happy thanksgiving!

Yesterday was one of the first rainy days of fall--I normally hate rain, but when it comes in such small doses, I can actually appreciate it. Today is just as dreary, and the coziness has really boosted my Thanksgiving morale...

This surge in holiday spirit inspired me to make a pumpkin pie for the teachers at school. I would have normally made apple pie, because it´s easy and it´s my favorite, but this would not be such a novelty to the Spaniards. So yesterday afternoon I headed to the grocery store, where I wasted nearly two hours of my life. Living at home, I never have to do any grocery shopping, and it was a HUGE challenge considering I needed things like nutmeg and evaporated milk. Ay yai yai, what a headache. Oh, and in case you were wondering, canned pumpkin is definitely an American thing--nowhere to be found in this country. So I made the puree myself---which turned out to be pretty easy. Five simple steps: cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds, boil for 20-30 mins, shell out the meat with a spoon, and puree with a food processor (or with a fork and lots of patience).

Anyway, the whole thing took several hours, as I was making two pumpkin pies (which take an hour to bake--who knew?!) and one apple pie for a dinner party I am going to this evening. During the course of my baking extravaganza, Isabela came down from cyber world (where she spends almost all of her free time) to see what was going on. For whatever reason, this project really excited her, and she spent the rest of the night hanging in the kitchen, not only helping me but also making her own pie with the extra dough. Despite Pilar and I´s pressure to find a recipe, she insisted on creating something completely original, using the following ingredients: tons of nocilla (which is like nutella, except even more addictive if you can believe it), a cup of cacao, a cup of sugar, one egg, and a pureed banana. Then she cooked it in the microwave. It came out looking like a rock (I was sure it was unedible...) but upon testing with a knife, it looked good! She then covered it with more nocilla, and then we all sat down to try it. I cracked up after my first bite, all I could utter was "Que raro!!". The pie crust was definitely still dough, and the actual pie had the consistency of spanish tortilla--which is like quiche. But I have to admit--it wasn´t bad! Well, it wasn´t necessarily good, but I will eat anything with chocolate in it.

As far as the pumpkin pie goes---I have yet to try it. But I am keeping my fingers crossed that it turned out delicious, at least for the sake of my country. Everyone here seems to think that America doesn´t have its own traditional foods (which, I guess, is sort of true) but I am here with my pumpkin pie to prove them all wrong! I´ll update later with results...