Cocktail Party July 30th

Good Morning Buenos Aires is proud to announce it is hosting a cocktail party to show its appreciation to the International Community of Buenos Aires.

This is no cover charge for this event. Good Morning Buenos Aires does not profit in any way. No kick-backs, no inflated prices, no fuss, no muss, no wrinkles...

There will be drink and food specials until closing time and several items will be raffled for free.

Several organizations and companies are co-hosting this event to include: the BA Insider Magazine, Buenos Aires International Newcomers Downtown Group, CULTOUR turismo con identidad, Democrats Abroad Argentina, EleBaires Spanish Experience Program, Freak Restaurant and Cocktails, InterNations. org, Sugar & Spice, Wynn Woods Solutions, yanquimike. com. ar and more to be announced later....

For more information click here, or go to Good Morning Buenos Aires


- 2 for 1 drink specials all night
- 20% discount on all food items

- BA Insider Magazines
- Democrats Abroad Argentina membership drive
- InterNations.org membership drive

- A special Sugar & Spice raffle
- CulTour Cultural Tour raffle
- Raffle for dinner at Freak Resto*
- Raffling 10 free drinks at Freak*

more to be announced later

DATE: Wednesday, July 30th
TIME: 9 p.m. until closing
PLACE: Freak Restaurant
Fitz Roy 171, Palermo
@Honduras & El Salvador

I hope to see you all there.

regards,

samuel

*to be used on your next visit Read more!

Argentina's Farm Crisis: I say “Basta”, meaning “Enough”

Mahatma Gandhi once noted that “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. In the United States we say “two wrongs do not make a right”. The grueling, 3-month-long fight between President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Argentina’s powerful farmers is a prime example of what happens when these principles are ignored.

And the most interesting thing is that Argentina is undergoing its best economic situation in decades, yet because of this stalemate the mood in the streets is one of gloom and doom. "This is the most gratuitous crisis in Argentine history," political analyst Rosendo Fraga noted. "We've never seen a crisis during such favorable world conditions. ... What the president needs to do is resolve this dispute with the farmers today and immediately start rebuilding her support."

So what has the recent stalemate between the government and the farmers created so far?

Well there are over 200 routes cut off in the country, no commercialization of grain, food and fuel shortages, increasing inflation, a rise in interest rates, the Central Bank’s foreign reserves have depleted more than U$S 1.5 billion the last few weeks.

Consumer confidence has decreased by 24% over that of last year. Domestic consumption has lowered by 20%. Real wages are now stagnant at best, and poverty and income inequality are on the rise. A recent poll, take last month by the University of Belgrano found that 69 percent of people in the capital, Buenos Aires, thought another crash was "very probable". Public services costs are on the rise; the national debt is a larger percentage of the country’s GDP than that of 2001, the year of Argentina’s last sovereign default.

This situation has, in turn, led to financial, economic and political uncertainty.

So what does the government intend to do? The Economist noted that rather than moving to correct the problems, the Kirchners have simply “whitewashed the effects of inflation” by cancelling the publication of official poverty statistics. The Economist’s Intelligence Unit has also observed that Cristina has continued her husband’s “commitment to a weak currency policy... and to heterodox measures such as price caps, cross-subsidies and export taxes”. On June 10th Argentina updated the method by which it determines its Consumer Price Index. According to this new system every time a product’s price rises too sharply, it will simply be removed from the index on the theory that consumers will switch to other goods after being deterred by the new cost. Yesterday, after months of blocked highways and food shipments coupled with peaceful demonstrations the Kirchner government responded with police brutality and arrests.

So what is going to happen? Your guess is probably as good as my own. One thing remains certain in Argentina: anything is possible. I personally say: “basta”, meaning “enough”. Instead of continuing its policies of handing out wasteful welfare state handouts and redistributing the wealth, Argentina should look to a combination of real and meaningful economic reform, better monetary policy and limiting the role of government. Until that day, Argentina’s former days of glory will remain ever out of reach.

But that is just my opinion. What do you think?
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Chocolate Mousse Tart with Fresh Fruit

Chocolate Mousse Tart with Fresh Fruit
Servings: 8



Ingredients:

CRUST

1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup macadamia or cashew nuts
¼ cup dates, pitted, chopped
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 pinch cayenne pepper

FILLING

2 medium avocados, peeled and pitted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon sea salt
5 tablespoons cocoa or carob powder
½ cup Rapadura (or regular, unrefined sugar)

FRUIT LAYER

1 pint strawberries, sliced or 2 bananas

Directions:

1. To make the crust place the dry coconut in a food processor and process into a fine powder. Add the nuts, salt and cayenne and blend to a course meal.
2. Add the dates and process until the texture is like a graham cracker crust – it should be loose and crumble but if you squeeze it it should hold together.
3. Press the crust into a 9” ungreased tart pan pressing firmly to get the crust to hold together. Put it in the freezer to set up while you prepare the filling.
4. To make the filling place avocados, vanilla, salt, cocoa and Rapadura in a food processor and process until completely smooth.
5. Divide the filling into two equal parts. Spread the first layer on top of the crust and smooth it out. The spread a layer of strawberries or bananas or both on top of that. Then spread the remaining filling on top. Put the remainder of the strawberries/bananas on the top.
6. Put in refrigerator for an hour to set up before serving.

You can dehydrate the filling in very thins sheets for a few hours, roll the resulting leather and cut it into bite size pieces to make raw tootsie rolls.
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