Look out! Jennie's in the Kitchen!

While we were in language school we learned a lot about Bolivian culture. We also found that the teachers were very interested in our own culture. In November many were curious about Thanksgiving, how we celebrated it, and most intriguing, what we ate! Of course the most important Thanksgiving day food is pumpkin pie! However, I found it difficult to explain what pumpkin pie was like to someone who had never tried it. I felt the best way for them to comprehend pumpkin pie was to taste it. So.... next was the adventure of making one. Adventure, because they don't have pumpkins in Bolivia! Since then, many of the teachers have been asking me for the recipe.

So...last week, while John was in La Paz for work, I invited some teachers over to our place for a cooking class. (I must preface this story by making sure you are all aware of the fact that I am not an expert in the kitchen. I love to cook, especially bake, but I am very much a learner. Especially with pies. I think I had made 2 pies prior to this little "lesson".) The night started off in true Bolivian fashion with the earliest guests arriving 45 min late and the final guest arriving 1 1/2 hours late. Then, all the teachers ended up bringing their children, which I hadn't counted on. So there were 5 adults total and 4 children, all under the age of 3! So, once we finally made it into the kitchen I realized quickly that my brain was a bit frazzled with everything, especially since I had to explain everything in Spanish. We finally got everything mixed and put into the oven, and then it was time to sit down and relax a bit. We all went to sit down in the living room to visit. About 20 minutes later, I went to check on the pie. As I entered the kitchen, to my dismay, I noticed a can of evaporated milk sitting on the counter...unopened. I quickly realized that we forgot to add this integral ingredient to the pie! Needless to say the pie did not turn out. While the cooking lesson was a bust, we still had a nice time together!

Lili, mixing up the pie (sans evaporated milk!)