Dia de la Independencia….A Day of Indulgence

Friday was Independence Day here. We took complete advantage of enjoying every single moment!

We slept in until 10am and then drove to vacation home just outside of the Buenos Aires Federal District. I had a few adventures that included going to the local neighborhood carniceria (meat store), panaderia (bread store) and verduria (vegetable store). I have never seen so much raw meat before! It was literally every single piece of the cow, thankfully in the refrigerated glass case where sanitation regulations are respected (unlike China).

While Gustavo was cooking 3 types of meat for the holiday meal (vasio, asado, chorrizo) on the grand parilla (grill), the women stuffed ourselves with some french style appetizers. With a variety of rich cheeses we made mini sandwiches of chimichurri salsa, tomatos, grilled bell peppers and fresh crispy baguettes. We never forget the wine…this time a malbec from Mendoza (western Argentina) along with the meal. The grilled meats were a completely different taste than I am accustomed to. I have no idea which part of what animal they belong to, which is probably a good thing!

We were soooo stuffed that we decided to go on a family walk around the neighborhood- not for exercise but for spying on the neighbors (which is done frequently here in Argentina). When we returned Gustavo had set up the fireplace for the first time in this house! It was so cozy! We all ended up laying on our stomachs like gossiping middle schoolers so we could feel the heat of the tiles from head to toe. We passed around the traditional mate (a type of strong herbal tea, tastes like grass) discussing all the regions of Argentina that I should visit- wild west in las Pampas, Bariloche and the 7 lakes, Iguazu falls, Mar de Plata beach, mountains at the Chile border, penguins and whales at Valdez Peninsula, Incan empire in Salta, vineyards in Mendoza, colonial architecture in Cordoba and glaciers in Ushuaia, the end of the world!

To continue the indulgence we ate a variety of Argentine chocolates and had a toast of champagne. We called it a night at 3am. While the Argentineans work hard during the week, they sure do know how to relax and bring the family together on weekends. This is always something I have admired about the Latin culture.

Saturday we dressed up and went to Palermo Viejo and Soho (resembles NYC). We shopped around the plazas and checked out all the designers. One thing I noticed, Americans touch everything they see to feel the material, while Argentineans look with their eyes only! We stopped by Peter’s Panchos and had some amazing hotdogs too! No joke, there were 20 options as toppings and then they put papas fritas on top. We passed by some Americans speaking English and decided to eavesdrop so we stayed for coffee at a popular overpriced café on the corner laughing at foreigners passing by.

Sunday we prepared gnocchi from scratch…Bianca’s Italian family recipe! To die for! Rolling out the ricotta dough, cutting it into squares and then rolling it across the striped design board….it was time consuming. We went for a 2 mile run after and then made lemon scones from scratch. It was a delightful lunch, of course accompanied by great red wine. We finished off our holiday weekend with a chocolate vanilla espresso fondue for early 10pm dinner….dipped with cinnamon churros, vanilla wafers, naranja cake, lemon scones, merengue cookies, kiwi, mandarin, strawberries, pear, apple and banana. It was heavenly! And we drank the night away with champagne, dancing all of us between the living room and kitchen. And yes, we did sing & dance to a techno version of “We are family…”