My Thanksgivings!!

My schedule this year is a little different and therefore it worked out better to celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday instead of Thursday. When my bilingual coordinator and her niece found out they did not want me to be alone on my favorite holiday. They planned a large Spanish family dinner with both of their families!! How kind was that?? I am surrounded by wonderful people here!

I started to prepare on Thursday and began by making a gluten-free pumpkin pie. I also made homemade cranberry sauce from dried cranberries, and the dough for the apple pie crust. As you can also see I started to gather the supplies for the actual day as well. My father was kind enough to send some essential supplies. One of these was StoveTop stuffing. For years I have made homemade stuffing but nothing compares to StoveTop!!

My bilingual coordinator also drove me to the store so that I would not have to walk all the way home with all of my groceries. The husband of my boss at the private academy I teach at hooked me up with a large turkey! The price was great and this year there was no head or gizzards. He told me he killed it himself... I almost believe him due to the leftover feathers I had to remove.

A couple of bottles of wine to cook and drink was necessary and a cup of my pumpkin spice Trader Joe's coffee!

My Spanish Thanksgiving filled with a lot of typical Spanish food! I even helped make dessert!! I will have to cook it for all my friends and family when I return home.

My apple pie was not its best this year but still delicious.

Chispita is helping me check the turkey! My roomate, her boyfriend, their dog and cat, and Santi all joined in for a Thanksgiving celebration!

El pavo!!!

They wanted to contribute a dish as well. They made fried eggplant with molasses. 

Here is the final spread minus the apple pie cooking in the oven.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Keeping busy...

I haven't been the best in taking pictures or making regular blog posts but I hope to in the future. Between my two jobs, private lessons, math classes, and studying Spanish it is so difficult to find much of any time to exercise or even shower! I have many goals to try to organize my time better. I have been meeting new people and trying to make more friends as well. Here are a few pictures of some random wonderful moments over the past few weeks.

My roommate has lived abroad many places and during her time in France she picked up this T-Fal pan that is for raclette. Raclette is a French soft cheese such as for fondue.

You melt the cheese in these little pans and then saute meats and vegetables on top to eat with the cheese! It was delicious.

I haven't been able to explore as much as I would like lately and there has been an abundance of rain. This is one of the pictures I did take while walking around a bit while we had some sunshine.

Homemade roasted red pepper and tomato soup on a rainy day :) I even made a gluten-free grilled cheese sandwich to accompany the soup. Definitely another cooking success. I am not very good at taking picture of food but maybe over time that will change.

My roommate turned 26 this month so I made her coconut cream cheese swirled brownies.

She was very surprised.

For dinner I made her baked salmon with carrot Parmesan risotto and green beans. This carrot risotto has become one of my favorite recipes. I discovered it last year.

Coconut rice with pumpkin curry vegetables :)

My roommate taught me how to make empanada with pisto which is a puff pastry dough filled with sauteed vegetables in a tomato sauce, tuna, and eggs. I really enjoyed it and plan to make it when I return to the States for others to try and enjoy as well.

This year I didn't take a lot of pictures when I made Gingerbread Men for my students since I had a whole post about it last year. I made them only for one of my fourth grade classes. We read the book, created our own version, and of course ate the Gingerbread Man. They really enjoyed it and were super thankful.

I still haven't taken the pictures I want at school but I did find some of my first graders messing around in the hallway. We decided to have a small photo shoot. I am obviously a bad influence!

This little boy in front tells me he loves me, in English, everyday!

Showing off...

One Friday a month I go out with my students at the academy, they are adults, to practice language and enjoy some drinks. My roommate has accompanied me the past two times. It is a fun event and gives the students an opportunity to help me with my Spanish as well.

Today I made homemade salsa and added avocado, so it is more like a guacamole. This flavor combo with fresh cilantro always reminds me of my Mom.

I need to be better about this gluten free thing but sometimes I slip and of course pay for it later. Here is a gluten free pasta dish I made today with sweet potato, balsalmic, and spinach. It is topped with parmesan and gluten free bread crumbs... it is still in the oven so I am not sure how it will turn out. I try to set aside at least 30 minutes everyday to do a little something for myself. Two activities I have been doing during this time is drawing and crocheting. I used to love drawing when I was in middle school but dropped it for many years. I would like to start again so I have been working on drawing Santiago de Compostela. I actually took this picture last year and now I am drawing it. It is very difficult but in time I hope to finish. Also I crocheted a scarf for a Christmas present for my boyfriend. He doesn't have the link to this blog haha so I am not worried about him seeing it. It is a little long but it is wool and will keep him warm this winter. Hopefully he will like it.

The baking season is upon us...FALL

Naturally when I started my baking excursion I began with a pumpkin!!! Not only did I bake the few seeds that I found inside but I also baked the entire squash and divided it among ziplock baggies for future baking as well :)

Although Halloween is now over, I still have one more pumpkin that I am saving for a rainy day.

My roommate is also a good cook! She has her own blog that she posts many recipes on that you can check out here conarteypaciencia.blogspot.com.es The picture above is a rice recipe but the name has escaped me. This is why I have to write absolutely everything down! (I can just hear my parents laughing now) Below you will find my step by step picture of the gluten-free pumpkin cinnamon rolls that I made. I AM SO PROUD!! This gluten free thing is turning out to be easier than I imagined.

browning the melted butter

activating the yeast

leaving the dough to rise

The ingredients including my gluten free basic flour mix. Of course I have my own stash of Trader Joe pumpkin pie spice mix.

Rolling the dough and spreading the browned butter

cinnamon and sugar

Time to cut

Let the rolls rise again

Look at these delicious pumpkin cinnamon rolls ready for the oven

time to make the cream cheese frosting

Oooey Gooey baked deliciousness

Ready to enjoy!

My second batch of homemade applesauce! One of my favorite treats to make in the fall and healthy too because I make it without any sugar!

Butternut squash and caramelized onion galette with goat cheese

And lastly, olive oil and orange cake! This treat is gluten-free as well!! This is only a beginning to the many treats to come. I plan to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, my favorite, for the teachers next week. Also, my roommates birthday is on Monday so I will make her something to enjoy as well!