Salsa!

Although learning to salsa dance is one of those to-do list things, I have spent a lot of time down here in Colombia avoiding salsa at all costs.  At school functions any and every man will offer a hand to take any girl to the dance floor, and unfortunately I have fallen victim to this on a couple occasions despite my "no se nada"s and "necesito aprender"s as we venture to the dance floor.  It's not that I have anything against salsa, I do want to learn, but through lessons, not embarrassment.  For my birthday in November, David got me 2 salsa lessons, which we have yet to take.  His fault, not mine.  I did take that one salsa class in high school and have been Zumba-ing my way around our little living room lately so perhaps my salsa skills will start on their upward trend. 

Last weekend two of our co-workers, Stetson and Beatriz, had a black and white party for their 30th birthdays at Tienda Vieja.  And I just remembered that David and I had our picture there, we're famous!  While I was hesitant to accept David's offer of a little salsa dancing at first, eventually I got onto the dance floor and practiced my salsa steps.  The basics are fairly simple and I did actually remember some from that one class I had my junior year.  While everyone else out there was still better than me, I was beginning to feel a bit more comfortable and enjoyed dancing a bit.  And while I am the last person David is willing to take instruction from, we have some patient friends who were helping us out.

We took a break from dancing and were surprised by some real salsa dancing entertainment.  I was beyond impressed with their fast moving hips and feet, especially considering how young they looked.

 

After about four or five songs each dancer broke off and grabbed someone from the crowd to bring to the dance floor.  Of course David was picked (thank God it wasn't me) and while I scrambled to capture the moment I managed to get a snippet of the dance moves in video (sorry you have to watch it sideways).  David, as well as all the other people pulled to the floor, were eventually pawned off to strangers as the dancers went to grab more people from the crowd.  Although I had begun to feel comfortable with salsa, my stomach still knotted up each time one of the male dancers approached the 5 foot radius around me.  Luckily I never got chosen, I'm sure they could sense my fear.

One Hot Dog Please, Hold the Butter

That's what I'll be sure to say next time I attempt to eat a hot dog in Colombia, not that its likely I will.

It was Friday night during Game Night that David and I realized we hadn't eaten and wanted something quick and cloys by, thus, the hot dog place.  Apparently hot dogs fit in OK with my "eat healthier"  goal.  False.  As the man was making my hot dog, I saw him squeeze something onto it, but figured he had already made the move and that it wasn't likely I would be able to explain to him I didn't want what he had just put on there, so I thought I'd chance it.  And that's when I discovered that Colombians put butter on their hot dogs.  Maybe not all Colombians, but this hot dog only eatery thought it was important enough that they put only that on for me and left the rest to me.  Needless to say, it was less than appetizing.  However unpleasant a surprise this might have been, at least it will make me think twice before ordering a hot dog anywhere but Chicago. 

What Happened to the Cupcakes?

Well the good news is that I have lived in Colombia for almost 6 months and haven't been robbed yet (knock on wood).  Two weeks in Chicago?  Not so much.  Now having been born and raised in Chicago with a grandfather who worked as a Chicago Police Lieutenant, I should have known better. And for the vast majority of 25 years I have; I have even shared my tips for avoiding getting your things stolen with many, many people.  Some pretty simple ones include: lock your doors and don't leave things in your car that could entice thieves.  The former I managed to remember when returning to Chicago, the latter...not so much.  The day before I was going to visit David's family in Iowa, I stayed at my friend Tessa's after we went out with friends to watch the Hawkeyes in their bowl game.  Since I had to take 90 to Dubuque and was already north, I was going to leave from Tessa's in the morning.  When I got to her apartment I was already dressed and ready to go, was feeling quite lazy and figured I could borrow some pjs to sleep in from Tessa, so I didn't bring my duffel up with me to her apartment.  Stupid.  While I remember thinking about my own advice to others about leaving stuff in the car, I probably thought "what are the chances anything is going to happen?" (Clearly I lost some of my Chicago street smarts while living in Cali) The answer: 100%.  There is a 100% chance that if I leave things in my car for probably the first time ever in 25 years that it will get broken into and said things will be stolen.  And so, most of my Saturday morning and afternoon were spent in tears trying to figure out what to do and eventually making a very late arrival in Iowa. 

I could go through the list of all that was stolen from my car, but I won't.  Anger might yet again set in.  Now, little more than a week later, I can look back realize that it could have been worse: I wasn't in my car when they were trying to take my things, they got in without breaking the windows, they didn't steal my car etc.  I can also laugh when I think about the ridiculousness of it.  Now you might be thinking: "Laugh?  That's a strange reaction to being robbed..." and you are correct, but here's what I find so funny:  they stole my cupcakes.  Yep, remember those cupcakes! I slaved over?  They were on the floor of the back seat to take to Iowa for David's family and any potential NYE party we might attend.  Gone.  36 deliciously filled vegan and car bomb cupcakes stolen.  Bastards.  Pardon my language.  But seriously?  They had to take them all?  Sure help yourself to one or two, they looked scrumptious, but leave a little for the rest of us.  Sheesh.  And so you see, I laugh.  Because really, who gets cupcakes stolen from them? 

Unfortunately, these aren't the only weird things I have had stolen over the past two years.  Had I started blogging a year or two ago the bottom of this post would read something like this: "You might also like: 'Where's all the laundry detergent and Bounce?' and 'When our shower products went missing'" because, yes, those have both happened too.  Back in March 2011, my apartment that I shared with my friends Erin and Meaghan was broken into while we were at work; they got in through the front window.  It wasn't until later that week that I asked "Erin, do you know where all our laundry detergent is?"  She didn't.  It took about 5 minutes to realize that the only conclusion we could come to was that it had also been taking during the break-in.  I was going to use the word "logical", but there is nothing logical about that.  And then there was the time I was subleasing an apartment for a month before moving in with said roommates in the Summer of 2010.  David was visiting and so when I went to shower and couldn't find my shampoo or any other shower products, I thought perhaps he was being a comedian.  Nope.  Someone somehow had taken all of our shampoo and shower products.  We concluded that they got in the shower window because I found my razor sitting on an outside ledge across from the window.  Even stranger: they took nothing else.  We didn't tell many people about the incident, mostly because it was just weird. 

I guess the good thing is that I can go back and laugh at these situations, and for the most part, move on.  They aren't the best scenarios by any means, but are they the worst that could happen?  Certainly not.  Are the pretty humorous?  Absolutely.  Regardless, I'm still hoping to be robbery free in 2012, even if it leaves me with a few less weird and funny stories to share. 

"Resolutions"

I dislike New Year's Resolutions, because I feel like often people make them and fail, and just like a lot of other people seem to agree, I don't necessarily think you need to wait until the first day of a new year to start improving your life.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to sit on my high horse and preach, I spent many years not even thinking about self-improvement or setting goals.  Nonetheless, I think it's important to keep in mind those things that you want to work on.  So here is my list that I have been working on and hope to continue improving in 2012:

1. Eat healthier.  This includes reducing (cutting out?) pop in my diet as well as that sneaky side of fries.  Delicious? Yes.  Healthy? No.
2. Be more active.  I think moving to Colombia has certainly helped me improved this as the weather is usually conducive to outdoor activities year-round.  I am also in love with my new Zumba 2 for Wii, so that should help.
3. Travel!  I have a somewhat unique opportunity to live abroad and I definitely want to take advantage of every opportunity to explore my new country and continent.
4. Disconnect.  I find myself on a computer Facebook all too often and I am disappointed in myself at times.  I don't think I need to cut it out completely, but  cutting back is a must.  I have seriously disconnected from the TV (we didn't have one for 4 months) and my iPhone/Pod since having been down here, and love that I have been reading so much, but I still need to work on this.  This is part of the reason I am currently boycotting Kindles and other e-readers; I want there to be something left in my day to day life that allows me to be "unplugged"
5. Speak Spanish.  Ugh its so haaaard.  Now that we're back I am going to get a one on one tutor, but I am also going to try to use Spanish whenever possible.  Just last night I was talking with a mutual friend so speaks Spanish and English and we carried on for a while in Spanish about where I had bought my dress and life down here.  Pretty impressive considering we were in possibly the loudest bar in Cali.  Eventually my brain failed though and we went back to English.  Baby steps.
6. Let the in basket be full.  OK, not full, but it doesn't have to be empty; it probably never will be.  This came from Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and it's all small stuff, a book I read just as I was moving down here.  Basically, our "in basket" is a list of things that need to be done and in the past I have been meticulous about getting such list scratched off.  However, not surprisingly so, there was always something on that list, and trying to get everything done was stressful.  The idea that Richard Carlson shares in the book is that when you die, your in basket won't be empty, and probably isn't meant to be; "there is more to life that making sure that every item on your to-do list is accomplished."  There is indeed a limit to what can and should be done in a day and as I have found, having things left on that list while I take some time for myself has not in fact resulted in the end of the world. 

I find that there is always room for improvement, and a highly doubt that this is the extent of my list (I know there are other facets of life such as relationships and work that could use some improvement too), but its what comes to mind as I write and reflect.  Do you have any "resolutions"?

Cupcakes!

For Christmas, my mom got me the best little $3 gift a wannabe baker could ask for: a cupcake de-middler!  Yes, I'm sure there is a more official/proper name, but I like mine.  I am always looking for reasons to bake and what better reason than this little gadget to take on a couple of filled cupcake recipes.  I knew immediately I wanted to make apple pie cupcakes, as those are my favorite from this little gem of a cupcake shop we frequented in Chicago called Molly's; if you happen to find yourself in Chicago near Fullerton & Clark, give one a try.  Unfortunately, they don't always have said favorite cupcake, as they claim it is seasonal.  I thought I could make these and then it might be a nice little treat to take with me when I visited David and his family in Iowa at the end of our break.  Then I remembered his sister is vegan, and we are always taking/sending things there that aren't vegan.  How rude of us.  So then I decided to take on a little vegan baking challenge.  I figured there was a could chance this could go horribly wrong, so I better try another recipe too, non-vegan.  I was going to go with my other favorite, chocolate raspberry, until I found a recipe for Irish Car Bomb cupcakes and I was sold.  The vegan recipe took a little piecing together as my "vegan apple pie cupcake recipe" Google search turned up few usable results.  I adapted recipes from several sites and searches that can be found by clicking on the heading of each cupcake component.  So here's what it took:

 

 

Cinnamon Cupcake

• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Apple Filling

• 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• Honey Crisp apples (about 4 medium), peeled, cored, and finely diced
• 1 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water

Caramel Buttercream Frosting

• 2 cups vegetable shortening baking sticks
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• Caramel syrup
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 6 tbsp vegetable shortening baking sticks
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt

You might notice that the frosting links to an apple pie recipe, the same one in fact that I made for Thanksgiving at school.  My mom and I used that recipe for the caramel because the vegan caramel buttercream recipe we tried first gave a insanely complicated caramel recipe that resulted in a kitchen and living room full of smoke and having to take down the smoke detector.  We couldn't actually get the detector to turn off, which lead to my mom probably losing partial hearing in one ear and eventually I think we ended up putting it outside until the smoke had cleared.  I thought maybe the caramel might still taste OK.  It didn't.  Won't make that mistake again.  Once these were all put together, they were in fact quite scrumptious if I do say so myself.  My dad couldn't tell any difference (until I told him they were vegan and had soy milk in them, he was not happy about being "tricked").  I even topped them off with a little slice of apple.  Delish.

The Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes (click to view recipe) were slightly less complicated, except for deciding whether or not it was worth it to buy a whole bottle of Jameson and Baileys for 24 little cupcakes (it wasn't).  So they weren't technically car bombs, but close enough.  I bought the Baileys as I decided it was essential for the frosting and I also ended up substituting it in the ganache for the 2 tsp of Irish whiskey it called for.  Considering what eventually happened to the cupcakes (I may or may not share this later) and said extra Guinness and Baileys, I'm glad I didn't spend the extra $20 on whiskey too.  These were topped off with just a sprinkle of chocolate baking powder, and were by far the heaviest cupcake I've ever felt, making it all the more delicious. 

I can't wait to take on another yummy cupcake recipe soon and share them with friends down here.  I even brought back some yellow, red and blue cupcake holders!

Random Thoughts in Chicago

I drove for the first time in 5 months and didn't get in an accident.  I'm not going to lie, when I got in the car (that I remote started thanks to the best Christmas gift from 2009, thanks Mom & Dad!) I was a little nervous.  And after the car died because I tried to put it in drive without putting the keys in after remote starting it, I felt even less confident, but surprisingly, driving came back to me with ease.  Just like riding a bike, or well, like driving a car. 

While it was nice to turn on the radio in the car and hear English, that also meant I had to deal with surfing the stations to find something good to listen to. And unfortunately, Miley Cyrus is still played on the radio in the US. Even more unfortunate, I still know the words to many of her songs. I really dislike myself sometimes.

Note to self: you do not have to speak Spanish here. People get extra confused when a white girl starts speaking Spanish to them.

"Emmmm" and "Ooossshhh" are not acceptable sounds to make when thinking or surprised by something.

Toilet paper can be thrown in the toilet here, no need to second guess.

Mmmmmm pickles. I really miss pickles and my first taste of them again was on my delicious Potbelly T.K.Y skinny.  However, the sandwich artist clearly underestimated what I meant when I said "extra pickles".  I'll have to me more clear forceful next time.  Luckily, my friends still remember my love of pickles and give my their extras when we go out to eat.

I think I'm experiencing the onset of seasonal depression.  Does the sun seriously never shine in the winter?  I don't recall this gloom hanging over Chicago for all of December.

No ants.  I can bake without worrying that my workspace will be taken over.  Still have aunts though, thank goodness.

Maury Povich: how do you sleep at night?  1 baby 3 possible dads?  Who cares?  Ugh, boycotting TV.

There is nothing better than clothes out of the dryer.  I am angry with myself for not immediately coming home and rewashing and drying all of my clothes.  At least I know for next time.