A Domestic Sell-Out (aka Pudding Cookies)

I feel like an American housewife from the 1950's who has just discovered how to cut corners with a secret little box. Of course, coming out of an era in which everything was made painstakingly from scratch without due credit, it's easy to imagine how ready-made little secrets began to penetrate traditional baking. Adding Jell-O pudding mix to cakes and cookies made them moist and fluffy, who cares what those funny sounding ingredients are! Preservatives? Bring 'em on! Of course housewives embraced a faster, easier way to cook. They were expected to slave away in the kitchen all day without recognition. Today, a cake made from scratch gets a round of applause...who even knew they still made those?!

But can you imagine the revolution of food that took place? It ruined wholesome consumption and created the unfortunate system of eating today, but it must have been so liberating for women. Here's how it plays out in my mind:

1950's dude - "What's for dinner tonight honey?"

His cool wife - "Your salisbury steak dinner is in the oven and there's a cake on the table - I'm going out for drinks with the girls!"

So, I realize that processed food was once considered a good thing. But I had mixed feelings about using a boxed pudding mix in my own homemade cooking (you have no idea how much I loathe 'semi-homemade' - like it's okay to lie to your friends so that they think you're some kind of Donna Reed. Who pretends to cook something from scratch?? Perhaps someone who wants other women to feel envious of her homemaking skills, or rather her ability to find a chemically-engineered secret). But aside from this rant, I had a box of chocolate pudding that my mom brought down so I thought I'd put it to the test. And it worked. Those housewives found moist fluffy goodness in a tiny box. I'm not sure how it works and I'm not sure what all of those ingredients are but it made a lovely cookie (aside from the distinctive alkaline flavor).

(photo from my new iPhone cam...now I can work from anywhere...eeeee...mixed feelings)

Still, I felt guilty so I looked up the ingredients on FoodFacts, which gives you the pros and cons of food. How funny is it that it says 'This product contains controversial ingredients"??? That's exactly how I feel about all processed foods. Controversial. Is BHA a bad thing because it's potentially cancerous or a good thing because it's an antioxidant and it keeps food from spoiling? Honestly, science hasn't been able to answer these types of questions about our food. So should we stop eating it? Maybe. But here's the recipe in case you feel like throwing caution to the wind!

Chocolate Pudding Chip Cookies

adapted from Nestle Toll House

• 1 c. flour
• 1 package (4 servings) instant chocolate pudding mix
• 113 g. (1/2 c.) butter, softened
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 3/4 c. chocolate chips or chunks (original recipe calls for 2 cups, which just seemed ridiculous)
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts (my addition)

Combine flour and pudding mix in a small bowl. Beat butter on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in brown sugar and baking soda until well combined. Beat in egg and egg white. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chips. Drop dough by rounded teaspoon 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 180C, 350F for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Cool on baking sheets 2 to 3 minutes, remove to wire racks to cool completely.

These are best eaten immediately, while the obvious flavor of Jell-O pudding mix is less noticeable than when completely cooled. Also, if you put these in an airtight container they'll lose their outer layer of crunchiness so it's best to leave them out.

I feel that many women today are trying to find something that was perhaps lost in American cooking over the past 50 years. Something that our grandmothers replaced with quick fixes in order to take back their own lives. Before the world changed, cooking was mandatory for many housewives, whether they enjoyed it or not, at the expense of a woman's precious time. We can't blame Betty Crocker for making 'homemade' a thing of the past because it set a lot of people free. Rachel Ray probably doesn't want to admit this, but it's nearly a full-time job to feed your family 3 home cooked, unprocessed meals every day. Not just to prepare and cook it, but to schlep to the store often enough to have fresh produce on hand.

As American women re-enter the kitchen by choice we can't blame our mothers for a lack of organic recipes and neither should we be pretentious about our choice to be more in tune with nature. Instead we should understand why this gap exists and seek to fill it ourselves. Our mothers and grandmothers made it possible for us to have fulfilling and successful careers. What we can craft for our children is a balanced method for incorporating food into life.

Will I make these again? Sure, with organic pudding mix. We'll see if the proof is really in the pudding or in the chemical additives. (PS - yeah, I can't actually buy organic pudding here so someone else will have to try it and tell me how it goes!)

Marriage and the Road to Permanent Residency in Argentina

I had coffee with a group of expats recently, all married to Argentines, and I realized that there are a bunch of us...and perhaps there will be more. So I thought that I'd go ahead and post my Argentine marriage experience for anyone who's interested.

To get married in Rosario, I (as a foreigner) had to provide the following to the Registro Civil:

• Neighborhood police certificate (Certificado de Vecindario) - This is basically to prove that you live in Rosario (you must have an address - I showed my 'certificate of cohabitation' which I got from Tribunales a while back in order to be on Guille's insurance. The certificate is easy to get - you need 2 witnesses with DNIs and have to pay a fee).
• Copy of passport - If you find that you've stayed beyond the legal 3 months and didn't renew your entry into Argentina, then you'll need permission from immigration (expensive - I think the price just went up but it was 100 dollars) issued before the wedding (and it only lasts for 10 days so you have to hurry up and get hitched!) This basically provides permission to marry, but the form is for permission to leave 'Habilitacion de Salida.' You have to request this from immigration, take their form to the bank and pay the fee there, then return to immigration on the same day and finish the process.
• Copy of spouse's DNI
• Fees
• Blood test results

You can only be married by a judge in Argentina. You either have to go to the courthouse (bring your whole family!) or pay the judge 500 pesos to go to your wedding site, if her schedule allows. Of course, you have to make an appointment for this civil wedding - but not more than 30 days out (this is for the reg. civil on Wheelwright). Some provincias require more information, like medical history and such. Of course, if this isn't your first marriage then you have to provide additional documentation.

Here's the list of information that I had to provide to immigration in order to apply for permanent residency:

• Valid passport (and a photocopy of the entire passport)
• Birth Certificate (not a copy) with Apostille
• Good Conduct Certificate from country of citizenship (issued by the FBI)
• Good Conduct Certificate from Rosario
• 4 passport photos
• DNI of spouse (and a photocopy of the entire DNI)
• Marriage certificate AND a copy of the signed page in the marriage book from Registro Civil - another fee that you'll have to stand in line at the bank to pay
• Fee - AR$600 at the time

Seems like a simple enough list, right? HA! Well, the Argentine Consulate that I consulted before leaving the US didn't mention the apostille and they also said that the good conduct certificate needed to be issued by your city of residence in the US - so I schlepped to the downtown NYC precinct for no reason. Fun times.

The US does not issue apostilles outside of the country so I had to request it from my state of birth. The requirements and fees are different for each state but you need to send at least the birth certificate and a letter of request, and probably a self-addressed stamped envelope (which may prove tricky if you need to buy US stamps outside of the US!). This US Embassy link provides the links for each state's apostille office.

The FBI wouldn't accept the digital printout of my fingerprints taken in NYC so I had to be fingerprinted (with sticky ink) at a police station here using the FBI's fingerprint card and then I sent that to the FBI with additional info. It's a good idea to send two or more sets of fingerprints to ensure that they're all readable. Another small fee - $18. This FBI link shows how to request it.

To get a good conduct certificate in Rosario, you need to go to the police station at Catamarca and Entre Rios to be fingerprinted, then wait 15 days to pick them up. And then you take these to the Tribunales to the department of Registros Universales. They give you a form to take to the bank to pay a fee, then you go back and give it to them. Then you wait a week or 2 to pick it up.

All English documents have to be translated and stamped by the Translators' College.

Once the immigration office had everything they needed, they issued me temporary permanent residence (a paper with my picture stapled to it). That was 2 months ago. Now I have to keep checking with the office to see if they've received something (not sure exactly what) that will allow me to proceed with permanent permanent residence and my DNI (which is another enduring process, I'm told).

Really, I can't complain though. It's nothing compared to the US immigration process. The annoying part is having to wait in line after line in order to answer a question or pay a 2 peso fee. The running around is also exhausting and confusing. Though, in the end, it seems that I'll never be more than a permanent resident. I'm not sure if this is officially true, but the immigration office told me that I can't become a citizen without giving up my US citizenship. So...yeah. Resident alien sounds nice.

Buenos, entonces...

I finally found Spanish class that speaks the same language I do. And by that, I mean that there's a teacher speaking Spanish and a student 'answering' in English. My version of Spanish (or Castellano) is a half-in, half-out sort of deal. I'm not willing to commit to speaking completely in this god-forsaken language but I'll throw out what I know to complete a sentence...as in "Gimme another glass of cerveza, por favor."

So, when Bueno, entonces asked me to review their language videos I was delighted to see someone with a similar attitude struggling along! Honestly, it is helpful and I am learning but mostly it just makes me feel good about myself to know that I'm not the only loser in Argentina (no offense, David). Plus, Jimena speaks so articulately that I feel like maybe I do understand Spanish when I watch these videos.

To find the series helpful, I think you do need somewhat of a background in Spanish. My background is having started Spanish classes several times at a variety of institutions. (I can't tell you how well I know the vocabulary for school supplies.) Going through the first week of classes, I've been reminded of some of the basics and now we're pilling stuff on top. Useful stuff, like 'Don't bust my balls' and 'I'm useless.' I was hoping that I could just watch and remember most of the new phrases - and I did for some, like the proper time to use 'dale' - but by the third lesson I started taking notes. It provides an opportunity for learning alongside a little sarcasm (the best medicine). And I'm learning all kinds of inappropriate vocabulary and phrases that I wouldn't be able to ask my Spanish tutor about (without blushing). I also love that David doesn't hold back with his frustrations about Spanish - ahhh, thank you, it IS a sexist language!

Anyway, as I said, I've watched a week's worth of Bueno, entonces... - 6 classes. I've been having trouble finding time to watch an entire 35-40 minute episode every day so it may take me a little longer but I think a little extra time is great to actually practice using what I learn. The real test will be to see if I get a better handle on the past tenses from these videos.

I'm really excited to finish the series and it's nice to have some control over learning (meaning I can wear pjs and I don't have to go to class and be nice if I'm in a bad mood, etc). A lot of people seem to like it for their iPods and I would definitely have watched it while on the subway in NYC but I'm afraid I'll get mugged if I try to do something like that in public here. I just watch in the comfort (and safety) of my home - usually while eating breakfast or ice cream.

Bueno, entonces... also has a Spanish grammar blog and teaches daily Spanish phrases on Facebook.

Everything Brownies

I debated what to call these for a while. 'Everything But the Kitchen Sink Brownies'? Too long. 'If It Ain't Broke Brownies'? Confusing. 'Turtle Brownies'? Eh. 'Dulce de Leche Swirl Brownies'? Not descriptive enough. In the end it does't matter. They're superb. Not to mention they're the lovechild of Joy the Baker's Old School Fudge Brownies mixed with a bit of inspiration from David Lebovitz's Dulce de Leche Brownie recipe.

I thought about just making the entire DL recipe but I'm so addicted to Joy's batter that I figured 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' (hence the name consideration). Typically, I'll make these brownies with walnuts and chocolate chunks and they're divine. But I've been meaning to toss in some readily available, always in abundance dulce de leche. And so I did. Heaven help me.

Everything Brownies

• 1 1/3 c. flour
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. salt
• 150 g. butter
• 3/4 c. cocoa powder
• 2 T. strong coffee
• 1 2/3 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 t. vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. chopped walnuts
• 1/4 c. chocolate chips or chunks
• 200 g. (or 1 c.) dulce de leche

Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with aluminum foil - I used a glass baking dish is closer to 8x12 inches. Grease foil.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt - set aside. Combine butter and cocoa powder in a double boiler, add coffee and stir to melt ingredients - set aside to cool slightly. Whisk together eggs and sugar, add vanilla. Slowly add chocolate mixture to sugar mixture. Add flour mixture. Fold in the nuts.

Pour half of the batter into the baking pan. Add half of the dulce de leche in dollops - drag a knife through to swirl. Add the other half of the brownie batter and repeat with the rest of the dulce de leche. Sprinkle on the chocolate chips. Bake for 25-30 minutes if using a glass baking dish - or until a knife inserted comes out without crumbs (don't be fooled by clinging dulce de leche, though). 'Too Much of a Good Thing Brownies'? As if. These are already gone.

Rugelach!

I've spent my entire life picking raisins out of cinnamon rolls, cookies, cakes, scones, pies. You name it, I've picked a raisin out of it. It's not that I detest raisins entirely, not at all. In fact, I've always enjoyed a box of Sunmaid raisins straight from the refrigerator and you'll find me mixing Raisinetes with my popcorn at the movies. But if it's been baked, plumped or heated - keep it at a reasonable distance - I've taken out a restraining order against it.

And so I'm making a traditional raisin dessert and leaving out the raisins - no need for me to pick them out of my own cooking. My apologies to any religious or ethnic groups that this offends. Yes, I'm a food globalizer.

In truth, there are a million varieties of rugelach (rugalach?) so I'm not really committing any new offenses to this amazing pastry. Still, making this clearly sacred cookie was an obvious reminder that I'm sooo not one of God's chosen people. I burned my thumb making the messiest, most unattractive rugelach I've ever seen.

I wanted to make both the apricot and the chocolate ruglelach found here. Only to realize that this recipe might be some sort of trap - for one thing 16 x 4 does not equal 50. I thought perhaps it was an honest mistake and decided to cut each circle into 12 pieces instead of 16. But the 1/2 inch thickness was way off. I googled the original author of the recipe Joan Nathan and found the correct instructions here.

I tried the apricot first; after seeing the mess that it turned out to be I looked up instructions on YouTube.

So it seems that the filling should really be spread in a ring and that one cup of jelly is quite excessive. (At this point, I remembered that episode of Sex and the City where Charlotte had to beg to be Jewish three times to prove her dedication.)

The dough was tricky to work with, being so sticky, and required that I roll it out between sheets of wax paper, then refrigerate for 15 minutes before removing paper, then adding filling and trying to roll-up, but if it got too sticky again in the few moments that it was out, I had to refrigerate again in order to roll without breaking the dough.

In the end, it was delicious and surprisingly edible. I changed the fillings a bit, as reflected below. I used mini chocolate chips but will only use dark chocolate in the future - probably without the sugar. Also, when she says to immediately remove from the baking sheet and place on a wire rack she isn't kidding. Don't think to yourself - ah, my wire rack doesn't really fit these things, I'll put parchment paper over it so they don't fall through. You'll be picking paper off of your cookies for half an hour.

Rugelach Dough

• 8 ounces cream cheese (available at Jumbo)
• 227 g. or 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour

Apricot Filling

• 3/4 cup apricot jam, slightly warmed
• 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Chocolate Filling

• 1 cup shaved bittersweet or dark chocolate, or mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sugar
• dash of cinnamon

1 large egg, beaten

1/4 cup sugar

Combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, salt, lemon juice and vanilla in food processor. Pulse a few times before adding flour then pulse until soft dough is formed. (I used chunks of cool butter to make a flaky crust, some recipes instruct to cream the cheese and butter together--do whatever works for you). Place dough in bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Divide into 4 balls and roll out between sheets of wax paper into a 9 inch circle. (This is where I had to refrigerate the dough again for about 15 minutes).

Apricot filling:

Spoon jam onto the rolled-out dough (steering clear of the edges and middle). Combine the rest of the ingredients and sprinkle on top of jam. Slice dough into 12 wedges. Roll up each wedge, curved end first toward the point. You're suppose to bend the ends in like a croissant but mine weren't wide enough.

Chocolate filling:

Combine ingredients and spread on top of dough. Brushing the dough with a little melted butter first might not be a bad idea. Slice the circle of dough into 12 wedges and roll up each toward the point.

Brush the top of each rolled rugelach with the egg wash and sprinkle with a little sugar. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, place rugelach about one inch apart and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. It's a good idea to rotate the pan half way through baking. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool immediately. Rolled-up dough can be frozen and baked later.

Luckily, it was delicious so I'll definitely try again - after buying an oven mit. I'm not giving up!

Feliz Navidad...again

Well, I suppose that Christmas is here again. That year went by quickly. Too quickly. But at least I squeezed in some time for Christmas treats. This year, I added more cookies, chocolate dipped pretzels and pumpkin bread to my holiday repertoire.

The pretzels are half dipped because I didn't want to make a complete mess and they turned out great! I melted about 30 grams of chocolate in the microwave-stirring every 10 seconds until smooth (I melted both semi sweet and white chocolate separately). That was enough to cover 15-20 pretzels each. Then I had a blast with the toppings. After dipping (5 pretzels at a time) and carefully placing on a baking sheet covered with wax paper, I added sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, or a drizzle of melted chocolate. Then let set in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Mom's Pumpkin Bread

I know this recipe as Mom's Pumpkin Bread, but it may be from a can so please don't sue me if you own it.

My family brought down the bag of pretzels but you can also find them in the international aisle at Jumbo. Mom also brought a can of pumpkin but it's probably easier to make your own puree if your can opener looks like this:

I made a few changes to her recipe - using chai tea in place of water and substituting 1 t. of baking powder for one of baking soda. I also didn't fill up the whole cup of oil and added a little vanilla. Next time I'll toss in a cup of nuts. Here's the resulting recipe:

• 3 1/3 c. flour (I used mostly sifted wheat flour - but the wheat flour at Coto is nearly like white flour instead of true wheat flour)
• 2 t. cinnamon
• 1 t. nutmeg
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 t. baking powder
• 3 c. sugar
• 1 can (15oz) pumpkin puree
• A bit shy of 1 cup oil (I used sunflower)
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 c. chai tea
• 1/2 t. vanilla

Mix all dry ingredients except sugar and set aside. Mix sugar, eggs, and oil in a super large bowl (see how mine nearly overflowed). Add tea and vanilla. Slowly add flour mixture - add pumpkin last. Mix well. Split batter between 3* floured bread (budin) pans filled 2/3 full. Bake 40 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Cool slightly (15 minutes) and flip out of pan while warm.

*I couldn't fit 3 pans nicely in my tiny oven so I baked in 2 (one was rather large) pans for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Most deliciously served with cream cheese :)

Merry Christmas!

Minimoon

I've been in a whirlwind since the wedding. The day after, we took my family back to the Buenos Aires airport and then made the trip back home--arriving after midnight. Gui took an exam the next morning while I packed for our quick version of a honeymoon.

We spent 3 nights in Villa General Belgrano in Cordoba at Altos Belgrano (hotel & spa) taking advantage of a low season, slow time of the week promotion that included some spa freebies. It was so lovely to leave the city and smell fresh air again. Here's a nice view of the golf course from our room...

And, being that I was free from worrying about fitting into my wedding dress, I was finally able to enjoy beer again. Luckily, this was exactly the place to be with an assortment of local brews--we tried them all! Yeah, minimoon.

We also took a short day-trip to La Cumbrecita...a tiny little village with hiking trails and streams and ponds to explore.

Scenes from the long and winding road home...

Now to begin planning a more elaborate honeymoon to take place during the European spring. No official plans yet except for a stop in the Canary Islands - suggestions welcome!!!