Week 3: Argentina!

Alright, so, I am horrible. I have decided to consolidate and write only one post a week because,

WOW, school? Crazy times. So yes. I swear I did cook last week though, I promise, even though I am only writing now. Last Sunday was. . . ARGENTINA!!!!!!!! Now, Argentina wasn't coming up for another few months, and this made Lucia very sad, especially because she was craving potato gnocchi. So I moved it up!

Ok, Argentina. It is the second largest country in South America and the eighth most populous country in the world! Lots of peeps. It lies between the Andes Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. The name "Argentina" derives from the Greek word argentos which means "white, shining." How poetic is that? There is proof of human existence in Argentina as early as 11,000 BCE. Sometime (a great sometime) after this, the Inca Empire invaded Argentina. Go Incas! In more modern history, Argentina was the home of the beautiful Eva Peron. I love her. If you have not seen Evita, you are a crime to humanity. It is amazing! And informative. I don't feel like blogging about her life, so just see the movie. The current President of Argentina is a woman (they have a thing for strong and powerful women those Argentines)! Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is her name. They are currently experiencing a great financial growth. Yay women!

Alright, now for the food. I will admit, this was not as great a success as the first two weeks. It wasn't a failure by any means, but it wasn't amazing. I made potato gnocchi, at Lucia's request. It was fairly easy and I think I would like to try making it again. I don't think I used enough flour though, because they were a little on the mashed potatoey side. They were served in a butter sage sauce which I thought was divine! As a side, I made a citrus medley, just cut up grapefruits and oranges, to cleanse the palate :P

Dessert was interesting. I made dulce de leche, which I thought would be easy. All you do is boil a can of sweetened condensed milk for 4 hours. I accidentally fell asleep during this time. All the water boiled out and some of the milk leaked out and it burned and our apartment was filled with smoke. I am brilliant. Luckily, most of the concoction was saved and still delicious. I put this on a traditional cookie called Alfajores. Now this cookie has a ridiculous amount of cornstarch and tastes very chalky. I did not like it, but Lucia said that it was supposed to taste like that. I think she was humoring me. But they weren't bad. Lex liked them too. Perhaps I was the only one troubled by the texture.

All in all, it was a good week. I think that I will have to try both recipes again. Maybe I was just uber stressed and that is why it wasn't perfect. I don't know. I would like to thank taste testers Lucia, Cody, Alexa, Chad, Justin, and Jake for eating and complimenting one of my less than wonderful dishes. You guys don't have to be so nice. I promise I won't kill myself if it sucks or if you don't eat it. I will move on. So please be honest. It helps me grow :D