I shouldn't be surprised at all the northerners who can't appreciate a good fried bologna sandwich (snicker, snicker). Y'all probably don't like red eye gravy or grits either, do you? Well I love you anyway, bless your heart! ☺ Just means there's more for me.
Before Spanish today we prepared the pizza dough and let it rise while in I was in class. Now it's in the oven, liberally covered with pizza sauce, olives, onions, red pepper, mushrooms and homemade Italian sausage and smothered with three kinds of freshly grated cheese (mozzarella, parmesan and Holland). Does that sound more appetizing?
It's a hot one here in Carlos Paz so not only the curtains are closed, but the windows too, in an attempt to keep the hot air out. I'm glad the pizza won't take long to bake since I don't want to heat up the kitchen any more than necessary.
I haven't had my act together in a while in order to participate in Carol's Saturday Stirrings. But today I'm back! And Carol has me drooling over her new discovery: Perdue Oven Ready Chicken Roasters. It's going on my list of foods-I-must-have-when-we-go-on-furlough.
Because I think it's just too sad if y'all go through life without having a good dish of sausage and sauerkraut at least once, I'm sharing what I do to the sauerkraut to make even fussy kids (or adults!) like it.
SAUSAGE & SAUERKRAUT
1-2 sausages per family member, depending on how much each person typically eats
[USE ANY KIND OF SAUSAGE YOU WANT! I've made this with a variety over the years. It's all good.]
1 large can sauerkraut
1 individual serving (bottle or sippy carton) of apple juice (apple cider is even better to use when you can get it)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon beef bouillon granules (if using cube, dissolve in apple juice)
You can brown the sausage or not; that's one of those personal choice things.
Rinse sauerkraut well. Really well! Don't mess around with this step. It's VERY important.
Place rinsed sauerkraut in a casserole dish, pour apple juice (or cider) over, sprinkle with brown sugar and beef bouillon granules. Top with sausages (browned or not). Put tin foil over casserole. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, removing tin foil for last 10 minutes.
Serve with mashed potatoes, applesauce or fried apples and brown bread (we prefer pumpernickel).
Muy delicioso! Really!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Bologna, Pickles & Sauerkraut: Foods that send me into a swoon
Estoy muy satisfecha! Why, you ask? Because this southern girl just finished the most delectable fried bologna sandwich with a side of pickles and Cheetos. Oh my, it was good!
I've been craving this southern delicacy for quite a while and yesterday the hubby came home with the bologna. Hallelujah! But we didn't have any bread so I had to wait until today when we went shopping again. The bread (a nice round loaf) was fresh out of the oven and still warm when we got it home and sliced it.
To top it off, we also found a jar of pickles on the aisle of international foods. Thought it was kosher dill but since we don't know German, we weren't sure. It's not but we aren't sad 'cause these are the best pickles we've had since we arrived!
The bologna had a little something added to it. Can you guess what? No, seriously! Guess! Come on, what have I said they put on EVERYTHING? Eggs of course. Yep, hard boiled eggs had been added. But it wasn't in obnoxious amounts and didn't detract from the bologna at all.
Or maybe I'm just getting used to the eggs.
Also on the international food aisle we found what we think is sauerkraut. Again, can't be sure, and it's purple but we think that's 'cause they used red cabbage. We'll find out ☺ The last time we went to Santa Rosa we stopped at a little meat market in Belgrano (a German enclave) and picked up bacon and knackwurst. Didn't think about getting any sauerkraut though, and that's not something typically sold in stores here. But we're hoping we truly did score some so that tomorrow we can have sausage and sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Yum!
Can you tell I've got my appetite back?
I've been craving this southern delicacy for quite a while and yesterday the hubby came home with the bologna. Hallelujah! But we didn't have any bread so I had to wait until today when we went shopping again. The bread (a nice round loaf) was fresh out of the oven and still warm when we got it home and sliced it.
To top it off, we also found a jar of pickles on the aisle of international foods. Thought it was kosher dill but since we don't know German, we weren't sure. It's not but we aren't sad 'cause these are the best pickles we've had since we arrived!
The bologna had a little something added to it. Can you guess what? No, seriously! Guess! Come on, what have I said they put on EVERYTHING? Eggs of course. Yep, hard boiled eggs had been added. But it wasn't in obnoxious amounts and didn't detract from the bologna at all.
Or maybe I'm just getting used to the eggs.
Also on the international food aisle we found what we think is sauerkraut. Again, can't be sure, and it's purple but we think that's 'cause they used red cabbage. We'll find out ☺ The last time we went to Santa Rosa we stopped at a little meat market in Belgrano (a German enclave) and picked up bacon and knackwurst. Didn't think about getting any sauerkraut though, and that's not something typically sold in stores here. But we're hoping we truly did score some so that tomorrow we can have sausage and sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Yum!
Can you tell I've got my appetite back?
Thursday, March 12, 2009
I just took my first art class...EVER!
Except for those vague memories from second grade when getting chosen to help make the paste was the highlight of my year. And watching Tommy eat a bowl full of the paste the most disgusting.
I could have taken an art class in junior high but instead chose typing as my elective. At the insistence of my mom who was bound and determined I would NOT have to work as a waitress like she did.
So here I am at age 50 taking my first art class. Why should moving to a different country and learning another language be the only firsts in my Year of Jubilee?!
This class is killing the proverbial two birds with one stone. I really DO want to learn how to draw and paint, but as the only English speaker in the class I'll also be working on my Spanish.
Before class next week I plan to look up vocabulary words associated with art. It might help.
My Spanish tutor knows my art teacher and ran into her recently, giving her the heads up about moi. The teacher and all the other ladies in the class are very kind and helpful, speaking slowly and repeating as necessary. Of course, having her explain concepts by drawing on the white board helps too.
So I'm pretty excited about this new adventure. We meet in the Cultural Center downtown and after class I knocked off a couple of my other assignments for Spanish: buying coffee and looking for a new watchband. It has been our habit for the hubby to run errands and do any necessary shopping while I'm in Spanish class but my tutor says it's time for me to start doing more.
Tomorrow morning I'm going to interview the young man at a nearby kiosko who sells newspapers and magazines. And I'm hoping he has a selection of home decorating magazines, 'cause I've been going through design withdrawal. Or maybe an art magazine would be better since that would be full of words I need to learn.
Just talked to the daughter who was pleasantly surprised yesterday to receive her daddy's Blackberry in the mail. Y'all might remember the Saga of the Blackberry and what my poor hubby went through trying to get it to work here. Since that is NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN, he decided someone should get some use out of it and the daughter was the recipient.
She spent a good part of today wading through the bureaucracy that is Sprint since Sprint had still not closed our account. Aaargh! She had a very nice young man helping her and we're hoping and praying that she actually accomplished what we could not, despite repeated phone calls over many months. But having them say they've done something is not the same as them actually doing it, so I'm not holding my breath until we receive confirmation. After all, we were assured multiple times that the problem was handled and obviously it was not.
Not that I'm bitter or anything.
Just sayin' I won't be signing up with Sprint when we're home on furlough.
The hubby built me a nice shelf in the kitchen yesterday to hold the toaster oven and our big ole bottle of water on it's tiny little plastic base. Just underneath is a smaller shelf with the wifi router and invertor, and my crockpot fits just perfectly under it all on the counter. Yay! I do NOT like counter clutter!
And by way of closing, Happy Mama nominated me for The Kreativ Blogger Award. Thanks Happy Mama! If y'all haven't stopped by her place, you really should go! Just like I'm a foreigner learning the customs in a new country, so is Happy Mama learning how to be a New American in the U.S. Her posts are so refreshing and fun to read with a great perspective on our funny American customs ☺ I'm not going to nominate anyone specific (you're ALL Kreativ Bloggers!) but if you'd like to participate, consider yourself nominated! You're supposed to write seven things you love, and nominate seven other bloggers.
I could have taken an art class in junior high but instead chose typing as my elective. At the insistence of my mom who was bound and determined I would NOT have to work as a waitress like she did.
So here I am at age 50 taking my first art class. Why should moving to a different country and learning another language be the only firsts in my Year of Jubilee?!
This class is killing the proverbial two birds with one stone. I really DO want to learn how to draw and paint, but as the only English speaker in the class I'll also be working on my Spanish.
Before class next week I plan to look up vocabulary words associated with art. It might help.
My Spanish tutor knows my art teacher and ran into her recently, giving her the heads up about moi. The teacher and all the other ladies in the class are very kind and helpful, speaking slowly and repeating as necessary. Of course, having her explain concepts by drawing on the white board helps too.
So I'm pretty excited about this new adventure. We meet in the Cultural Center downtown and after class I knocked off a couple of my other assignments for Spanish: buying coffee and looking for a new watchband. It has been our habit for the hubby to run errands and do any necessary shopping while I'm in Spanish class but my tutor says it's time for me to start doing more.
Tomorrow morning I'm going to interview the young man at a nearby kiosko who sells newspapers and magazines. And I'm hoping he has a selection of home decorating magazines, 'cause I've been going through design withdrawal. Or maybe an art magazine would be better since that would be full of words I need to learn.
Just talked to the daughter who was pleasantly surprised yesterday to receive her daddy's Blackberry in the mail. Y'all might remember the Saga of the Blackberry and what my poor hubby went through trying to get it to work here. Since that is NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN, he decided someone should get some use out of it and the daughter was the recipient.
She spent a good part of today wading through the bureaucracy that is Sprint since Sprint had still not closed our account. Aaargh! She had a very nice young man helping her and we're hoping and praying that she actually accomplished what we could not, despite repeated phone calls over many months. But having them say they've done something is not the same as them actually doing it, so I'm not holding my breath until we receive confirmation. After all, we were assured multiple times that the problem was handled and obviously it was not.
Not that I'm bitter or anything.
Just sayin' I won't be signing up with Sprint when we're home on furlough.
The hubby built me a nice shelf in the kitchen yesterday to hold the toaster oven and our big ole bottle of water on it's tiny little plastic base. Just underneath is a smaller shelf with the wifi router and invertor, and my crockpot fits just perfectly under it all on the counter. Yay! I do NOT like counter clutter!
And by way of closing, Happy Mama nominated me for The Kreativ Blogger Award. Thanks Happy Mama! If y'all haven't stopped by her place, you really should go! Just like I'm a foreigner learning the customs in a new country, so is Happy Mama learning how to be a New American in the U.S. Her posts are so refreshing and fun to read with a great perspective on our funny American customs ☺ I'm not going to nominate anyone specific (you're ALL Kreativ Bloggers!) but if you'd like to participate, consider yourself nominated! You're supposed to write seven things you love, and nominate seven other bloggers.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
If there was a prize it would go to...
"Fun little lunch time research project! The plant is called Orbea, aka known as Carrion flower, supposedly because the flowers have an unpleasant odor that helps attract pollinators."
I knew I could count on Sharon to Name That Plant! Thank you, dear SIL :-)
I will keep y'all apprised of whether or not my clipping survives and blooms. You can be sure of photographic proof if it does!
Spanish resumed today after my break for conference. My brain is tired. Actually my whole body is tired, but my brain especially. Isn't it interesting that even the brain gets tired when you work it? For some unfathomable reason I have a mental block when it comes to thinking about the brain being an object that can be overworked just like my arms or legs. And yet I have seen time and again since beginning this process of language acquisition that my brain is a weak and pathetic organ, unused to hard labor and ready to rise up in protest at the slightest push toward anything resembling THINKING.
It doesn't know it yet, but I plan on pushing it to its limits and beyond in the coming months. I WILL LEARN SPANISH. So it better just straighten up and get with the program or I'm gonna...well, I'll think of something dreadful to do with it. If it doesn't figure out what I'm doing and sabotage my efforts. It's a wile wee organ, puffed up with arrogance beyond all reason and able to run rings around me at times with its circular thinking and deceptive thought processes.
But I'm claiming Romans 12:2 in this battle! "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (ESV) God has called us to Argentina and I'm not much good without the ability to communicate so I KNOW it is His good and acceptable and perfect will for me to learn Spanish.
I knew I could count on Sharon to Name That Plant! Thank you, dear SIL :-)
I will keep y'all apprised of whether or not my clipping survives and blooms. You can be sure of photographic proof if it does!
Spanish resumed today after my break for conference. My brain is tired. Actually my whole body is tired, but my brain especially. Isn't it interesting that even the brain gets tired when you work it? For some unfathomable reason I have a mental block when it comes to thinking about the brain being an object that can be overworked just like my arms or legs. And yet I have seen time and again since beginning this process of language acquisition that my brain is a weak and pathetic organ, unused to hard labor and ready to rise up in protest at the slightest push toward anything resembling THINKING.
It doesn't know it yet, but I plan on pushing it to its limits and beyond in the coming months. I WILL LEARN SPANISH. So it better just straighten up and get with the program or I'm gonna...well, I'll think of something dreadful to do with it. If it doesn't figure out what I'm doing and sabotage my efforts. It's a wile wee organ, puffed up with arrogance beyond all reason and able to run rings around me at times with its circular thinking and deceptive thought processes.
But I'm claiming Romans 12:2 in this battle! "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (ESV) God has called us to Argentina and I'm not much good without the ability to communicate so I KNOW it is His good and acceptable and perfect will for me to learn Spanish.
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