Antigua - CSA Part II

Cathy and Gaby helping me cook

View more photos 

Headed back to Antigua for more Spanish lessons.

But oh my god is grade B harder than grade A.  Despite three weeks of almost nonstop effort I honestly feel like I'm barely any further forward with my Spanish.  Though the reason for not making much progress may have been that I was pretty sick whilst I was in Antigua, I think I picked something nasty up from diving in the lake.

On the plus side I had a great time with Gaby and Cathy, two incredibly fun Canadians also staying with Janet.

The highlight of which has to be my attempt to cook for Janet and her family.  Thought for ages as to what British dish I should cook.  Ummed and Arrhed about a curry for a while, but couldn't get any of the right spices, so decided to cook Toad in the Hole (or "Sapo en el Agujero" in Spanish).

The final result!

View more photos 

Unfortunately the meal turned into a bit o a disaster, though on the plus side I did make everyone laugh with a meal that will forever be referred to as "Un explosíon de Sam".

I did manage to make pretty good mash potato (not that difficult) and I even managed to make onion gravy from scratch (turns out the secret is Worcestershire Sauce or Salsa de Inglés as it is Spanish).  But the Toad in the Hole was a completely different story.

Dehlia had said that the secret to getting the Yorkshires to rise was in getting the pans absolutely red hot for the batter and then not opening the oven whilst it cooked.  So I duly stuck two of Janet´s Pyrex dishes in the oven and left them to get as hot as possible, but when I took them out I managed to burn myself really badly - Janet´s oven glove had a massive hole in it.  Don't worry though I was OK.  So whilst I'm casualtied out I get Gaby to take over and follow Dehlia´s second tip.  That when you take the pans out of the oven you should put them on a low heat on the hob so that they don't get cold while you pour in the mixture.  Big mistake! Pyrex can´t take direct heat (thanks for the warning Dehlia!) and one of the dishes exploded.  Yes I do mean exploded!  Luckily Gaby was fine but I could have cried as everything just seemed to be going wrong and I felt so guilty about breaking one of Janet´s dishes.  She took it so well but I will never know what she thought when she came back in the kitchen after stepping outside for two seconds to find the kitchen covered in glass and me with a burnt finger... basically don´t let the niños play in the kitchen.

A bit of a change from rice, beans and tortillas

View more photos 

Well we ate the first one and I was able to quickly make a second so that there was enough for everyone, and I at least thought it was good (a taste of home).  But am not exactly sure what the Guatemalticos made of it.