This morning we had a date with Nyrzha's Mum to help cook their traditional Lamb roast called: Mechado de Cordero. Unfortunately Nyrzha and I both slept in and we arrived a little later then we expected. We arrived around 10:30am and Nyrzha's Mum walked me through how to first prepare the marinate. 1 red onion chopped, handful of fresh parsley diced, few cloves of garlic chopped finely, a couple of carrots chopped, 2 Tomatos, salt, pepper, fresh lime, chill peppers seasoning (very mild), ginger spice, oregano, special meat seasoning to keep meat soft and finish with a good drizzle of olive oil and mix well. You then take your whole lamb legs and trim the fat, from here you make slots in the meat and basically stuff the legs with the vegetable marinate. Grease your oven trays, place marinated legs flat on trays and cover with aluminum foil. Cook time varies but slow is best on moderate heat. The marinate alone and the stuffing takes a while but that is what cooking is about in these places; showing your love through the preparation of food. I will one day take this recipe back to Australia and make for my family and hopefully impress my Grandmother with this rendition of the traditional lamb roast. It was incredibly hard sitting and waiting for the lamb to cook for two hours as the smell combined with the anticipation was painstakingly brutal. The whole family came around and what followed was a great meal, great company, lots of laughs and an afternoon spent at the dinner table appreciating each others company. The lamb was cooked to absolute perfection and fell off the bone, the marinate and vegetables were to die for and there were smiles all round. Also with the lamb was some deliciously roasted potatoes, a spicy salsa and a fresh garden salad. The lamb didn't last long and everyone cleared their plates only to find out there was another leg in the oven and on its way - what a treat we sat in anticipation for the next 45 minutes chatting, laughing and being in each others presence: something very rare in the Western world. It was 4pm by the time we finished, everyone said there goodbyes and Nyrzha's mother invited me around for lunch on Thursday when she will be making her special peanut soup - to say I am excited is an understatement. To walk off some of the massive lunch I walked back to Nyrzha's stopping by the local markets to pick up some final ingredients for the rumballs I will be making for Nyrzha and her family. With Nyrzha's fully equipped kitchen making the rumballs was a blast, I used a rendition of my Grandmas Rumballs recipe. 4 packs of chocolate biscuits, 1/2 kg of shredded coconut, 6 TBSPs of Cocoa, 2 tins of condensed milk, 100gms of Raisens (diced) and about 100ml of Scotch whiskey. Blend biscuits, cocoa, and 3/4 of the shredded coconut. Slowly heat whiskey and Raisens over low heat for about 10 minutes. Mix in Raisins-whiskey, and condensed milk to biscuit mix, sit in fridge for 20 minutes and then roll into small balls and roll once more in remaining coconut - place in airtight container and refrigerate. This delicious Christmas treat is always a winner and I have the fondest memories of Christmases and these little chocolate balls.