Roasted Garlic Potatoes: When the mundane routine of life just wears at you

As a barely working, stay at home mom, the routine of my life is hectic, but pretty mundane.  Generally my day revolves around getting the kids ready for their next activity, whether it be school, a lesson, lunch or playtime and the rest of the time is trying to make sure that fights get broken up before someone loses an eye and tears are only shed for the most SERIOUS of reasons.    There can be moments of action, like the time Daughters found a dead mouse in the backyard and I had to dispose of it. I donned some gloves, got some disposable chopsticks, a plastic bag and used my serious chopstick skills to lift it into the bag.  THAT is the exciting stuff of my life.  Or perhaps the more exciting days are when I barely make it to Daughter #1's school on time, by pushing the stroller at a mad pace, all the while yelling at Daughter #2 to keep up with me and the wildly careening stroller as we dodge students, balls and playground equipment in an effort to get Daughter #1 to school on time.  Okay, so I have some excitement.  It's just not the kind I'm necessarily looking for.

And then there are those days when just the routine of exact sameness just wears at me.  I wake up, get breakfast, madly dash to two different schools, rush home, grab a quick workout, rush back out to two different pickups, teach in the afternoon, try to throw something together for dinner, and homework, and piano practice, sometimes swimming - and suddenly the day is over.  And I'm not sure where all those hours went.  And many many many such days repeat as such, over and over and over.  The same dishes get cooked, the same fights ensue between children, the same arguments occur between Daughter #1 and me.  Suddenly a month has gone by and I can't even remember all the things I've done.  I need some sort of way to mark the passage of time, the change of the season, or even the movement of days.  I mark it with a new dish. 

This time, it is a new potato dish as potatoes are Son and Daughters absolute favorite starch.  I usually do the Korean Roasted Potatoes or the Simple Roasted Potatoes as our standby.  But I felt that even THAT was getting boring and too repetitious, so I decided on these Roasted Garlic Potatoes I found in my America's Test Kitchen Best Ever Recipes magazine.  (Thanks CA for the gift!)  They are crispy and definitely reminiscent of garlic french fries, only these are roasted in the oven.  They only they really require is the discipline of time, but aside from that these are really simple and lovely.

I made my version dairy and corn free as Son's allergies seem to be more prone to flareups than ever before.  I put the original ingredients in parenthesis.

Roasted Garlic Potatoes
adapted from America's Test Kitchen
Serves 4

NOTE: Do NOT turn the potatoes more often. You are trying to create a wonderfully brown and crispy crust on the potatoes.

2 pounds red potatoes, cut into 1 inch wedges
2 tablespoons mochiko/sweet rice flour (they use 1 tablespoon cornstarch)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon olive oil (or 1 tablespoon softened butter)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh green chives, parsley, or thyme (they used parsley)
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

Adjust oven rack to highest position, place a rimmed baking sheet on the rack, and heat the oven to 450. (preheating the cookie sheet)

Toss potatoes, sweet rice flour, garlic powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper together in a large bowl. Carefully remove preheated baking sheet form the oven add oil, til evenly to coat sheet with oil. Place potatoes cut side down in a single layer on the baking sheet. There should be a nice sizzling sound. Roast until browned around the edges, about 30 minutes.

While potatoes are baking, mix oil, garlic, parsley and zest together in a medium bowl. Remove baking sheet from the oven and using spatula, turn the potatoes skin side down. Roast until potatoes are crisp and golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

Transfer potatoes to the bowl with oil/herb mixture. Toss until evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper.

Printable recipe

Not a bad way to mark the week of craziness.

The sheet pans that America's Test Kitchen recommends.

Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dressing: To make amends

To my one true love (and only one)

Husband rarely, if ever, reads my blog.  He reads the posts I specifically tell him to read, usually about the work in Haiti, or if I needed him to vote for me in the blog competition.  He doesn't really need to read it.  He eats the food that appears on the blog and knows what is happening in my life, almost too well, so a read through my blog isn't really on his list of his priorities.  I'm fine with it.

So the other day when talking to him while he was at work, he suddenly cleared his throat and asked, "So, what's with the Tyler Florence thing?"

I went blank for a moment and couldn't figure out to what he was referring.  "What are you talking about? I don't know what you mean."

Again, with another clear of his throat he said, "You know, about how much you like him."

And it came flashing back to me - the birthday post I wrote about how much I liked him to the post of possibly even offering to bear his children if I fainted in his arms and woke up.   "You read my blog?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes.  I wanted to read it so I read it and THAT is the first thing I read," he said with a bit of sharpness.

"Oh honey - you know - that is just writing with humor, to make things funny.  Exaggeration.  Hyperbole.  You know, sarcasm!  It's supposed to be funny!  Are you upset?"

"I'm not really, except it did really appear to me that you like the guy a lot.  He's not even Korean!  Or all that handsome!"

I giggled and laughed with him and the moment was over.

I thought I'd make it up to him by writing a post about something from Tyler's book, without gushing over Tyler and a dish that Husband would love - chicken wings.  Tyler Florence, in his new book Tyler Florence Family Meal: Bringing People Together Never Tasted Better, has a version of chicken wings that kept on drawing me back to it, over and over again, studying the recipe and trying to figure out how I could make it a bit more simple and easy.  I decided to take a run at it and made it twice in two days.  (Dinner one night, lunch the following day.)  I tried two different ways of presenting the chicken wings, and unanimously it was agreed that the chicken was really delicious and the dipping sauce really outstanding.   I can talk about a great dish by Tyler Florence without any reference to how much I just really admire him.  (Husband, if you are reading this - it's less about how he looks and more his message about food and feeding others that draws my admiration.)

This dish is overwhelmingly simple in preparation but does take a bit of time in the oven.  You'll like these and so will your family, as they aren't too spicy, and you can even do the Tabasco oil on the side.

**As a note, I did definitely prefer the separated wing and drummette over the whole version recommended by Tyler.  I felt the wing cooked better, was easier to eat, and looked prettier on the plate, but you can try out both versions yourself.

Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings
Adapted from Tyler Florence Family Meal: Bringing People Together Never Tasted Better
Serves 4-6

Chicken
3 pounds chicken wings, left whole OR cut, tips discarded and wing and drummette separated
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Toss chicken wings with olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Spread wings on baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes, or until they are crispy and golden brown.

Blue Cheese Dressing
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (Tyler uses Humboldt Fog)
Salt and Pepper

Whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, chives in a medium bowl. Gently stir in the crumbled blue cheese and season with salt and pepper. (Season well, as this will be one of your sources for salt flavor.)

Tabasco Oil
3 tablespoons tabasco
2 tablespoons olive oil

In a small bowl, whisk tabasco and olive oil together.

Assembly
Prepare dressing in a separate bowl. Lay out chicken on a serving dish and drizzle oil over. Alternatively serve oil on the side and allow guests to drizzle what they like. Serve with celery sticks or carrot sticks (to help finish off delicious dipping sauce)

Printable recipe

A tasty peace offering.

Sauteed Garlic Baby Broccoli: Saying good-bye to your last baby

In seven short days, only a week, I lost Baby Son who turned into Son.  In those seven days, he became MOSTLY potty trained (I say mostly, because we are still have some snafus) and left his crib to sleep in a regular twin sized bed.  It's not even a toddler bed but an extra long twin.  And suddenly I looked at him, sleeping in his big bed, going to the bathroom without a diaper on, and I thought to myself, "My baby is gone."

It almost broke my heart, because this last one, I just wanted to hold on to his babyhood a bit longer.  I wanted to cuddle his sweet face, curl up next to his plump body and receive hugs from his outstretched baby arms for as long as I could.  Suddenly my baby became so different with those few changes that his personality changed as well. He suddenly is more demanding, a LOT louder, and much bossier.

And because I so craved a baby in the house, I decided to go with some baby broccoli.  Not even as close replacement, but somewhere in my crazy psychotic mind, I think to myself that if I FEED him baby type foods, he'll stay one?

This is Son and Daughter's ABSOLUTE favorite vegetable and this preparation is their favorite. It does use more oil that a steamed broccoli or even one that is partially steamed and then sauteed, but the flavor is really delicious and the olive oil mellows out the broccoli flavor.

Garlic Baby Broccoli
Serves 6 (but our family gobbles it up even when husband isn't around...so maybe 4?)

3 tablespoons olive oil, more if needed
1 lb baby broccoli (also called broccolini), cut into 2 inch pieces.  (I like the Trader Joe's organic broccoli)
8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (or put through a garlic press)
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat large saute pan over medium heat.  Add oil and broccoli.  Allow to slowly cook, stirring often, watching to make sure it is not burning. Season with salt and pepper.

When broccoli is bright green and crispy tender (about 12-15 minutes later) add chopped garlic, and additional oil if necessary.  Continue cooking until garlic is cooked and golden, about another 3 minutes.

Test for seasonings one last time, and then serve.

Printable recipe

These pictures were all taken when there was no more natural light and with my brand new flash.  I'm not happy with my ability with the flash yet, but hopefully will improve.

Pumpkin Mochi Cake: I stay at home

To all those who try and get me out of my house.

I've said it before, I'm really rather very shy.  I don't enjoy meeting new people, don't enjoy going out into public spaces where I've never been, and instead prefer to be in my home, usually parked in front of my computer so that I can work, or in the kitchen so that I can cook something. Friend BF always ribs me about the fact that I've only been to her house TWICE during our three year friendship and remarks that I probably don't know what color her sofa is.  (Brown.)  She on the other hand, eats at my house close to once a week since I force her to come to my house, tempting her with tasty treats. I'm probably due for another visit to her house, but I can't go TOO often, lest she gets used to my going over.

Another friend MJP constantly invites me to her house for playdates and I always make her come to mine.  I'd just much rather be at home.  I can't help it.  And I tempted her to do the playdate at my house with promise of something good for lunch  (Turkey Green Bean Lettuce Wraps and Orzo salad, which don't go together, but ended up on my table together.).  I made this cake for her, because I know she loves mochi, and she is always willing to taste my experiments. 

Pumpkin Mochi Cake
Makes one 9x13 pan

1 lb box mochiko (sweet rice flour - equivalent to 3 cups)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) melted
14 oz can of pumpkin puree
12 oz can evaporated milk
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 pan. (I find it easiest to just use cooking spray oil like Pam).

In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients: mochiko, brown and white sugar, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder and salt.

In another large bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients: melted butter, pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, eggs and vanilla extract.

Carefully pour wet ingredients over dry mixture and whisk until mixture is uniform and smooth. Pour into greased pan. Bake for 75 minutes, until top is golden brown.

Allow to cool 10 minutes and then serve.

Printable recipe

I ate a tower of these today.  Mochi obsession continues.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pink Himalayan Sea Salt: When it is a special birthday

For RQG and KSG - Daughter and Mother

While living in Korea, the birth of my second child traumatized me in many ways, so much so that upon being wheeled from the delivery room and seeing the smiling and excited face of Husband who said to me, "We have a baby!" I responded with the words, "I will never ever have a child again."  The c-section, birth experience, and subsequent complications completely ruined and destroyed the joy of childbirth for me and I was completely turned off.  This upset Husband so that at one point, he ran to the surgery center and demanded to speak to everyone and anyone in charge to find out what had exactly happened to me to cause me that much emotional distress.  In the grand scheme of things, it was one day out of a my life that was horrible but the emotional scars were very raw at that time, and I didn't think I would recover.  In retrospect, it had less to do with individuals involved in my case, and more had to do with the entire system of health care and rules in Korea that caused me this distress.  (For example, husbands are not allowed to be present in the operating room during c-sections - I faced that by myself.)

A year later, Husband and I decided to have another child. The tipping factor to go ahead with it actually had to do with a move back to the Bay Area and the possibility of having one of my closest friends as my doctor.  She was already well-established as a wonderful OB/GYN, and as my close friend, one that I knew I could trust.  Husband deliberately chose an insurance where she was one of the preferred physicians just so that I could have access to her excellent care.  And it was her excellent care of me during the last five months of my pregnancy, during my labor and delivery, and my post partum care that transformed and erased all the pain and fear I had from my second delivery.  She magically made the best birth experience possible and impressed the pants off of Husband when I said, "I can have a fourth."

I am every so indebted to her and feel that I can almost never repay her.  Husband feels the same way and is so grateful to her for her extra special attention for me during the birth of Son.  For her wedding, when I asked her what she wanted, she sheepishly asked me if I might want to bake some cookies for her wedding.  Of course I gladly insisted that I would and so I baked some 500 cookies for her to put at the tables and pass out to anyone who wanted them.  And then this Doctor friend went and had her own beautiful little girl, RG, and that little baby completely has my heart in her little fist.  Her smile, her eyes, and all of her crazy baby drool (and she has it a lot) completely entrances me and makes me want to stick her in my purse, and carry her with me everywhere I go.  So when I asked Doctor friend what I could give to her daughter for her birthday, I again got the sheepish, "Can you bake some cookies for the party?"

Absolutely.  My pleasure.  My joy.  My honor.  I wanted something a bit different for her birthday so I decided to try a new cookie recipe out that I had seen in Tyler Florence Family Meal: Bringing People Together Never Tasted Better which was the claim of the best cookie recipe ever.  Only I was a bit shocked to see the amount of sugar that was in the recipe, AND Chef Tyler also put a frosting filling in between the two cookies.  I decided to check out the cookie and had in mind a possible counterpoint to the sweetness - a finish with some sea salt to tone down the sweetness.  I figured that a salty sweet combination would be deliciously unusual and also a bit fun.  The whole salty sweet phenomenon is not new at all, but it was new for me to try.  I also had some beautiful pink Himalayan sea salt and I thought it was a nice little tribute to the pretty little girl's birthday.

I made a huge tray of two different kinds of cookies - one the Toffee Pecan Oatmeal Cookie which is one of my favorite cookies to eat. 

The other would be the new chocolate chip cookie with sea salt.

I was pretty confident that the more popular cookie would be the pecan toffee chip one over the chocolate chip with the sea salt because it would be somewhat unexpected with the flavor.  Most people bite into a chocolate chip looking for that overwhelming sweetness and this would not be that at all.  But I was excited to see the reactions in the wide range of eaters that would be present at the party.  I was surprised to see more people eating repeatedly from the sea salt cookie side, and I kept hearing the words, "It's so addictive."  Which makes sense because that salty sweet combo is addictive.  Think kettle corn or doritos and a diet coke. Pecan rolo pretzels also have that same salty sweet combination.  The final verdict?  Excellent cookie with excellent texture and addictive salty sweet combination.

**If you can't find pink Himalayan sea salt or don't want to buy it, don't worry.  Any good quality sea salt with a larger crystal or a nice flake will be just fine.  Regular table salt is not the way to go with this however.

Hi-Hi's Chocolate Chip Cookies finished with Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
adapted from Tyler Florence's Family Meal

Makes 4 dozen

2 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground cinnamon
2 cups chocolate chips

1 tablespoon pink Himalayan sea salt (or another fine quality sea salt)

Preheat oven to 375.

In a mixing bowl, beat the brown sugar and butter together at medium speed until fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until combined. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, then add to the butter mixture and combine. Stir in the chips by hand.

Drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets by rounded 1-inch balls, leaving 1 inch between them. Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on top of each ball of dough.

Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Printable recipe

You may find yourself consuming this entire stack.

An excellent sea salt to have at home with a wonderful crumbly texture.














Perhaps you might want to get some of this to celebrate especially.














A great set of cookie scoops

Thanksgiving Compilation: A simple Thanksgiving

This is the first year in a over 15 years that I will not be cooking a Thanksgiving dinner.  It's hard to imagine not freaking out over all the details, but for the first time in that long, my friends have insisted that I take it off of my plate and not cook this year.  There are some extenuating circumstances that make this actually a relief and so I'm looking forward to a less stressful Thanksgiving.  Fear not however!  I will be assisting friend JEL at her house, as our family has been invited there, and I'm in charge of all the desserts, and I usually like to force everyone to indulge in at least five different kinds.  So it will still be a Thanksgiving of cooking, just not of one where I go completely crazy trying to prepare everything.

Here is my go to list of Thanksgiving dishes.  If you wanted to do a SIMPLE Thanksgiving, I've put an asterisk next to the dishes that you should do to keep things simple.  (I chose one from each category coming together in a lovely yet simple and streamlined meal.)

I will be adding to this list a few more - notably a pumpkin mochi cake, if it goes well and possibly a few new side dishes. Happy Thanksgiving my beautiful readers!

Appetizers
Hot Artichoke Dip *
Hot Crab Dip
Pears and Arugula, wrapped in Prosciutto
Roasted Shrimp Cocktail with Homemade Cocktail Sauce
Spiced Nuts
Sweet and Spicy Nuts

Salad
Pear, Candied Walnut, Gorgonzola Salad
Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
Salad with Candied Pecans, Cranberries, and Gorgonzola *

Bread
Honey Corn Muffins

Turkey
Alton Brown's Brined Turkey *
If you do not want to brine your own turkey, Trader Joe's sells a very nice brined turkey and then just follow Alton Brown's method for cooking.

Stuffing
Cornbread Stuffing *
Maple Cornbread Stuffing with Apples and Sausage

Sides
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
Roasted Sweet Potato Circles
Garlic Broccoli
Sweet Potato Casserole with Apples and Pears *
Green Bean Salad
Green Bean Bits with Garlic
Green Beans with Caramelized Onions *

Dessert
Sweet Potato Pie
Pumpkin Cupcakes
Pumpkin Coffee Cake
Pumpkin Chocolate Coffee Cake
Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownie
Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Crust
Caramel Pecan Bars
Pumpkin Pie *

Thai Flavored Carrot Soup: One good thing

For Husband who told me I could do it, for LH and PS who lent me the equipment, and for EK who gives me lessons.

One good thing about getting older is this - you stop caring so much about what other people think.  Of course criticisms and naysayers can potentially hurt your feelings, but at your core essence, it seems to matter less and less.  I know that I've stopped caring so much about how I look (much to the dismay and chagrin of friends who are forced to eat lunch with me while I sit in my workout clothes) and my hair style isn't that important; instead, I march to the beat of a different drummer - me.

When I told friends that I wanted to learn how to play the drums, many of them laughed.  Not cruelly or anything, but they just thought it funny that an almost 40 year old woman, with three kids, who barely keeps it together as it is, wanted to learn to play the drums.  A few of them said, "Go ahead and try" but smiled indulgently at me, as if I were some five year old child asking if she could learn how to ride an unicycle.  The pastor at my church, who needs a drummer for the praise team, had a glimmer of hope in his eyes when I told him, but I also saw skepticism there as well.   It is, I know, somewhat ridiculous and unusual, but playing the drums was a thought in the back of my head from a long time ago.  When I told Husband about it, he was completely supportive, told me to get a drum set and learn how to play.  Fortunately for him, (and me) good friends of mine happened to have an amazing drum set that was not being used, and offered to let me use it.  Suddenly, the day after my birthday, I had a beautiful drum set at my disposal; Husband bought me new drumsticks, and a drum throne and I was all decked out in gear to play, only I didn't know how.

My first lesson consisted of friend PS teaching me the fundamentals of how to hold the sticks and flick my wrist.  He suggested that rather than hit the drums (they were his after all) that I would probably benefit from practicing on a pillow.  Repeat.  Repeat.  And repeat again.  I followed his advice and for three days straight beat a pillow so hard that I almost ended its life.  But it did teach me the fundamentals and the sticks started feeling better in my hand, less awkward, and more an extension of my fingers.

Soon thereafter, in exchange for food, another friend EK, came by to give me drum lessons.  I gave him chicken biriyani and he taught me some basic patterns to jazz up my beat and suddenly - I was playing the drums!  And it was fun!  And I felt like a rockstar!  I am a long ways from playing in front of the church or in any sort of public setting, but I do enjoy my daily 35 to 40 minute practices jamming to tunes while Son and Daughters dance to my crazy rhythms.

For me, learning the drums really is about throwing caution to the wind and trying new things.  Perhaps it was while I was trying to figure out some beats on the drums or just the sheer exhilaration at being a "drummer" that inspired it, but I decided just to test out a new carrot soup recipe, mostly because I had yet again, way too many carrots in my fridge.  I decided to go with some Thai flavors - fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, ginger and cilantro and made a refreshingly different soup.  Son and Daughters all loved it, and it is right now Son's favorite lunch time meal.  If you like Thai flavors - the bite of acid, the tang of fish sauce, and the sweetness from carrots, you'll definitely like this soup as well.

Thai Flavored Carrot Soup
Serves 6-8

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion diced
1 lb of carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks (or smaller if you want it to cook faster)
1 shallot, roughly chopped
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 inch knob of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
3 tablespoons fish sauce
Juice of one lime
1 quart chicken stock
2 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add vegetable oil and onions, and cook until onions are wilted, about 3 minutes. Add carrots, shallot, garlic, ginger and saute until the ginger and garlic become fragrant, about another 3 minutes. Add fish sauce and lime juice and cook for another 2 minutes. Add all of the chicken stock, and cover soup, simmering until carrots are tender, about 15 minutes. Using a handblender, puree soup, until it becomes smooth. (Be careful! HOT!) Add coconut milk and cilantro, and puree again until soup is a lovely uniform texture and smooth. Season with salt and pepper if necessary.

Printable recipe

Eating this is ALMOST like playing the drums...but not quite.

How to Host a Serve Yourself Dinner: The promise in a rainbow

For all those who came and took a step of faith....

I have a list of five prayer requests for the year 2010.  Already one has been answered so completely and so reassuringly and is a source of great encouragement for me.  The other four, I am still waiting for God's answer for them.  In order to really get breakthrough on the prayer, friend CY (the same one who goes to Haiti) suggested that I have a prayer dinner and get concerted prayer from a team of people to pray for my remaining four prayer topics.  I was agreeable to the idea, and then said, "Hey - if I am going to have the team pray for me and serve them dinner, what about opening it up to anyone who wants breakthrough on their prayers and invite others to come?"  CY thought it was a great idea, so I set a date, and began inviting people who might be interested in receiving some powerful concerted prayer as well as a light dinner.

It ended up being 29 people receiving prayer, 10 people who came to my house to pray over these people and an addition 15 other people (children, spouses, friends and drivers) who also were at my house.  That's 54 people.  I fed them all with some effort, but not any sort of herculean task that would be unmanageable.  I knew a big number was coming and I was thrilled and excited, but a bit stressed at how I could be hostess to all these people, serve them food and also be involved in praying for others.  All this over a 5 hour time span.  I decided to do a menu that would invite people to serve themselves, eat as much as they wanted, and yet be really warm and comforting food.

The day turned out to be dreary, wet, and rainy, but I didn't worry because the menu was set to be warm comforting soup, chili and mac and cheese, perfect for the wet day.  And right before the prayer meeting started, a couple of women exclaimed that I had to go outside and see the double rainbow that was literally over my street.  I saw it, and in it I saw God's promise to always be there and I took it to be a gift from Him, a reminder that I didn't need to worry and that He was already with me, helping me get the meal onto the table.

And that just set the tone for me.  I had the food all prepared from the night before, and all I did the day of the dinner was make a pie and clean up and set up the area for food.  At one point I looked out of the kitchen and saw some groups of people praying, being prayed for, and receiving prayer.  It was an amazing sight and I was thrilled.  Later when I had a moment to look up, I saw my kitchen teaming with people, all serving themselves soup, chili, mac and cheese and laughing, smiling enjoying the food.  And it was my second moment of real contentment and happiness. 

I honestly didn't break a sweat hosting this meal.  I was so blessed through the hosting, and I really wished it was more exhausting for me so that I can say that I worked super hard to see it through. I worked hard, but I know that God did more than I did, and that is why it was such a wonderful easy meal to prepare.  A serve yourself lunch or dinner is really a fun way to host, over an extended period of time, to a variety of different people.  I'm definitely going to do this type of dinner party again, very very soon.

Serve Yourself Dinner (or Lunch) Menu

Appetizers
Cheese, Salami, Crackers (pre-sliced cheese tray from Costco, sliced salami and crackers)
Spinach dip and vegetables (confession - I actually didn't MAKE this - I had planned to but forgot and the party had already begun.)

Main Course
Turkey Chili (prepared the day before, cooked, refrigerated until Sunday
Chicken Barley Vegetable Soup
Macaroni and Cheese
Crusy bread

Dessert
Korean Sweet Potato Pie (I needed to make two of these, but I only made one.  BIG mistake.)
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Everything Cookies

Week of Menus goes to Haiti Round 2: The ripple effect

All photos in this post by JB

“Thus says the LORD to His anointed,
To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—
To subdue nations before him
And loose the armor of kings,
To open before him the double doors,
So that the gates will not be shut:
2 ‘ I will go before you
And make the crooked places[a] straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that I, the LORD,
Who call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.

Isaiah 45:1-3

When friend CY informed me that she planned to continue work in Haiti, training and paying English teachers to go to schools in the poorest of areas, I didn't really think anything of it.  She sounded as if she had a solid plan, a good idea, and I just told her that I'd pray for her.  Then she looked at me and said, "But don't you want to do something with me?"  After talking with her, we figured out that providing snacks for the students who attend the schools where her teachers were would be a good thing.  As a former high school teacher, I know how important something in the bellies of children who are studying is.  Without it, they are easily distracted, listless and not able to learn as well.  What use are all the teachers that CY is training if the kids are too hungry to focus and pay attention?  A snack seemed the natural second half to this project.

The logistics seemed unknown however.  CY herself didn't really know what was going to happen with her teachers as of yet, nor did she know how many teachers she could pay with her Arise and Shine in Haiti plan.  She didn't know which schools would want her teachers, nor did she know how many students were at each school.  There were a lot of unknowns, but with faith I asked my readers to contribute and together we gave $1600 to a mere idea of feeding some children some snacks.

It is against my nature to just simply let go and let God.  I generally try to be as prepared, planned, and well thought out as possible.  I like to think of every possible roadblock, barrier, problem that can arise and I like to be prepared for it. However, this time I could not do any of those things and I was trusting God to do what needed to be done.  Not my strength, but His.  Not my plan, but His.  Not my work, but His.  It was an amazingly refreshing feeling just to give and to see what God would do.

And as always, God never fails.  A lack of a concrete plan, no organization, no hyper-preparation meant that there was much more room for God to work.  Even before WOM's money went to Haiti, God was already there preparing the way, smoothing the path, opening gates, leveling mountains.  A thought in my head, was that in buying snacks for the students, we could also be helping a local business make money, thereby helping two groups at once.  It was a wonderful thought, possibly supporting the local economy in the process of feeding many and one that excited me.  How that would look I didn't know, but I wanted peanut butter sandwiches for the children, which meant bread and a bakery.

What is always so amazing about God is how His work always has a ripple affect.  It's not just about throwing the stone into the water, but after the stone is thrown, seeing how far the ripples go in changing the surface of the water.  At times I felt like I was simply asking my readers to throw money into this project without really knowing the full effects and extent of the ripples.  I'll use the pictures below to explain exactly how much of a ripple effect WOM had in Haiti.  Thank you so much for joining me on this journey.

WOM in Haiti: Round 2, The Ripple Effect

At the Love and Hope Mission Center, Temporary Bakery

Truly God went before WOM, because before CY arrived in Haiti, a bakery was being built at the mission center.  This was completely unknown to CY and me, and was being readied to bake bread.  (Peanut butter sandwiches for students, one step closer to reality.)

 

Included in the team who was putting together the bakery, was the man, affectionately known as "MacGyver."  He was not the baker, but he was the one who got all the donated equipment to work. 

Also by God's grace, a Korean professional baker (30 years experience) was present to help train locals the art of boulangerie. (If you can't tell, the Korean man is the one looking all serious in the yellow shirt.)  He had to make a number of crazy adjustments in terms of ingredients, skilled labor, and equipment.

This is his recipe and notes, based on the ingredients he was able to find in Haiti.

Whatever the Korean baker explained in Korean, Missionary Kim had to translate into Creole, using his limited vocabulary.

And the hands-on training begins.  (These men from Cite Soleil will soon receive wages and be gainfully employed.  Ripple effect!)

Korean Castella cake, soon to be delivered to homes and people in the garbage dump.  (Inexpertly put in the pans, but that is part of training.)

Castella cake, baked, and being packed for hand delivery.

Peanut butter sandwiches, being made on sliced bread baked at the bakery.

At Jehovah Nissi School, Cite Soleil

 CY hired a teacher for this school and therefore snacks will go to this school.

In order to access this school, students have to cross a bridge which goes over a black river of filth, waste, and trash.

Beautiful students receiving peanut butter sandwiches provided by WOM.  They are excited for this small, humble snack.

Amazement at a sandwich.  They didn't know what to do with it initially.  CY had to tell them to eat it.

Smiles of joy (the little bag is a packet of purified water, also provided by WOM.)  Full bellies - more learning!

This young student, upon receiving his sandwich, promptly placed it in to his backpack.  He could not be convinced to eat it and refused to take it out of his backpack.  Clearly he had in mind, someone else who needed the sandwich more than he.

WOM at the oprhanage

Do you remember this orphanage from the last time WOM was in Haiti?  We went here again with another food delivery.

Simple meal of rice and beans.  But hearty sustenance provided by WOM.  CY said that the kids looked well fed and healthy.

Food Delivery to the Poorest of the Poor

These are the most forgotten in Haiti.  They live inside of shacks, made out of metal siding, on top of a garbage dump.   Sandwiches are capable of starting a riot.

Trash everywhere.

Young women who have no choice but to live in these conditions.

This woman, upon receiving her castella cake, was so incredibly thankful and happy. 

WOM affected so many lives this trip.  I am overwhelmed with how much God could do with the small effort of raising some money.  I am so blessed by this work and hope that in the near future, I will again have the opportunity to ask my readers to join me in improving the lives of so many.  I look for more opportunities for others to participate in the ripple effect.  Thank you for joining me!