santiago

santiago

Monday, June 22, 2015

the definition of a death spiral

So as mentioned last weekend I made chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for a BBQ. They were a huge hit and gone in roughly 3 minutes. Cake is not really a thing here, its sad. Anyway. So night before the BBQ I was mixing away planning on baking after Curly girl went to sleep and frosting them in the morning. I do the necessary math that is required for baking here. I figure out grams to ounces, ect, ect. Then I do the math for the oven temperature conversion. My stupid, tiny, only really heats up when it feels it oven. Math done, preheat check.
As I am looking at the timer husband waltzes in and says "do you do that every time you cook?"
Me "do what?"
Him "the conversion math"
Me "well I dont have it memorized"
meanwhile as he is about to open his mouth to spew his logic I pull out my baking sheet and the cupcakes are not properly rounded. The bottoms are sticking to the pan. WTF is happening. I never mess up cake. Ever. I start yelling and cursing the metric system and all its grams and degrees because this is not my fault. I never messed up cake till it came into my life. This is clearly the metric system's fault.
Husband "why dont you write down that temperature so you dont have to keep doing that conversion every time you cook it would save you time."
THIS IS NO TIME FOR LOGIC I AM IN A DEATH SPIRAL BECAUSE MY CUPCAKES ARE SHIT AND I CANNOT SHOW UP WITH SOMETHING STORE BOUGHT.
side bar:
When my dear, logical husband and I were first married I was freaking out about something (I was probably just hungry) and he coined the phrase death spiral. He was like well once you start I cant pull you out. You just spiral until you crash. Hence, death spiral. He actually diagramed it too. At the time I was pissed but now it is funny. I wish I had kept the diagram.
I mixed up more batter and tried again. I am many things, a quitter is not one of them. And no way in hell was I going to let cake get the best of me. These turned out better. Not perfect, but good enough to serve to people.
And dont know you know it, husband was smart enough not to say a word.

Friday, June 19, 2015

like the deserts miss the rain, y'all

So I try not to do this. I try not to compulsively think about all the food I miss. The food here is fine. But sometimes the following happens. I chat with my mom. I think to myself "Man I miss my mom. Man I miss my moms mac and cheese. Man I miss cheese in general. I miss cheeseburgers. Oh and good fries. Chik fil a fries. Ooo and spicy chicken sammiches and chocolate milkshakes..." you get the drift. I then sit and feel sorry for myself for about 20 minutes.
So Here is a list so far of all the foods I miss here in Chile. In case you ever come here you will know what to mentally and emotionally prepare for. I am sure it will be continually updated.
1. Cake. Cake is not a thing here. I made mini chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for a bbq last weekend and they were a huge hit. Maybe there is a hidden market for good cake here? So yes, technically I can make it myself. But I miss strolling into Publix and buying a chocolate cake that someone else made and eating it. Plus baking here involves math, thanks metric system, so the juice isnt always worth the squeeze.
2. Good coffee and coffee creamer. The coffee mate kind with all the things that are bad for me in it.
3. Sharp cheddar cheese and feta cheese.
4. Anything from Chik fil a.
5. Good pizza.
6. Panera.
7. Brunch foods. Breakfast in general here is not super popular.
8. Sweet potato fries.
9. Brown sugar. No not technically a food but you cant make a lot of things without it and you cant find it here.
10. Good wheat beer.

So to be fair to Chile here is a list of the food here that I will miss like crazy.
1. Indian food. Shockingly good Indian food here.
2. Peruvian food.
3. Shrimp empanadas.
4. Ice cream. My word they make the best ice cream I have ever had down here.
5. Argentine steak houses.
6. The wine. That should really be #1 on the list.