Special Series: Estancia Monte Dinero, Part 2

© Christophile Konstas 2009

Breakfast

by Elizabeth Ellen

The room we stayed in that night reminded us of what we envisioned summer vacations at grandmas house to be, 3 single beds lined up in a row in the attic part of the house. The numerous blankets and down comforters adorning each bed made it an extremely cozy night. As we all lay in our beds beckoning sleep, we heard the wildest winds howling outside. Having never heard such powerful winds before, we were convinced the roof would fly right off! It definitely enhanced the allure of how remote and off the beaten path we were.

The next morning, we padded down to the dining room sure not to disturb the quietness of the house. The place settings were laid out as they were for dinner the night before. Wasting no time, we dove into the fresh juice and coffee to get us energized for the day. Already set out for us were cereals, toast with various jams and dulce de leche toppings, and alfajores.

Sharon soon came out to greet us good morning, and asked us how our night was. We all agreed that we slept heartily, but that we had never heard such wild winds before. She smiled and said coolly that the winds we experienced were calm by comparison to what they normally experience. She casually commented, “the winds last night were maybe 50mph winds, we are used to 75 mph winds!” That sure put us in our place.

She then asked us if we were interested to see the behind-the-scenes workings of the estancia, how it was run and operated daily. Of course we were more than delighted to participate! She replied simply, “bueno,” but said that first she had a surprise coming out for us. She left and came back quickly with a piping hot rhubarb cake! Fresh and hot right from the oven; made with rhubarb grown right outside in her garden. What a treat! However, the real surprise came when she shared with us a notebook with all of her family recipes including of course, the one for rhubarb cake! Looking over the recipe, we noted how few and simple the ingredients were, must be the secret!

After filling up with breakfast treats, we bundled up to head out for a farm tour, first stop, sheepdogs!