A Book Lovers Nightmare.

Besides the Nazis burning books, the thing a book lover dreads most is not having enough time to read! I now have 2 part-time jobs that will take up about 10 hours of my day, and cleaning, cooking, gardening, other housework, and by the end of the day I'm bushed!!!

I need to find a way to sneak in book-nook time (as I call it) and still keep my priorities straight. Right now my life is kind of in limbo with these new work schedules and my quiet time with my Savior is lacking.

Fix that first.

Make that first.

That always NEEDS to be first.

With my eyes focused on Him, everything always falls into place.

Oh that my eyes would never leave His face and look at what's going on around me!

Some friends of mine gave me a bag of Missionary-Bio books... thats next on my list :)

Pupusas

Ingredients

• Masa harina -- 2 cups
• Warm water -- 1 cup
• Filling (see variations below) -- 1 cup

Method

1. In a large bowl, mix together the masa harina and water and knead well. Knead in more water, one tablespoonful at a time if needed, to make a moist, yet firm dough. (It should not crack at the edges when you press down on it.) Cover and set aside to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Roll the dough into a log and cut it into 8 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball.
   
3. Press an indentation in each ball with your thumb. Put about 1 tablespoon of desired filling into each indentation and fold the dough over to completely enclose it. Press the ball out with your palms to form a disc, taking care that that the filling doesn't spill out.
4. Line a tortilla press with plastic and press out each ball to about 5 or 6 inches wide and about 1/4-inch thick. If you don't have a tortilla press, place the dough between two pieces of plastic wrap or wax paper and roll it out with a rolling pin.
5. Heat an iron skillet over med-high flame. Cook each pupusa for about 2 mins on each side until brown and blistered. Remove to a plate and hold warm until ready to serve.

Variations

• Pupusas de Queso: With a cheese filling. Use grated quesillo, queso fresco, farmer's cheese, mozzarella, Swiss cheese or a combination. Add some minced green chile if you like.
• Pupusas de Chicharrones: With a filling of fried chopped pork and a little tomato sauce. A reasonable facsimile can be made by pulsing 1 cup of cooked bacon with a little bit of tomato sauce in a food processor.
• Pupusas de Frijoles Refritos: With a refried bean filling.
• Pupusas Revueltas: Use a mixture of chicharrones, cheese and refried beans.
• Pupusas de Queso y Loroco: With a cheese and tropical vine flower filling. Loroco can be found in jars at many Latin markets.
• Pupusas de Arroz: A variety of pupusa that uses rice flour instead of corn masa.
• Other Fillings: Cooked potatoes or finely minced, sautéed jalapeño peppers are also tasty fillings. Try a mixture of different fillings

The Mexicans Got It All Wrong...

No, it is not tortillas and cheese. At least in El Salvador it isn't!

This. THIS is our quesadilla. A soft, warm, sweet, crunchy, cornbread-like treat! Oh so good for breakfast with Coffee (tea for me please), or as dessert, snack, whatever! Any excuse you get to eat it, do :)

WARNING!!! There are Salvadoran Quesadillas that you will find in mexican markets, or even in Ralphs, but they are dry and tasteless! I'm sorry if you have had those and have been turned off to this flavorful cake. Please try this... you'll get hooked.

Salvadoran Quesadilla:

Your ingredients. If you can find Rice Flour, use that instead of regular flour. Taste is better.

The Crema and Cotijo in the middle of the picture you can pick up at a mexian market, ValuePlus, Bestway, or any other place like that. Just make sure you get the Salvadoran Crema and not the Mexican one... the Mexican one is disgusting... but I'm bias :)

Eggs- 6

Sugar- 1 1/2 cups

Cotijo, grated- 2 cups

Salvadoran Crema- 1/2 cup

Flour- 2 cups

Baking Soda- 1 tsp

Whole Milk- 1 cup

Butter, melted- 1/2 cup (1 stick)

Sesame seeds- as many as you want

Mix eggs and sugar thoroughly

Add Queso Cotijo and beat about 10 times.

Add Crema and beat another 10 times.

In a separate bowl mix the flour and baking soda

Add half the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Alternating with Milk.

Half flour, half milk, half flour, half milk.

Mix in melted butter.

Grease a 9x13" pan and pour in the mixture.

Sprinkle with Sesame Seeds. My family likes a lot! The crunchy texture is wonderful :)

Bake for 30mins.

Until it's this color *drools*

Oh how I wish you could smell this right now!

This is what it's all about. Moist, sweet, slightly crunchy, quesadilla.

The Mexicans got it all wrong...

Salvadoran Empanadas :)

Ingredients:
10 ripe Fair Trade Certified Plantains
½ cup of Fair Trade Certified Sugar
2 sticks of Fair Trade Certified Cinnamon
½ tea spoon of Fair Trade Certified Vanilla Extract
2 cups of Organic milk
8-10 table spoons of Organic Cornstarch
Canola Oil

Directions:
STEP 1
Wash the plantains with a lot of water.
Cut each plantain in 4 pieces.
Pour 5 cups of water onto a pot.
Add the plantains, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.
Cook this mix on medium heat for about ½ hour or until you feel the plantains are cooked.
Let them cool.

STEP 2
In a separate pot, add the milk.
Slowly add the cornstarch and stir until it has fully dissolved into the milk. NOTE: make sure you don’t add too much cornstarch at once. Add it little by little while the milk is still cold.
Add a bit of sugar to this mix, but don’t make it too sweet.
Add a bit of vanilla extract at your discretion and taste.
Add a hint of powdered cinnamon to this mix at your discretion and taste.
Put this mix on medium heat, making sure you are constantly stirring to avoid it from getting too thick.
When it starts boiling, turn off the stove.
Remove the milk mix from the stove and let it cool.

STEP 3
Now that the plantains are cool, mash them into a doughy consistency.
Take this plantain dough and flatten it on your hand, like a small, thick tortilla.
Create as many as the dough allows you to, and put them on a plate.
The milk mix should already be cool and very dense.
Put a couple of teaspoons of this milk mix on the little tortillas.
Fold the tortillas up, enclosing the dense milk mix inside. Press on the edges to make sure the milk mix is secured inside. These are now your empanadas.

STEP 4
Pour the oil on a frying pan and heat it up (without burning it).
Drop the empanadas on the hot oil, making sure they are completely covered in the oil.
Cook until they are golden.
You may spread some sugar on them after they are cooked.

There are several ways in which you can increase the Fair Trade experience of making these empanadas.
- Write this recipe in a Fair Trade leather journal.
- Bring your Eco Shopper to the grocery store to bag your purchases.
- Accompany these empanadas with some Fair Trade Certified Coffee.
- Eat them on a Fair Trade placemat .
- Wipe your mouth with a recycled paper napkin or even a washable cloth napkin.

Salvadoran Cooking Week!!!

This week I want to tackle some of the food that's from my mom's country. It's going to take some shopping, checking out some Mexican Markets, and loooooots of pictures, but it'll be fun!!! The following pictures are some of the things I want to cook/bake :)

Curtido, Pupusa, Plantanos con Crema y Frijoles

Empanadas con crema.

Chicharron y Yucca.

Quesadilla

Atol de Elote

Ensalada

Jesus: The Only Way to God: John Piper

FREE AUDIO BOOK!!!

Check it out here

Thanks to my friend Heather for showing me this :)

Boysenberry Crumble

Saturday, Mid-afternoon, my phone reminded me that I signed up to bring brunch to Sunday School the next morning. My thoughts ran frantically through my head as I tried to remember what we had in the kitchen, & I came up with two finalists-

1) Upside-down, Apple French Toast

2) Boysenberry Crumble

So then put it to a vote for everyone. The French Toast won, but then I found out I had no bread, so the Crumble was :)

Boysenberry Crumble:

You can use any jelly actually, so go ahead and make raspberry, strawberry, or apricot crumble!!! :)

Heat Oven at 350.

Grease a 9x13" pan.

Jam or Jelly- 1 1/2 cups

Water- 1/4 cup

Cornstarch- 2 Tbps

1) Bring the jelly to a boil in a pot on the stove, & simmer for 3 mins, constantly stirring.

2) Mix the water and cornstarch together & add to the jelly compote. Simmer for 4 mins.

3) Turn off the heat & let sit.

Butter, softened- 1 stick

Granulated Sugar- 3/4 cup

Vanilla- 1 tsp

Eggs- 2

4) Mix the butter, sugar, vanilla & eggs together until creamy.

Flour- 4 cups

Cinnamon- 2 tsps

Baking Soda- 1 tsp

Baking Powder- 1 tsp

Salt- 1/2 tsp

5) Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

6) Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. The results will be crumbly! This is good!

7) Spoon half the batter into the greased pan, pour the compote over the batter, & then add the rest of the batter on top.

8) Bake for 30-45 mins. Cool, cut, & eat! :D

Head-Quotes of the Week

I love the times in my life where I can say, "I had nothing to do with that, that was totally Divine working!!!" The times where God says just sit back and watch, Kirsty... watch Me work. I had many of those moments this week, and these are the thoughts that would roll through my head.

"God will answer any prayer that is prayed that will bring Him glory" ~Jo Shetler

"Lord, You have to do it because we don't have enough cows" ~Elise Reyes

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser... I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him. he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. By this my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples" John 15:1 & 5-8

"Remember: He is De'Vine and we are de' branches!" ~Keith Green

The Magician's Elephant: Kate DiCamillo

Many of us have heard of the book or movie "Because of Winn Dixie", and some of us have even fallen in love with a little French mouse, Despereaux (including myself) in his courageous journey to save the Princess Pea; but have any of you heard of Kate DiCamillo's newest novel? It truly is a treasure that belongs on the bookshelf of everyone who has a child or is still a child at heart!

Here's a sample of the book. This dog is not a main character, but my heart melted when reading this! Made me think of my own dog :)

"The Magician's Elephant"

The dog's name was Iddo.

And there was a time when he had worked carrying messages and letters and plans across battlefields, transferring information from one officer of Her Majesty's army to another.

And then one day, on a battlefield near Modegnel, as the dog weaved his way through the horses and soldiers and tents, he was caught by the blast from a cannon and was thrown high into the air and landed on his head in such a way that he was instantly, permanently blinded.

His one thought as he descended into darkness was, But who will deliver the messages?

Now when he slept, Iddo was forever running, carrying a letter, a map, battle-plans, some piece of paper that would win the war, if only he could arrive in time.

The dog longed with the whole of his being to perform again the task that he had been born and bred to do.

Iddo wanted to deliver, just once more, a message of great importance...

Dyeing...

Don't worry, it's not as bad as it seems!

Years ago, my Aunt Ruth introduced me to spinning. I loved doing it as we visited her in Indiana and then my parents gave me a spinning wheel for my birthday. I tried spinning at home, but it just wasn't working out, so it sat as a decoration in the office for 5 years.

This past week I was cleaning out the office and decided to give the old spinning wheel another whirl- yes, pun intended.

From Left to Right:

Some Alpaca, then wool, then a mixture of the two.

Then I decided to read up on dyeing the roving that I have. (I got bored with just white) So I looked up some people and found out that you can dye wool in a croc-pot!!! SWEET!!! This is what's sitting in the pot right now and it's time for me to go and pull it out... let's hope it actually works!

I've seen days melt into nights in circles of lights,

I've watched a spider spin a star between the window box flowers,
I've heard you laugh and cry in a single sigh, and a story form within.

Don't let me lose my wonder.
Don't let me lose my wonder.

I saw her broken dreams inside but helping others fly,
I saw his eyes without a doubt, though other lights faded out,
And though her calling roared such graciousness poured
From the vision of her soul.

A baby cried through the dark beneath a jeweled spark,
I knew Your voice upon the hill and heard my lostness still,
I found my home in the light where wrong was made right
And You rose like the morning star.

Don't let me lose my wonder
Don't let me lose my wonder.

~*~ Keith & Kristin Getty ~*~

Much Obliged, Jeeves: P.G. Wodehouse

P.G. Wodehouse. Wow. Want to know his full name? Seriously folks, I'm glad I was born in the century I was! Wodehouse's full name was Pelham Grenville... Pelham Grenville... but everybody called him "Plum". Again, praise God for being born in the 1980's!

This man has quite a history, growing up in a Boarding School and barely knowing his parents, living through the World Wars, having his books banned, working with Cole Porter and the Gershwins and more!

I must say though, my favorite part was reading about his interactions with A.A. Milne. Yes, the author of Pooh Bear!

Apparently A.A. Milne reported some 'propaganda' in Wodehouse's books, and they were therefore banned. In return, Wodehouse wrote a short story called 'Rodney Has a Relapse' with a character 'Timothy Bobbin'... a mock-up character of Christopher Robin!!! I have yet to find this book in tangible form, but I am determined to find it!!!

Alright enough with the history! Here is a couple of quotes from some of his books:

Bertie (Master): The problem is, I've forgotten that jolly useful word you unearthed.
Jeeves (Butler): Sir?
Bertie: The one that always reduces Spode to a quivering mass of apology. I have a feeling I may need it.
Jeeves: You are referring, I think, sir, to "Eulalie."

Bertie: Eulalie, that's it! I wish you'd tell me what it meant. I mean, I have no complaints, but it's a bit like holding up a bank and not knowing whether your gun is loaded or not.
Jeeves: I fear I'm not at liberty to disclose the details, sir. You may rest assured, however, that the weapon is loaded."

*************************************

Bertie: [after insulting Spode] Spode, I know your secret!

Roderick Spode: Eh?
Bertie: I know all about...
[blanks]
Roderick Spode: You know all about what?
Bertie: Uh... Euphimol! Uh, uh...
[as Spode advances menacingly, Bertie falls backward. Gussie smashes an oil painting over Spode's head. Spode turns to Gussie, breathing fire, and Bertie smashes a vase on his head. They both flee the room. Outside, Jeeves watches, perplexed, as Gussie runs out, followed by Bertie]
Bertie: Eucalyptus!
[as Spode chases them down the hallway, Jeeves sighs and writes on a slip of paper]
Bertie: Euripedes! Eucharist! Europe! Euphonium? Uh, eu-, eu-, eu...
[as they run past Jeeves, he holds out the paper]
Bertie: Thank you!
[Spode corners them against a locked door]
Roderick Spode: Now...!
Bertie: [reads the slip] Eulalie!"