Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Cooking with Friends: A Shout Out to St. Marks Methodist Church


In December of 2008, my Grandma, Mary Kay Staples, gifted her grandchildren with the Cooking With Friends cookbook that her church wrote.  When I was home this past April I came across a copy of the book (actually, it’s Sarah’s) and decided to bring it down with me to Paraguay (sorry Sarah).  Dean Boucher’s banana bread recipe is a real hit with the women of South America!

While I have really enjoyed trying out recipes from this book, I quickly realized that it doesn’t do me a whole lot of good down here.  The issue is that I can’t get 2/3 of the things I need to cook each recipe.  Grandma, I can’t tell you how many times I have looked at the recipe for Ro-Tel Fiesta Chicken with longing and then realized that I don’t have access to Ro-Tel, which judging by the name is a key ingredient.  I also have searched all over Paraguay and the only Elephant I’ve found belongs to the zoo and they said they won’t sell him for my Elephant Stew.

Due to my lack of access to most necessary ingredients (biscuit mix, cake box mix, cream of mushroom soup, brown sugar…) I have been picking and choosing which recipes to make and which recipes to look at with longing and dream about.  Bringing back a cookbook was a really good idea and I wanted to write this blog to thank the authors of this book for filling some of my boring winter afternoons with activities.  Although I have messed up numerous recipes, mixing amounts improperly since I have no actual measuring cups and making up ingredients (sugar cane honey with white sugar is pretty much brown sugar, right?); I think it has been going pretty well.  I also should thank Mr. Daniel who so kindly replied to my tweet requesting how many grams go into a pound (the different measuring systems are a killer!). 

Winter in Paraguay, especially for an Ag Volunteer, can be pretty slow. There are gardens to tend to but the major field crops won’t be planted until around late July or early August.  I have started a demonstration plot with a contact and my garden is in full swing! I have around 100 tomato plants (a minor miscalculation on my part) so the spring might end up involving me trying to make my own Ro-Tel and canning sauces. 

I have also been in site for almost 7 months.  According to most volunteers, this is when things can get a little tough.  I think I am holding up pretty well, my down fall and homesick moment will most likely be when Katy gives birth to baby girl number 2 in August and I realize how bummed I am not to be there.  For now Copper (my dog) and I are bundling up in bed, trying to escape the cold, reading, and knitting - judging by this post I have retired not joined the Peace Corps.  

I am off to try and make some fresh pig fat biscuits, but seriously Crisco is just pig fat in disguise!