http://www.saltshaker.net/20051204/fiesta-feliz-cumpleano-henry Casting a little flavor (and a few aspersions) on the world of food, drink, and life Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:52:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 http://www.saltshaker.net/20051204/fiesta-feliz-cumpleano-henry#comment-8140 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » The Big Three-Ohhhhh Mon, 04 Dec 2006 22:31:32 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20051205/fiesta-feliz-cumpleano-henry#comment-8140 [...] Buenos Aires - Saturday was the big three-oh. Not for me. I barely remember mine. It was Henry’s turn (and he’s sensitive about, convinced life is nearly over, so don’t mention it…). Now anyone who’s been reading my blog for a long time will recall the travails of last year’s birthday bash. Let me just say, that Peruvian custom or not, Argentine custom or not, thirtieth birthday or not, I simply was not having another all night, pounding music party in the house. You want to have a party like that, find somewhere else to hold it. Interestingly, he’d already thought it through and decided that wasn’t the sort of celebration he wanted anyway - maybe 20 friends, a few of mine too, and an afternoon asado on the day after, Sunday. The asado turned into more of a cebichada - but we stuck with the afternoon theme - officially planning on a noon start, but knowing that most folks wouldn’t show until at least two or three in the afternoon. Amazingly, a few showed at noon. We weren’t remotely ready… for the fifty people the invitation list had grown to (of which only about thirty, thankfully, ended up coming). [...] [...] Buenos Aires - Saturday was the big three-oh. Not for me. I barely remember mine. It was Henry’s turn (and he’s sensitive about, convinced life is nearly over, so don’t mention it…). Now anyone who’s been reading my blog for a long time will recall the travails of last year’s birthday bash. Let me just say, that Peruvian custom or not, Argentine custom or not, thirtieth birthday or not, I simply was not having another all night, pounding music party in the house. You want to have a party like that, find somewhere else to hold it. Interestingly, he’d already thought it through and decided that wasn’t the sort of celebration he wanted anyway - maybe 20 friends, a few of mine too, and an afternoon asado on the day after, Sunday. The asado turned into more of a cebichada - but we stuck with the afternoon theme - officially planning on a noon start, but knowing that most folks wouldn’t show until at least two or three in the afternoon. Amazingly, a few showed at noon. We weren’t remotely ready… for the fifty people the invitation list had grown to (of which only about thirty, thankfully, ended up coming). [...]

]]> http://www.saltshaker.net/20051204/fiesta-feliz-cumpleano-henry#comment-918 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » Henry Rocks the Casa Mon, 31 Jul 2006 20:03:21 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20051205/fiesta-feliz-cumpleano-henry#comment-918 [...] You might remember maíz morada, or purple corn, from way back. We buy it by the bagful out in Liniers, in the Bolivian markets (same place we get things like the huacatay herb, the ají panca, and the large white corn for the garnish on the ceviche). A classic Peruvian dessert is mazamorra morada, a sort of thick purple corn and fruit soup. A little internet research shows about a zillion versions of this, and Henry kind of winged it based on what we could find. The corn is simmered in a stockpot of water for several hours along with the pieces of the skin of a pineapple, a quince, a couple of green apples, and some cloves. The liquid is strained off, then cooked down with a lot of the corn kernels removed from the cobs, the fruit of the quince, apple, and the pineapple diced up, along with some dried peaches and sugar. After they’re all nice and tender, it’s traditionally thickened with sweet potato flour - which, Henry forgot to ask me to get when I was out in Liniers. We used cornstarch, which works just fine, though thickens more. I tried to convince him not to use a heaping cup full of cornstarch, but he insisted. When it cooled, it turned into a rubbery mass that you couldn’t cut with a knife. Luckily, the dish is best served hot anyway, so with the addition of some more water and heat, it turned back into its proper consistency. A little cinnamon and grated unsweetened coconut (he was horrified by the latter - it not being traditional - but then liked the way it looked) are sprinkled over the top. [...] [...] You might remember maíz morada, or purple corn, from way back. We buy it by the bagful out in Liniers, in the Bolivian markets (same place we get things like the huacatay herb, the ají panca, and the large white corn for the garnish on the ceviche). A classic Peruvian dessert is mazamorra morada, a sort of thick purple corn and fruit soup. A little internet research shows about a zillion versions of this, and Henry kind of winged it based on what we could find. The corn is simmered in a stockpot of water for several hours along with the pieces of the skin of a pineapple, a quince, a couple of green apples, and some cloves. The liquid is strained off, then cooked down with a lot of the corn kernels removed from the cobs, the fruit of the quince, apple, and the pineapple diced up, along with some dried peaches and sugar. After they’re all nice and tender, it’s traditionally thickened with sweet potato flour - which, Henry forgot to ask me to get when I was out in Liniers. We used cornstarch, which works just fine, though thickens more. I tried to convince him not to use a heaping cup full of cornstarch, but he insisted. When it cooled, it turned into a rubbery mass that you couldn’t cut with a knife. Luckily, the dish is best served hot anyway, so with the addition of some more water and heat, it turned back into its proper consistency. A little cinnamon and grated unsweetened coconut (he was horrified by the latter - it not being traditional - but then liked the way it looked) are sprinkled over the top. [...]

]]> http://www.saltshaker.net/20051204/fiesta-feliz-cumpleano-henry#comment-180 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » Paper Anniversary Mon, 13 Feb 2006 15:43:33 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20051205/fiesta-feliz-cumpleano-henry#comment-180 [...] Our first thought to celebrate our anniversary was to go out and have a quiet, romantic dinner somewhere. But we do that a lot. Our second thought was a cocktail party of sorts and invite every one we know here. We did that for his birthday back in December and it was just more work than either of us wanted to do for this special day. We had so much fun last weekend with our first asado that we decided we’d have another one. That meant limiting our invitations to six other folk, as we can only seat eight of us at the table, and meant, unfortunately, leaving out many good friends. If you are amongst them, please don’t take offense, it was hard for us to decide whom to invite to share this day with us. Rest assured we will have many more special days and hope to share them with the rest of you! [...] [...] Our first thought to celebrate our anniversary was to go out and have a quiet, romantic dinner somewhere. But we do that a lot. Our second thought was a cocktail party of sorts and invite every one we know here. We did that for his birthday back in December and it was just more work than either of us wanted to do for this special day. We had so much fun last weekend with our first asado that we decided we’d have another one. That meant limiting our invitations to six other folk, as we can only seat eight of us at the table, and meant, unfortunately, leaving out many good friends. If you are amongst them, please don’t take offense, it was hard for us to decide whom to invite to share this day with us. Rest assured we will have many more special days and hope to share them with the rest of you! [...]

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