Company's Coming

This week our students have been trying out their scratch cooking skills. Although, I have heard of some meals not turning out like expected, I think it has been a good week, and there have been a LOT of success stories. To make the most of this week we asked all the students to invite company over for at least one meal. Monday Ruth was invited out to some students' house for supper, which she greatly enjoyed. Last night Vern and I were invited out and we enjoyed a delicious meal. Then tonight Vern was invited out for supper while the kids and I went to Awana. Our students have done an amazing job this week as they have whole heartily entered into this week of cooking all their meals from scratch. Tomorrow night we will end the week with a pot luck. YUM! I can't wait! I am looking forward to trying all the tasty dishes and desserts.

Scratch Week Cooking

Next week our students will experience "Scratch Week Cooking". It is a week when we want our students to cook from scratch and not use convenience prepackaged foods. In most countries where our missionaries are working you can not get prepackaged foods and you have to make things from scratch. This helps to prepare our students for life on the mission field. We also ask our student to live without their electrical kitchen appliances since they will not be able to use most of them on the mission field. This week now, we staff ladies will be having different groups of students into our homes every morning for a couple of hours of hands on demonstrations. Tomorrow I am having a group in our home and we will be doing: "Fun with Yeast Doughs." I spent a chunk of time putting together a power point for class this morning so I thought I would share a few of the slides with you.

Scratch Week Pot Luck

Last week was our week of demonstrations on cooking from scratch. This week it was our students' turn to take some of the things they learned and cook all their meals from scratch. The students did a great job and made many wonderful meals for their family. To end our week of cooking from scratch we had a pot luck. No one went away disappointed as we were well fed from all the delicious dishes that were cooked.

What's Cooking

Today we ended the week with our last scratch cooking class. The class was back in Kathy's kitchen. The morning started off by sampling some hot out of the oven, whole wheat biscuits. And in just a matter of minutes Kathy had a ham and broccoli casserole in the oven. (Which we later sampled and it was VERY good.) Kathy also made up a batch of home made chicken tenders. (YUM) We then learned how to make yogurt from powdered milk. Many of us sampled the yogurt which was very tasty. In many of the places that our students will be working they will not be able to get things like yogurt so this was a very helpful thing to learn. We also tasted several different home made salad dressings. Once again this is something that is hard to come by in many countries so it is so helpful to learn as many home made recipes as possible. I feel like this week went very well and was very profitable. Next week our students will be trying their hand at scratch cooking in their own kitchen. Many of the ladies have already been trying out some of the recipes and things we have been learning this week. Next Friday we will be ending our "Scratch Cooking" module with a pot luck which of course will be dishes and desserts made totally from scratch. Wish you could be there because is is always the best pot luck of the year.

Scratch Cooking Class # 3

We are still in full swing with the scratch cooking classes. This morning the class was back at our place. We made and sampled: crepes, waffles, tortillas, and doughnuts. The waffle iron I have is a cast iron one made in 1925. It was made to go over a wood burning stove but it works great on top of a gas stove and it is something I used on the field all the time since we didn't have the power to use an electric one. I use it in jungle camp and it works great. Vern has been making crepes every weekend for the family for over 20 years. Since he is a pro at it he always gives a demonstration on the art of making a good crepe. Making tortillas might seem hard but they are really pretty easy to making and if you haven't tried home made you really need too as they are so good. We have been trying to make these scratch cooking classes as interactive and hands on as we can. We have a great bunch of students and we have been having lots of fun in the kitchen together, not to mention we are going away very full after the classes.

Pies and Pastries

This morning our scratch cooking class met at Kathy's house for a class on making pies and pastries. Kathy gave us lots of helpful hints on working with pie crusts. We watched as Kathy made a Scandinavian Salmon Cheddar Pie and a Chicken Pot Pie. We were able to sample both and they were delicious! (Yum!) Then the class was able to have some hands on experience rolling out pie crusts and cutting out tart shells for little quiche tarts. I am not a pro on pies and pastries so I always enjoy watching and learning from other people and getting all their helpful hints. It was a very profitable and enjoyable class.

A Visit from the Pillsbury Dough Boy

It was an early morning for me as I started mixing up dough to be ready for our 8:00 a.m. class on yeast doughs. I mixed up five different types of dough for us to work with. Working with yeast doughs is something I knew nothing about when I got married but my dear mother-in-law gave me a few classes on making bread and buns. And thus started my bond with yeast and doughs. That was almost 25 years ago. I do enjoy working with dough and with having five children there was always someone to eat the different recipes I would try out. Some of my favorites like the cinnamon raisin bread I made today I can't keep in the house as I enjoy eating it a little too much. Today's class went very smoothly. There was some opportunity for students to work with some of the dough I had already prepared. Then most of the students got some hands on experience mixing up a batch of pizza dough. Since this scratch cooking class is on different types of dough there was plenty for all of us to snack on. Since Ruth and Titus knew we had a scratch cooking class at the house this morning they came home for their break time and were also able to enjoy the snacks.