Pancakes

    On Friday, Mariska and I asked Fortunata if we could make pancakes this weekend and she said (with a big smile) that we could.  I asked if Saturday or Sunday would be better and she said Sunday because then Chaska would be there.  So, Saturday night after dinner, Mariska and I went shopping for pancake ingredients.  I hadn’t thought that this would be very challenging, but little things like what is baking powder called in Spanish?, made our shopping excursion harder than expected!  Luckily I am feeling much more confident in my Spanish and between that and my handy Spanish/English dictionary, I was able to ask where levadura en polvo (baking powder) was and we figured out where the harina (flour) was on our own.
    This morning, we took over the kitchen at 7:20 and Fortunata helped us get set up with a frying pan, a bowl, and measuring cups.  I was so happy that they had measuring cups and teaspoons…I did not expect to see them because Fortunata never measures anything when she cooks.  Mariska and I worked together to make the banana and apple pancakes and at 8:15, Fortunata, Mariska, Chaska and I sat down to eat.  There were only two things that were frustrating about making the pancakes: 1) the heat on the stove was very irregular, so we didn’t know if the pancakes would burn - this made us appreciate Fortunata’s cooking even more, though and 2) we had bought whipped cream powder that you were just supposed to add water to and mix, but it never actually whipped, so we didn’t use it - it probably would have worked if we had an electric mixer.
    The pancakes were a huge success.  We originally decided to make pancakes because Fortunata is constantly talking about a past volunteer who made pancakes and she obviously loved them.  After Fortunata ate one pancake, she said that the pancakes were “mas diferente” (very different) from the other volunteer’s…I held my breath in anticipation, thinking this was a bad thing, but then she said that ours were “mas rico” (more delicious).  YES!  Mariska and I were thrilled.  I also had brought maple syrup to them as a gift at the beginning of my stay, which Fortunata, Chaska, and Mariska had never tried, and they all loved it.  Peruvians use more sugar than I have ever seen anyone use, so I was not surprised that the liked the maple syrup.
    After eating, Fortunata thanked us with a big smile and we knew that we had done a good job.  It was a great feeling.  It feels simple to just make pancakes - I do it all the time at home, but for Fortunata this was a big treat and it felt so nice to do something for her.  It was a good learning experience for me to shop and cook in a Spanish speaking place and the happiness around the breakfast table was wonderful.

The table set with the pancakes and maple syrup