Moving On

The nature of our job and ministry invovles getting to know many different people and developing some deep friendships. It is always so exciting to see our students leaving here and seeing how God uses them all over the world. But it is also makes the heart ache as we see good friends leave and we don't know if our paths will cross again. However, we also feel blessed that our paths did cross even if only for a year or two. Today we said good-bye to Sherry, one of our students who is going to be moving into a ministry in the training program in the States. We know Sherry will be such a blessing as she moves on to where God is directing. Sherry enjoy all God has for you, we will miss you! ( We have a few more months before we have to say some other hard good-byes. But it will see other moving on to where God leads them.)

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.

Scratch Cooking Classes

This week we are having classes on cooking from scratch. As our students plan on working overseas there are so many food items that just will not be available. So we give some hands on experience in making bread, pies, tortillas and other things. This morning was an introduction to our scratch cooking classes. The actual demonstrations and classes start tomorrow. It is always a lot of fun and I am looking forward to making some great memories with our students while enjoying some home cooked snacks. (smile)

Second Semester Begins

Well, it has been a few days since I have been able to make a post. Although I have a picture of an empty calendar our calendar is not empty and is filling up VERY quickly. We have been busy planning and preparing for the new semester which officially started this morning. It is good to have all our students back and it was great to connect again. We are looking forward to the new semester ahead.

REMOVED

Today Ruth was able to get her stitches out. Her finger is looking really good. She is supposed to be careful for a day or two and then she will start exercising it so she will be able to have full use of it again. Thanks again for your prayers for her during the healing process.

Happy New Year 2008

We always enjoy ushering in the New Year with a New Years Eve party. Some of our family traditions are things I grew up doing and other ones have become our family traditions through things we started 19 years ago. One of those traditions that we started 19 years ago was the making of a New Years Eve hat with newspaper. Being on the mission field where you could not buy party hats we decided to make some out of newspaper. So we started off the night by having everyone make a party hat. We had some very decorative creative hats this year. After that we spent the evening playing games and eating lots of snacks. At the stroke of midnight we went outside for our family tradition of banging pots and pans to welcome in the New Year. We also had some party horns and sparklers which added to the celebration. We had a very fun night with family and friends. The only thing missing from our celebration was our son, Zachary. Since he is in the next time zone over we called him at one o'clock which was the stroke of midnight his time. Once again we banged our pots and pans, some blew party horns while other yelled "Happy New Year!"