Argentina day

Date: 19th February 2008
Venue: Jill's house

We're glad to have Ali to tell us about her country, Argentina. She has
brought a lot of things from her country to show us.



Deco box showing the habitat of animals in different
parts of Argentina


knife for spread & spoon for sugar


Chop board


Board for putting the pickles


Tea box


Butternut squah & wine bottle holder (made of wood)


Caramel toffee


I don't know what is it call ??!!!!

Argentina's straw (Bombilla)


Azafran or safflower is the dried flower of the (Carthamus tinctorius).
span >It is used in various recipes for it's color. It is not a
true substitute for saffron as it has none of the same flavoring but it
will impart a pleasing color. The safflower plant is best know for
production of safflower oil. Azafran can be found in Mexican
as well as other Hispanic grocery stores. The flowers are also
used as a dye.


Container, spoon & "straw" for Mate
More info about Mate:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_(beverage)

Butternut squah


Knife for BBQ

Then we were divided into 4 groups for the Argentinian's quiz.
Group 1: Hazel (China) , Krista (Lebanon) & Li Ping (China)

Group 2: Maggie (Mexico), May (China) & Jill (UK)

Group 3: Jin (Korea), Gill & Lorna (UK)

Group 4: Melissa (China), Joyce (Malaysia) & Hyu-Suk (Korea)

Guess which group won the competition????
It's Group 1.... Well done Hazel, Krista & Li Ping!!!! Our group only got
6 answers correct out of 11 questions. hehehe!!!!

After the competition, Ali taught us how to make the Argentina's biscuit
"Alfajores de Maizena"



Recipe for Alfajores de Maizena:

Ingredients:
1. 2½ cups cornstarch
2. 1⅔ cups flour ½ teaspoon baking soda
3. 2 teaspoons baking powder
4. ¾ cup sugar
5. 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine
6. 3 egg yolks
7. 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
8. Grated lemon peel

Methods:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Sift the cornstarch with the flour, baking soda and baking powder
in a bowl.
3. Beat margarine and sugar, and add the egg yolks one at a time.
Mix well.
4. Add dry ingredients a little at a time.
5. Add vanilla and lemon peel. Mix to form a stiff, elastic dough.
6. Stretch until the dough is about ½-inch thick over surface covered
with flour.
7. Cut into circles using the rim of a drinking glass or a round cookie
cutter and put the circles on an ungreased cookie sheet.
8. Bake for about 15 minutes. Let cool.
9. Spread some dulce de leche on one cookie and sandwich with
another cookie, and repeat with the rest of the cookies.