Cooking class...lazy Sunday

Hola mi amigos,
What better way to spend a lazy Sunday, than cooking? Almost everything is shut in Argentina on Sundays, totally family time, so we had arranged to do a cooking class with one of the single tutors at the language school.This was a very economical way to do it, costing me $25 US for about 3-4 hours, the meal and the cooking.
Libby, Denis and I had arranged to meet at 11am but I slept in
until 10.18 so was a little late. Lucky I didn't go out last night.
We made empanadas, pastelitos, and caramel flan, their most popular dessert.
Things didn't go sooo well as the oven would not light despite two out of the four of us burning fingers in the trying. I suggested frying them, and she said that was the way her grandmother did them, so yes. The problem was that the flan was meant to go into the oven for 45 minutes but instead we tried to do it in a Marie Baine? on the stove top. It never did cook properly, so w ejust tasted it with a spoon.
We chopped up onions, tomatoes and peppers and olives and hard boiled eggs for the empanadas, and made meat and vegetarian ones. The interesting thing is that it is all fried in a little beef fat, and the smell reminded me of frying food in the old days too. I am sure the surviving Fat Cook would approve, as it gives extra browning and taste. The deep frying was done in vegetable oil, thank God. It was fun to learn how to stretch the dough and fold the shape, yes I will try at home. We didn't make the dough as it would have taken a couple of more hours she said. They buy it all pressed out. I definately will do some Italian cooking in Italy now, on making pasta.
The sweet part were the pastelitos, they are the same dough but in little squares. A chunk of quince thick paste is put on one piece and then the lid put on and special fold made. It is then deep fried and then drizzled with a sugar syrup. The kilo of solid quince paste was only $1.50 NZ I think! We also made, of course, dulce de leche ones, yum!!
The flan was made in an interesting way. A flan pan is put on the stove with just sugar in it, and it melts and caramalizes and you coat the whole surface. Then a custard mix is put in (eggs, sugar, milk and vanilla)and it cooks for about 45 minutes. It must then be set in the fridge for an hour or so, then turned out onto a plate. The caramel is dripping down the sides.
We then sat in the garden and feasted. The empanadas were really crisp and nice, much better than the floury and doughy ones I have had in the past. The sweet pastelitos were great, must do them at home. They have them in winter, treat food.
So another lazy day.
I left the school for the last time, and wandered up to the pedestrian way www.mendoza.com.ar (go to the live webcam of Sarmiento)and ordered a coffee and water and read for an hour or so.
So siesta time now, where families sleep and have a sweet snack around 6-7pm to see them through until tea time of around 10pm at the earliest.
I think I will go dancing tonight, it is not every night of your life you can go tango dancing for $5 NZ, especially old time style. I think that is what is so great here, it is almost being like a time traveller. It is not on until 11pm, so may have to find my way to The Vines of Mendoza again to kill an hour or two.It is pretty boring just reading on your bed instead.
Bugger the sleep.
Che,
Suzette