A Purple Cow

I never saw a purple cow.

I never hope to see one.

But I can tell you anyhow

I'd rather see than be one.

Gelett Burgess

Except in this case, it's a purple pie! That

is certainly something I had never seen before...until now.

Miguel absolutely loves sweet potato pie 

and purple sweet potatoes make for a really colorful pie!

It's a pie that would make even the 

Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak proud, 

villain that he is! Resident artist Micah 

did me the honor of drawing a picture.

Miguel liked it so much that now there are more 

sweet potatoes waiting to be made into

peculiar purple pies. Sweet potato

season is almost over, so he wants to

enjoy them while he can.

Thanksgiving 2012

It seems like just a few short weeks ago that we celebrated Thanksgiving 2011 and here we are again just having celebrated Thanksgiving 2012! Reading over my post about Thanksgiving 2011 was a blessing because it reminded me that even without an oven or friends to celebrate with, it is possible to be deeply grateful for God's blessings.

This year, however, I do have an oven and I made good use of it! In fact, I have found myself baking several times a week since we moved here...I am quite happy with my new stove!

But I digress...I wasn't sure exactly how Thanksgiving 2012 would go and we'd been so busy in the weeks before that I hadn't been able to think much about it. So it was a pleasant turn of events to be invited over to our friends' and fellow missionaries' house to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal together.  Bill and Debbie are the directors of a Mexican mission agency that partners with Pioneers and some other agencies to help Mexicans connect with missions worldwide.

Their coworker Misa also joined us, which was fun because he is a great favorite with the kids!

So we got together to plan the menu and then got to work...I put together some cornbread dressing, a relish tray, rolls, pumpkin and sweet potato pies and stuffed mushrooms. Gracia made some jello. Debbie baked the turkey, green bean casserole, gravy, and three kinds of bar cookies.

The kids were so excited about Thanksgiving, especially with a real turkey (we don't usually get a turkey when outside the U.S.-it's not that turkeys aren't available in Mexico, they are just kind of expensive!) that they were up early and quite anxious for it to be time to eat...I noticed that Jojo had even gotten dressed in 'church' clothes of his own accord for the special event! It was touching to see how much they were enjoying themselves this year.

I also made a Thanksgiving tree again, although I decided to do a bit of a different model than last year. We scouted out some good twigs to make the 'tree' and used scrapbook paper circles to record our thanks. I hung them on the tree with some fishing line. I grabbed a juice pitcher and wrapped it with some pretty paper and tied some matching ribbons around it. The tree made a nice centerpiece on the table, although we had to remove it once all the food was ready and besides, someone was in danger of getting their eye poked out or something...

There were quite a few 'entries' on the tree...it's good to see a physical reminder of everything for which we are thankful. My favorite, however, was this entry by Jojo...well, that one and the mushy one Miguel wrote about being thankful for me...

Jkaile really enjoyed the mashed potatoes and gravy, but was most excited by the dessert table! And what picture wouldn't be complete without the complimentary rabbit ears...

With all that wonderful food, of course we all felt just like Micah did here...ready to crash on the couch for a while to enjoy some American football!

Garfield Cake

Remember that Garfield cake I was planning to make? Well, I was pretty pleased with the way it turned out!

I am not a cake decorator, really, and I don't have much experience...I am also usually frustrated at not being able to match the picture I have in my head of the finished product. But I have to say that this one turned out pretty much how I had expected. I do wish I could have gotten the brown parts a little more even, but oh well.

The cake is a 7-Up pound cake with some lemon juice thrown in for flavor. It's a very heavy cake, but really yummy! The icing is just plain butter frosting, although I added some butter vanilla nut flavoring.  I don't have any piping equipment, so a strong ziploc bag with the corner snipped off did the trick. I put some colored shredded coconut on the top for some added texture. Garfield is sitting on a piece of orange card stock so he wouldn't get frosting on him. The coconut covered it up nicely!

I stamped the paper and then attached the sign to a yellow bendy straw. I stuck the bendy part into the cake so that I could lean it the way I wanted. I did have to stick a toothpick through the bottom seam of the Garfield because he kept leaning forward a bit.

My friend was really happy with her cake and I hope she liked the flavor as well!

Mystery Vegetable

We were at the market the other day when this rather odd vegetable caught my eye...

My sister and brother-in-law tell me it's probably what's known as a 'broccoflower', something I'd never heard of before! The vendors at the stand told us what they call it and we should have written it down because now we can't remember what they said. 

I did some research and it turns out that there are actually two different vegetables referred to as broccoflower...something that actually IS a cross between broccoli and cauliflower and then our mystery vegetable, which is actually Romanesco broccoli. Romanesco broccoli is known for its fractal patterns that look like miniature pine trees. Amazing.

Now that I know what the heck it is, I might be brave enough to buy one if I see it again! 

Baked Plantains

Since we came home from Veracruz with quite a few plantains, as you can see from this picture, we needed to eat them rather quickly before they went bad.

Gabriela helped me peel yucca root one day

for some yummy beef stew (plantains pictured

in the background)

Miguel wanted baked plantains with cheese, so we made this recipe twice and everyone really loved it!

First, we peeled the plantains.  Then we split them open, set them in pans lined with tin foil, slathered them with butter and lined them with cheese.  We used manchego cheese because that's what we had, but any kind of cheese would probably work as well. I added some water in the pans to keep the plantains from drying out too much.  This is a recipe that works best with riper plantains.

Alternate recipes would be to cover the plantains with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar or use guayaba paste along with the cheese.

Trying My Hand at Sauerkraut

I've been reading some about fermented foods and how they have incredible amounts of probiotics (Dr. Mercola has an interesting article here on fermented foods). Sauerkraut, for example, is known to have high amounts of probiotics and also Vitamin C that is actually more usable for your body than taking Vitamin C in other forms.

When I'm overseas, things like probiotics and probiotic starter cultures are not as accessible for me, so I decided to start with something that I can find locally and that doesn't require starter cultures.  We have a friend here in Puebla who is German-Mexican and he loaned me his crock and some sea salt, as he likes to make sauerkraut, too (if mine turns out good, I'll give him some!).

Then I looked at quite a few websites for a good, yet simple recipe for sauerkraut and was pleased to find this one. Not sure about the rest of the content on that blog, but there is a link to another interesting article on fermented foods, as well as links to other recipes that I'd like to check out here.

But for now, I'm starting simple with just sauerkraut. Besides, as the Dr. Mercola article points out, there can be a significant "healing crisis" (die-off reaction) if you begin taking too much fermented food too soon. I am curious to see if I can get Miguel and the kids to eat any, first of all, and then if we'll notice any difference in our health issues.  Miguel suffers from something like irritable bowel syndrome and all the kids and I have a yeast/cheese culture intolerance.  After reading about GAPS (Gut And Physiology Syndrome), it makes me wonder if we don't all need to pay more attention to probiotics.

I chopped up a cabbage and a half today and now it's setting in the pantry waiting for the fermenting process to begin...I used the pestle in the picture to pound the cabbage and it worked really well!

So...I guess I'll find out in a couple of weeks whether this recipe worked for me or not!

Ministry Update

A year ago, I posted about our new direction in ministry.  A Turning Point, I called it, and it has certainly turned out to be exactly that!  A year later, we have certainly reached many of our objectives as we've been here in Puebla for nearly six months.

There have been some recent developments, however, more turning points if you will, as we have worked together with our different leaderships (three of them, to be exact!) in defining what our involvement with this ministry will look like.

I think it actually started soon after we arrived, because I remember Miguel sharing with me some of his thoughts about how he was sensing God's leading...and it was a bit different than what we'd thought we'd be doing.  It really shook me up! I mean, we had just spent months casting vision for a certain direction of ministry with all of our friends, family and supporters and now we up and say we're not going to do that?!

But that's not what Miguel was saying, exactly...he wasn't saying that we were changing ministries at all, just that he had a sense that maybe God was going to change the how of our involvement.  After I remembered that I am supposed to be trusting God to lead us through Miguel's ministry decisions, I settled down, apologized for freaking out, and found peace in waiting to see where and how God would lead.

Last October, we had some meetings with our leaders from Pioneers, our missions pastor, and the leadership of El Camino, our church here in Puebla.  The day before we all met together, we spent several hours with just our leadership from Pioneers and Miguel was able to share a little of what he was thinking.  We weren't sure how they would respond, but as it turned out, they were very open to it because what Miguel shared pretty much fits into a ministry role that Pioneers calls "ministry coach".  And they have been praying specifically for more team coaches!

One of Pioneers' core values is that of being Team-Centered.  Pioneers dedicates a lot of time and effort into helping their teams stay healthy and strong...not that PI teams don't ever encounter issues, but we've witnessed some pretty healthy teams in Pioneers so far.  One of the things they have discovered in the Mid-Americas region (and maybe in other regions, I'm not sure) is that teams with coaches tend to be more healthy and able to accomplish more than teams without coaches.  So it was pretty neat to find out that not only did our leaders welcome and honor how God was leading Miguel, they consider us to be an answer to prayer as well!

Once we got through that discussion, then we could formulate a rough plan of action for the next few years.  We're not sure of the time-line or exactly how it will all work, but another one of Pioneer's core values is Innovation and Flexibility, exemplified by a willingness to try new and different things.  Even though our leadership doesn't really have all the answers, they are willing to walk through this together with us, taking it one step at a time together (which represents another core value, that of Participatory Servant-Leadership based on trust).

Our Pioneers' leadership presented this new plan of action at the meetings in the following days and it was received favorably by our sending church's missions pastor and our Puebla church.  It is quite a change from the original plan, since it means that we will not be moving up to the mountains to work directly with Franco and Barby, at least not as soon as we thought.

So what will be doing?  Good question!  Like I have already said, we don't have all of the answers at this time and will continue to take things one step at a time...our first objective will be to conduct a survey of the Totonac people group to gather information about their language, culture, religious beliefs, spiritual needs, etc.  While there have been many ministries that have worked and are working with this people group, it has been a bit difficult to find good sources of information about the Totonac as a whole.  We are hoping to consolidate any information we come up with in one place so that it will be a great resource not just for us, but for any ministry interested in finding more about the Totonac.

The information we gather in the course of conducting the survey will also help us create a holistic strategy for approaching a ministry with the Totonac.  El Camino, our Puebla church, has a heart for reaching out to the entire people group, which is comprised of 5 to 6 different dialects.  The results of the survey will help El Camino in their efforts to determine the best strategy to use in reaching an entire people group for Christ, with the goal being that of establishing mature, self-governing, reproducing Totonac churches.

At some point, we will spend some time living among the Totonac, building relationship and learning as much of their language and culture as we can.  This will give us the much-needed personal experience that we will need if we are to coach a future team.  We're not sure when or where this will take place, but we're keeping our eyes open to where and when God might lead for that step.

So in the meantime, we will be staying longer in the city as we gather the information we need to complete the survey and cast vision in churches for the Totonac ministry.  Our prayer is that God will help us raise a team to go and work with the Totonac; a team that we would then coach through the process of team-building, getting the necessary cross-cultural training/preparation needed, creating a ministry strategy and then carrying out that strategy.

I know, huge task, and it's a bit overwhelming to think about!  But God is working here and we're excited.  We continue to feel such a calling and burden to the Totonac and it's neat to see how God has already worked to provide some of the contacts and resources that we need to move forward.

Miguel just returned from another trip to some Totonac communities in the state of Veracruz and not only had the opportunity to gather some information about the Totonac there, but was also able to share with the believers from two different Totonac churches.  Really exciting opportunities for him and we hope to return next time as a family.

One of the Totonac pastors (along with wife and daughter)
with one of the blankets that the retired volunteers at
Rio Grande Bible Institute 

sent with us to share with some Totonac families.

Miguel with one of the pastors and his son-in-law.

It is a fertile area, and many of the Totonac families have gardens where they grow corn and other crops.  Miguel and his pastor friend went out to his garden to harvest some yucca.  

Miguel enjoyed spending time with these kids...he

said the little boy is quite the question-maker!  

Yucca (or cassava) is a root, something similar to a potato.  They don't eat yucca here in this part of Puebla, but it is found in other parts of Mexico, such as the northern part of the state, Veracruz and in the more southern states like Oaxaca and Chiapas.  Yucca is commonly eaten in both Colombia and Venezuela, so both Miguel and I enjoy being able to eat some when we can get it!  One of our favorite ways to prepare yucca is to boil it and then fry it like french fries and eat it with ketchup.  Yum!  

The scenery reminded Miguel a lot of Venezuela!

Our Thanksgiving

We did celebrate Thanksgiving this year, together with our friends Tere and Alfonso and their two boys. I didn't get a whole lot of pictures since we were busy visiting, playing, and eating, but here are a few pictures from our family's Thanksgiving celebration...

Tere and I preparing relish trays and mashed potatoes...

I have to say that this relish tray was a huge success!
The marinated mushrooms were excellent and I
wish I had made more!

Grandma Ople's apple pie...

Pumpkin pie, one of Miguel's favorites...

Crockpot stuffing...I got the recipe out of a magazine. The
stuffing has ingredients such as apples, pecans,
cranberries, portobello mushrooms...it was
super delicious and cooking it in the crockpot
left the oven for the turkey...

The turkey! This was the first time
I have baked a turkey on my own, so it was
quite a relief that it turned out great!
My mom says that you can't go wrong using
an oven bag...

Our friends brought over their Xbox 360 and
the kids enjoyed playing some different games...

We also played Apples to Apples Bible Edition and
had marble-game tournaments...

Miguel won both the Apples to Apples AND
the marble tournament!

Tere trying her hand...

Jkaile, of course, was not to be left out, either!

All in all, a great day!

Family Fun Day Part II-Lunch

Lunch for Family Fun Day was provided on a donation basis by the students who are in missionary training at the Rancho Siloé. The money earned will be used for making a trip out to visit one of the tribal bases, so everyone was quite happy to chip in for that good cause!

They had a good variety of burritos and hot dogs as well.

Caleb, the cook, grilling hot dogs...we hope

to have a grill like that here at the Bible Institute

dorm soon! Miguel's working on it!

Miguel and Alcides enjoying their food...Alcides is

from the cowboy country in Colombia and

loves to dress the part!

Loving those chips! He kept begging
chips off of anyone who had any left on their plates! haha

Jojo and his lunch...

Barb, the Kindergarten teacher, taking

a break after lunch...

Chile Relleno Step-by-Step

I tried my hand at making Chile Relleno (literally 'stuffed chili') this week before Delia left so that she could say she had tried it. They turned out really yummy according to all who tried them, so I'm counting them a success! :D Although as I read through the recipe I later found in a book, there were a couple of things I didn't do 'right'. As with any recipe, though, I'm sure there are variations in the methods of preparing chile relleno...

The chilis used for chile relleno in this region are the

california chili or 'chilaca', although I've heard

that the poblano chili works as well.

First thing to do is toast the chili over the gas flame until

the skin begins to separate from the 'meat' of the chili.

Parts of the chili will turn a bit black, that's okay.

The flame should be low to medium high...too

high and they might catch on fire like one of mine did...

Once you remove the chili from the fire, place it in a plastic
bag for a few minutes, then take it out and
remove the skin. The skin should come off
relatively easily if it has been toasted long enough.


Cut a slit in the side of the chili and remove as many
of the seeds as you can. Chilacas are not very spicy,
but sometimes the seeds can be.
Stuff the chili with a strip of cheese...other fillings
can be used as well, such as ham and cheese,
tuna, etc. I used a toothpick to close the opening in the
chili, but I don't think you would have to.
Lightly salt and pepper the chili before
coating it with some flour.

I used the whole egg this time, but it would probably

work better to use just the egg whites since they whip

up better. But anyway, beat the eggs or egg whites

until they are frothy.

Dip the chili in the egg right before frying.

It is best to use a shallow bowl for this.

Fry the chili in hot oil (coconut oil would be awesome

for this recipe) until golden brown.

It won't take long, mine were done in a jiffy!

Set the chili relleno on a napkin or paper towel
to soak up some of the oil and then
enjoy!

JD had two! I think he liked them...

Scattered Thoughts

My thoughts have been so scattered lately that it's hard even to sit and write a post unless I have pictures to sort of clue me in as to what to write! Well, it's hard to sit and write, period, because I keep getting interrupted...Jkaile likes to yank on my arm every few seconds, it seems, and while I'm trying to teach him to just put his hand on my arm, he doesn't seem to be getting the picture...

Miguel is on a trip right now, he and a colleague are at the Rio Grande Bible Institute representing our organization at their mission's conference. I'm really excited that he can go and I'm sure it will be a very interesting experience for him...but I'm really missing him here at home!!! I feel really scatterbrained and afraid I'll do something silly, like lock myself out of the house (which explains why I'm wearing my keys!). I did that once and had to wait outside for over an hour until Miguel got home...yeah. I'm sure somebody has extra keys to our house, but then I'd have to admit that yes, I locked myself out and that would be embarrassing...



I have been able to spend some good time with the kids, though, and I'm grateful that I'm feeling pretty well this week. I am getting tired, yes, but it's been manageable so far. I just have to remember to take care of myself...sounds funny, but I don't always do a good job of it! For one thing, making it a priority to be receiving my strength from God by staying connected through prayer and the Word. For another, not overestimating what I can do and then regretting not having rested more later...nearly every Mom can testify that the hours between 5 and 7 p.m. or so can be quite stressful! Everyone seems to be tired, cranky, demanding, hungry, etc. So if I don't rest in the early afternoon, I crash in the late afternoon and this week I have no back-up. That's one of the times that I really miss having Miguel's help with the kids...the other time being in the mornings, getting the kids ready for school. So I've been pacing myself and so far, so good.

This afternoon Gracia and I played some card games while Jojo and Jkaile were still sleeping...sad to say, she won nearly all the games we played! And then tonight I built a fire (is it just me, or do all MKs like to build bonfires?!) and we roasted hot dogs, tortillas, plátano, potatoes, and eggs (still need to work on the egg thing, but they were pretty good). The kids loved it (Jkaile a little too much, had to work hard to keep him away from the fire!), it was something different, and we didn't really add any dirty dishes to the pile!

See...still got my keys on...

Mr. Independent

Jkaile is staking out his independence these days...he now wants to feed himself. He used to at least take the spoon from us and put the food in his mouth, but now he won't even do that! In fact, if you put food in the spoon, he will dump it out so that he can put it on the spoon himself...and while I have to say that he does have pretty good hand-eye coordination for a baby his age, the food mostly doesn't get into his spoon at all. I called my Mom about how to get him to let us feed him, esp. things like cereal and oatmeal, and she suggested making the oatmeal thicker...gee, thanks, Mom! :) I got the message...pick your battles! Guess this is one thing I'm not going to fight him overright now and hope he gets over this stage quickly...

Those cloth diapers sure are coming in handy...

Isn't that a lovely sight?

Yeah.