Cookies All Around

This week I'm not studying and I am supposed to be finding myself a job. I am doing a lot of research on that front, but also realize that everyone is about to go on Christmas vacation and whatever I do will not begin until the new year. Today I did help pack 250 lbs of fair trade coffee to mail to buyers in the US, for Omar's organization, Cafe Conciencia, but I must admit that the past two days I have largely been baking (and eating) Christmas cookies. It turned out that Eloisa had never baked cookies before. Ever. This amazed me because she is a wonderful cook. When Ruth found this out, she decided we had to make and decorate Christmas cookies, a tradition she has carried out with her mother her whole life. I think originally the idea was to decorate the cookies with Eloisa's sons, who both love sweets and like to paint. We figured this would be a great activity to do together, but it turns out they're staying with their grandmother this week. Alas, we decided to bake anyway. And when we couldn't find a gingerbread man cookie cutter, we decided to make a gingerbread house. I'm not sure I've even made one before, but how hard could it be? We made the walls and roof today and will do the assembling tomorrow. It sure wasn't hard to find any number of candies, marshmallows, sprinkles etc. to decorate with.

Manchas (Eloisa and Furio's dog) was very jealous...

For an illustration of the whole day, check out Ruth's photos. I'll post a photo of the finished product if it can actuall stay standing up long enough.

What may have been one of the most valuable parts of this adventure was discovering Tienda Emanuel up at the main market, La Democracia. Tienda Emanuel is a cake supply store and they sell 25lb bags of flour! Sourdough here I come...