The generosity of others

I've been spending a bit of time lately on the Xmas present drive I told you about a couple of weeks ago. Admittedly, I was a bit worried that we wouldn't reach our target of 80 gifts - not that much, I know, but initial gift collection has been a bit slow. 

I suppose of course it's not quite Decemeber and many people haven't thought that much about Christmas or present buying. The stores here in Santiago are full of xmas stuff - trees, decorations, stockings, etc - but it's only been in the last few days, I think, that they really expected people to start buying things. 

I think that because I've been looking for rolls of wrapping paper for the last few weeks and was frustrated in finding nada (nothing) until recently. Which to my mind is odd - why can't you buy rolls of wrapping paper year round? In Santiago, most supermarkets and big stores have a booth near the exit where your purchases can be wrapped as gifts. There is probably a token amount or tip given, I don't know, I haven't tried it - I'm one of those old fashioned gals who likes to wrap my own gifts. I certainly wouldn't stand in line (and a Chilean line is never short) to get someone else to do it. But it seems very popular here and there are usually crowds of people waiting with presents piled high in their trolleys. I can't decide if people think they are getting the better end of the deal by paying a 'professional' wrapping service instead of paying the same amount for the paper and then wrapping it themselves.

Ah, Chileans.

Anyhow, I have been busy buying and wrapping my own gifts for our present drive, and wrapping and sorting the gifts donated by generous others. I got a bunch of gift tags from the lovely Casa y Ideas and I've divvied current donations into age groups. Maya helps by running away with the rolls of paper or the sticky tape whenever she sees the opportunity to do so.

I also made some cute hair clips for Maya (who wears them long enough to go out somewhere and then when I'm not looking promptly discards them on the ground, for me to find - or not). I made some extra ones as to give as gifts, along with a book. Before we arrived, someone suggested I bring lots of early learner English books as presents for Chilean kids. Unfortunately, I've never met many school-aged Chilean children so most of the books have stayed in a drawer somewhere. I hope they'll go to better use now. 

Anyhow, check out these hair clips. They're so cute (and well made, if I say so myself). 

But I really need not have worried about the present drive. Yesterday, a friend passed on her donations - a whopping 23 gifts! I couldn't believe it as I saw her pull six enormous shopping bags out of her car. It is this generosity of spirit that reaffirms one's faith in people. What a gem. 

We are well on our way now with over 50 gifts. It doesn't work if every child at the orphanage doesn't have a present to open but I feel confident that they will now, and that's pretty damn good news. 

Ingredient #2: Apples

Ok, I know what you're thinking... what kind of a gyp ingredient is apples? Just eat 'em. I hear you. But it's in the book and must be cooked.

Fear not, it is impossible for az to ever make a 'simple' dish. I say "plain, boiled rice" and he makes fried rice with lots of oil, garlic and red chillis, then drowned in tobasco sauce. And serves it up proudly to someone with a bad tummy flu and strong propensity for nausea.

I'm just saying.

And so here is our apple dish - buttered apples with pan-fried pate.

Take some apples. We used local Chilean ones, of the Fuji variety I think.

And the following ingredients. If you happen to have a bottle of Calvados (apple brandy), by all means add a dash while cooking the apples but it's not essential.

Peel, core and slice 3 apples. Melt 60g of butter and a tablespoon of sugar over a low heat. Add apples, 1 split vanilla bean and 1 small piece of cinnamon stick. Cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes until the fruit softens.

During this time, slice some pieces of pate (we used tinned but fresh from a deli is better) and quickly pan fry, just to seal the meat.

Once the apples are soft, increase the heat and shake the pan gently until the fruit carmelises. Drain any juice and remove the spices.

Arrange on a plate with gherkins and pickled onions, if you have any. Eat immediately.

Verdict: This is a rich entre or a small dinner. The original recipe from the Cook's Companion has 2 tabs sugar but we found it far too sweet so I've halved above. The sugar is necessary for caramelisation. The pickles do offset the sweetness and the pate was nice and crisp. Delicious but do consume in small portions! And with a glass of cold sparkling wine, naturally.

Maya pronounced it far too sweet for her liking

Transmission pause

Sorry for the pause in transmission... It's all the fault of our ISP, VTR. Grrr. 

It is of course, the end of the month and we have not paid a bill that we have not received. So, after waiting approximately five minutes since issuing the bill, and not allowing for printing, enveloping, mailing, a few days to filter it's way through the Chilean postal system and the postman to make his rounds... VTR have done the sensible thing and cut off the Internet to its' tardy customers. 

On Monday, I will remind az to tell his office to call VTR who will confirm that the bill we have not yet received is indeed late being paid and they had no choice but to cut off services. 

They will direct us to pay online, which we will duly do and then it will work again. 

Sometime later that week, our bill will arrive in the mail. 

Ingredient #1: Abalone

My cooking challenge begins! 

First up in the The Cook's Companion is abalone - a large and exorbitantly expensive sea snail. In Australia, abalone fishing is carefully monitored and I think in some places, they're endangered. I've read stories of the dangers of diving for abalone, not least that one can encounter Great White sharks. Scary. 

Anyhow, I didn't think much of our chances of finding abalone in Chile. But on Saturday morning, we took the metro to Mercado Central, the main fish market in Santiago.

By the time we got there, what with changing trains and carrying the pram up and down stairs, it was hot, Maya was tired and we were all a bit cranky. So, we didn't spend too long wandering around, which was a shame as it's an interesting place. But you can see some photos from my last visit, linked above. 

The first place we went to said they had it - abalone, si, also known locally as loco. So we bought a whole heap and came home.

I've since found out that loco is Chilean abalone, found in the waters of Chile and Peru. It's a sea snail but not part of the real abalone family. Ah well, we tried. I doubt then that real abalone can be bought in Chile.  

Az did all the cooking. Personally, I'm not partial to snails, from the sea or otherwise. But that's not really point, is it? There are two ways to cook abalone - very quickly or very slowly. We tried both. The first is simply sauteed abalone, using a recipe from the Cook's Companion.

Slice the abalone into fine slices, about 5mm thick. Then flatten with a mallet. The key is to get them as flat as possible so they'll cook quickly and lose their rubbery texture.

Dip pieces into seasoned flour, shake off excess and drop into a well oiled pan on high heat. Sear quickly, turning once, then add 1 chopped garlic clove, a handful of parsley, a knob of butter and the juice of 1 lemon. Serve immediately with bread.

That was attempt #1. We made three attempts. The first was too rubbery - hence my note above to really flatten the pieces. We tried this recipe again and the second time, it was better. Rich and buttery.

The chef looked grim in the face of the abalone challenge

The third attempt was an abalone confit. Preheat the oven to 125 degrees celsius. Place whole abalones inside an ovenproof dish (with lid) and add 1 chopped carrot, 1 leek, 1/2 onion, 1 bay leaf, a handful of parsley, a pinch of coriander, salt and pepper. Cover with olive oil and the lid. 

Cook for 3-4 hours until abalone are soft as butter. Drain oil and eat while hot. 

Verdict: This third dish was a winner. A bit too much oil for my taste but the texture and flavours were excellent. I ate so much abalone that day that I don't feel the need to ever eat it again, Chilean or otherwise. 

Chilean winery: Morandé

Yesterday, we drove out to the House of Morandé winery with friends. In fact, there was a whole group of us - and six kids under three. Az and I have been meaning to visit for a while as they have a great restaurant and (more importantly) a big garden and playground for the kiddies. 

Particularly these days, Maya won't sit still for more than ten minutes, even if there's food on offer. So having something to climb all over, as well as a big expanse of soft springy grass and lots of flowers to pick, was just perfect. 

Add in a very patient and friendly dog, and we had six happy little munchkins. 

Before lunch, the staff very obligingly brought us out glasses of cold sauv blanc to drink while the kids ran around in the sun. So civilised. It went down a treat.

It was the most beautiful spring day with blue skies and a lovely wind from the ocean not too far away. Everyone enjoyed breathing in some fresh air after the dryness of Santiago. I forget how nice it is to get out of the city; we should definitely do it more. 

Let me just say here how astoundingly cheap the Morandé wines were at the restaurant. We had to ask if the menu prices were by the glass or the bottle. I don't think they had any mark up at all. 

I'm too jaded by the exorbitant cost of having wine with a meal in Australian restaurants.

And the food, as well, was great. Beautifully cooked seafood, solid portion sizes and excellent value. Almost everyone chose the five course degustation with matching wines. At $48/head, it is excellent value. And it is the best way to sample the wines.

 Squid ink risotto

 Seared salmon with gnocchi

 Steak Morandé style

And a creme brulee for dessert

Amazing. Just go.

On the way out, az picked up all four of Morandé's pinot noirs for me (good man) and two dessert wines. It almost made me wish I hadn't spent a whole $10 at Jumbo on the Morandé Terrarum pinot noir (one of my usual purchases) the day before. Almost. But not quite.  

Note. Since this trip, we have been back another three times with various family visitors and friends. Morandé is definitely our favourite Chilean winery for its great value food and wine, peaceful atmosphere, family friendliness and great service. What more could you want? Photos all taken by my brother-in-law and his fabulous camera in Sept 2012.  

 

Morandé winery is on Ruta 68 on the way to Valparaiso, just after the toll gate. 

The Cook's Companion challenge

I decided a while ago that I wanted to do more posts on recipes and cooking. It was all gung ho for a couple of weeks and then... well, it's limped along since then. 

So, on the coat tails of that dismal failure, far from giving up the ghost and slinking away, I've decided instead to pledge myself to an even bigger challenge. Again with very little thought but much blind ambition. And here it is. 

The Stephanie Alexander "Cook's Companion" challenge. 

Anyone who's anyone (and likes cooking and is Australian) would recognise the queen of recipe books and this, her epic tome and one of Austraia's most popular cookbooks, The Cook's Companion. It holds 122 ingredients, in alphabetical order and about 1000 recipes over 1000-odd pages. I love this book. 

So, I decided, with az's enthusiastic assistance, that we will make our way through every ingredient in the book (so far as can be sourced in Chile), in fact two per week, using recipes from the book or elsewhere. Like it or not, success or failure. And you can see what we come up with. 

First up: abalone! Stay tuned. 

My little green-eyed monster (18-month mark)

Within the space of a week, Maya has morphed into "the terrible two's", a time of high-spirited rebellion and extreme mood swings, complete with shrieks of rage, public tantrums and a stubborn fixation with the word NO!

Just a few days short of her 18-month birthday and Maya's hitting some milestones. She's dropped from two 90 minute naps to one 2-hour nap a day. I'm finding it a lot harder to let go of that extra hour. By 7.30am every morning, she's full of beans and raring to go, then drops like a stone by 10am. I'm trying to push her nap closer to midday to make up for the (now) very long afternoons. 

All day long, I hear her little voice calling "Mama! Mama!" whenever she needs something, can't find me or wants to get out of bed. It's an effective word.

By 7pm she's in bed again and down for the night. Glorious long sleeps for us all. And though the occasional bad dream or nightmare jerks me awake to howling cries, she'll settle down again quickly.

Teeth are popping through her gums surprisingly quickly. Possibly that accounts for some of the crankiness. She's talking all the time, English and Spanish words, and loves "helping" around the house - doing the laundry, giving us towels out of the shower and making Dada's coffee in the morning. It's amazing how much they pick up and understand at this age. Clever little sponges. 

And she loves being a mama to her menagerie of stuffed animals.

Puppy gets a nappy change

Maya laughs and smiles all day long, interspersed with five-second tantrums and howls of protest should I attempt anything she hasn't decided to do herself first. I'm quickly learning the arts of reverse psychology, selective hearing, and forcible restraint and removal of a kicking, screaming and struggling little monster. Usually whilst smiling cheerily at staring strangers in the park or the concierge fellows in my building. Sigh. I used to have such a demure little angel. 

Bananas and eggs have been booted off the menu again, after a brief comeback. She's wolfing down every other food except fresh fruit. No! 

 Chair squirming is more fun than eating lunch

Yesterday, we went to a friend's pool in the afternoon. Maya is such a water baby now and she had a great time, wading around the shallow baby area. She even face-planted a few times, right under the water, then popped up again unfazed. [Great photo ops are missed by trying to keep one's child from drowning]. She started shivering after about half an hour (the water was really cold, even in the sun) but refused to get out. Then, after trying to launch herself into the deep end, I had to scoop her up and cart her away in full meltdown mode. Who knows what the neighbours must think. At least they're not my neighbours.

But then she had completely passed out for the night by 6pm, and slept a solid 13 hours. Love it. 

At the water feature in our garden. She went right in it today. I choose my battles. 

Recipe: Fried rice (the easiest meal in the world)

I have been very remiss of late with my food blogging. That's mostly because I just cook the same thing over and over - curry. [But now I've run out of cardamon pods and it just doesn't taste the same without all my freshly ground spices. I have to track them down further afield].

And other favourites are anything Asian, pizza, pasta or a nicely cooked piece of steak or salmon. Not exactly reinventing the wheel. Though I do have a couple of artichokes in the fridge just begging to be cooked. I've never made anything with artichokes before. 

Anyway, last night I made fried rice. It really is the meal to make when you have practically nothing in the fridge. And Maya will eat any leftovers the next day.

2 cups of cooked rice

Half an onion

Ginger

Garlic

Shallots, red chilli (optional)

Sesame oil, fish sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce (you need at least one of these for flavour)

Peas, corn, carrots (or other veggies)

Sausage, chicken, beef, bacon (as you prefer, raw and finely chopped)

2-3 eggs (lightly beaten)

Fry up the onion and a little chopped ginger and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until soft. 

Add the meat (optional) and cook for a few more minutes, stirring regularly. I used one pavo (turkey) sausage and a few rashers of bacon. 

Then add some veggies. I put in a handful each of frozen peas and corn. 

In another pan, melt a little butter until it bubbles then quickly scramble the eggs. This won't take more than a minute. Set aside, the eggs should still be a little runny.

Pile in the rice and drizzle with sesame oil and soy sauce. Add a little oyster sauce or fish sauce, not too much because they're quite strong - particularly 15-year old nuoc nam (Vietnamese fish sauce). 

Mix it all together well. Add the egg and stir it round, roughly chopping into pieces. Also add the shallots and fresh red chillis - they are more of a garnish and don't need to be properly cooked. I didn't have either though so that's more wishful thinking. 

And it's done! Az likes to add tabasco sauce to his but I prefer mine with a margarita on the side. 

A good karmic day (to make up for all the crappy ones)

Every now and again, say once every year or so, one needs a perfect day where everything goes to plan. It restores one's faith in good karma and the power of persistence.

Yesterday was such a day.

Maya slept well again in the night - another period of solid 12 hour nights and up at the reasonable hour of 7.30am - and after her morning nap, we headed out. 

First stop was lunch at a little Thai place in Providencia. Oh, how casual that sentence sounds! If wishing to partake in decent Asian food in Santiago, I give you two words: Good and Luck. Finding authentic Thai food is reason for jubilation in the street. At least, I'll do a merry jig. We love, love, love Thai food.

This was our second time scouring Providencia for the mythical restaurant, Lai Thai, after trying out the same restaurant over near Bio Bio markets. Read about that here. The first time we combed the area around Los Leones for an hour, eventually gave up and went to Le Bistrot. 

This time, we employed the gps tracking and hey presto, found it - cheap, authentic, damn good Thai food, right near Tobalaba station. Go down Av Luis Thayer and number 0108 is this compound...

Lai Thai is over towards the right next to a completos sandwich bar

There are the usual 8-10 menu items and all the dishes are about 3-4,000 pesos ($8) - cheap! Az would only let us order one dish each... Were it been just me (and I didn't have Maya on my lap), I'd have scoffed both dishes back and looked hopefully for more.

It's not everyday you eat Thai food in Santiago. 

Then, we wandered through the little arcades and shops around there, full of interesting bits and bobs. I was quite taken with this nativity set, all wearing such pious and seriously devoted expressions on their little clay faces. 

 

Buoyed up by this unexpected success, and another nap for Maya, we went out further into Providencia in search of antiques and wooden furniture. With only some minor wrong turns and backtracking (barely worth a mention really), we ended up at Av Italia. 

We're in the market for some nice wooden chairs to go with our nice wooden table that we had made here using lovely old Chilean timber. Such a custom-made piece would cost about four times as much back home. But it does need some chairs.

These are two I liked, both about 60-70 years old. The furniture guys here restore them, including re-upholstery and varnish (or painting). Again, at home, that is just so costly you're better off sitting on the floor.

Leaving the chairs, we headed home via Organisk, the organic supermarket that's opened in Providencia and also Vitacura. We were hoping to find free-range meat or at least some huevos de campos (free range eggs) but they didn't have them - or were out - so we just settled for some organic baby food. It's still so nice to have an organic shop around, even if the prices are exorbitant.

 

Finally, we went home, Maya had dinner, bath and straight to bed - such an angel sometimes - and we ordered in sushi. And for once, they even had change! Usually we have to give the delivery guy an over-sized tip which grates a little. 

The gods were smiling. 

A plug for my xmas present drive

If you read my blog around this time last year, you'll know I love Christmas - giving presents, being merry, eating and drinking. Less the religious stuff and more the general goodwill to all. 

And one thing I always loved doing back home was contributing to the Kmart Wishing Tree which is a fabulous charitable venture. Last year they collected over 400,000 gifts to give to families and people in need. Even in wealthy countries like Australia, there are still people facing poverty. Maybe they're not starving or dying of easily treatable diseases but still worse off than you and me.

It is a great cause. I love wrapping seven or eight gifts and popping them under the tree. I miss that stuff here. Last year I searched round the malls etc for similar ventures. A bit too late I found out about poor Chilean children who write letters into the post office. And I imagine all the churches have collections too. But like I said, we're not religious.

So, this year, I'm doing my own present drive for charity. A friend and I are collecting gifts for a girls' home outside of Santiago. There are 73 girls aged 4-17 and a further 7 aged over 18. Many are orphans or have suffered from abuse. They are all precious and deserve every chance in life. I want each of them to have a gift to open on Xmas day. 

It seems perfectly doable to me. People are generous and everyone loves to give at Xmas time. It just sometimes seems hard to find a cause. 

So, I'm giving you one!

If you are living in Chile and have the means, please give to our present drive. More details are here. 

Paz (peace). 

Putting faces to blogs

Yesterday evening, I was invited to a Chile bloggers drinks thing by Eileen and Rob. It was great to meet so many new people and put faces to blogs.

There was FoodyChile and Abby's Line and Cachando Chile and lots of other lovely people. And everyone was very friendly and interesting. I did perhaps drink a little too much red wine... but I'm sure everyone else did too so probably no one noticed me swaying out the door. 

And the view from the top floor of a very high building in Santiago was just incredible. I've never seen the city laid out like that before. And the mountains bigger than ever looming on all sides. 

Here are some photos that really don't do it justice...

A visit from the Entourage daemon

Today, I was writing another long-winded highly detailed and interesting email, went to send it and an error message appeared - 16008.

I couldn't save the message or do anything much, so I quit the program and then restarted it. 

And it's gone. All my emails, addresses, everything. A 'Welcome to Entourage' message popped up instead. 

Excuse me while I weep. 

I have had hundreds of emails and addresses and neat folders of emails. This is disastrous. I think I may have an email archive or backup somewhere. That is, I think my imac does that stuff automatically; of course I never paid much attention. Usually, I begrudged it wasting time when I was trying to shutdown. Now, I'm hoping against hope that I have a recent backup somewhere. 

And I'm wading through a plethora of useless information online trying to work out: a) how this could possibly have happened, b) why it happened to such a nice person, and c) how to fix this travesty asap. 

Why do all the help pages only talk about how to backup email? I want to know how to use the damn backup. 

Sigh. This is going to take a while. 

My only consolation is eating the half kilo of strawberries I bought today for $2.

A primeval torture device: the hand written exam

You'll be pleased to hear that I got a High Distinction for my last essay. There's a celebratory bottle of sparkling in the fridge awaiting az's return. We're very generous in marking the milestones. 

Mostly, I'm pleased because this result means it will lift my examination marks. I haven't sat it yet (next Monday) but it probably isn't going to go that well. 

Handwritten, timed examinations are a relic of the past. A crappy relic at that. I can't believe I have to leave my house, take the metro to the British Counsel and sit a two-and-a-half hour exam. No notes or text books, I have to recall from memory a bunch of facts that make up two essays and then some. And write it all down by hand. Oh, and it's going to cost me $200.

It's barbarous. Ludicrous. Highly annoying. I made sure to say so on the anonymous feedback form.

Exams like this don't aid learning. They only serve people who can cram information into their heads and regurgitate it with ease into a logical, nicely spaced format. People with clear heads and good memories. I can't remember what day it is without thinking about it. Let's see... the weekend wasn't too long ago... Yesterday was a very long day... but I did have my Spanish class so it must have been Monday... which means today is... Tuesday. 

I kid you not. 

About 80% of my brain capacity went into hibernation around 17 months ago. I figure perhaps a quarter of that has returned from that darkened cave. I'm not sure when, or if, the rest will appear. Certainly it's unlikely to do so in the next week.

I'm not given to displays of false modesty. Well, okay, I am, on certain things. Like, I have a gift for losing a car park ticket within moments of getting it out of the machine. I can also eat a whole jar of anchovies in one sitting. (Note, don't try this at home before playing a soccer game outside in the sun).

But I'm not so great with exams. 

I comfort myself with the smug thought that my lecturer - who decided on this dastardly form of punishment - will have to read many, many pages of my sloppy, scrawling, words crossed out, handwriting. I can't remember the last time I wrote more than a page by hand. 

Antiquated, I tell you. 

Visiting new parques on weekends

For me, the most trying time of solo parenting is definitely on the weekends. Those hours just stretch ahead and I have to think of ways to fill them up. 

Luckily Maya has two naps so it's mainly the three hour gap in the middle of the day. And when it takes an hour to feed, change nappy, brush hair, dress, slather in sunscreen, pack water and snacks, find hat, shoes and baby bag, then find my hat, shoes and bag, followed by another nappy change just as we're leaving, well, it's a wonder we go anywhere at all.

And strangely, having done this whole process pretty much every day for the last 17 months, you would think I had it more streamlined. It frustrates me that I don't and I consider myself fairly organised. 

But I am determined that we'll go out, explore something new and have fun, dammit. 

So, this morning we went to the new section of Parque Bicentenario in Vitacura. 

It's basically some nice cushy grass, a few faux hills, some ponds and bike paths winding all round. Please grow some more trees instead of just planting grass. 

We don't have bikes but I imagine if you did, you'd like this park. The ponds didn't have any ducks, or fish that I could see but at one end people were sailing motorised boats. 

I didn't take Maya too close as she would have vaulted over the fence and jumped straight in. Somehow. She is obsessed with water these days. When I take her to the local park, she bypasses the swings and slides and heads directly to the fountain. All the other kids are swathed head to toe in clothes (lest they catch a chill in this summer air) and Maya's splashing her feet in the icy water. Spot the Australian. 

I was a bit bored on the outing and was mostly wishing I had gone to the bathroom before we left. Public restrooms with a toddler and a pram are not an option. But Maya had fun. Thankfully she'll wear her hat now instead of wanting to take it off every five seconds. It was bloody hot and she would have burnt despite all the SPF50 sunscreen. 

The most interesting thing for me was the line up of carabineros, horses and dogs at the top of the park. I've no idea why they were there but doubt it was for the festivities. More likely the UN buildings across the road.

Chileans can always be relied upon to put on a good show. Maya thought so anyway. 

Santiago hits Lonely Planet's top 10

I couldn't not blog about this - Santiago is on the Lonely Planet's top 10 cities for 2012.

Go Santiago!

Scrolling further down the page I come to Darwin. Ahem, really? Apologies fellow Aussies but Darwin? C'mon! Santiago is waaaay better than Darwin.

Ah, LP, you are too kind. That's the biz in travel these days when every stone has been unturned and there are few secrets or magic for the traveller to uncover. 

It's much like the travel guides that describe Hanoi as tranquil, graceful, and the most beautiful city in Asia.

But each to their own. Maybe I'm too cynical. Perhaps tranquility is to be found in Hanoi when the streets are empty at Tet, or in the early morning looking over Uncle Ho's mausoleum.

Personally, I say, come to Santiago. It's a lovely city to visit. But don't do it because it's on some list. Come to Santiago to see the mountains peeking over every rooftop...

And because you can walk through tree-filled parks that line that city...

Because people are kind and feed stray cats...

And the carabineros are helpful without having to be bribed...

For the well-preserved old buildings and a touch of history...

Or the quirky art...

Most definitely, come for the wine...

And some really great restaurants...

You'll like it.

Ps. Happy one year anniversary, Santiago and us.