July 29, 2009
Today we will be boarding our plane to head back to Davao.
We have enjoyed a wonderful visit here in Texas with my sister, Sarah.
Houston sky line
We visited the Houston Space Center. It is amazing to see how big the engines are for the space craft.
My sister took us to Kemah for supper. It is a boardwalk area by the bay. We had good food and good fun!
We spent some time at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
Kirsten loved the gems. Ben enjoyed the dinosaurs. Mikayla enjoyed the astronomy section.
We saw a cool demonstration on polymers, too.
At a park near the museum they had a statue of Rizal! He is a national hero in the Philippines!
Aunt Sarah had a birthday celebration for Ben since his 'real' birthday is on August 3rd.
Aunt Sarah took us all to the zoo, too. Although it was hot and felt very much like being back in hot Davao, we had a good time there.
Texas Star hibiscus
July 26, 2009
Yesterday, Kurt's Dad and Pastor Jim took us to the airport.
Pastor Jim
Dad
The kids with Pastor Jim
Saying 'see you later' to Grandpa
It was bittersweet to say 'see you later' knowing 'later' will be 2 -4 years from now.
Unloading luggage
Checking in
It's been a good summer furlough for us.
We are looking forward to holding James and Jerard again soon, too.
July 26, 2009
We made it to Houston safely. We experienced a bit of turbulence the last 45 minutes or so of the flight due to a storm.
It is good to see my sister, Sarah. She has a wonderful house and has purchased many food items the kids are enjoying.
We are so thankful for the time we had in Michigan with our family and friends.
This morning, our sending church had a time of blessing for us before we return to Davao. They closed the service by singing two hymns of blessing for us.
I didn't have dry eyes as we sang these two songs.
It is so good to have a wonderful church family.
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In Christ there is no East or West,
In Him no South or North;
But one great fellowship of love
Throughout the whole wide earth.
In Him shall true hearts everywhere
Their high communion find;
His service is the golden cord,
Close binding humankind.
Join hands, then, members of the faith,
Whatever your race may be!
Who serves my Father as His child
Is surely kin to me.
In Christ now meet both East and West,
In Him meet North and South;
All Christly souls are one in Him
Throughout the whole wide earth.
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Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.
Before our Father's throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one
Our comforts and our cares.
We share each other's woes,
Our mutual burdens bear;
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.
When we asunder part,
It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in heart,
And hope to meet again.
This glorious hope revives
Our courage by the way;
While each in expectation lives,
And longs to see the day.
From sorrow, toil and pain,
And sin, we shall be free,
And perfect love and friendship reign
Through all eternity.
July 24, 2009
"All our bags are packed, we're ready to go..."
Well, almost....we will go to church tomorrow morning, then head to the airport in the afternoon to fly to Houston where we will visit my sister for 3 days before we fly out to Davao.....
Pray for us to have safe, healthy travels.
We have had a wonderful time in Michigan. We thank God for our family and friends!
July 24, 2009
I've been doing some Filipino cooking lately and have had many requests for the recipes....so, here they are!!!!!!
Pork Adobo (adobong baboy)
2 pounds boneless pork loin cut into 1" cubes
1/3 c vinegar
1/4 - 1/2 c soy sauce (I prefer silver swan or kikomon)
5 garlic cloves, crushed
2 bay leaves
1/8 tsp oregano
1/4 t peppercorns, cracked (or 1/4 t coarse ground pepper)
1 T - 1/2 cup sugar (depending on your taste)
1 cup water
1 tsp salt
Combine all ingredients in a stainless steel pot. Bring to a boil without stirring, lower heat and simmer covered 30 minutes or longer. Stir, continue cooking for another 30 minutes uncovered, until sauce is slightly reduced and thickened..
I like to make the above in a crock pot. I add all the ingredients, put the lid on the crock pot, turn it to low heat and let it simmer 6 - 8 hours. Lamay Kaayo! (Very Yummy!)
(I like to make my adobo with lots of sauce so I usually double the sauce recipe. The extra sauce is really good on the rice).
FYI
Adobo is the spanish word for sauce.
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Coconut Macaroons
3 cups grated coconut
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
2 egg yolks
1 tsp lemon juice or rind of one lemon
7 T flour
3 - 5 drops food colouring (optional)
Combine coconut, sugar and milk in heavy nonstick saucepan. Cook over low heat stirring fairly often for about 20 minutes or until it begins to thicken. Let cool 10 minutes. Add egg yolks and flour. Mix well.
Add lemon juice or rind and food colouring (if you want to colour the cookies) to coconut mixture. Mix well.
Cook again over low-medium heat, stirring constantly for about 20 minutes or until mixture no longer sticks to finger when touched lightly.
Drop from a greased teaspoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet one inch apart. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 15 minutes or until light brown. Do not overbake because cookies will become rock hard. Cool on rack. Store in layers of waxed paper in tightly covered container. They freeze well.
Makes about 4 dozen.
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Biko
(Rice Cake with Caramel topping)
2 cups malagkit (Sticky rice)
3 1/2 cups diluted coconut milk
3/4 c sugar
1/4 c butter
1 egg, beaten
2 T butter for greasing pan
Topping - 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup thick coconut milk
2 - 3 T flour for quick thickening
1 tsp vanilla flavouring
Grate 2 coconutes, squeeze out milk, or use 1 can (14 ounce) coconut milk, save 3/4 c of the thick milk for topping, dilute rest to make 3 1/2 cups.
Boil rice and thin coconut milk in a heavy pot stirring to keep bottom from scorching, about 15 - 20 minutes. When rice is almost dry, lower the heat, stir in sugar and 1/4 c butter. Let cool. Add egg, mix well.
Spread the rice mixture in a well-buttered 9×13" pan, bake in a preheated 300F oven for 20 minutes while preparing topping.
Combine all topping ingredients in a heavy saucepan, cook over low heat stirring constantly until thick, about 15 minutes, pour over rice mixture. Turn oven heat up to 350F, continue baking until top is brown, about 15 minutes. Serves 12.
Recipes taken from "Filipino Cooking and Entertaining Here and Abroad" by Eleanor R. Laquian. Copyright 2005.
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Another good source for Filipino recipes is http://www.pinoyrecipe.net/
Have fun cooking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
