Random Pictures of Last Month's Activities

The Adonai Praise and Worship team (Gaby is the tall guy on the right.)


Lots of people...lots of clothes to dry!


Last memories of Paraguay at the airport.

Martha helping with dinner preparations.

Nancy - She just brushed her teeth. (I think.)

Steevo -my nickname for my little nephew Stephen.

Jason - after our San Pedro trip.

Edson was drinking a

yogurt.

One more kumquat post

My aunt sent me a recipe for kumquat syrup! This is so good on pancakes. I also dipped cookies in it for a cold, whipped cream, mousse, creamy dessert. It is also good on crackers with cream cheese for an afternoon snack.

Merlot Candied Kumquats

INGREDIENTS:
1 cups tart kumquats
1-1/2 cups Merlot
1/4 cup water
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
10 cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
DIRECTIONS:
Prepare kumquats:
1. With a sharp knife cut kumquats in half, remove seeds and put in a pot of cold water just to cover.
2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 8 to 10 min.
3. Drain and refresh with cold water.
Prepare syrup:
1. In a med boiler add all ingredients except kumquats and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 10 min. (until it begins to thicken)
2. Add kumquats and simmer an additional 5 min.
3. Pour into clean jars.
Makes 2 pints. Great with ham or chicken.

Kumquats

My Kumquats are ripening nicely. I've been enjoying watching them grow and turn orange so very slowly, it seemed. I linked a site you can look at for nutritional value and recipes. I made some syrup (a recipe from my aunt) that is delicious.

...always a yummy fruit in season!

Tropical Kumquat Cake - Oscar's Birthday Cake

Tropical Kumquat Cake
From: Recipezaar.com
By: Mercy - Aug 26, 2004

Ingredients:
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups chopped kumquats
1 cup chopped nuts
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, well drained (I used fresh pineapple.)
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Directions:
1.In a bowl, beat eggs, sugar and oil.
2.Fold in dry ingredients and mix well.
3.Add kumquats, nuts and pineapple.
4.Pour into greased and floured tube pan.
5.Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes at 350°F.
6.Cool, remove from pan.

I made it twice already...it was THAT good!

Happy Birthday...OSCAR

Today is Mother's Day and Oscar's Birthday...we are having a SUPER-FUN day! It's a holiday...no school. No obligations. Visitors, yes...well, don't we always have them? That is a good sign. It means that people enjoy our company. (The only problem is that each one of them has a notebook and is sitting at the table communicating with others...hahahaha). We had a super Tropical Cake...I will post the recipe and fotos later.
On this first COLD day of fall...we are enjoying the warmth of family.
Happy Birthday...Happy Mother's Day.

A Fun Sunday

Coming home from church on Sundays we usually come across an intersection that has a LONG traffic light wait. Thankfully, in the hot sun and long wait, we are entertained by a man "working" for coins or applauses. Edson is usually thrilled and spends these couple of minutes laughing hysterically. Our juggler has become "a friend" and we gladly put coins in his roughed-up hat. He deserves it! He made us laugh! He juggles balls, rings and sometimes even torches with REAL fire. He is very talented.

With a car-full of tired hot, tired, little boys last Sunday; he became our hero, our entertainment, a few minutes of happiness. He's funny. He does tricks. He's a clown. It's his job and he makes us smile!

A Quick Trip

We took a quick trip to San Pedro with Martha's family and Jason. We were surprised by CLOSED shops and NO food at even a gas station. Well...it WAS Labor Day so people must have been taking it THAT serious. We met up with the boys at my sister-in-law's house and saw a petting zoo! There were chickens, guinea chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, pigs, piglets, cows, bulls, oxen, and sheep...plus, dogs and cats, of course. We headed on to my mother-in-laws for a baking class. She was preparing fresh bread in a TATACUÁ...a fire oven (a brick oven). We visited Pastor Marcial's Mom's house and saw more animals, (all of the above) PLUS, goats and A MONKEY, her house pet found in the woods. After that we had dinner at Pastor Marcial's house and the Weinhardts got to take a horse and buggy ride to Vivi's mom's house where the young kids were all playing volleyball.
We had one more adventure planned for today, but the 25 kilometers on the dirt roads in the rain scared us off. We DID get home earlier than planned and even found a crate of fresh pineapples on the side of the highway for only $3.00. It was a fun Quick Trip and GOOD to see family, again.