Ale called this afternoon complaining of a headache and, I told her to take her temp. She was ok, but, called me later on to say she did have a high fever... I called the Dr.... he said to give her some acetaminophen, some ibuprofen and give her plenty of electrolites....He said to watch her closely for any other symptoms and we should know what it is in a couple of days.... I so hope this is just a "false alarm" or something like that...

If you do, you'll love alfajores. I made my first alfajores last weekend. Alfajor is a traditional arab cookie, which the Spaniards brought to the Americas! YUM!
they are extremely easy to do, but, oh, so sweet and sinful!
Ale loves them, and so do I. I had never tried to make them, though, but, on Friday I looked up a recipe on line and then bought all the ingredients on Saturday.
Now, no one makes Alfajores like my friend Katya´s... hers are like a piece of heaven that practically melts in your mouth! So thin and delicate! Mine were thick, not at all like hers...but, the flavor was right! So, now I need to practice some more until I can make them thin and luscious!

Thought I´d share the recipe here!

ALFAJORES
Ingredients :
1 ¾ cups sifted flour
¼ cup cornstarch
¾ cup butter or margerine
4 tablespoons pulverized sugar

1 tablespoon cold water
Manjar blanco (see recipe below)


Instructions:

Put the butter, flour, cornstarch, water, and pulverized sugar in a bowl. Mix with a fork or whisk. Finish working the dough with your hands, until the dough is smooth.

Roll with a rolling pin on a floured surface. Cut circles with a cookie cutter.

Put cookies on a greased cookie sheet and bake in pre-heated oven [350° F (175° C) ] for 12-15 minutes.

Take out of the oven and cool them.

To make the alfajores, take a cookie, spread manjarblanco over one side and, cover with another cookie. Sprinkle with pulverized sugar.


MANJARBLANCO:
Ingredients :
1 can of condensed milk (397 g - 14 oz)


Instructions:

Place the can (closed) of condensed mik in a pot and cover it with water. Boil for 2 hours if in a conventional pot, or 45 minutes in a pressure cooker.
Cool the can completely before opening.

Hers is just fine at the moment, but, I don't think it'll fit in 6 months, so, I'm starting to look for knitting patterns on line so I can start making her a new one.
I made the one she has now and, she's so proud of it!!

Of course, I have like 1100 other projects that I haven't finished/started... but, I think I'll give this one priority starting in December!

eh? we don't "do that". My tree is the same every year, it has been ever since I got married in 1992. Then, I got the tree when hubby became the ex. I have lots of ornaments in all colors. I really don't like that "current" of changing the colors you use on the tree every year according to fashion... (not to mention this year is blue and silver, not pink!)

So, this year Ale wants the tree decorated in pink....(?) I have no idea where she got that from and, no, I don't plan to buy new ornaments (and, definetely no plans to get rid of the old ones, either)....At most, if she wants to do that, she can sort through the boxes and choose the pink ones and leave the other ones out. I may also get her a can of pink spray paint and let her spray paint some of the older spheres (red and green, which I use as "fillers"), and, maybe let her use pink ribbon to tie the white spheres... I may also buy her a couple of sheets of pink foamy and let her craft some new ornaments, but, that's about it!!

Well, Ale was complaining today about not being able to go downstairs to play ... clear indication that she´s feeling better.She has a follow up appointment with the pediatrician on Monday.
.. I am still coughing, and it hurts a lot, but, it´s not as painful as before and, I can sleep! I had to go to the office today (Dr only gave me 2 days at home), so, what else could I really do?
I asked about the party and was told about 50 people showed up (really good, considering we invited 86 people with 5 days notice!) 42 RSVPd, which is amazing, really... so, eventhough there were a few glitches (the caterers had problems trying to get in! Thankfully, I had gotten their cellphone number "just in case", which means THEY had MY number, too! so they called me, I called my boss, he called security, things got sorted out somehow!....phew!) but, all in all, it seems things turned out alright. Considering I had a gravely ill child and was sick myself, I d say it was a huge achievement!!
Well, believe it or not, is 01:46 am here already, I DO need to go to sleep!(coughing fits have been keeping me awake!)
good night, everyone!

Well, Ale "graduated" from just lying in bed watching TV to coloring and crafting, so she must be feeling better (she does look happier, too!) I, on the other hand, spent a terrible night coughing last night, so I went to the doctor today... I got antibiotics and some awful brew that is supposed to make my phlegm go away! (I sure hope so, it tastes bad enough! yuck!) Since I´ve just started with the medication, I really don´t expect to see much progress until tomorrow morning. Oh, and the dr. said I should stay home today and tomorrow. So, I won´t be going to the office until Friday.... but, of course, I AM working! (the office´s 2nd year anniversary party is TODAY, the final approval to hold the party came last Thursday, and we sent out the invites on Friday....which means I have been contacting caterers and such from home!) I do hope everything turns out ok, I´ve done my best, considering the circumstances... I really hope it doesn´t rain tonight, that would REALLY spoil things! (fewer attendees!)... oh, well, THAT is definetely out of my hands!

I was supposed to go to the supermarket on Saturday and, of course, with Ale (and now myself, too) being sick, I didn´t... so, we are almost out of food! I wrote a check and sent niece to the supermarket. She should come back with about $5 change... the good thing is, she´ll get a dose of reality as to how much things cost! (especially since I´m sending her with cash... she does go to the supermarket with sis, sometimes, but, since sis charges everything, she hardly ever looks at prices-- I know!--) so, now niece REALLY has to LOOK at the prices... she took a calculator. LOL! Why LOL? Well, whenever I go to the supermarket, I make Ale keep count... in her head... or in paper... not exact counts, everything gets rounded up, but, Ale can do it in her head and she writes down the resulting number next to the last item bought, just in case she forgets!

Anyway, this should be a valuable lesson for niece! (I sent her with $90 and a very detailed list)

Ale seems to have caught dengue fever again. I HATE mosquitoes!

It is more dangerous this time around, because it could turn into hemorragic dengue if you've already have it.

Her platelets are at 127,000 (normally, the minimum is 150,000). She's at home today, on fluids and vitamin C. We need to do another blood test tomorrow, if she is anywhere near 100,000, she'll have to be hospitalized. Did I mention I hate mosquitoes?

I'm trying to stay calm, I managed to keep her out of the hospital the last time, I'm hoping, with God's help, to keep her out this time, too!