Yo Amo Chile

Inspired by Kelli who recently made Chilean empanadas for dinner, I decided to treat my family to some Chilean cuisine. My parents, who recently came back from Chile, had just brought me a big bag of manjar (dulce de leche to the rest of the world), which is a yummy carmely spread. So, tonight we made panqueques de manjar. They are basically rolled up crepes with a manjar filling. Rich, but yummy. I'll post the recipe for those of you who might want to try it. You can probably buy dulce de leche at any Latin market or you could make it by boiling condensed milk (I'm sure there is a recipe online somewhere).




We even had banana milk to go with our panqueques. The banana milk recipe is your basic blended milk, sugar, and bananas. I don't know that it is necessarily "Chilean" but that is where I had it for the first time and drinking it in the states always reminds me of late night treats that my Mamitas would have waiting for us after a long day of missionary work (only they used powdered milk and LOTS of sugar).

My connection to Chile continues to grow rather than diminish over the years. First of all, when I received my mission call to serve in Vina del Mar, Chile in 1997, I was stunned. My dad had served his own mission in Chile in 1961. The thought had never even crossed my mind that maybe I'd go there but as soon as I read the call, I felt an instant love for Chile and its people. How could I not? I had heard countless stories about Chile and their people from my Dad as I was growing up. After my mission ended in 1999, I felt such a strong desire to go back. So, in 2000, I went back to Chile for a month and traveled and visited Chilean friends. It was a blast! About three years ago, my parents bought land in southern Chile on a whim. Last year, my husband and my daughter took a much anticipated trip back to Chile and Argentina, where we also met up with my parents as they decided what to do with that land that they bought. Before we met up with them, they had already drawn up plans with an architect and were on their way to building a Chilean home. This year, Blaine's parents put in their missionary papers. We all made guesses as to where we thought they were going. I guessed Osorno, Chile (it was more of a fantasy than an actual guess) and wouldn't you know it...that's where they got called. (I'm still waiting for some sort of prize or something for guessing it right. I mean, come on, there are about 350 missions to choose from!) Anyway, so as fate would have it, Blaine's parents are now in Osorno, Chile, serving as missionaries and my parents are almost through building their home in Llanquihue, Chile (1 hour south of Osorno). So, as you can imagine, I am now dreaming about our next trip back to Chile. With both of our parents living there, we've GOT to go. Don't you agree?