Merry Christmas

Random Ramblings from Tennessee

The blog has been quiet since we've been back in the states for my sister's wedding. We've been pretty busy and on days when we are not busy I stay busy eating! Eating for three (NOT twins! nursing+pregnancy) is exhausting. The boys (mostly Jude) have also been sick. Despite that we've had a great time enjoying family and friends. Here are a few pictures from our time in Tennessee.

 Jude loading leaves into his John Deere trailer

Jude and I at my sister's wedding, which was beautiful by the way

Silas enjoying the baby room at the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro

Jude decorating his little tree at Gigi's with Silas watching

Jude checking out the penguins at the aquarium in Chattanooga


And on a completely different note here's a link for you. It's an alternate interpretation of a difficult passage. I really enjoy reading thoughts like this that might shed some light on verses that I can't seem to grasp.
some thoughts on Matthew 22:1-14 from Brian McClarren

Jude has something to tell you...

In addition to this big news, we will be moving back to Tennessee in April of next year! Carson will continue his work with Mbegu Films by taking trips over during summers to film and doing writing and edit in the states. We are excited about this new season and thrilled that it will not mean the end of Mbegu Films.

5 Minute Friday: Quiet

Quiet doesn’t happen very often in our house. Especially this week. The 2 year old has been in rare form!

But when quiet does come there is one noise I hate to hear. Hodi. The hodi is accompanied by a light clanging of the gate which sets off the dogs barking. Hodi is the word Tanzanians say to get your attention when they are at your door or gate. It’s like knocking. I don’t know why this bothers me so much. I mean I sort of do. When it’s Saturday and the kids are finally down for naps and I really just want to sit down and suddenly there is this unexpected hodi... it’s just annoying. But, it’s not just in those moments. It has come to bother me at any time. Just the word itself grates like fingernails on a chalkboard. As I ponder why this is I ask the question, Did it bother me this much when I lived in America and people knocked on my door? Wait a second. No one ever knocked on my door. For the most part we keep to ourselves. We don’t go randomly visit other folks in our neighborhood. Our society is so individual based, which maybe isn’t bad except that it is the opposite of community. I’m used to my privacy, but can it get in the way of relationships? So I’ll try to appreciate a little more the sense of community that this culture embraces and my own sometimes lacks and perhaps the hodis will bother me a little less.

(Isn't that photo gorgeous? Carson took it a while back. The whole world takes on this beautiful yellow haze sometimes before it rains.)

Preschool

I've been doing a little preschool class with Jude and Baylor once a week. Christie does Bible class once a week with them, and the Groen girls do a library day with them where they get to check out books. It's may not be the full gamut of experiences that most American kids are having, but I think we do pretty well! Here are a few pictures from preschool class.

Painting

Sometimes they both need the same color at the same time!

Playing Instruments: Baylor preferred the tambourine and xylophone. Jude was into the drums.

Not sure what they were doing, but it was cute!

5 Minute Friday: Roots

My favorite blog in the whole world is the Gypsy Mama (Lisa-Jo Baker). She write the most honest, beautiful truths about parenting. Sometimes, I think she must be spying on me! If you need some encouragement from someone whose not going to tell you HOW to parent, but just that YOU CAN DO IT, she is the one.
Every week she does a link up called 5 Minute Friday. She gives a one word topic and all sorts of people write about it for just 5 minutes and then link up. I've never really thought about participating, because I figured it didn't really relate to reporting on our life here, but I just got finished sharing for a whole month about what I do in the kitchen so I figure I'm way past just reporting on our work!
I'm not promising to do this every week or that I'll never cheat. I mean seriously getting 5 minutes uninterrupted is hard around here! If you're one of those picky gramar people you probably shouldn't read it at all! 5 minutes is not long enough for me to look up comma rules for crying out loud! But, here goes.

Roots

I'm not sure that I even knew I had roots before I moved to Tanzania. I was fed up with so many things about our American, Western, Consumerist society. I was ready to get away. But, once I did I could look back and see all the good that I wasn't seeing before. There is a lot about our culture that needs to be changed, refined, redeemed, but there is also some good in there. And from this other continent I finally realized that I most definitely have roots planted deep in Tennessee. Family and culture and even just a love of that place. I miss the seasons, the sounds, the tastes.. and of course the people.

One day we will move back to Tennessee, and I wonder, Will I find that I managed to plant some roots over here in Tanzania? Will I find that my roots now span continents and I'll never really be fully home?

Halloween

I"ve never been a big fan of Halloween, but I always thought it would be pretty fun if I had kids. This is the first year we have really celebrated with Jude. It's not a celebrated holiday in Tanzania, but this year our teammates threw a party.

I made Jude a bird costume. I figured he doesn't even know what this holiday is about so he's not going to realize that are other costume options out there. He was pretty excited until about 15 minutes before the party when he announced that he wanted to be a kangaroo! I have no idea where that came from. In the end he settled for bird, but when we got there I could barely get him into his costume and he kept it on about 30 seconds. I didn't even get a very good picture. I knew he wouldn't keep the mask on long, but I thought he'd like the wings. Here are the best shots I got.

I was supposed to be a bird watcher which I didn't get any pictures of because what's the point without the bird.

 I really thought Silas wouldn't like his costume, but he was totally comfortable in it. We only took it off because he was starting to fall asleep and it was sort of hazardous for sleeping. Here is the cutest loofa you've ever seen with a guy headed to the shower.

 Look how tired he was!

The party include festivities such as pumpkin carving (for the older kids) and pumpkin drawing (for the younger ones.

There was also a little twist on bobbing for apples.

And off course there was trick or treating. All of the adults went to different rooms in the house and the kids came around to get candy. Jude was really excited about his candy, but never asked to eat any! I finally clued him in this morning and he has enjoyed two candy sticks (formerly known as candy cigarettes) and half a tootsie roll today.

You may have noticed that Jude is pant-less in the pictures. I try, but I just can't keep pants on this kid! As soon as he uses the bathroom he kicks them off and doesn't want them on at all. Whatever. If he's peeing in the potty I'm happy!

31 days: the end

Well, it looks like I managed to share something 21 days of the month. Not too bad considering the power and internet issues we've been having. I never really expected to get all 31!
I hope you've enjoyed the glimpse into my kitchen. I haven't been doing much in there this week. Last night we ate at the Groen's, tonight we had a Halloween party at the Harrison's, and tomorrow we eat at the Harrison's again! It's been a nice break.
It's also been cold and rainy which is how I like it. Rainy season is working it's way in and I can't get the laundry dry, but I don't care. I love wearing long sleeves and socks!

31 Days: Prices

I thought it might be fun to share what things cost here in Geita. I should have headed to the store with a notepad, but it never happened, so I've included what I know the prices of.

The main things that are inexpensive are fresh, local, produce. These prices do change with the season.

1 bunch bananas- $1

1 huge avocado- .30

1 mango- .60

1 pineapple- $1

Before you think we can live on nothing, here are the prices of some of the other items we use.

boxed milk, 1 gallon- $10

olive oil, 1 liter- $12

oil, 5 liters (sunflower or corn... these are the cheapest options)- $15

juice, 1 gallon- $10

peanut butter (the American processed variety)- $8

flour, 1 kilo- $1.30

margarine, 1 kilo- $4

4 sticks of butter- $5.50

Mayo- $6

cereal, 1 box which may or may not be stale- $10

tic tacs- $1.60

detol, about 2 cups (a cleaner that you dilute, kind of like Pinesol)- $5.50

31 days: Jude washing dishes

I keep forgetting to post, but here are a couple of kitchen highlights from the last couple of days.

Creamed Spinach and Chicken and Dumplings

I set Jude up in the kitchen to wash his toy dishes. He's always wanting to get into the dish water so he had a blast.

31 days: Bread

I wrote out this whole post about bread and lost it. The internet went out. It happens. Like, every 10 minutes. Plus every time it rains. Anyway, how about we just get on with the pictures.

Here's the filling of the cinnamon raisin swirl.

The finished loaves. One is just plain.

 Inside of the cinnamon raisin swirl

Silas keeps moving the cursor so I'm gonna call it done before I lose my post again!

31 days: Pumpkin Pesto Ravioli

Ravioli is one of my favorite foods, but I don't make it very often here. There is really no way to do it, but from scratch. It is a lot of work, but today I was just in the mood.
In the morning I mixed up milk from milk powder and turned it into ricotta. I also cleaned and blanched the spinach and mixed up the filling.

Later in the day I made the dough and put the raviolis together. This picture shows the stages of forming them.

I let them dry out for a while before making the sauce and cooking the pasta in time for dinner.

The sauce tonight was a creamy pumpkin that tasted great over the ricotta, spinach ravioli. 

It was exactly what I was looking for. 

31 days: chick-fil-a

I gave up on Chick-fil-a years ago. It was right before Valentines Day and we were there with some friends. The Chick-fil-a had decided to have special things going on for the holiday. On this particular night the high school employees were dressed in prom garb and they had some teenager playing the saxaphone, because you go to Chick-fil-a for the ambiance. It was really loud and we couldn't have a conversation. Then I realized that my chicken sandwich tasted sort of like chicken, but had the texture of a hot dog. It was disturbing and I decided I was done.

Not long after that we were at some sort of group gathering and someone had bought a Chick-fil-a platter; chicken nuggets with Chick-fil-a sauce. How had I never had this sauce before? Amazing! Ban on Chick-fil-a lifted!

The other day I mentioned to Carson that there was a copy cat recipe on Pinterest for the chicken and sauce. Today, he made it! So good. I've been really craving comfort foods and this hit the spot. It's incredible how much replicating some American food can cure the blues. He also attempted waffle fries, but because of the size of our julienne blade on our mandoline they ended up being thin. They were just chips instead of fries, but still good. The pictures would probably look a little better if it weren't on that orange plate.

31 days: weekend

I've been trying to keep it healthy with granola this week, after I realized that I simply could not swallow another fruit smoothie, but for the weekend I wanted bread! I made some really yummy cappuccino chocolate chip muffins and put leftover spiced molasses glaze on top. Yum. These will last me a while!

We attempted to go to the Gold Mine for lunch as we always do on Saturdays. I even remembered to take the homemade tartar sauce for my shrimp so I wouldn't have to use the plain mayo they provide. The problem was we needed gas, or rather diesel. We went to ALL 5 Geita gas stations. No diesel. Defeated we stopped by the store on the way home and Carson grabbed some things to make chili. He also happened upon chocolate syrup AND cherries (the kind you put on ice cream). Banana splits were just asking to be made. He actually battered the bananas in coconut and fried them. Yum. Our defeated lunch turned out pretty well after all.

*Warning* The following story is not for the weak stomachs out there!
On a separate note, feeding a toddler is an interesting task. Jude really isn't picky, but there are things he eats better than others. He had no interest in the chili at lunch. He'd never even seen or heard of chili before so after getting him to taste it I didn't push it anymore and got him out some leftovers which he ate happily.

At dinner we were eating chili again, so I went ahead and heated him up some Ramen noodles which he loves. He had no interest whatsoever. He's been saying he doesn't feel well for days and I learned my lesson about forcing many month ago when another dinner ended up on me, the chair, and the rug! Sure enough, shortly after going to bed he appeared in the hall and up came the milk he'd been drinking earlier. As I mopped it up I was so happy it was only milk!

31 days: coffee

I've been tired for about 3 years now.
I drink coffee. The coffee making each morning is the most important thing that happens in my kitchen.
I really don't know how any mother of small children does it without coffee. I know some people don't like it, but in my book that's like being allergic to Tylenol.
Most days I get out of bed feeling like I haven't slept. Silas is usually a good sleeper, but when you are still nursing during the night and you haven't had a good night's sleep in years even a good sleeper leaves you tired every morning.

Yesterday both boys desperately needed a nap. Jude was exhausted and fussing and I couldn't get him to lay still long enough to fall asleep. He wasn't feeling well and I knew that if I could just lay down with him for a few minutes he would be out. But, Silas was sleeping in my arms. He's been teething or having a vaccine reaction or something and I knew if I put him down he would immediately wake up and miss out on yet another needed nap. So I got Jude to lay down with me and Silas and gave him something to watch on the Kindle. That usually works, but he just wouldn't lay still. So he cried and cried and I cried. And eventually Silas woke up. I sat him in his Bumbo seat and left him in the living room where he cried while I laid down with Jude who finally fell asleep.

I didn't cook anything yesterday. Elizabeth is on vacation this week and next so my work load is significantly increased. At the end of the day Carson made our last box of macaroni and cheese and we called it dinner.

Then Silas was awake most of the night. And the power was out all night. I'm hoping that there comes a day when the kids are older or we live on the same continent with the grandparents and we get to catch up. At this point it would probably take years, so I guess I'll just keep drinking coffee.

Of course these sweet guys are worth being tired for, and I have them to thank for my love of coffee!

31 days: pumpkin, cabbage, and lime cookies

I didn't anticipate much happening in the kitchen today. The plan was to heat up left over hamburgers for dinner. Simple. But, there was this chopped up cabbage in the fridge that needed to be used and a toddler and a little pumpkin just begging to be carved, so....

we carved a pumpkin, Jude's first.

and I made some fried cabbage with onion and bacon to go with the hamburgers.

and Jude and I made lime cookies.

And, here is the incredibly patient, content 5 month old who makes everything I do in the kitchen possible!

31 days: Pretzel Rolls

Last night we had hamburgers. We don't eat burgers very often. They are really never as good as American burgers because of the quality of the beef. The best thing about the burgers that we had last night is that I didn't personally grind the meat! We splurged on our recent trip to Mwanza and bought a little ground beef. I've just been really frustrated with the beef recently. I don't understand the parts of the cow well enough to know if they are cutting me a proper section. And when you get a bad section, as I seem to most of the time, it's more work and less meat. It ends up costing almost as much as the pre-ground stuff.
Lately, we've been on a pretzel bun/roll kick. We've used them for roast sandwiches and shredded chicken as well. I found this recipe online somewhere. They usually turn out a bit darker than that picture, but the day we took it the power was out and I had to cook them in the gas oven which doesn't have a broil option. Here's the recipe I've been using. Please note that I use Instant Yeast, which I highly recommend. If you are using Active Dry Yeast you will need to put the yeast, the sugar, a tiny bit of the flour, and the water (heated to around 105) in a bowl together. Let it sit 10 minutes and then continue with the rest of the recipe.

Pretzel Rolls-

4 & 1/2 cups flour

2 & 1/2 tsp instant dry yeast

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp salt

1 & 1/2 cup room temp water

4 Tbsp melted butter or margarine

3 Tbsp baking soda

1 beaten egg

coarse salt

These are great for hamburgers, sandwiches, or even just plain. They are best fresh and the surface of the bread will look a little shriveled anywhere the salt was if left overnight. They still taste good the next day, they just might not be company worthy.

1- In a large bowl whisk together 1 cup flour, 2 & 1/2 tsp yeast, 2 tsp sugar, and 2 tsp salt.

2- Add 1 & 1/2 cup room temperature water and 4 Tbsp melted butter or margarine.

3- Stir it up and add the remaining 3&1/2 cups of flour a little at a time until you can’t stir anymore. Knead in the remaining flour until the dough isn’t sticky.

4- Lightly coat the inside of a bowl with oil. Put the dough in the bowl and turn it to coat with oil. Cover with tea towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. 

5- Punch down dough. Form into a ball and flatten it slightly. Cut it in half and form each half into a ball and flatten slightly again. Use a sharp knife to cut each circle like a pie into 8 pieces (for rolls) or 6 pieces (for buns). Roll each piece into a small ball.

6- Place the balls on a lightly floured surface and cover with a tea towel. Let rise for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

7- Preheat oven to 425 and bring 2 quarts (8 cups) of water and 3 Tbsp baking soda to a boil in a large skillet. (If you are working with a smaller skillet just cut the water and baking soda both in half.)

8- Place 3 or 4 rolls in the water at a time and poach each side for about 30 seconds. Don’t overcrowd or it will be difficult to turn them.

9- When you remove them place them on a kitchen towel to drain the excess water. Once drained place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. You really do need the parchment. I can't get it here and mine always stick to the pan.

10- Brush the top of each roll with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with coarse salt.

11- Using a sharp knife cut 2 parallel lines about 1/4 inch deep in the top of each roll.

12- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, broiling the last few minutes if necessary to get them dark like pretzels. 

31 days: ice cream

I love making homemade ice cream and the store bought variety here can't compete with pretty much any American brand so making would seem like the obvious choice. The problem is milk and cream. You can buy milk 3 ways here: dry milk powder, boxed UHT milk, or fresh. The boxed milk is about $10 per gallon and I think the dry milk powder isn't much different, but fresh milk presents it's own problems. First, you have to find someone with cows to order from. Usually they live farther out of town so by the time the milk gets to you it has gone bad or else they go ahead and cook it (pasteurize it) before they bring it to you which ruins your chances of getting the tiny bit of cream from the milk. It's also hard to get people to deliver it consistently or even at the same time of day. You don't really want to be trying to pasteurize milk when you are in the middle of baths and bedtime routine!
Another problem with the milk and cream is that it sometimes tastes and smells like cow (or so I've been told by people who can smell).
During our time here I've come up with alternatives for making ice cream.
First, I tried out this canned cream.

It worked fine for ice cream, but it's really better suited for things like soup or pasta sauce.
Eventually I started trying coconut cream. Sometimes I buy these little UHT packets.

And sometimes I buy cans of coconut milk, put it in the fridge, and spoon the cream off the top. This works better with some brands than others. I also use the coconut milk in place of at least part of the cow milk.

I've successfully made several flavors using the coconut cream and milk: plain coconut, chocolate coconut, coffee coconut, but the best I think is citrus coconut.

I can't possibly imagine that my last sentence is grammatically correct, but I also can't imagine any other way to write it! It's taken me like 9 hours to finish this post. I'm pretty sure if you look up Mom in the dictionary you  will find the word "distracted"!

31 days: my fridge, the dispensary

The power was out all day yesterday and only came on for a few hours before going out again. No power means no internet and no blog post.

I'm back now online now with a post about one of the more unusual functions of my kitchen. 

This is my fridge.

 This is inside my fridge.

Inside that section labeled, "fresh zone" is where I keep vaccines. Yes, vaccines. We can't get them where we live so we buy them or have others buy them for us when in Dar or Nairobi. Then we have someone (usually in Mwanza) administer them. It's a pain. They have to be kept cold the entire way back to our house and we have to be certain to run the generator if the power is out too long. It's expensive because our insurance only covers a certain amount each time we get vaccines regardless of how many months worth we stocked up on. But when I consider that so many here don't have the knowledge, ability, or money to make sure their kids get vaccines I realize how lucky we are.

We cleared out the last vaccines this morning and headed out at the crack of dawn for Mwanza where Silas got his 4 month vaccines administered. He was a real champ, barely cried. We'll be in Mwanza for a couple of days before heading back to Geita on Sunday.