American as Apple Pie!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

This year, like past years, I will be celebrating this weekend. However, unlike other years, we're going to celebrate with family rather than friends. I am a little bit sad about this; it's been five years of Thanksgivings here in La Roda. One of those years, I was back in the States and my friends made a Thanksgiving feast all on their own--complete with turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie! So, the tradition has caught on. ;) But I wanted to share the fun with the family and so this year Angelines's sisters and brother with their families are going to come over for Turkey dinner on Sunday. This afternoon, my mother-in-law is coming by to help me with some of the prep.

In past years we've taken the turkey to the baker's to cook it in the big bread oven. This year, I'm going to see if I can do it in our little gas oven. The turkeys here don't tend to be monsters like in the US (18 lbs and up!!), especially since I've ordered this one before Christmas. Most turkeys here are raised for Christmas Eve dinner, which means they're not quite fattened up by the end of November. My poor, meager, turkey has been sentenced to an early death! I'm sure any guilt will wear off by the time my house is full of turkey smell, Sunday. ;)

To celebrate Thanksgiving with my classes, I've had cooking lessons all week. We made little apple pies in each of the private classes. Pumpkin pie, I decided, was too labor intensive given that you can't buy canned pumpkin here. And besides, is there anything more American than an apple pie?

All the kids LOVED the activity. I was a little wary because my last class on Tuesdays is just a pair of high school boys--17 years old. My inner feminist was angry with myself for even considering NOT baking with the boys. Of course, if it were a mixed class, I wouldn't think twice, but being that they were just boys I was wondering if they would be into it...wondering if I should make up some other activity for them... After thinking it over and consulting with my friend Sara ("There's no reason those mama's boys shouldn't know how to make an apple pie! And besides, it's tasty!"), I opted to go for it.

It was a huge success. I think the boys liked it even more than the girls! One was in awe by the way I folded the pie crust to be able to neatly put it in the pie pan, "es guapo, eso, ¿eh?". By the end of class both of them were talking about making apple pie for their Christmas dinners this year. :) We had a blast all together, and the pies came out beautifully.

The activity consisted in first labeling everything on the table, and then filling in the ingredients on the worksheets I gave them. As we worked, they had to fill in the measurements, too. The younger students then had to order the steps of the recipe, while the older ones had to write the steps themselves. I also gave them a second worksheet with key vocabulary (cut, add, bake, mix, etc.) and a short explanation about apple pie.

Here are all the labels. The pie you see, was my sample one. Since there wasn't time for their pies to bake and cool during class, they each took home a slice of mine. I also had to have some crust already made and in the fridge, since it has to be cold when you work with it. I felt like the professional cooks on TV as I said, "you have to chill the dough 30 min." and then whipped a cold batch out of the fridge to be rolled. :)

And here are the pies! The one on the far right is the boys'. You can't really tell, but they cut a smiling face into it and then laughed, saying, "it looks like the sun on Teletubbies!" :)

Recommended Reading:

Prior to my Auntie Ann's visit we spoke on the phone, discussing train reservations, etc. She asked me what I wanted from home and told me Maggie had recommended peanut butter. I concurred with the peanut butter suggestion, but couldn't come up with much else until a few days later it hit me: books in English! I skyped my auntie again and asked her to please bring me any books she'd read and thought I needed to read. I wanted anything--fiction, non-fiction, science-fiction... Anything worth reading in the English language.

It's not that I can't read in Spanish (obviously I can), or that I don't enjoy it; but it is true that I'm slower, and depending on the book there are still lots of new words. Sometimes I let those words slip by, guessing from context, but usually the teacher within scolds me and so I have to keep a dictionary handy. Curling up with a good book that I can just lose myself in has still got to be English.

About a week before my aunt arrived, I got a box full of books in the mail (too heavy for the suitcase). I was thrilled. Half-broke Horses, Jeannette Walls, was the first one I read--highly recommended. I devoured it in a little over a week. And I've just finished the second of the batch: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks--a book we should all read.

It is the story of Henrietta Lacks and her cells, taken from a cervical cancer tumor without her knowledge. Those cells never died. They revolutionized tissue research and were key to the discovery of many of today's cancer drugs and other medical advances including polio vaccine. They continue to be an integral part of scientific studies today and earn millions of dollars each year. Nevertheless, her family knew nothing about their existence until more than twenty years after Henrietta's death and the beginning of her cells' immortality.

The book is the result of ten years of reporting, researching and relationship-building between the author and the Lacks family. It is an incredible story--in some instances weirder than fiction--that brings to light myriad issues from ethics in science and medicine to patient's rights, race, and poverty. It is the history of one woman and her family inextricably intertwined with that of the greater panorama of scientific advancement.

Fascinating.

For more information about the book and the Lacks family see the author's FAQ page.

Be careful what you wish for...

The week has gone by too quickly, and more than once each of us has said, "We need another Monday!" Monday is the only day that neither Angelines or I work so we get to enjoy each other for a full 24 hours. No sooner did Tuesday hit, than we were clamoring for another free day together.

I've been fighting a cold now for about a week and today I woke up nearly completely mute. I can barely speak above a whisper if I really force my voice! So today's classes are canceled. How can I teach if I can't talk?

Angelines has been complaining about our pillow lately: it's too flat. So last night we tried another one we have in the house--too hard. She might have a slight Goldilocks complex, but I can't tease her because the poor thing woke up this morning barely able to get out of bed. She cannot move her neck. She's taken a muscle relaxant, heavy anit-inflamatory and I rubbed her shoulder with icy-hot. The bar will not be opening this evening.

It turns out someone was listening to us: Thursday has become Monday, though we won't be able to enjoy it quite the same.

At last:

Winter is here:

Rains have cleared--bringing cold to stay.

Blue skies and cloud puffs.

Warm sun and frosty wind.

Put on an undershirt for the first time since ... April.

Season's first fire: Warm and Cozy.

Memorial

Monday my Aunt and I bought a native encina (holm oak) at a local nursery to be planted in memory of my cousin Drew.

It's rained these past few days and so we took advantage of a break in the storm and the soft ground--very auspicious--and planted it today. We went outside town to where Angelines and I were married because it's a beautiful location, looking out over the olive fields and La Roda in the distance. Up on the hill next to the chapel we planted Drew's tree.

May it grow strong, straight and tall.

Auntie Ann!!!

Forgive my blogging absence. I have a very good excuse: she's 5'4", green eyes, blond hair, weighs 5 kilos more after her Rick Steve's tour around Spain (that number is going up in La Roda)... That's right-- my dearest Auntie Ann!

She arrived at lunchtime Sunday and will be with me here through Saturday. Needless to say that the prep. (studying, etc. in order to enjoy her properly) prior to her visit wasn't conducive to blogging, and I'm afraid that her visit is proving to be more of the same. That is to say we are enjoying ourselves immensely and I haven't a min. to spare in which I can sit down at the computer to write.

(With the exception of right now. She is on Angelines's computer and has just forcefully told me, "We are both going to write!" Read: "Shut up, already, Viola!")

Our adventures thus far include a visit to the Laguna de Fuente de Piedra, a natural wetlands area very near La Roda and one of the only breeding grounds for flamingos in Europe. Usually this time of year there aren't any flamingos, but since we've had several good water years there's still food for them and about 200 are still around. Auntie Ann was thrilled since this year she's decided to learn about birds and joined the Portland Audubon Society. In British, this means she's a "twitcher". ;)

We hooked up with a woman that I coincidentally met the night before over drinks with Angelines. She was a guide for years at the Laguna and met us there with several pairs of binoculars and even a birding telescope! I've never seen the birds so close since we don't have a pair of binoculars ourselves. She was full of little tidbits of information. Did you know that Egyptians refer to the flamingo as phoenix? When they're chicks they're ash grey and then grow to be flame pink--re-born from its own ashes. :)

Yesterday was a trip to Córdoba. We saw Madinat al-Zahara, the archaeological site outside town and then had lunch and toured the Mezquita in the city center. I love going places with her because she is even more curious than I am (can you imagine?) and therefore asks all kinds of great questions. If I don't have the answer ready for her, I love speculating over possible answers and/or later looking them up. Such fun!

The week's going to fly by, I can already tell. Well, it's already Wendnesday, for cryin' out loud!

Off for tapas with my Auntie. :)