Dulce de Leche – the other official Argentine Food

Most people know that as far as food and drink is concerend, Argentina is known for great beef and great Malbec wine. But, as far as I can tell, the most favorite food staple here is dulce de leche.

Basically, dulce de leche is a sweet milk caramel and is made by simmering down milk and sugar while you stir it constantly. Some people also make it by boiling a can of condensed milk for two to three hours. You have to be careful and make sure that the water the can is in does not boil off or you could have a can of exploding milk in your kitchen.

Most people here just by it in jars off the shelf at the grocery store. It is thicker than a caramel sauce you would buy for ice cream in the States, but thinner than peanut butter. You can have it for breakfast with your croissants, you can have it as a layer in your brownie or as a sauce over your apple tart. It seems to be used in almost every dessert.

At our favorite ice cream place there is a whole column of flavors on the menu listed under "dulce de leche" and even under the other columns of flavors (chocolate, cream, fruit), it is hard to escape dulce de leche. "Swiss Chocolate" is chocolate ice cream with chocolate pieces and....dulce de leche. "American Cookie" is cookies and cream and ....dulce de leche. You get the idea.

Another use for the yummy spread is as the middle of sandwich cookies, called Alfajores (pictured) and are sometimes covered with coconut or chocolate. It is also used in cakes and candies, or just on its own....YUM.

My Newest Toy!

Ethan had a very exciting week this week, he turned 4 months on Tuesday, he went to his first Erev of Rosh Hashanah service on Wednesday night (which he napped through quietly) and on Thursday all of his things arrvied from Washington DC. The rest of his toys, books, clothes, high chair, and his very own crib and bedding arrived. So, Steve, Ethan and I got to put togther his crib on Thursday and continue to decorate his nursery.

While he is happy with all of his things, this week also brought him the realization that George and Gracie are also fantastic toys and a great source of entertainment! They are fun to watch when they run around, they are funny when they lick his face, and their fur is super fun to "pet" (or grab). George and Gracie are great with Ethan and very patient with these petting sessions. Check out the pictures of Ethan in his new crib and hanging out with George.

By the way, the T-shirt he is wearing says "Wow, all the ladies keep checking me out" It seems to be true. Ethan enjoys flirting with the Argentine ladies, and when we walk him around the neighborhood we hear "Que lindo!" (how cute!) quite a bit.

I'm Ready for Some Football!!!

Ethan is all set for the football season! For your pictures today he is sporting his favorite college team colors - Blue and White for Penn State! The knit wear is from Aunt Courtney and Lisa, and if you look through the Picasa pics, the other PSU knit hat is from Aunt Carol. He has other PSU stuff, but it is a little big for him just yet!

Ethan shows no current allegiance to any professional teams. I likes the Eagles, Steve likes Green Bay and the Redskins, and both are fans of whoever is playing the Cowboys! I am sure soon enough Ethan will be sporting a cheesehead hat, Eagles T-shirt and Redskin pants.

The new and exciting things this week - Ethan's Drool Factory is now open for business. Lots and lots of drool . Ethan also loves putting his hands in his mouth. He is an equal opportunity finger/thumb sucker right now too. Sometimes it will be just his thumb, sometimes a finger or two, sometimes all of his fingers and sometimes he can't decide so he just sticks his whole hand in his mouth to suck on.

He has a bit of a cold right now, so there is a lack of smiles in these pictures - he was a little cranky. Hope you enjoy none the less!

Out and About in BA

So, we finally left our barrio (neighborhood) and saw a bit of the city. On Saturday we took a bus tour with other people from the embassy. It was a greatest hits tour of BA, and a great way to get a sense of the city and what else we wanted to go back to and spend more time at. The first stop was Recoleta neighborhood. In the middle of the neighborhood is the famous Recoleta Cemetery, where Evita is buried. It is a huge cemetery of all of these mausoleums for all these famous and rich Argentines over the generations. It is the family's responsibility to maintain the mausoleums, so there are some that are literally falling down because no one from that family is left to take care of them, and there are others that are just beautiful.

If you go to the Picasa pictures, there are some pictures of a big tree which is right outside the cemetery and was planted when the area was first developed. The tree is huge and the branches are held up with posts!

We then drove down the famous a 9 de Julio Avenue, which is a big wide avenue with parks down the center and a obelisk is the middle. After that it was off to the center of the city where the government buildings are. we saw their congress building (the one with the green dome), the presidential offices (the pink building) - which is the building where Evita gave her famous speeches from. The balcony on the left in the picture is the famous "Evita Balcony". The white building is the original "Town Hall" from when Argentina was a Spanish colony and the large building with the columns is the National Cathedral.

Our next stop was La Boca, which is on the water and where those colorful houses that you always see pictures of are. We didn't bring the camera on that stop - next time, we promise.

Finally we drove past Puerto Madero, a rehabilitated area of BA that is now very ritzy with restaurants and shops, and finally back past the parks and the zoo and back to the embassy.

So, now we have an idea of where we need to go back to and where to take all of our visitors when they come!

Chillin Like a Villain

So, every weekend, on Saturday or Sunday mornings we take the required weekly update photos of the bug. He is generally super happy in the morning and crazy chatty. He talks to himself when he wakes up which we like this becuase it is way more pleasant to wake up to that as opposed to him crying!

He is also becoming more interested in what is going on around him - especially when it comes to the dogs. If they come into the room all his attention goes to them.

When you check out the pictures, make sure and take a look at the ones from 14 weeks that I forgot to blog. He looks great in his frog outfit!

Our Apartment - Before

So, this is our place! Consider these the before pictures - before all of our stuff shows up. The place is pretty sparce. We have asked for some more furniture, and once our stuff shows up, it should be even better.

We have a 4 bedrooms, three and a half bath apartment in a more residential neighborhood (barrio) inside the city. In the picasa stream are pictures of the rooms, but basically you come off the elevator right outside our front door. Inside the front door is a little hallway and then to the right the living spaces, which sort of wrap around the front of the apartment. To the left is the long hallway to the bedrooms.

The living and dining room are a big L-shape room with a porch off the one wall that looks out towards the east towards the river. Then there is a small den, family dining area with a small porch looking to the south and a kitchen. Off the kitchen is the utility area and maid's quarters (currently the dog's room) and back door to the stairs and service elevator.

The bedrooms face the north and are nice sizes. Our bedroom has a small porch off it too.

Give us a couple of months and we will have some "after" pictures for you!

Ethan - 15 Weeks

Here it is - a "bug fix"! Ethan at 15 weeks. He is doing well and is as cool as ever. Currently he likes it when mommy and daddy sing. The "ABC Song", "Safety Dance" and "All Star" are current favorites. He also enjoys the new game of finding himself in the mirror. Our den has mirrors on two of the walls and he can see himself in one of them when he is on the love seat. The best part is when he sees himself , smiles and then gets all coy and shy and hides his face - hystercial.

He also his making quite the hit with the locals. Sometime Steve or I will put him in the baby bjorn and walk him and the dogs. We get multiple "que lindo!" (How cute!) on every walk.