Imagine all the people...

Pumpkin apple raisin muffins, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin pasta sauce, pumpkin fritters and pumpkin pie.  Every single one of these scrumptious recipes was on the menu this past week.  Why the overload on pumpkin?  Well, Sarah Castrillo’s dad has a garden (that he is quite proud of), and every time he and his wife come to visit they bring with them a bundle full of earth’s little goodies.  It has been a while since their last visit which means that we have had a rather large pumpkin sitting on our kitchen countertop for quite some time.  This week I decided to do something with it. 

Calabazas! (pumpkins)

The muffins were mmm..mmm...good.  My roommates happily devoured them in a matter of days.  Next were the pancakes, and I do have to say that maple syrup on-top of pumpkin pancakes is a beautiful thing.  I think more restaurants back home need to add this little nuance to their menus.  Then came the pasta sauce.  I was a bit hesitant about this one, especially since I did not have all of the ingredients that the recipe was calling for, but great cooks, such as my grandma, never use recipes, right?  A pinch of this, a dash of that and waala! You have got yourself a pre-game meal.  Sunday called for fritters and pie.  My favorite part about baking pie is the heavenly aroma that floats right out of the oven and gladly fills the house with the most warm and comforting of scents.  This is now the 5th or so time that I have made pumpkin pie from scratch and I think I have finally arrived at an agreement as to how much liquid I should add to the already saturated pumpkin glop.  Result=happy roommates=)  Lastly were the fritters.  Even though they lacked a bit of flavor, I will say that the crunchy outside texture of these fried pumpkin balls combined with the warm and smooth inside was really good.  Next time I will add a bit of sugar and then I think we will be in business.

My pre-game meal of pumpkin pasta proved to be a good choice and gave me the energy to have a pretty decent game.  We played the number one team, however, and still ended up losing.  Navarra has lost one game this year and so we knew that if we played well, there was a chance at handing them their second loss, and in-fact, we were close.  The halftime score was Alcobendas 34, Navarra 32.  Navarra has a pretty deep bench and I think that this is what proved to be the deciding factor.  During the 2nd half our gas tanks were running a bit low and they started to pull away.  We would have only ended up losing the game by 10 points or so, but of course the last quarter was full of fouls, in attempt to stop the clock.  At the end of the game, Navarra had racked up 26 points from the free-throw line, ouch.   Overall though, Charly was very pleased with our effort and concentration.  This game was also Sarah’s first game back in action after about 6 weeks of sitting out.  Her finger is still broken, but she is deciding to just go for it in hopes that it will not get hit too hard.  Brave girl. 

Navarra would be the red section...

After the game I had a little fan section waiting for me.  A bit of background information: Remember how I have been meeting up with people for language exchanges?  Well, one of the first people that I met with about 1.5 months ago turns out to be a really great person and we have since become good friends.  So, Fransisco and 5 of his friends were all waiting for me after the game.  We ended up going out in Madrid to a great little restaurant called, Meson el Chacon, that serves very traditional, Spanish type foods.  All seven of us crammed together and sat around a tiny little table while plates full of crusty bread, strong cheeses, octopus, ham, potatoes, fish, olives and onions were placed before us.  Unlike most other places I have been to, red wine and sangria were not served, instead we drank white wine.  Furthermore, we were not drinking out of typical wine glasses, but instead out of these tiny, shallow chalices that reminded me of something that they would use in China. 

El Chacon. Yum, yum, yum or in Spain, nam nam nam!

I had a good time talking with Fransisco’s friends about the game.  For two of them it was the first time that they had ever watched women’s basketball.  I asked them if it was what they were expecting or if it was a bit different.  They told me that it was a lot more physical than they had expected, ha.  Perhaps they thought that women played basketball in skirts and ran around saying, pardon me, excuse me!  I played my usual game and I think they have now crowned me with the nick name, “fighter,” ha. 

Leslie’s Loose Ends

 I had brought my i-pod to the doctor’s house on wednesday and with it I had downloaded the song by John Lennon, Imagine.  In school they were having a week of topics related to peace and they were going to be singing this song, in english, for their classmates.  So I put the ear buds into Juan and Maria’s ears and we swayed back and forth and sang along with Mr. Lennon. 

Mr. Lennon

 “When pigs fly” we’ve all heard this phrase and perhaps we have all used it at one point or another.  Well, here in Spain they have a similar phrase that translates into, “when frogs grow hair.” 

 Man, anybody else watch the USA vs. Canada hockey game yesterday?  Well, there was definitely a rivalry going on between Miss. Crooks and myself last night!   

Can you believe that February is already over?!  I feel like we just skipped right over it. 

Take care everyone, and thank you for all your updates.  I really enjoy hearing how you’re all doing;)

ciiiaaaooo,
Leslie