A Uruguayan Cooking Experience

Let me start by saying that I have problems trying to cook typical American food here because most of the ingredients that we use (and usually take for granted) are really hard to find here and usually really expensive if you can find them... 

However, there are some foods that I kind of have to at least try to make no matter where I am (chocolate chip cookies, macaroni and cheese, hot chocolate, chili, stew-type dishes, etc.).  And what better way to procrastinate doing my work than by cooking, right? Right.

Let me start by saying that I never even tried to bake anything in Argentina because I did not know how to turn on the oven/ was too afraid to turn on the oven.  You have to use a lighter or a burning piece of paper and the gas pops on all at once.  I think I should receive congratulations for now being able to do this without burning down the entire apartment complex (I mean, I havent yet caught anything else on fire...). Besides that, I made these cookies without being able to find brown sugar (I used honey?), chocolate chips (I bought a type of chocolate that I thought was semi-sweet... turns out it was the type of chocolate that youre supposed to melt and use to ice cakes, still chocolate, though...) or baking soda (I doubled the baking powder.  And without a mixer (I spent a long time beating the butter, sugar, honey, and eggs.  They actually turned out alright, though.  I mean, I still ate them. haha.

ALSO, I made chili and cornbread!!  The cornbread is probably the easiest thing, but I had to ask mom the first time because the only kind of cornmeal/corn flour I can find here is polenta and I wasnt sure if that was the same or not (thanks mom!).  The chili is fine and actually turns out surprisingly well considering I dont have chili powder... imagine me in a uruguayan grocery store staring at all of the spices trying to figure out what most closely resembles chili powder... at least my host mom and sister really like it, so I know it is at least edible.

I am actually giving a class presentation about Thanksgiving tomorrow so I may try to make an apple pie tonight to take because I do not think I can talk about all that food without eating something.  Plus, who wouldnt appreciate an apple pie?  (Dad, if you want to stop by and help, that would be sweet, I know you like apple pie :) 

I will update all of you if I actually catch anything on fire... wish me luck lighting the oven tonight... haha