I'd blog more often....

...if getting the pictures from my camera onto my computer didn't seem like such a big deal. I don't know what my issue is, but this has always seemed to be a formidable task. I'm honestly impressed by my friends and family that are able to upload pictures onto facebook multiple times a week. Where do they find the time to plug the camera into the computer??? Ok, I'll stop now.

Last Friday was September 18th. It's not Chile's Independence Day, but it's the closest thing they have to one. I've been told that it celebrates the anniversary of the decision to fight for independence from Spain. Last year I asked a bunch of Chileans what it stood for and no one was able to give me an accurate answer. Historically this holiday might be to celebrate a move towards independence, but in modern day Chile, it's a day to have barbecues, to celebrate all things Chilean, to dance, to drink, to eat eat eat, and to have tons of fun.

Last year in Valparaiso I was invited to quite a few barbecues the week before the 18th. By the day of the holiday itself, I couldn't bare to look at a piece of meat. This year had a more relaxed feel. We only recently moved to Santa Cruz so we weren't invited to any barbecues. Let me tell you people, this was a bit of a relief. We did hit up a Ramada for some empanadas and skewers of fresh local spring lamb, though. It was just the right amount of artery clogging festivity for me. A Ramada is like a fair made up almost entirely of stalls selling empanadas, choripan (sausage sandwiches), anticuchos (meat on a stick), and alcoholic beverages.

We also went to the parade, which consisted entirely of students marching with their school flags and folks of all ages on horseback dressed in tradition Chilean cowboy garb.

Here are some pictures of them waiting to parade:



My favorite thing about this holiday is the little kids dressed up in their cute little costumes. I also like how they set five year old boys free on fully grown horses in the middle of town:



Now for some gratuitous cute puppy shots:






Don't let these pictures fool you. Bella is still my one and only.

Besos,
Allie

When life gives you lemons, make....????

It has come to my attention that I will soon be bestowed a reasonably large amount of lemons. What should I do with them?!?!? Preferably, I'd like to do something healthy and steer away from the dessert category, but all suggestions are welcome!

Where will these lemons be coming from you might ask? Ahhh, it's a surprise which will be revealed in a few days.

Besos,
Allie

Spicy Cilantro Pesto

It's strange. Some produce in Chile is available year round, while other items are only available for the short time out of the year when they are in season. It doesn't make much sense that cilantro is available (and cheap as heck) year round, while basil only floods the markets during the summer. Wouldn't you think they would have the same growing season and conditions?

Yesterday I wanted pesto. Since basil hasn't hit the streets yet, I decided to give cilantro pesto a try. I personally loved it. The boyfriend was okay with it. I think he would have liked it better with some cheese. We had it over pasta and honestly, it was a bit spicy for a pasta sauce. I think it might be better suited as a sauce for something that you expect to be spicy, like a burrito. Next time I make this for pasta, I will decrease the amount of chili pepper. I'm looking forward to making it as written as an accompaniment for steamed veggies.

Spicy Cilantro Pesto

1/2 of a small white onion
1 clove of garlic
1/2 of a small aji (chili pepper)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tablespoons cream
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro leaves and stems
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Add more olive oil if needed to achieve the desired consistency.



One more note about pesto, be creative. I think "pesto purists" who feel that nothing should enter a pesto besides basil, garlic, pine nuts, and olive oil are out of their minds and missing out on a lot.

I've been known to add any of the following items to pesto: raw sunflower seeds, roasted red peppers, olives, chipotle peppers, tofu, white beans, goat cheese, spinach, fresh rosemary, green onions, parsley, Thai basil....

If you think certain foods with taste good with each other, you are probably right! Pesto can be a lot of fun.

What do you like in your pesto?

Besos,
Allie

This is what my life looks like.

We are experiencing the last of the wood burning stove weather for the season. As much as I am looking forward to wearing summer dresses and flip flops again, I think I might miss curling up in front of the fire at the end of the day.


This is my classroom! I love it! Visit www.inglessantacruz.com for more information about my English classes in Chile's Colchagua Valley.


The puppies!!!!!!! Some days it feels like I live in a zoo. Some days it feels like I live in heaven. A heaven full of cute little cuddly puppies!!!



You can see Bella sleeping in the background. In the foreground you will notice puppy number 2. This is Matt's puppy. I finally let him get one after months of him whining and making puppy faces at me. A girl can only resist so much. Now I have an actual puppy whining at me. Improvement? Yes. You would not believe how soft and cuddly this thing is. (Much softer than Matt.)

His name is Sasha. He is a border collie. He's two months old. He learned how to sit on command after less than 24 hours in our house, but we are still facing the challenge of house training. Grrr, house training...


Kitties!!! They are not new, but they certainly add to the zoo like quality of our home. A few days ago, Kitty somehow managed to get into the crawl space between the ceiling and the roof of our house. She was stuck roaming around up there for a day and a half before we figured out how to get her out. She's doing fine now. Adventures!!



Besos,

Allie

Xec + Pebre

Recently, a few fellow gringas in Chile requested that I share more of my Chile friendly recipes. I'm going to try to post at least one per week on the blog. I'll tag all posts containing recipes as "Chile friendly recipe." Of course, these delights can be enjoyed in other countries as well. I'll make note of any changes I would make if cooking in North America when necessary for those of you following in the United States (or elsewhere!).

Right. Let's get to it.

I have one main issue with Chilean food-- lack of creativity. Chile is a country with a variety of abundant, cheap, and fresh ingredients. It's also a country that has some pretty good, yet standard, traditional dishes. There is cazuela (meat and veggie stew), porotos granados, pastel de choclo (shepard's pie like thing), empanadas, and pebre (cilantro and tomato based salsa), just to name a few. What gets to me is that this country has such a fantastic place to start from, yet you still see the same main dishes in every restaurant with the same three identical choices of boring side dishes, rice, mashed potatoes, or french fries. Oh my god after a year and a half of this I am losing my mind!! Tastes buds want to die!! Pleeeasse, could someone give porotos granados a little kick? Maybe occasionally change the veggies in cazuela? Possibly a new side dish every once and awhile?? And don't even get me started on the desserts...

So, that's why I cook at home. I cook a lot.

Today I had some fresh fish on hand from Saturday's feria trip and I wanted to do something light, healthy, and full of flavor with it. I instantly thought of xec, a Mexican citrus salsa I learned about from one of my culinary gurus, Mark Bittman. However, after such a fantastic Chilean market experience yesterday, I felt like using my Chilean ingredients to make a truly Chilean dish. And then it hit me. Xec + pebre = the perfect topping for fish. Flavorful. Light. Salsa-ish. Citrus-ish. All ingredients already in my refrigerator. Yes.

Here is the recipe for my Citrus Pebre. It's wonderful on fish and would probably be quite good on other meats, beans, rice, or with tortilla chips.

1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 lemon, sectioned (like you would do with a grapefruit) with juice
2 clementines, sectioned with juice
1 small bunch of cilantro, chopped
1/2 aji (medium heat chili pepper), finely chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients. Serve over fish. Simple as that.

I have the cutest dog ever.

Don't even try to dispute me on this one.



See. So cute.



Let me bring your attention to what she looked like when we adopted her. After only about a week in our home she has transformed from a scrappy little pile of bones into a REAL DOG. The secret is her ultra high calorie diet which includes lots of cooking oil, hard boiled eggs and Allie's homemade dog food, a.k.a. chicken livers and rice. REAL dog food for a REAL DOG! Believe it or not, down here homemade dog food is actually cheaper than that gross store bought stuff.

Well, we now live in Santa Cruz and I would like to say that so far my life here has been fabulous. Let's take today for example. This morning I got up and put my dog out in the front yard. I watched her run back and forth, throwing her squeezey ball up in the air and then chasing it while I planned an English class. I then taught the English class in MY OWN CLASSROOM that happens to be IN MY OWN HOME and made about the same amount of money in an hour and a half that I had become accustomed to making in an average day in Valparaiso. After that I took the dog for a walk, in which we took our time strolling through a quiet little plaza in my neighborhood. I admired the blooming cherry blossoms. She sniffed stuff. I had lunch, quiche I made last night with fresh free range eggs that I bought at the market only a few blocks from my home. I took a nap on the couch. Then we took the dog for a nice walk on a friend's farm with a fantastic view of the Andes. We came home. I made penne a la vodka from scratch and now I am just hanging out until bedtime. Not too bad, huh?

I'm creating quite a repertoire of "Chile friendly" recipes and I've been striving to add vodka sauce to the list. The catch is that most recipes call for canned tomatoes, which are available here, but so much more expensive than fresh tomatoes that it physically hurts me to use them. I'll post the recipe once it has reached the highest levels of vodka sauce bliss. I'll probably be sick of it by then, but hopefully you will be able to enjoy it.

Much love,
Allie

Allie is back!!

Hi, loyal readers!!!

Sorry I disappeared for awhile. A lot of my posts weren't showing up properly a few months ago. Since I didn't have the time (ok, motivation) to figure it out at the time, I just got around to fixing it a few days ago. Now I am back!!

So, here is the update. I spent the month of July in the United States visiting friends, family and Asian restaurants.

First we went to New York, where we attended my cousin Jeff's wedding to lovely Nicole...



And Matt picked up Lyme disease from a tick in the Hamptons. Behold, tick in a bottle...



Then we went to Seattle where I met up with a lot of my lovely and well missed friends....



And Brenna had a BABY while we were there!! I don't have a picture of the baby because I was too awestruck just looking at the darling little thing to take out a camera. I did dream of him wearing a hot dog costume though. It went kind of like this...



Then we went to California.... and didn't take many pictures...


What a fantastic month!!! Thanks to everyone who met up, helped us out and put us up throughout our travels! Please come visit in Chile so that I can return the favor!

Now I am back in Chile and TOMORROW we move to Santa Cruz. Yayyy! Pretty countryside! Dogs! Garden! Teaching English!!

In our new house we have reserved a room for me to use for classes. I am so excited to have my own classroom! I hope to start teaching next week, as I already have two students lined up and friends tell me that there are many more people who have shown interest in having me as an English teacher. I'm calling this little operation Ingles Santa Cruz. Click on the link to see my website!

Wish me luck on the move!

Besos,
Allie