So Different, Yet The Same

We are still enjoying having Anna with us each and every day. As more and more time passes, we all get more comfortable and open and we are finding that while she is very quiet and shy, she has a great sense of humor and she is such a sweet girl.

Before we had our family get together recently, we explained to her what a "potluck" was and I told her I would like to make something traditional to Catalonia to serve. She didn't even hesitate and said "Catalonia Bread". She told us of the ingredients, which I bought, and on the morning of the party, I asked her to help us and show us how to make the food. It was actually surprisingly easy and it was a BIG hit at the party, with many people having several pieces of the bread, so I thought I'd share the recipe here, although there is one change... the bread itself. Their bread is traditionally very hard on the outside, while soft on the inside. It is shaped like a large circle (think pizza crust) that is puffed up in the center. When they slice it, they get a very large piece of bread, so one is plenty for a meal. I looked and looked and even asked at the bakery for bread like that, but they didn't have what I was looking for. They did have a round bread, but it was very soft. So I found the closest thing I could, which was more of a baquette, but since it was hard on the outside and soft in the middle, the bakery lady and I both said "that'll work". I brought it home and poor Anna had a confused look on her face and giggled when I said "Is this close enough?" She giggled some more and shrugged as she said "Uh yea, it's ok". She & Ashley sliced the bread and we got out the rest of the ingredients:

Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Salt
pre-cooked Shaved Ham
Sliced Cheese (they traditionally use goat cheese).

To make the Catalonia Bread, you slice a tomato in half. Then you rub the inside part of the tomato back and forth across the slice of bread on both sides. That way you get the juice and flavor of the tomato, without the tomato itself. She said that if some seeds get on the bread, its ok. Then you drizzle the olive oil on the bread on both sides. After that, you salt both sides of the bread. Then you lay a piece of ham on one side of the bread, which a piece of cheese on top of that. That's where our recipe was varied. Since we didn't have big slices of bread, we had to just tear a piece of ham in half to make it fit. Plus, I screwed up and got shredded cheese instead of sliced. When she told me that you put cheese on top, I just assumed it would be shredded like so many of our recipes use. Anyhow, that's all there is to the recipe. You don't cook it, broil it or nothing. She said some eat it right away, while others like to let it set so the bread soaks up more of the tomato and olive oil. As I said, they were actually very good. I have to admit, I was skeptical, but pleasantly surprised.

So while Anna is here, she is learning about us, our foods, our traditions and our customs, and as she calls it "our very busy life". But in return she is also teaching us so much as well. We are learning about seeing things again for the first time. We are learning about patience and understanding. We are learning that it's ok to be different and that no matter how different we are, we are all in some ways very much the same. There are times when she'll hear a song on the radio and she'll start singing along with Ashley & Chelsea and at that moment, she is just like any teenager you would see walking down the streets anywhere in America. You forget that she lives half-way around the world. You forget that she hasn't always spoken english, and you forget that she is someone elses little girl. Someone they are missing and are hoping is having a wonderful time. I just wish they could understand some english so I could assure them that we are taking very good care of her and we love having her here. Maybe Ashley could teach me how to write that in Spanish, so I could surprise them with an email. hhhmmm...something to think on.