Mangos

These mangos are from a tree at the back of our house. They are around 1 lb. each...sometimes heavier. They are bigger than a softball. This one is almost ripe. We have to pick it before the birds pick AT it. Its loaded with vitamins, fiber and calories.

Last Days of Vacation…

We are enjoying some hot, relaxing summer days. We have a canvas pool we set up each year. Yesterday it felt like a hot tub. Edson didn’t even feel comfortable in it, it was just too hot. I thought of a good friend who recently told me that she and her husband were out in their hot tub during a snow storm. She loved the warmth of the hot tub, and the snowflakes falling around her head, but the wind was too cold for her face. The other night we were out in the pool battling mosquitoes. The water was perfect, the night was beautiful, but ohhh…the mosquitoes!
Edson is still enjoying his hose. We wake up later than usual, and we stay up later at night. We visit friends or the boys have sleep overs. Every once in a while we have ice cream or icy-cold pop, but...summer is ending!

POPCORN!!!

If you know the Schleys, you know that popcorn is the family favorite! It all started with my dad. He would pop himself a whole Tupperware bowlful and say that we were only allowed a couple of handfuls. Yeah, he always got the bowl. Mom would by popcorn by 25 lb bags. Dad preferred the white popcorn, but mom usually bought both kinds (that was 50 lbs of popcorn on hand!). Mom would make caramel corn for teachers at school and church things, we would put on flavourings or powdered cheddar cheese. If company would come we’d make a couple of batches. Popcorn was just our favorite snack!
Fortunately (or unfortunately for some) it is one of the cheapest snack foods here in Paraguay. We don’t have isles and isles of choices…maybe only five different things. So, popcorn has become OUR family’s favorite snack, too. Thanks to Grandpa Schley that Tupperware bowl is usually full in the afternoon and we can all enjoy this “healthy” snack. Once we had visitors from the States and the son went to tell his mom that I made this amazing popcorn…in a pan! He called her down to have me teach her how to do it…in a pan. He’s only seen it made in a microwave!
Taking after my dad, I am proud to say that I make some of the best popcorn in the world and it ALMOST NEVER BURNS. I start my kids off young, but I did wait until Edson was 1 before I gave him the whole kernel.

Childhood Memories

Oscar told me that the Acerola cherries needed picked. We have a little shrub in our back yard. While I was giving Edson breakfast, I asked him to pick a few. A few minutes later he came back with a bowl full and said, “There are 10 times this much still out there.
In the hot morning sun, I knew it would be insane to ask my kids to do it. They never HAD to do such a chore. So, getting my gear ready (mosquito repellent, a baggie and sunglasses) I went out to harvest these little cherries.
Right away scenes of my childhood spread across the panoramic view of my mind. Red raspberries in my dreams! Grandpa’s blueberries…so many, you thought you’d never pick them all. There were so many acerolas that they seemed to be ripening as soon as I finished a certain spot.
Since you can do much more than stand in one spot and pick, I started to be thankful. I thanked God that there were no prickly thorns like the red raspberries. I thanked God for the experience I had as a kid, picking berries…that was the only reason I had the patience to do it now. I thanked Him for the refreshing juice we would be enjoying soon, and for the laughter (two big boys and one little one bonding) coming from the house. Finally, the last one was picked!
P.S. I copied some info from Encarta for you…
Barbados Cherry, also called acerola, a tropical American shrub or small tree. The best-known species, native from southern Texas to northern South America and the West Indies, is a widely planted ornamental shrub growing to 1.8 m (6 ft) high. It has slender branches bearing glossy ovate leaves that are pointed at the tip. The rose-colored flowers, 2 cm (0.75 in) wide, grow in clusters. The fruit of the Barbados cherry, which is usually scarlet or red, is a drupe, which is a stone fruit similar to the plum, olive, and peach. The fruit has a pleasant tart taste and is sometimes used in preserves and in cold drinks. The Barbados cherry contains a large amount of vitamin C, and its juice, usually called acerola juice, is added to orange, pineapple, and other juices canned for use as baby food to increase the natural vitamin C content.
© 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Edson’s Favorite Pastime

Edson is EXTREMELY ACTIVE. It is amazing how fast and energetic he is. We can sometimes distract him in his high chair with a bread stick or cracker, but in a short while he is squirming and his cries tell us he is done sitting. He’s up and down on all the kitchen chairs, sneaks up the stairs, checks for an open bathroom door, or pulls down anything within reach. After a couple of hours of this non-stop activity, we are often strained or just exhausted; running around after him.
We finally discovered a way to totally calm him…for hours. Mind you, it is in the 100ºs and very humid. We slip on one of those “little swimmer” pull-ups and give him the hose. We turn it on a little bit and he sits there and wets himself. He waters the floor, his legs, and his head. He puts his finger in the end and gets sprayed in the face. He drinks water from it and puts his other hand through it. He makes a fountain out of it and watches it…and watches it…and he is still, sitting or kneeling.
We enjoy the peace and quiet and pull out some terere to drink. Finally, we can talk without jumping up and down or going after him.
When we say…Let’s go! It’s battle time. He will NOT let go! He loves the hose! Neighbors may think there is something wrong when we try to pry the hose out of his hand. He grips the hose harder than ever and it becomes a fight with loud screams and cries of discontentment.
His lips are blue with cold. His fingers are all wrinkly. We dry him off, hide the hose, and…we’ll wait till tomorrow.

This is for Martha!

Milanesas - fried
(Chicken Fried Steak)

2 lb. beef (round steak, loin)
Salt, pepper, garlic, nutmeg, oregano, lemon juice or vinegar
2 eggs
½ cup milk
Flour
Bread crumbs
Oil

Cut the meat in thin slices and pound each side. Season. Beat the eggs and add the milk. Dip the meat first in the flour, then the egg mixture, and then in the bread crumbs. Heat enough oil in a frying pan to cover the meat. Fry until brown, turn and brown the other side.

Milanesas - baked
(Chicken Fried Steak)

2 lb. beef (round steak, loin)
Salt, pepper
2 eggs
½ cup milk
Garlic and oregano
Bread crumbs
Oil
Cut the meat in thin slices and pound each side. Season with salt and pepper. Beat the eggs and add the milk, garlic and oregano. Dip the meat first in the egg mixture, and then in the bread crumbs. Place on a large oiled tray and bake at 350 F. Turn milanesas half way through. Bake until browned.

Milanesas Napolitana
After baking the milanesas, add pizza sauce and cheese. Return to oven until cheese is browned.

Recipes on HIGH demand from those who “Went to Paraguay and Lived to Tell About It”…

Three treats!

Empanadas al Horno…Oven Empanadas
You can use any kind of filling…ground or shredded turkey, chicken or beef with sautéed onions, peppers and garlic. You can add olives or hard boiled eggs to the filling. In Argentina they even put in raisins. Sometimes we make pizza fillings (ham, cheese, hard-boiled egg, tomato, oregano), cabbage ones (sautéed cabbage, onions, carrots, chicken pieces), or scrabbled egg and cheese empanadas.
Here's the recipe for the dough.
2 Cups Flour
2 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
Mix all together. Knead well. Cut up into little balls. Roll out with a rolling pin. Fill the dough with desired filling and seal with a fork. Bake till golden brown. Have fun.
P.S. These can be made in advance and frozen. Hungry teenagers will pop them in the microwave...whenever!

Chipas (Cheese Bread)
16 ounces Mandioca starch - 3 1/2 cups
Salt
anise seeds (optional - a very Paraguayan treat)
1/2 cup Sunflower seed oil
3/4 cup milk
3 eggs, large
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese grated
1-3/4 cups Mild cheddar, grated
Bring milk and oil to a boil in a small saucepan. Add to the mandioca starch. Mix and allow to cool a little. Incorporate the eggs, one at a time. Add the cheese and blend well. The dough may be very sticky. Place a little oil on the hands and round dough into balls. Divide into pieces the size of a walnut or small plum. Arrange on a baking sheet. Bake at 375ºF until golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Serve warm.

Alfajores (Sugar cookies with Carmel filling)
This recipe is a favorite…an original…from my Aunt Kath who lived in Argentina about 20 years. (Maybe I’ll hear back from her if it isn’t correct!) It is one of the best we ever tried. Everything is measured in grams, here and in the recipe, so I am not sure about the exact cup measurements. Try these out!
2 cups margarine (400 grams)
1 ½ cups of sugar (300 grams)
6 yolks
2 tablespoons vanilla, “dulce de leche” liquor or rum
3 cups corn starch (600 grams)
2 cups flour (400 grams)

Mix the margarine and sugar. Add yolks and flavouring. Stir in cornstarch and flour. Roll out. Cut out with a round cookie cutter. Bake until LIGHTLY browned. Cool. Cover one cookie bottom with dulce de leche (carmel jelly) and stick another bottom cookie together to make a sandwich. Roll in shredded coconut.

Ben, Ellen and I are working on a Paraguayan Cookbook that we want to promote for this year's camps. Let me know what you liked when you were here and we'll add it to the cookbook.