hymn text) by one of my favorite poets in the English language, John Donne.

A Hymn to God the Father

Wilt Thou forgive that sin where I begun,
Which was my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin through which I run,
And do run still, though still I do deplore?
When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done;
For I have more.

Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I have won
Others to sin, and made my sins their door?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I did shun
A year or two, but wallow'd in a score?
When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done;
For I have more.

I have a sin of fear, that when I've spun
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore;
But swear by Thyself that at my death Thy Son
Shall shine as He shines now and heretofore:
And having done that, Thou hast done;
I fear no more.