Foreigner in the midst

It's hard to blend into a small, completely different culture with my abysmal Spanish language skills. Yes, I've been doing Spanish-Word-A-Day and practicing from my old phrase book but it's like being in Australia where some of the words are familiar but I have no clue what's going on...a fish out of water in more ways than one.

What?!! How can Alisa find enough people during the day to play soccer with for a couple of hours? Doesn't anyone work? Yes, of course, but they have time to play too!! If running around for two hours in the hot sun is considered play.












So, if it Wednesday, it must be soccer but if it's Tuesday or Thursday, it's ping pong at the Municipal Center.










And, of course, we need to make time for guitar practice.









Today, we made and did a lot of quality-control testing/eating of daifuku (Japanese sweet bean rice ball with red bean filling. Yum!




















Alisa and Guillermo's garden is doing really well considering it is in the middle of the woods, a prime feeding ground for all the wandering beasts. But, they've done a good job camouflaging it.

This is paradise

San Marcos Sierra bills itself as a hippie town in Paradise. The hostels have names like Eden; there's even a Hippie Museum.








It is very beautiful and scenic. Alisa is living in the middle of paradise.








The milk for her natural yogurt business comes from a farm run by nuns.



And her yogurt is made in her solar oven.

All's well that starts well

Well, things don't always start out as planned but I made it San Marcos Sierra, Argentina after a bit of drama. What a welcome sight at Cordoba airport to see Alisa! She and her friends drove a very scenic route back to San Marcos over a winding, hairpin, unpaved road barely winding through the mountains with spectacular views of the valley.



Alisa's natural yogurt business is doing well. She received certification from the health inspector and is starting to build up her clientele including this local store:










Happy to be in Alisa's paradise.

Good beginnings

Every trip should have a good beginning. Coming off a whirlwind week in DC and a busy couple of months before that, it's great to catch my breath in the City and have such a beautiful, crisp, fall day.

Here are a few photos from DC:





"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice."

Such an inspiring way to start off a journey...

Prize Winning Chocolate Chip Cookies

Third time's the charm! Everything at the Manhattan Sailing Club is cranked up to the highest level of competition, in a very friendly sort of way (even if it's just competing with oneself to do smoother jibes). The first year that I entered the Chocolate Chip Cookie Contest I used bittersweet chocolate. Bittersweet chocolate provides such a nice contrast to the sugars. But, after I took a bite of my cookie with a beer chaser, I knew that I had no chance of winning the Club contest where cookies are not eaten with a neutral drink like milk. The cookies tasted too bitter when eaten with beer. The next year I changed to semisweet chips but still the flavors were too subtle and a lot of people don't like nuts. This year I swapped out the vanilla bean pulp which didn't pack enough flavor, left out the nuts, and brought the Cookie Monster "trophy" home. So, here's the prize-winning recipe:

1/2 C unsalted butter
1 C granulated sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C Nutella
2 eggs
1 T Kahlua
2 1/3 C flour
1 t baking soda
pinch of salt
12 oz sweet chocolate chopped into chunks

Cream butter and sugars. Add Nutella until smooth. Beat in eggs and Kahlua.


Into separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix in chocolate. Chill cookie dough overnight.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Spoon dough 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake until lightly brown, 9 to 12 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Enjoy!!

Variations: add chopped nuts; use scraped-out pulp from 1 vanilla bean instead of Kahlua; use peanut butter with added chopped peanuts instead of Nutella; substitute bittersweet or semisweet chocolate

Vegetarian sushi

My grandmother Somekawa had very specific sushi-making rules. It was very important to fan the hot rice so that it would have a nice sheen. She would know if I didn't vigorously fan the rice and if I shirked my responsibility by just letting the rice cool on its own.


For makizushi (see photo) colorful ingredients are necessary to set off the white/sheened rice and black seaweed (nori): green (spinach or green beans); dark brown (shitake mushrooms); light brown (kampyo or gourd shavings); yellow (egg -- do not let them get brown -- or takuwan/pickled daikon radish); red (benishoga -- pickled ginger, but not gari -- the pickled ginger served with sushi).

Flavoring was just as important as visual presentation. But, I make my sushi a little more vinegary than she did. There's a lot of sugar in the other ingredients and I like to have the contrast.

Makizushi
Nori -- toasted over flame
Rice -- fanned vigorously until cook
Vinegar mixture -- heat with sugar and a touch of salt until blended
Dashi -- soup stock with soy sauce and a little sugar
Leaf spinach -- steam, squeeze dry
Shitake mushroom -- hydrate, if using dried mushrooms, cook in dashi
Kampyo -- hydrate and cook very slightly in dashi
Egg omelet -- beat eggs with a little salt and cook slowly in pan; turn gently without disturbing shape; do not brown
Beni shoga

Lay out nori on mat; put thin layer of rice on nori; lay out other ingredients; roll.

Inarizushi
Inarizushi skins (if using fresh skins, cut in half, boil in water and then in dashi; otherwise use canned (if using canned, drain and then soak briefly in prepared dashi (see above)

Fill with vinegared rice
Tie with kampyo to make festive packets

Mochi making (Mochitsuki)

A family tradition from before I was born is mochi (pounded rice cake) making. This would take place every year the Sunday between Christmas and New Year's at the grandparents Kozu house. Grandpa Kozu with the help of my father would wash hundreds of pounds of rice several days beforehand. The womenfolk (yes, the duties were gender-specific) would cook and bake delious treats. The mochi would be ready for New Year's ozoni soup and the rest would be frozen to be eaten throughout the year (toasted or in red-bean soup).

To make mochi, sweet rice is steamed and then pounded until smooth. Grandpa Kozu had an old hollowed-out tree stump and a heavy wooden mallet. The uncles would wield the mallet and the aunties would deftly turn the rice with a paddle in between strokes.


My jobs gradually increased in responsibility from rolling out sheets of mochi (carefully looking out for rare wood splinters) to making ohagi or daifuku (see photo) -- mochi with sweet-red bean paste. It's a finger-licking good job.

After the grandparents died and the house was sold, mochi making evolved from the old wooden stump (sadly, the end of an era) to a slick machine (welcome to the 20th century).

But, happily, daifuku can be made satifactorily without a wooden mallet or pounding machine using sweet-rice flour (mochiko). There are daifuki recipes using a microwave oven but having been slow to embrace new mochi-making technology, I haven't jumped on that bandwagon yet.

Mochi
2 c mochiko (sweet rice flour)
1 1/2 c sugar
1 3/4 c boiling water

Mix mochiko and sugar and add boiling water. Mix thoroughly. Put mixture on wet cloth over steam until mixture is clear colored and cooked (about 30 minutes). Take the cooked mixture and knead until smooth on board using joshinko (rice flour) or corn starch.

Cut into small portions (large enough to cover a small ball of pre-made an).

Azuki an
2 c azuki beans
2 c sugar
1/4 t salt

Wash azuki and soak for 1/2 day. Cover beans with water and simmer until beans are tender enough to mash. Mash (or use food processor). Put in pan, add sugar and salt and cook slowly over low heat until firm enough to make a ball. Make little balls of an.

Rugelach a la Florence

I'm always curious to see/try other people's recipes and more people have expressed interest in mine. Am I wrong but doesn't it seem that more people are doing recipe blogs? Regardless, this is a good time to share some favorite recipes as well as stories.

Tribute to Florence Telfus
I suppose I'm now about the age that Florence Telfus was when I first met her and her husband Harry. They lived across the "courtyard" and our windows faced each other. Florence was a legendary cook; Harry provided the political commentary, a critical ingredient for any NY eating experience. Together they were among a very special group of loving New Yorkers (including Rachel Menasche, Ichiro and Masa Shirato, Barbara Newman and Mirla Stockman) who were Alisa' New York "grandparents" providing hugs, treats, attending Grandparents' Day at school, cheering her on during recitals, etc.

Florence, of course, didn't use recipes and I always kept trying to figure out what made her food a little different and so much better than anything I had tasted. There always seemed to be a secret that she was holding out. After she died, we all miss her deeply and remember fondly her cooking. While Harry was still alive, he always asked me to make him treats but they never quite reached the bar that Florence had set. Once, Harry whispered to me -- Florence used to use yeast in her rugelach. Aha! That's it. The secret ingredient. So, here's my approximation for

Rugelach a la Florence (photo to come)

About 3 C flour
Between 1/2 and 3/4 C sugar
1/4 C butter
1/4 C cream cheese
2 eggs
1 package yeast

Filling:
1/2 C ground walnuts
1/2 C raisins
1/3 C sugar
1 T cinnamon

Jam
1/3 c melted butter

Cut butter and cream cheese into about 2 1/2 C of flour. Add yeast and mix in eggs. Add flour as needed. Divide dough in 4 parts and chill for several hours.

Mix walnuts, raisins, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour baking sheet.

Roll dough in a circle. Brush with melted butter. Spread thin layer of jam. Sprinkle with nut and raisin mixture. Cut into 12 wedges with pizza cutter. Roll each triangle from outside in. Place on baking sheet with pointed end down. Bake 16-17 minutes until done (don't let them burn).

Winter Wonderland 2011

Yes, I'm very behind on my posts. Maybe I'll take advantage of this snow holiday to catch up. But, first, a jaunt over to Central Park and a couple of laps around the Reservoir. Beautiful!!!
We've had a lot of snow so far this early in the season. It's been great for skiing. Today the NYC Public Schools were closed. This is only the second time in many years. But, it makes for a nice holiday for those of us whose offices follow the lead of the schools for our days off.

There was almost too much snow for skiing today. I got out early so it was a trek getting over the to Park (unplowed streets and unshoveled sidewalks). There were big drifts and even with skis, I ended up sinking to my knees in many places. There was one hidden dip where I was up to my chest.

Anyway, it was an idyllic setting for enjoying the weather.

Back to the future

Uruguayans love their mate (pronounced mah-teh). Alisa fit right in there although she didn't walk around on the streets with her thermos of water and her mate in hand as the Uruguayans did.

We bid farewell to the lovely, friendly country and braced ourselves as we took the Colonia Express boat back to Buenos Aires.

We did a lot of walking from the ferry terminal in La Boca through San Telmo, Monserrat to our hostel in Congresso. After doing a little shopping for a new phone for Alisa, we took in some sights stopping for a photo in front of the Pink House, Argentina's executive branch building.

It's always hard to say good bye, even harder when I'm on the road and Alisa is taking off. But, it was a wonderful visit and always great to spend time together. So, Alisa heads back to Bariloche, this time a two-hour plane trip instead of a twenty-two hour bus trek.

So, that leaves me to my own devices. There are wonderful local markets to explore.

I scout out some old cathedrals.

Walk around the Saturday markets:

And I came across a local market in San Telmo with local produce, vintage clothes and artifacts.

I ventured on the SubTe, subway.

Then it was time for me to say my own farewell to Argentina and the Sabatico Travelers Hostel.

Back to Colonia

Spring celebration in Colonia. What a wonderful thing to happen upon! Like a big Halloween parade for children all dressed up. Very precious.






We're back in Colonia to pick up last-minute gifts and get our tickets for the boat ride back to Buenos Aires. We're staying at the Hotel Rivera with a lovely patio and WiFi to check on e-mails and update Facebook and the blog.

For lunch I have "Cuban" rice (plain rice, fried banana and a little salad, aaaargh, there's no hot sauce!!???) and Alisa enjoys her Milanesa. Then a little more sightseeing and we'll be off to Buenos Aires in the morning.

You can't get there from here

Our plan was to leave Montevideo and head to Canelones, a small town just to the north. A couch surfer warned that there was nothing to do there. But, we figured if we want to see the real Uruguay, we should give it a look/see.

We made our way through the rain to the bus station but found out that we couldn't get there from that bus station which was only for long-distance travel. We were directed to take a series of local buses but were questioned on why we would want to go there. We were again told there was nothing to do/see there.

So, we thought about our Plans B and C and decided to stay another night in Montevideo. We found a bigger Artisan Market and Alisa experience Uruguyan chivitos for lunch and dinner!

In Uruguay, the 29th of the month is a traditional day to eat gnocchis. It's the end of the month and the paycheck has stretched about as far as it can and all that's left to eat is a bit of flour and potatoes. Time for noquis! Many of the restaurants offered bargains for gnocchis. Who could resist?!! I couldn't.

We stay the night at Hotel Palacio, well situated in the heart of Ciudad Vieja.

Off to Carmelo!