Over the Horizon

Tuxedo Strawberries

So, my friend Elana's birthday was February 5, and Amy and I threw her a birthday party! What a blast that was! It was so great to see so many friends all in one place. Must of us used to all go to church together, but as time passes, we move on, and now we are spread around at a bunch of different churches. So, this was quite a treat for me, and most especially for Elena!

As Amy and I were preparing for the party, we decided to have people bring appetizers, desserts and drinks. However, we both contributed some to the food menu as well. My contributions was Tuxedo Strawberries, another yummy item I saw on TLC's show "The Kitchen Boss". Again, it was a little more complicated and time consuming than how it looks on TV, but in the end they came out wonderfully, and I learned an important lesson about not over-cooking/burning chocolate! HAH!

Picture of tuxedo strawberries from The Kitchen Boss website

 

My Tuxedo Strawberries!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELENA!!!!

My Cooking Experiment

So, if you know me, then you know that I am not a cook. I stink at cooking. I bake up a storm, but cooking turns me stupid. I have no idea what to do, and I'm lucky if even a recipe can cause the food I'm trying to prepare to come out edible. If it comes in a box or a bag with no more than 4 steps from "open" to "remove from oven/microwave", then I'm good to go. Anything more complicated than that and you're taking your life in your hands by consuming it.

However, I recently watched a few episodes of the TLC show "Kitchen Boss". It's the same guy from the show "Cake Boss", and as I watched his show, I actually felt like I could conceivably do what he was doing....

Not to self: Do not fall for the ease communicated in cooking shows. They have helpers, lots of amazing equipment, and they're pros. You might be able to do it, but it WON'T be that easy or quick!

So, I went on the show's website and printed out a couple of the recipes I was interested in trying, and the first ones I tried were Chicken Sorrentino Fusilli and Roasted Asparagus with Crispy Breadcrumbs. The only modifications I made were that I used a store-bought marrinara sauce and store-bought Italian breadcrumbs. It didn't make a bit of difference because they were still YUMMY!!! Both meals turned out really well! So, the result of this experiment is that....

...drum roll please...

..........................................I COOKED SUCCESSFULLY!!!!!!

The asparagus dish was quick and easy and oh so yummy! The one bunch of asparagus lasted me two weeks!! Of course if you're feeding a family it won't last as long, but it's so easy you can just keep making it with very little effort!

The Chicken Sorrentino was a little more complicated, especially for me, but it came out so yummy! I had no idea that I liked eggplant until I made this dish. I had left-over eggplant too, so I froze it to fry up later.

I highly recommend both of these recipes. Give them a whirl and ENJOY!!!

Frying up the eggplant while the asparagus roasts in the oven

All the ingredients ready to put together for the Chicken Sorrentino Fusilli

So, I didn't get a finished product picture when I was all done, but I found this online and it looks basically like mine did! Oh so yummy!!

Ringin' in 2010

New Years was again a quieter affair this year than in past years, though it was a bit more energetic than Christmas Eve. Once again, I spent New Years Eve in Arrayanes with Sandy & Mily's family, which has quite frankly become my own when I'm in Mexico. What a blessing they are to me!

Anyway, there was lots of dancing, hanging out, chatting, catching up, and of course EATING...you can't have an event in Mexico without including amazing food! This year they made tamales, carne asada, and the traditional holiday dessert of "buñuelos", which are thin flour tortillas fried in oil and then covered in sugar...YUM! They also served atole for the drink (made of tortilla dough, milk, chocolate, cinnamon, cane sugar, and water). I had never tried atole before, and it was good, though the texture is something that will have to grow on me. I don't' normally like the rice or barley water drinks that are typical Mexican fare, but there is hope for atole...it's just very rich and thick and gritty. :) But quite tasty!

Then when midnight hit, we once again went around passing out the traditional hug and blessing for the New Year! Finally, Sandy and I headed back to my house for the night and a leisurely morning :) It was the last leisurely morning since packing and moving was to commence full force while also preparing for our first Short-term Team of the 2010 spring season. What a week awaited us! But New Years Eve was a time to celebrate so, that's what we did!

  

 

Scenes of people just hanging out throughout the night

 

(left) Earlier in the evening, some of the youth played a circle dance-challenge game; (right) Later on they just danced

   

There was  a bit of goofing off...(left) Chris being "cool"; (center & right) Sandy with the zip-up hoodie

 

(left) The men eating; (right) The buffet area

   

(left) Tamales with Pico de Gallo; (center) Carne Asada, Pico de Gallo, & Atole; (right) Atole close up

 

How to make Buñuelos: (left) 1. Drop flour tortilla in pot of oil; (right) 2. Make sure it doesn't fold over

 

(left) 3. Flip; (right) 4. Remove from oil

5. Dust with sugar and savor as you wait to ring in the new year

 
HAPPY 2010 !!!!

baking

well, many of you may know this about me already but I DO NOT LIKE TO COOK...nor am i very good at it. however, I LOVE TO BAKE.... i don't often have the opportunity or the time to do so, but i do enjoy it very much!

that being said, Beth and i had a baking day to get ready for Friends & Family Thanksgiving. that event was on Saturday, Nov 15 (the day before my birthday!), so Beth and i gathered at her house the day before (Nov 14) to bake for our feasting. i usually provide my apple cider and pumpkin pie with my homemade spiced whipped cream (which is by far the most favoritest thing of the Lilies among my desserts). this year, i tweaked my pumpkin pie. i couldn't find my recipe, so i went online to allrecipes.com and found one for this Paradise Pumpkin Pie.....UM YES IT WAS PARADISE!!

it's a 3-layer pumpkin pie. the first layer is a cheese cake filling; on top of that is your normal spiced pumpkin pie filling; and on the very top is a layer of pecan strusel. OH MY WORD IT WAS SO YUMMY!!! and with the spiced whipped cream, it was truly divine!!

anyway, Beth made her homemade apple sauce, which is also TO DIE FOR. she also prepped the ingredients for the stuffing because her mom volunteered to make the turkey and stuffing.

we popped in Christmas music and spread out everything and had a good ole' fashioned messing baking day. it was SO MUCH FUN! and of course there was no shortage of great conversation. it was definitely a day for the memory books!

 

Interesting Mexican Food: Pigs Feet Tacos

Ok, so this was a bit of a stretch for me, but it wasn't too bad. The other day I went over to Sandy's house, and her mom had just made pigs feet tacos....trust me, they don't look that great...but they didn't taste half bad. It was a little weird for me to be peeling the meat off pig hooves, but then again, it was a new experience! So, if you get a chance to try pigs feet tacos, then I suggest you give it a try!

 

Fun Dessert Creations

so, Sandy and i were working on making the desserts for Flavia's birthday party, and Sandy was struck with a moment of dessert genius!

she got really creative with the melting chocolate we were using to make the almond buttercrunch! she dipped a balloon in the chocolate and set it on a plate and then put it in the fridge to cool and harden. once it was hardened, she removed the balloon creating a thin chocolate cup. we then filled it with ice cream...mine was a coffee mocha flavor and hers was Neapolitan...and it was topped off with fresh raspberries...

oh it was so YUMMY!!!! and so easy and fun! i highly recommend this!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FLAVIA!

Sandy and Mily's mom, Flavia, had her birthday on Aug 22. This is the first year that I have been here for her birthday, and since she always does a great birthday party for me, I wanted to do something for her! So, Sandy and I cooked up an idea for a dessert party. We originally wanted it to be a suprise party and invite all the women involved in the women's ministry where Flavia is a small-group leader. But Flavia had already cooked up the idea to throw herself a real party and invite all her girlfriends. She normally doesn't do that and only makes a meal to celebrate with family, but she had the urge this year to do something with her friends. So, Sandy and I worked it out with her that we would take over the desserts, ordering her the cakes she wanted and then doing "something else" which we told her would be a surprise.

So, we spent some time online looking up recipes for some great desserts that have a high yield but aren't too complicated and don't require too specialized of ingredients (since it's hard to find special ingredients here). We found some great ones on All Recipes. Here's what we decided on:

 

Almond Buttercrunch Candy
(it's like a brittle candy)

Mint Chocolate Cookie Crunch

Scoops of Ice Cream Pie
(for Flavia and the family AFTER the party)

We also bought Neapolitan ice cream and asked Mari (wife of Luis, our youth intern pastor, and a good friend of Flavia who is also involved in the women's ministry) to make her homemade doughnuts.

The day of the party, I loaded everything up and hauled it to Arrayanes and stored it in Pola's freezer (Flavia's sister). Until it was time to unveil the desserts after dinner. Flavia had made pozole, and we were anticipating quite a few people from all three towns (Arrayanes, Santa Fe, and Cofradia). I arrived at their house around 4, at which point Sandy, Mily, and I headed off to Rosa Morada to pick up the two large cakes (one tres leches, and one dry) and also to buy her flowers, which she did not know we were going to do.  When we got back to the house with the cakes an all, we took our three large bouquets of flowers to her, and she actually cried. She said she had never gotten flowers from her family before, and to get so many all at once was just too much! How cool!! When people would ask who all the flowers were from, for the rest of the night she'd say that her DAUGHTERS gave them to her and she was including me in that reference. Talk about warm fuzzies in your heart!

  

So, dinner was amazing, and the fellowship/party was fun! When it was time for dessert! Everybody got a heaping plateful of dessert, and Flavia was pleased as punch to be able to give folks so much good stuff on their plate! When everyone finally left to go home, we cleaned up and then went inside to watch her open her presents. She got loads of great stuff to pamper and primp herself and feel special. She had a blast, and more importantly she said she felt so special. The party turned out to be more than she could have hoped for and she said the Lord had truly blessed her with the best birthday ever! That's what counts!

Thank you, Lord, for Flavia! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HER!!

Keeping Cool

So, it's STINKIN' HOT here right now!! We're talking temps of 100+ F IN THE SHADE on most days...and that's BEFORE you factor in humidity! So, you can imagine that we are always looking for ways to keep cool. Well, the girls and I have found a great one that combines our love of coffee and our love of COLD beverages: FRAPPES.

We make these Frappes the easy way...frozen milk, Nescafe instant coffee, and sugar (and maybe a little extra ice if necessary) blended together in the blender. And VOILA!!! A tasty, frozen treat for a hot afternoon together! Just add some whipped cream and sprinkles on top, and you're ready to go!

Have I mentioned lately that I just love how the Lord gifts me these wonderful little small experiences to treasure in my heart!? Homemade Frappes on a hot summer afternoon in rural Mexico. I don't know that it gets much better than that!

Interesting Mexican Food: Enfrijoladas

So, on my old blog site, I started posting from time to time about interesting Mexican foods and experiences. Well, here's the latest in the food series!

ENFRIJOLADAS -- pronounced "en-free-ho-LA-das" (accent on the LA).

This is one of my favorite Mexican country cuisines. It's semi-fried tortillas rolled up with fresh country cheese inside, and then covered with very liquidy re-fried beans and more fresh country cheese. Oh MAN, are these yummy!!! The beans with their fresh country cheese is one of my favorite flavor combinations anyway, so this meal always hits the spot for me!

If you ever get a chance to try these out, I highly recommend it!!!