Chase!

Beate's Poppyseed Cake

1 Duncan Hines Deluxe Cake mix

1 cup sour cream

3/4 cup Crisco oil

1/2 cup sugar

(Mix these ingredients)

4 eggs (put this in one after another, stir well after each one.)

1/4 cup poppy seed

(Add last)

Grease cake form well, sprinkle with sugar. I always made this with a bundt pan, but I imagine you could bake it in any pan it would fit in.

Bake 45 - 60 minutes (normally 55 to 60)

Side note: I believe the poppy seeds can affect urine drug tests.

Croque Monsieur

When I was at my sister's a few weeks ago, we had lunch in a little French restaurant, where I ordered this dish. At first, I was disappointed by its plainness, but then enchanted by its flavor. This is a glorified ham sandwich, but well worth the extra few minutes to fix. I would also call it the ultimate comfort food.

Prepare a cream sauce:
Melt 1 T. Butter
Blend with 1 t. flour
Slowly add 1 c. cream, stirring (OK, ok, this is not low cholesterol)
Add 2 T. swiss cheese (I used parmesan)
Stir over low heat until thickened.

Cut crusts off off white bread, stick a slice of cheese (Swiss or American), and a piece of ham in the middle.

Dip bread in beaten egg
Saute sandwiches in butter until golden on each side.

Pour sauce on top.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka
½	teaspoon ground cumin
½	teaspoon ground coriander
¼	teaspoon cayenne pepper
1	teaspoon table salt
2	pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts , trimmed of fat
1	cup plain whole-milk yogurt (see note above)
2	tablespoons vegetable oil
2	medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1	tablespoon grated fresh ginger
	Masala Sauce
3	tablespoons vegetable oil
1	medium onion , diced fine (about 1¼ cups)
2	medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
2	teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1	fresh serrano chile , ribs and seeds removed, flesh minced (see note above)
1	tablespoon tomato paste
1	tablespoon garam masala (see note above)
1	(28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2	teaspoons sugar
½	teaspoon table salt
⅔	cup heavy cream
¼	cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1. FOR THE CHICKEN: Combine cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt in small bowl. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with spice mixture, pressing gently so mixture adheres. Place chicken on plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes.

In large bowl, whisk together yogurt, oil, garlic, and ginger; set aside.

2. FOR THE SAUCE: Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering.

Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until light golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add garlic, ginger, chile, tomato paste, and garam masala; cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 3 minutes.

Add crushed tomatoes, sugar, and salt; bring to boil.

Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in cream and return to simmer. Remove pan from heat and cover to keep warm.

3. While sauce simmers, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position (about 6 inches from heating element) and heat broiler.

Using tongs, dip chicken into yogurt mixture (chicken should be coated with thick layer of yogurt) and arrange on wire rack set in foil-lined rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan. Discard excess yogurt mixture.

Broil chicken until thickest parts register 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer and exterior is lightly charred in spots, 10 to 18 minutes, flipping chicken halfway through cooking.

4. Let chicken rest 5 minutes, then cut into 1-inch chunks and stir into warm sauce (do not simmer chicken in sauce).

Stir in cilantro, adjust seasoning with salt, and serve.

Best & Easiest Sauce Ever

This sauce would be good on fish, vegetables like green beans, steaks, and what I used it on--lomo fino de chancho--aka tenderloin of pork. I found this in Julia Child's book, My Life in France, and it takes less than 5 minutes to make.

Boil 1/4 vinegar along with 1/8 t. pepper and salt until reduced to 1/2 tablespoon.
Remove from heat and whisk in 2 T. butter. Keep whisking until you've whisked in about 3/4 to 1 cup butter pat by pat. You may need to put the pan back over the lowest heat so the butter melts.

Voila!

The sauce should be thickish.

Don't Throw Away Your Old Slouch Socks!

We're so glad we didn't! They protect us from the little bugs here that we call ankle biters.

Pumpkin Soup from My Favorite Italian Cookbook

This soup is easy, quick, and cheap. What more can you ask? The original recipe calls for spaghetti in the soup, but that just sounds horrible to me. To give the soup a little texture, I don't blend the finely chopped onions.

1 lb. peeled pumpkin (I buy it already cubed, which is what makes the recipe so quick.)

1/4 cup butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 cups milk

pinch of grated nutmeg

salt and pepper

Parmesan cheese, if desired, to sprinkle on top

Cook onion in butter until it softens, stir in pumpkin, cook for a few minutes more, add chicken stock and cook until pumpkin is soft. Puree in blender. Return to pan and add milk and seasonings. Ta da.

I've used another method for this. Steam the pumpkin and then mash, blend, or use beaters to get it smooth. You can freeze the pumpkin if you want at this point. Then to finish soup, cook onions in butter and then add rest of ingredients. This way you can cook up a bunch of pumpkin at once and have it on hand for super quick soup.

It's Not the Kringle We Grew Up With, but It's Doggone Delicious

1 cup butter

2 cups flour

1 cup sour cream

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons water

1. Cut butter into flour until crumbly, stir in sour cream and mix well. Form dough into ball and cover tightly, refrigerate over night.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Have filling prepared (see below).

3. Divide dough into 3 equal parts, keep two parts in the refrigerator. Form dough into rectangle and roll out on floured surface until it is approximately 12" by 17". Put 1/3 filling down center. Cut strips on two sides about an inch apart. Alternating from one side to the other fold each strip towards the center like you're braiding. Repeat with rest of dough to create 3 danishes. Arrange on lightly greased baking sheet.

4. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool 30 minutes and then drizzle powdered sugar mixed with water on top. Ta da.

Filling: You can use prepared filling, or jams that aren't too sweet, but we liked this easy prune filling the best. You can make it with any dried fruit.

1 1/2 cup pitted prunes, lightly packed

2/3 cup water

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1/3 cup brown sugar

Simmer ingrediants until very soft and most of water has evaporated. Remove from heat and mash. Finished.

TV News About Joey

I'm so proud of Sherman Luke!

Tattoos & Jesus

Remember at Easter when you were a little concerned about all of Kayden's tons of tattoos? Here's a photo of me with my missionary friend, Cara!

True North

I read the book "Young Man and the Sea" to my class recently, and this paragraph struck me:

Trust your compass. That's another thing my dad was always saying. Trust your compass because you can't trust your instincts in the dark or the fog. Without a compass a man will steer himself in a circle, nine times out of ten. Give up on the compass and you're lost for sure.

In Ecuador, the call the correct direction for life "true north." Jesus is our true north and it's soooo, soooo easy to forget. Trust your compass. Trust His Word.

Interesting...

"May you turn
stone, my daughter,
into silk. May you make men better
than they are."

— Stephen Dunne

Object Lesson: Frownies

Part 1: Do Not Set Aside the Grace of God

Part 2: Do Not Set Aside the Grace of God

You should become a mosquito-ologist (Quote from a student)

We've come to that time of year where we are obsessed with two things: the humidity and mosquitoes.

If mosquitoes were something we only had to battle outside, it would not be a big deal. But mosquitoes are a constant full-pitched war here. They're worse downstairs than up, so I make hit and run trips downstairs to get food or coffee and then skedaddle upstairs to eat and drink.

I've been researching and I've learned:

• Blue is the favorite color of mosquitoes.
• They also like dark colors.
• Mosquitoes are attracted by sweat (water supply).
• They are also attracted by the CO2 oozing through your skin.
• They are also attracted to the CO2 let off by candles, and so if you have lit candles around, they will be attracted to it and immolate themselves. (This has led to our house looking like we are having a continual seance.)

I also started a small fire in the kitchen--Mike had to come and put it out, when I decided to burn palo santo (Holy stick), which is a wood that grows here than repels mosquitoes. I set up a grate on the stove, put some palo santo on and lit the burner. Then I blew the fire out and the incensy smoke wafted around and got rid of the mosquitos. The second time I got distracted and the next thing I knew I had quite a blaze going on.

Obsessed.

Christmas and New Years 2009

The view from our room in Quito.
At our favorite Italian restaurant. New Year's Eve lunch. (Instead of fighting the crowds for dinner.)
Our favorite room in Quito. We could lie in bed and watch the fireworks that went up all over the city at midnight.

At the hosteria in Banos.

At home for Christmas: Mike, Noemi, her dad Raphael and behind the couch Emily-Mike's cousin-and Abigail.

We had a nice Christmas (the best part was talking with all of you) and an even nicer trip to Baños the Monday and Tuesday after Christmas. We had ladies' and men's studies. I can only speak for the ladies, but they were like sponges. What fun to teach. Then we went on to Quito where we hid out for three days, watched a whole season of "24", and ate at our favorite restaurants.

As you know, this has been a Christmas season full of ups and downs. In the spirit of Philippians 4, I'm choosing to think on good things. Here's my list for this last week of the year:

We found rhubarb in the grocery store and had rhubarb pie for Christmas.

We found dates in the store and had grandma's famous date balls.

Our favorite room was available in Quito. (See above.)

The English bookstore and three of our favorite restaurants were open in Quito when most everything else was closed.

We had wifi at the hotel.

The weather was perfect!

One more amazing recipe--Eggplant Salad

Olimpia, the missionary who works with us from Romania, made us this salad when we ate at her house last week. We would think of it more like a dip, but I made an absolute pig out of myself!

- 2 eggplants Roast these under the broiler, turning every once in a while until the skins are blackened. Cool, skin, and drain. Remove seeds that are easy to remove. Then kind of mash them together with:
- sunflower oil (Until you have kind of a paste)
- 1 onion (finely chopped)
- lemon juice
- salt
- garlic
Serve as is with crackers or bread, or with roasted peppers or tomatoes.

Isn't it easy to forget how big God is?

There are times--like now, for example--when my problems loom so big and I have a niggling feeling that things are NEVER going to change...NEVER going to get better. And then hope starts sliding down the drain. And then I read a Scripture like I read this morning in Romans 11, and I realize once again how big God is!

33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
35 or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
36 For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.

Here's the Other Good Recipe

Cream of Tomato and Basil Soup
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Serving Size: 4 8 12

Ingredients
4 Tbsp butter
1 ea small red onion, diced
2 cups dry white wine
3 cups canned diced tomatoes (or 1 12-oz can)
2 cups heavy cream (I substituted 1/2 milk and 1/2 plain yogurt because I didn't have cream)
3 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste

Procedures
1.MELT butter in a heavy sauce pan. Add red onions and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add white wine and reduce by 3/4. Add tomatoes and heavy cream, bring to a simmer and reduce by 1/2.
2.PUREE soup in a food processor. Stir in 2 Tbsp chopped basil, salt and pepper.
3.GARNISH with remaining fresh basil and tomatoes and serve.