The Many Faces of Little *D*

A Peek Into My Kitchen...

Today, the cooking adventures continued! I must say, for a girl who's never been particularly keen on spending time in the kitchen except when absolutely necessary, I have discovered a newly awakened joy in food preparation lately. Is it the desire to create a taste of home? The motivation for healthy goodies? The outlet cooking and baking provides for creativity? Perhaps all of the above.

This morning, as I (slowly) woke up and thought through the day's forthcoming activities, I felt a strong desire to take on the cooking duties for the day, thus freeing my partner tía for other responsibilities and making sure leftovers would get used effectively!

Considering that our leftovers consisted of a bowlful of pasta not quite generous enough to feed 16, pizza seemed like a logical (and not too complicated) lunch to prepare with it. I also knew we would need dinner, and since we are trying to feed the children something fairly light for supper, French toast casserole sounded like a new, tasty idea to try.

Having only one can of pizza sauce in the pantry, I got online to search for a sauce-from-scratch recipe. I was quite amused to find that the first three recipes I clicked on called for canned tomato products. Doesn't anybody else consider the words "from scratch" to mean from real, whole tomatoes? Finally, I found a recipe that looked promising and possible. Next, I searched for French Toast Casserole and quickly came upon a recipe using simple ingredients that even I have here in Cochabamaba.

Armed with these new recipes as well as one for our family's favorite pizza crust, I headed downstairs to begin operation pizza deluxe.

The sauce-from-scratch took awhile to prepare as skinning and de-seeding 12 tomatoes is no small task, I learned, but I must say, the effort was worth it! The sauce turned out scrumptiously! (I've included the recipe at the end of this post.)

Next, it was time to make the crust and sauté the veggies. [Note to self: when making anything with yeast, always remember to use warm water. It makes a difference! Okay, so maybe my crust didn't rise like it usually does at home, but it was still tasty.] On our veggie pizza, I included carrots, onions, garlic, bell peppers, spinach, cheese, and some leftover chicken I discovered in the fridge. Now that's what I call supreme! :)

I also discovered half a pineapple in the refrigerator desperately needing to be eaten, so it was only logical to make our second pizza a Hawaiian one. Let's here it for using up leftovers! With a personal stash of lunch meat ham thawed from the freezer, pizza number two was set to go!

In the middle of pizza making, the children needed their mid-morning snack, so I quickly whipped up a batch of stove-popped-popcorn. As you can see, my morning of cooking was turning the kitchen into quite the disaster-zone! I usually like to clean as I go, but alas! we had no running water inside for most of the day. That might help explain why it seemed like I used almost every dish in the house for my culinary adventures!

At last, lunch was ready! All this for the sake of using up a pot of pasta. :-)

And the verdict is...

delicious!

I got a kick out of watching the children's delight upon discovering that one of their pizzas actually had pineapple on it! Apparently, they've never seen that kind before. And the ham was a special treat!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I had a dinner casserole to prepare and a mountain of dishes to tackle!

If you would like to know the secret to cleaning a kitchen-turned-disaster-zone with no indoor running water, let me know. Believe it or not, it is possible! :) Welcome to missionary life.

A newly formed mountain of clean dishes...with a cherry on top for good measure!

French Toast Casserole ready for the dinner hour.

Feeling like a real Suzy-Homemaker, as my mom would say. :) And praising the Lord for the joy of preparing food for a household of precious kiddos!

Here are the recipes of the day:

Homemade Tomato Sauce from Scratch:

(makes enough for 1 large pizza)

About 12 plum tomatoes, seeded, skinned, and pureed in a food processor or blender
1 onion, chopped fine
2 tablespoons of oil
2 tablespoons garlic
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tablespoon red pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic

Heat your oil in an 8 quart pan. Add your onions–we want to sweat them until they are transparent. This should take about six minutes. Then, add your garlic. By now, your kitchen should be filling with a delectable aroma–excellent!

At this point, we want to add the tomato puree we made, along with the sugar, salt, and red pepper. Bring the whole mixture to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, as the sauce thickens. The sauce should be pretty smooth when we finished, provided we did okay during the food-processing.

[Katrina's notes: I used black pepper in place of red and garlic powder in place of the minced garlic, since I had already included the 2 tablespoons chopped garlic. I also added Italian seasoning to taste. Lastly, I pureed the sauce after I had cooked it to give it a finer, less chunky effect.]

French Toast Casserole

1. 5 cups bread cubes
2. 4 eggs
3. 1 1/2 cups milk
4. 1/4 cup white sugar, divided
5. 1/4 teaspoon salt
6. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7. 1 tablespoon butter, softened
8. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly butter an 8x8 inch baking pan.
2. Line bottom of pan with bread cubes. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt and vanilla. pour egg mixture over bread. Dot with margarine; let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Bake in preheated oven about 45 to 50 minutes, until top is golden.

[Katrina's Notes: I was not here for dinner, but from what I heard, this recipe was a winner with the children! They kept asking for more! We will definitely be making it again, only I think I might triple the batch next time instead of just doubling it. Oh-so-easy!]

Cooking Adventures

I was elated when I encountered what I thought to be whole wheat flour at the supermarket up the road. Based on my past experiences, such a discovery is pretty rare in foreign countries.

Alas, when I opened the bag yesterday to do some baking, much to my dismay, I learned that it was white flour after all! Apparently, flour labeled as "wheat" simply refers to the fact that it is derived from the wheat plant, thus distinguishing it from yucca flour or some other type.

Oh well. Even though I can't bake with wheat flour, I am grateful I can still buy whole wheat bread!

On another note, I have been looking forward to baking some corn muffins with a favorite recipe from home, so I picked up a box of cornmeal the last time I went grocery shopping.

At least, it was supposed to be cornmeal.

It was located on the baking aisle and came in a yellow box just like the kind at Walmart! There was an unfamiliar Spanish word on the box, but I assumed it referred to the "meal" part of cornmeal.

Try "starch."

Yes, it's true. I now have an entire box of cornstarch in my baking cupboard that I have no idea what to do with! Historically, I believe cornstarch has been used to relieve diaper rashes, but considering that we have no babies living here at present, I think I'll be going on the hunt for recipes instead. (If you have any favorite baked goods that call for cornstarch, please let me know! I have plenty of it.)

I have to admit, those corny-carrot muffins I so looked forward to making just didn't taste the same made with white flour (instead of wheat) and lacking cornmeal. They were a bit on the bland side, so in an attempt to redeem them, I slathered butter and honey atop their golden peaks. Much to my delight, my hungry brood of youngsters scarfed them down with relish. They even complimented my baking skills and exclaimed with glee that I was a real cook!

I had to smile. :)

My last cooking adventure about which to tell you didn't even really involve cooking. Today, we celebrated the birthday of one of the staff tías, and by default, I was elected to decorate her cake, despite my protests that I'm not very talented in this department. Nevertheless, with the help of some fluffy white icing and cheerful candies, my humble decorating attempts brought a smile to our dear Tía Anita's face, so I was satisfied.

The not-so-corny-carrot muffins can be seen pictured in the top right-hand corner. :)

Happy tears.

A Bolivian tradition.

Delicious!

A Budding Salonist

So back to boys. While it's true that they like mud fights and fort-building, I also discovered yesterday that THIS little boy enjoys another type of activity: hair styling.

What do you think?

Days in Ukraine

For those of you who follow the life and work of my sister and brother-in-law over in Ukraine (or for those of you who would like to), here is the link to their latest blog post which in turn has a link to the latest photos my sister has been snapping this summer. It was great to get a pictorial update! And of course, seeing my niece's adorable smiles always makes my day. Can't wait to hug that little chubber in January!!!

Through the Lens of Little Boys

Lately, I have been learning that when you are a little boy...

...nap-time really means an opportunity to build a fort out of blankets draped all around the bunk bed.

...in the process of putting away clean dishes, bowls were meant to be worn on the head and pot lids become steering wheels of invisible vehicles complete with sound effects.

...sticks = swords.

...getting ready for bed does not mean putting on pajamas and brushing teeth; it means wrestling on the ground and beating each other up with stuffed animals.

...bandanas were meant to be worn around the waist, knees, elbows, and wrists as you assume karate poses and try to look tough.

...old bicycle wheels transform themselves into mushrooms as you cook up delightful delicacies in the backyard after being inspired by a movie about a rat who learned to cook. (In which case, sticks equal cooking knives used to help with food preparation.)

..."helping" do laundry really means playing with the hose as you use it to fill up the washing machine and "helping" do dishes really means playing with running tap water as the dishes to be rinsed stack up all around you.

...burping is hilarious.

...food was not always meant to be eaten; sometimes throwing it across the table at your neighbor is preferable.

...bungee cords make great swings when attached to tree limbs at either end.

...the most fun activity to do at the local park is play in the ditch and throw mud at each other.

...taking a shower means rubbing soap over your belly and legs and then declaring yourself "clean."

...bedtime hugs and kisses are still desired as you're tucked in for the night.

...the world is a wonderful place full of adventures waiting to happen.

Free Viewing of Stirring Christian Film

Perhaps some of you have heard of a recently released Christian film entitled Divided. Well, today I discovered that it is available for viewing online for free until September. I just finished watching it and was thoroughly impressed by the content and the quality! This film contains a stirring message desperately needed by our generation! As it explores the controversial topic of the modern youth ministry, it's message is delivered graciously with conviction and thorough research to support it. Please take an hour from your day to watch Divided, or turn it into a family movie night. I feel certain you will be blessed by the way the Lord's Word is exalted, and perhaps challenged to re-think youth ministry!

Official Divided the Movie (HD Version) from NCFIC on Vimeo.

(You can click on the "X" shape in the bottom right-hand corner to blow it up.)