Patch the Pirate Comes to Town

A couple weeks before Mother's Day, our church had the distinct privilege

of hosting one of three annual Majesty MusiColleges held across

the United States by Ron and Shelly Hamilton and their team.

What a blessing to be reacquainted with their music and testimonies

and to hear what God has done in their personal lives over the last several years. 

This is a two day conference held on Thursday and Friday with a glorious choir concert

open to the public on Friday evening.

What a thrill to be able to participate in that!

The last MusiCollege I was able to attend was over 20 years ago

(in my former [unmarried] life) when I was living in New Hampshire,

and I remember what an incredible experience it was then!

This was the first time that a MusiCollege was ever held in the 

great state of Texas!!!

On Saturday was the Patch the Pirate LIVE! show!

Aryn got to participate in that and what fun she had!!!

Spring Luncheon!!

One of my favorite activities to do with my girls every May

is to attend our annual Ladies Spring Luncheon at our church!

In the not too distant past, this was known as the "Mother-Daughter Banquet."

But in an effort not to exclude anyone, the name and scope has been broadened.

We love it, and are always blessed to enjoy this together!

Advanced Foods Class: Making our own Central and South American Dishes

A funny thing happened when it came time for my students to pick

their own Central or South American dishes.

Without conferring among themselves,

we ended up with a dessert sampler plate that morning.

Two of my students made the exact same dish!!

The other interesting coincidence was that each dish they made

had sweetened condensed milk in it!!

The first dish that two of my students made is called Brigadeiro!!

Absolutely delish!!!

A little tricky to make and it was fun hearing both girls recounting

their similar adventure in creating this dish!!

Read more about it here!

This Tres Leches cake was moist and delicious!!

The tartness of this Brazilian "lemonade" knocked our socks off.

Also made with sweetened condensed milk, this beverage

got its refreshing flavor from fresh lime juice.

A taste sensation!!!

What a fun morning full of surprises from our friends living way south of our borders!!

Advanced Foods Class: Peru Gourmet Cafe

It's hard to believe that our school year is quickly coming to a close!!

We have had an absolute blast learning about different cultures

and their foods.

Our very last unit of the year is the food of Central and South America.

I have to say that it has been a bit of a challenge to find information

on this region of the world in regard to their food.

I'm not sure if it's because here in Texas we already have such

a strong Mexican influence in our state and the Latin foods

all intertwine somehow?

My students have all had and can identify Mexican food.

But I wanted them to understand the difference between Mexican

food and say.....Brazilian food.

Or Peruvian food.

So, our first experience with this cuisine came from a local restaurant

called the Peru Gourmet Cafe. 

What a taste sensation!!!!

We arrived right at opening on a Thursday morning, so we had the entire

restaurant to ourselves.

I told our waitress the purpose of our visit and she was

extraordinarily helpful!!

She gave us the history of some of the foods and made lots

of suggestions!!  I had asked help from friends

for dishes we should try, and our waitress was quick

to bring those to us!!

The food was delicious and beautifully presented!!!

It was a bit pricey, but the quality of the food was so worth it!!

I definitely recommend you try it if in the area and not interested

in Mexican or Tex-Mex!

"Chicha Morada"
This refreshing drink is made from purple (morada) corn, pineapple juice,

and cinnamon.  Definitely delicious, yet definitely different.

"Canchita"

Roasted corn kernels.

Yum!!!!

Fried Plantains

"Choclo"

Read about it here.

This was served to us lukewarm and was slightly chewy.

Sticks of mozzarella came with this dish.

Not our favorite.

My students and I shared this amazing sampler plate.

So many incredible flavors and textures!!

"Aji de Gallina"

This shredded chicken in yellow pepper sauce is to DIE for.

Exquisitely delicious!

"Arroz con pollo"

Chicken breast served over the tastiest rice you'll ever have!!

Our class favorite!!!!

"Causa Limena"

Cold (mashed) potato cake with vegetables and chicken.

My personal favorite!!

Reminiscent of an amazing potato salad.

"Papa a la Huicaina"

Boiled potatoes with a creamy yellow sauce.

This was also served lukewarm, but it had a great flavor.  

For a great copy-cat recipe click here! 

Such a fun experience for us all!!

Advanced Foods Class: Cooking our own European and Asian Food!

My students and I finally got our turn to try some European or Asian recipes

and what fun we had experimenting.

I steamed the vegetarian buns I purchased at the Korean market

and we decided these were not our favorite.

We all loved the crunchy Korean (or maybe Chinese?) snacks

that were crunchy honey-flavored delights!!

Similar to Bugles only sweeter.

We sampled a delicious apple cinnamon filled crepe.

Ashlyn made a fabulous stir fried beef with snow peas that ended up being the

class favorite.

Somehow, I failed to get a picture of that?

Our final dish was a french inspired marinated chicken breast with

purple cabbage.
She also made an amazing blackberry upside cake

which I also somehow failed to photograph.

What a sensational way to wrap up our study of the cuisine

of these vast and varied continents!!!

Advanced Foods Class: Asian Guest Speaker

What a privilege it was to have a brand new friend

come to our Advanced Foods Class and teach us about the

country of her birth.....South Korea!!

She taught us several fun factoids about this country

that we previously were not aware of:

1.) In Korea, knowing your blood type is very important.

Certain personalities are associated with each blood type,

so when you meet a potential life-mate one of the first

questions you ask is their blood type!!

2.)  Eating seaweed soup on your birthday is traditional.

Seaweed soup is full of health benefits and it's a great way

to begin a new year of life.  It's also very common to eat this dish after

giving birth because of it's detoxing properties and nutrition!!

Read more about that here!

3.)  You are not likely to have cold feet in South Korea because most homes have

heated floors!

This lovely lady prepared two different dishes for us

that exploded with deliciousness!!

  

This stir-fried dish of transparent noodles (made from sweet potato?!) 

and vegetables had a subtle, delicious flavor.

The beef was tender and we all enjoyed this tremendously.

The second dish she prepared was a traditional Korean ssam (pronounced "sum")!

Read more about that here!

The idea is to start with a leafy green (she used romaine) 

topped with a sesame leaf.

Read about those here!

Then she put a bit of sticky white rice on the leaves.

She made an incredible spicy plum sauce, dipped a small strip

of fried beef in the sauce, and placed that on top of the rice.

Finally, she folded it all up into a small packet and popped

the whole thing into her mouth!!

This struck me as the perfect little lunch that you could customize

with whatever little bits of meats, veggies, and rice you have leftover.

Her plum sauce was exquisite though and really added

a great flavor to this dish.

The sesame leaves were very different and tasted

like roses to me.  Very pungent in an appetizer

and not one that I was immediately won over with!!

Finally, our guest showed us some pieces of her traditional dance

costumes that were really beautiful!

What a wonderful experience this was learning

about a culture very unfamiliar to us!!

Thank you so much Mrs. Heeyah Lanty!!!!