apparently the pictures didn't work out in that last one, so here they are!
sábado, 15 de septiembre de 2007
reposteria
(baking class)
I finished a month-long baking class last week. Our “final” was to come with two recipes we chose from little slips of paper in a bag. I was in charge of a strawberry cake and bon-bons. The course was sponsored by the local power company. They pay a teacher and then the students are in charge of paying for ingredients. Each day we paid whatever the ingredients cost divided by the number of people who showed up. About 20 women showed up each time, and each day brought exciting recipes and stories as we mixed, kneaded and stirred together. One day while making “empanadas” (kind of a bread filled with a yummy mix of chicken and vegetables) one of the women began rolling little balls of dough at rapid speed, meanwhile explaining that at one point in her life, she baked bread for a living while she went through school. She’d get up at 1am, she said, to have the bread delivered to the store at 5 and then go directly to school. “Those were the days when bread was 16 for 1 boliviano” she said (1b=12 cents). Another entertaining part of the course is that in Spanish, the word eggs is also used as a slang word for a certain male anatomy, so one woman was always coming up with great jokes (since we used eggs in just about ever recipe we made) “oh yes,” she’d say, “Miss Betty told me she’s great at smashing eggs.”
At first, I was just known as the friend of the woman who’d originally invited me, but then once they realized that Chris and I are working for the local catholic church, they began calling me “hermanita” (little sister), which is funny for several reasons. One, I am at least a head taller than each one of them. Two, I’m not a nun (hermana is only used for nuns in the catholic church). Three, because this is my first experience with working with the catholic church, my reaction is what you would do if you went to an evangelical church, respond by calling the other person hermana, which is a bit confusing for them I think. Anyway, we’re getting through it. Apparently there’s some talk of another course for saltenas, a famous bolivian meat pie of sorts (somewhat like the earlier explained empanadas, but more magical). We’ll have to see how that goes. In the meantime, I’m enjoying hearing “hermanita!” each time I round a corner in the neighborhood.
I finished a month-long baking class last week. Our “final” was to come with two recipes we chose from little slips of paper in a bag. I was in charge of a strawberry cake and bon-bons. The course was sponsored by the local power company. They pay a teacher and then the students are in charge of paying for ingredients. Each day we paid whatever the ingredients cost divided by the number of people who showed up. About 20 women showed up each time, and each day brought exciting recipes and stories as we mixed, kneaded and stirred together. One day while making “empanadas” (kind of a bread filled with a yummy mix of chicken and vegetables) one of the women began rolling little balls of dough at rapid speed, meanwhile explaining that at one point in her life, she baked bread for a living while she went through school. She’d get up at 1am, she said, to have the bread delivered to the store at 5 and then go directly to school. “Those were the days when bread was 16 for 1 boliviano” she said (1b=12 cents). Another entertaining part of the course is that in Spanish, the word eggs is also used as a slang word for a certain male anatomy, so one woman was always coming up with great jokes (since we used eggs in just about ever recipe we made) “oh yes,” she’d say, “Miss Betty told me she’s great at smashing eggs.”
At first, I was just known as the friend of the woman who’d originally invited me, but then once they realized that Chris and I are working for the local catholic church, they began calling me “hermanita” (little sister), which is funny for several reasons. One, I am at least a head taller than each one of them. Two, I’m not a nun (hermana is only used for nuns in the catholic church). Three, because this is my first experience with working with the catholic church, my reaction is what you would do if you went to an evangelical church, respond by calling the other person hermana, which is a bit confusing for them I think. Anyway, we’re getting through it. Apparently there’s some talk of another course for saltenas, a famous bolivian meat pie of sorts (somewhat like the earlier explained empanadas, but more magical). We’ll have to see how that goes. In the meantime, I’m enjoying hearing “hermanita!” each time I round a corner in the neighborhood.
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)