It's amazing the difference a week makes. Last week it was cold, cloudy, and rainy and I was sick and pretty cranky. This weekend it was officially September and with the turn of the calendar page comes a whole new mood around Santiago. The Chilean flags have been hung and one can't leave the house without noticing the signage for the upcoming celebration of September 18th and the
Fiestas Patrias. I'm especially fortunate to be here this year for the bicentennial and to also have some vacation time (already!) to do some extra traveling and celebrating.
It was a beautiful morning and I started the day with an invitation from my family next door to accompany them to
Cerro La Cruz for my first
asado (barbecue).
Asados are a big deal in Chile, and they are also a big deal for someone like me who tends to shy away from the meat products in general. It was a great day overall and generally I don't tend to turn down someone else cooking for me. Many people here find it humorous when you turn down meat, in fact, I was reprimanded when someone tried to hand me a forkful of something and I questioned its contents.
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| Preparing the fire. At first I didn't understand what we were going to do with the wine, but it was only to wrap the paper around the bottle! |
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| Here it begins to come together |
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| Teaching the boys to play Uno while the grill warms up |
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| Delicious pebre, which is a lot like pico de gallo and eaten on meats and breads |
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| The view from a rock that I climbed up on |
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| A post-barbecue hike |
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| A nice break from the city smog |
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Not bad for sticking my arm out the car window on the ride home!
***Also noted, I was awarded a new nick-name this weekend by a 6 year-old...girafa. |
Beautiful photos, Heather! I remember my first asado in Argentina (half a cow on the grill!). Bill's relatives thought I was nuts for not trying it.
ReplyDeleteKeep the photos and posts coming. It's fun to experience Chile through you! Enjoy the time off!
I love the pictures, glad you are getting some nicer weather- it has been quite "Chilean" around here the past few days..but we have 90's coming again. I like your new nickname too! You just can't get away from nicknames, can you? Miss you!
ReplyDeleteWell, Ms. Giraffe, I think I see a 2nd career as a photographer! Lovely pics. So glad you have this family next right there. Think you'll stay there?
ReplyDeleteI love your blog Heather! The asado looked fun- and I'll bet it tasted amazing in the fresh air. Mmmm! Looking forward to hiking with you next Sunday. Hope you're feeling much better (hope we didn't give it to you- so sorry if we did. Hopefully we'll all be immune now to any other nasties!) x
ReplyDeleteLooks like a nice asado, my husband and I just moved into a new house and I can't wait til we have everything ready so we can have our first asado! That pic of the pebre made my mouth water! I love pebre... when I make it though, it never turns out as good as my hub's uncles.... hope you enjoy the rest of September, its my favorite month down here!!!
ReplyDeleteCarol-
ReplyDeleteThanks, I always think about you when I am taking pics and hear you saying "it's the camera..." :) haha
Jen-
I think thought that I might be offended that her son called me a giraffe, but I thought it was hilarious!
Dawn-
Yes, I'm 95% sure that I am staying...
Anna-
No worries, it was the weather I think and not you guys giving me germs. :) Can't wait for the hike on Sunday!
Shannon-
It was a fun asado, and it is great to just get out of the city one in awhile. Congratulations on your new house and I hope you have a great first asado. :)
L likes to say that he makes the best barbeques which is why once when I had an all girls barbeque he was like "You need a guy there to start the fire." Of course, we didn't think so. Then, we found out that they DO NOT sell lighter fluid in Chile. Like. At. All. It took us 45 minutes to get our fire started, but the meat tasted even better after that!
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