Something to Chew On

I LOVE that as missionaries part of our "job description" is focusing on people and reaching out and making an impact. And of course naturally, spending time with people and food go so well together.

I LOVE bringing people food as a way to show we care and build a bridge. The other day our next door neighbor suddenly and unexpectedly passed away (he was only in his 50's too). We had the chance to reach out to the wife by stopping by with some apple cake a few days later. She insisted we come in and even allowed us to pray with her.

I also LOVE having people over: neighbors, people we know in the community, other missionaries or people from church, small groups, etc. But since we've been expecting, I've noticed that I have been dragging my feet a bit about having people over. It just seemed like so much work to entertain. But then, one day I was on Amazon.com and glanced through a book by one of my favorite cooks named Pam Anderson. I read one of her books (How to Cook Without a Book) before coming to Brazil and it completely changed my perspectives on cooking and allowed me be flexible to cook in a place where you never know what you're going to find or not find at the grocery store!

Anyway, I saw a book of hers that I had never seen before called Perfect Recipes for Having People Over. Although I knew I wasn't going to buy it (I would love to but shipping to Brazil is way too high!), I skimmed the first few pages of the book on Amazon.com

And it completely refreshed my thinking about cooking for others. The premise? Stop entertaining and start having people over to share a meal. I really can't do it justice though, so if you're needing some encouragement in this area of life, click here and read the intro from pages x-xii

Since then, I've had so much more fun and we've had so many more people over - neighbors for chili, groups of friends for blts and oven fries, and much more. This weekend we're planning to get together with some people for some very casual made-at-home fondue and a pile of things to dip in it. It should be fun!

Embassy Shock

The impression you get from movies of the US embassy being a welcoming place of refuge for US citizens is quite far from what I experienced last week. I'm sure that in times of crisis the embassy IS that place of refuge for it's citizens, but on a normal peaceful Saturday, I was left out in the cold (actually out in the heat!). Here's a picture of my view on Saturday. We headed over to the embassy in Brasilia for Jeyson to renew his visa to the US. Thankfully he was able to get it renewed for 10 years! But I was shocked that the embassy would not even allow me to come into the building. Now I understand that the embassy can't have tons of extra people in at the time of the visa interview etc...but I am a US citizen and his wife! And, in addition, I had a question about how to register our child overseas. But stuck out in the parking lot I was! Crazy! And the craziest part is that when I needed a document on another occasion from the embassy, they allowed Jeyson to come in with me! Meanwhile, Saturday I sat outside for almost 2 hours waiting for Jeyson and there wasn't even a bathroom to use! I wound up walking down the road and found a random closed building (on Saturdays in Brazil everything is closed pretty much) and begged the guard to allow me in to use the restroom. So crazy!



Oh well! I LOVE my country and all it represents as far as freedom and possibility. I am grateful that Jeyson got his visa so he can continue to visit along with me. And I really wasn't too inconvenienced by waiting outside. However, after the appointment we decided to stop at Pizza Hut (which they don't have near us) to at least get a little taste of the US for me. I'm so glad THEY let me in the door! ha!

Sourdough Failure

I have a love-hate relationship with sourdough bread. I LOVE everything about the taste and texture of a good loaf of sourdough. I HATE the fact that they don't have it here in Brazil and I am apparently completely incapable to making it!

Last week I gave it another shot and followed a youtube series called "follow the sourdough". Each day the chef preformed one step of the sourdough process, beginning with making the starter all the way through baking the dough. I studied each video and did the action precisely. Things were going along so well! I even prepared a post about my success and was just waiting to publish when I had a picture of the finished product. Note this scrumptious looking loaf below is from google images....because mine once again FLOPPED! When it came time to make the dough, it simply did not rise...bummer!


Grrr...what's a pregnant expatriate to do! Please go to your local grocery store and pick up a loaf of beautiful sourdough bread, slather it with butter, and enjoy it in my honor!