Some of you may recall that I posted a blog entry about my youngest, Seven, trying to use the bidet as a water fountain. Well, once one of Eleven's friends got wind of it, and chided him about it, he was none too pleased. In fact, he wanted me to delete it. He was worried his friends would see it and laugh at him. I assured him that second graders don't spent their time reading blogs. He still wasn't sure, but once I told him that I'd post an embarrassing story about Eleven sometime, he relented and said I could keep it up. The old adage of "What's good for the goose is good for the gander" still rings true, I guess. So without further adieu, I offer up the following story, to the slight embarrassment of Eleven, myself, and my in-laws... As I've mentioned in previous posts, the in-laws, "Jay" & "Dee," traveled to Spain with their trusted guide, Rick Steves, in tow. Between our guide books and theirs, Jay, Dee and I planned several day trips to take while they were here, one of which was to the ancient city of Toledo. In his book, Rick Steves mentioned that the nuns in Toledo are famous for their marzipan, a confection made of sugar, almond meal and sometimes, rosewater. It has it roots in arab culture and can be found in the form of a simple cookie to elaborately shaped fruits, animals, flowers, and even sleeping Baby 
Jesuses. It can also be extremely sweet or more mild in flavor. We had all tasted marzipan before, but since Toledo was famous for its marzipan, we wanted to sample their version of this widely popular confection. We noticed several shops with different varieties of marzipan in their windows, but we wanted to get ours from one of the convents in town. That's what Rick Steves recommended anyway. This is what we thought we were getting when we ducked into a little nunnery along the Calle del Santo Tome. They had a sign outside the convent announcing they had mazapan, as they spell it, for sale. It was a lovely little place with beautiful tile work and a gated courtyard, and you had to walk up some steps inside to a little alcove to ring the bell for service. Some happy customers were just leaving with little bags and smiling faces as we walked in. Dee asked one of the other patrons if they liked what they got, and she smiled and she did. Great! So I stepped up and rang the bell. There was a sign that indicated we could pay 60 Euro-cents per bag, so I had my two Euros ready to buy one for each of us when the nun opened her little window. I placed my money on the lazy susan and said, "Tres, por favor." the nun gave me a strange look. "Tres?" she asked. "Si," I said and told her in my best Spanish, that two Euros should buy three sixty cent bags. That was 1.80 euros, right? "Claro (Of course)!" was her reply and she promptly replaced my Euros with 20 Euro-cents and three large bags of what looked like broken pieces of wafers. Hmmm, they didn't look like a
ny of the marzipan we saw earlier that day in the shop windows. We knew, however, that marzipan could be molded and shaped into just about anything. We thought these might be the leftover scraps, but they were so light. They also looked a lot like broken communion wafers. We opened one of the bags...they tasted a lot like broken communion wafers. Perhaps that was because they WERE broken communion wafers, otherwise known as unconsecrated host. They were broken pieces of the the large wafers the priest use during the consecration as well as broken pieces of the outer rings from which the individual wafers are popped out. The bags of broken wafers were the only items we saw for sale. I was so emphatic about wanting these bags that there was no way I was going back in there. So sampling Toledo marzipan would have to wait for another trip.
Jesuses. It can also be extremely sweet or more mild in flavor. We had all tasted marzipan before, but since Toledo was famous for its marzipan, we wanted to sample their version of this widely popular confection. We noticed several shops with different varieties of marzipan in their windows, but we wanted to get ours from one of the convents in town. That's what Rick Steves recommended anyway. This is what we thought we were getting when we ducked into a little nunnery along the Calle del Santo Tome. They had a sign outside the convent announcing they had mazapan, as they spell it, for sale. It was a lovely little place with beautiful tile work and a gated courtyard, and you had to walk up some steps inside to a little alcove to ring the bell for service. Some happy customers were just leaving with little bags and smiling faces as we walked in. Dee asked one of the other patrons if they liked what they got, and she smiled and she did. Great! So I stepped up and rang the bell. There was a sign that indicated we could pay 60 Euro-cents per bag, so I had my two Euros ready to buy one for each of us when the nun opened her little window. I placed my money on the lazy susan and said, "Tres, por favor." the nun gave me a strange look. "Tres?" she asked. "Si," I said and told her in my best Spanish, that two Euros should buy three sixty cent bags. That was 1.80 euros, right? "Claro (Of course)!" was her reply and she promptly replaced my Euros with 20 Euro-cents and three large bags of what looked like broken pieces of wafers. Hmmm, they didn't look like a
ny of the marzipan we saw earlier that day in the shop windows. We knew, however, that marzipan could be molded and shaped into just about anything. We thought these might be the leftover scraps, but they were so light. They also looked a lot like broken communion wafers. We opened one of the bags...they tasted a lot like broken communion wafers. Perhaps that was because they WERE broken communion wafers, otherwise known as unconsecrated host. They were broken pieces of the the large wafers the priest use during the consecration as well as broken pieces of the outer rings from which the individual wafers are popped out. The bags of broken wafers were the only items we saw for sale. I was so emphatic about wanting these bags that there was no way I was going back in there. So sampling Toledo marzipan would have to wait for another trip. What to do with three big bags of broken communion wafers??? Take them home and share them with friends and family, of course. Seven is going to make his First Holy Communion this spring, so we thought this might be a good opportunity for him to see what the wafers tasted like. I thought I might even send a bag in with Joseph for his whole catechism class to try. Little did we know that we wouldn't have enough...Once we got home, we shared our embarrassing little story...and our broken wafers...with Tiff and the kids. Tiff told us that when she was pregnant, she craved communion wafers like crazy. She used to call the Chaplain's wife who would take pity on her and bring over a box of wafers. We talked some more and everyone ate so
me more wafers. These tasteless little wafers were pretty tasty after all. We finished one bag right then and there, sent one home with Tiff, and saved one for us. After Tiff left with her kids, Eleven was looking curiously at one of the pieces that the individual wafers were popped out of and he asked, "Why would they sell pieces that poeple have taken bites out of?" Rolling my eyes, I told him that those supposed bite marks were actually the half circles left over from popping out the wafers. Of course, they weren't selling half-EATEN wafers. That would be unsanitary!! "Oh," he said with a sheepish grin. There you go, Seven...It's even Steven now! Hasta luego...
me more wafers. These tasteless little wafers were pretty tasty after all. We finished one bag right then and there, sent one home with Tiff, and saved one for us. After Tiff left with her kids, Eleven was looking curiously at one of the pieces that the individual wafers were popped out of and he asked, "Why would they sell pieces that poeple have taken bites out of?" Rolling my eyes, I told him that those supposed bite marks were actually the half circles left over from popping out the wafers. Of course, they weren't selling half-EATEN wafers. That would be unsanitary!! "Oh," he said with a sheepish grin. There you go, Seven...It's even Steven now! Hasta luego...
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