Orchids

Every year they are so much more beautiful. Isn't this amazing?

Another Paraguayan Favorite...

We went to San Pedro yesterday morning. It was a quickie just to visit Oscar's mom and connect with the family a bit. What used to be a 7 hour drive with about 50 miles of dirt road is now a 4 hour, smooth, all-paved ride! Wonderful!
I have been here 18 years! BUT, I have NEVER tried this Paraguayan favorite that I am going to write about!
While Oscar was talking with his brother-in-law about cows, crops and other stuff, I wandered off with Edson and our little niece to crack coconuts. Here there are two kinds of coconuts: the big ones with the coconut milk in them and the small ones about the size of jawbreakers. These coconuts flower, grow into little balls, fall off, the skin crunches off, they dry out, and then this is the hard NUT that you want to crack open to get the actual coconut.
My brother asked me how to open them and I said...caveman style...between two rocks!
Well, my little 7 year old niece (who only speaks Guarani) took me to a cute spot. There was a tree stump with a cupped out space in the middle full of these now, marble sized coconuts. On one side of the "hole" there was a tiny, dug out section. She quickly slipped the coconut in and picked up an axe head and wacked it hard. The shell cracked open and she had her coconut out. There were probably one-hundred, so we started cracking coconuts and saving them in a baggie (for me to take home!)
Every once in a while, we would crack one open and a HUGE COCONUT WORM would be in it. I was grossing out...but then kind of noticed that she would pick them up off the ground and it seemed to me that she would eat it. Finally, I asked her if she was eating the grubs and she said...YES!
I asked her why and she said..."They are good! It tastes like coconut milk!" I said..."That's gross!" I was horrified. She laughed and said..."no it's not. Try one, Tía Karen!" I said. "no way, never!" She laughed at me not wanting to try it and I laughed at her enjoying her grub so much.
I told Oscar about it and he said..."oh, they are sooo good cooked, toasted over the fire!" (What, like some sort of marshmellows or something?)
Okay, so I find out that my husband also eats these things! Wow, eighteen years later I find out that many Paraguayans sneak outback to enjoy these coconut bug delicacies...hmmmm!
Last word...to my brother...
So, if they offer you any, just remember, don't worry, they say that they taste like coconut milk!

A Paraguayan Favorite...Leche Crema

I worked with a lady once who had us (my sisters and me) make cornstarch pudding all the time. We thought it was kind of weird and bland. But we did it anyway. We NEVER made it at home! We thought it was kind of ... old fashion...mind you, Angela was 95 at the time!
I never made it again until I was here in Paraguay. Here, everyone seemed to make it. Everyone seemed to love it. My family LOVES it!
Recently we had some visitors who complemented my "Leche Crema" saying that it tasted like Creme Bruleé...Ohhh, if it could only, really be that fancy...No, this recipe is a lot easier.
Try it girls! It really IS easy. It's one of our family's favorites, and it's not so old-fashion after all.

Leche Crema

1 qt. milk
1 egg
1/2 c. cornstarch
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla, raspberry flavoring, or (dulce de leche liquor)

Combine sugar, cornstarch and egg and milk in a blender. Blend for about 1 minute. Pour in a pan and start to cook it on low. Stir constantly until pudding thickens. Finish by adding vanilla or flavoring.

Heat 3/4 cup of sugar in a sauce pan. Stir frequently so the sugar doesn't burn. It should be a carmel color and melted. Pour on top of pudding.

Place pudding in dish and cool in refrigerator.

ENJOY

School Pictures

This is what my kids do...

11 Days

Wow! It's been 11 days since I posted last! Before you ask...I will tell you that I have been VERY BUSY! I have had several roles here, SUPER MOM (doing all the jobs that moms do all the time, plus helping the 10th graders with a spaghetti meal, plus, dealing with a 2 1/2 year old, plus getting everyone up at 5:15 am...), SUPER DAD (doing all the jobs that the dad or husbands do...well, my husband, anyway, really does a lot!), SUPER TEACHER (doing double shifts with meetings, etc. at school since Oscar wasn't here, plus...going through some very difficult decisions at school!), SUPER HOSTESS (fixing meals for about 15 people every day for a whole month trying to prepare a variety of American and Paraguayan foods), SUPER FAN (standing on the sidelines at soccer and volley ball games screaming for the "Adonai" winning team...in the cold and the rain).

Well, today, my adrenaline is low. Oscar's back. Things are getting back to normal. I have been soooo busy the past month that today I don't even feel like cooking.

I'm resting up today and maybe tomorrow. I have a lot coming up this weekend...a couple more soccer and volley ball games, a women's meeting, a youth activity, another spaghetti fund raiser...I'm thankful that Oscar is back to help split the responsabilities!

I'll get back into the blogging routine, again, soon!

Skype

Last night Oscar and i were talking on Skype. We seemed so near and clear. We could have been just rooms apart...but no, it was miles and miles! The saddest part of the conversation was when Edson picked up on his dad's voice and came running to the computer. He looked all around, saw Oscar's image on the video screen and said "Upa, papá, upa! (Hold me, daddy, hold me!) Awww, I don't know who was more nostalgic...Oscar or Edson.