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| Salud! |
Hola! Cómo estás?
Not sure if I mentioned that Mr B and I signed up for Spanish classes over the summer, in an effort to continue with our goal of 'learning new things'. As Ethan has been learning Spanish at school for the past three years now and will continue to do so here in Arizona, we thought we would also give it a go, especially as it is the most common language spoken here after English and also the native language of many of the Latin America countries that we are hoping to get a chance to visit at some point in the future. As we only learned French when we were at school in the UK, (which is next to useless over here!) we thought we should make an attempt at Spanish.
This week was our first class - held at the Senior Center just a short drive down the road, so it probably should not have been a surprise to discover that we were the youngest there! The teacher is a lovely Mexican lady called Claudia, and as well as the anticipated topics to be covered in class over the next 13 weeks, such as greetings, family, directions etc., she has also planned a couple of field trips to the Museum of Mexican Art and a Mexican market in downtown Phoenix which both sound fun, although as we are only allowed to speak in Spanish goodness knows what we will end up coming home with. Still, if in doubt, surely just adding an 'o' at the end of the english word should do it, no? Oh wait ... that theory may come unstuck when trying to buy pears ... and we're not allowed pets at our house ... :D
Claudia also asked the class what else they would like to cover during the course. Did anyone have anything in particular they would like to learn?
"ooh yes!" one man exclaimed. "Construction and Landscaping words so that we can speak to tradesmen ... " Oh God. Cringe!
"Good idea..." added an elderly lady at the back "... can we also include housekeeping?"
Although her eyebrows were raised by more than a few notches, poor Claudia retained her composure adding it to the list and asking "anything else?"
"I'd like to learn parts of the body for occupational health ... so I can talk to my patients better' added another lady
"oh yes ... and mental health words would be good too ..." followed another.
Good grief! Mr B and I looked at each, feeling suitably embarrassed for poor Claudia, as it seemed the majority of the class were clearly just wanting to learn how to communicate with their Mexican staff and customers.
"How about the differences between Mexican Spanish and European Spanish" I offered? Followed by Mr B's suggestion of perhaps some financial and business terminology?
Claudia smiled gratefully. "Great suggestions, thank you. Anything else?" Class looked blank. Claudia looked over at us.
"What about ordering food in restaurants?"
"Oh, that's a good idea!" someone replied as if the thought had never occurred to them. Seriously??!
"... and Travel ... Culture & Customs ... Transport ..." we continued, at the risk of being labelled the class swots, although unsurprisingly, I don't think any of them have any intention of traveling to any Spanish speaking countries.
After the brainstorm (oh sorry ... apparently that's not politically correct any more ... they are think showers now **rolls eyes**) was finished, we continued with the class covering letters of the alphabet and their different pronunciations etc. (note to self: must try and learn to roll my 'rrrrr's' without spitting on the person in front) and the two hours went by in a flash. Can't wait for next week! Oh, how about that for a co-incidence ... email from Claudia just popped up. Must be our 'homework' for next week that she said she would send us ... Oh. It's all in Spanish, so no clue what we are supposed to do .... "Ethan ...!"
Continuing with the Mexican theme ... those of you that follow me on social media are no doubt aware by now that 'Happy Hour' is big here in Arizona. (Well, I say hour ... most places here start at 3pm and run until at least 6 or even 7pm!). Beer and wine can be as much as half off, and cocktails for $6-$8 instead of the usual $10-$12. If you choose your venue wisely, you can also enjoy 'Appetizers' (some of which are a meal in themselves!) to go with for around $5. Needless to say, we are big Happy Hour fans and try to make it a regular Friday feature as a family. It's such a nice way to end the week and a great start to the weekend!
Being so close to Mexico, the Margarita is a BIG deal here and you will usually find at least two varieties on the menu, or if you are at a Mexican restaurant, considerably more. The restaurant we were at last night had thirteen, yes that's right thirteen, including a Frozen Beer Margarita ... ! (I have included a link to their menu here if you are curious - there are some seriously good ones Sol Cocina Margaritas). As I am quite partial to a margarita ... or two (I know, you would never have believed it would you?) I am always on the look out for new varieties that I can re-create at home. So far strawberry and lime has been my favorite, however, last week, I happened upon a new recipe that I discovered on Jamie Oliver's Drinks Tube ... a frozen pineapple margarita. Oh my days! It is soooooo good! Even Mr B, who is not normally a cocktail drinker, loved it. Although, as he is still a Margarita novice, he clearly needs to pace himself a bit more. He managed to slurp his way through the first one in about 5 minutes, promptly requesting another, which didn't take much longer to consume either. He then wondered why, a short while later, his legs wouldn't work properly and he was taking like an idiot ... we hardly noticed the difference :/
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| Frozen Pineapple Margarita |
It's not difficult to make either - the most time consuming bit is juicing the limes. Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try - it's the perfect summer tipple!
Frozen Pineapple Margarita (serves 2)
Into a blender pour:
50 ml freshly squeezed lime juice
50 ml orange liqueur, e.g. Cointreau/Grand Marnier
100 ml blanco tequila
2 large handfuls of crushed ice
2 large handfuls of frozen pineapple* (see note below)
small fresh sage leaf (you can leave this out if you prefer)
small pinch of black pepper (trust me, this really makes a difference!)
Blend until smooth and slushy, then pour (or spoon!) into glasses and decorate with a slice of lime and some finely zested orange rind (I was far too impatient to bother with that bit!) Salud!
*Note: I have made this with both fresh pineapple and frozen pineapple and the frozen fruit definitely makes a better slushy texture. You could of course buy whole fresh pineapples, peel, core and chop, then freeze in bags ready for when you need them, or if you're lazy like me, you can buy the ready cubed fresh pineapple from the supermarket! (This is obviously more expensive though). One tip I would offer here though, freeze the cubes on a baking tray first before throwing them into the freezer bag. Otherwise you will just end up with a huge iceberg of frozen pineapple!! "Did I learn this from personal experience?" I hear you ask .... might have ... **adopts innocent look and walks away whistling**
You can also substitute the pineapple for frozen mixed berries to make a frozen ... er ... mixed berry ... margarita.
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| Frozen Mixed Berry Margarita! |
Adios amigos!
TTFN
Bev x
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