Protein-Packed Popcorn...

Disclaimer: If you have a weak stomach, this is probably not the post for you.

After coming back from lunch, where I was ‘hosting’ a lunchtime detention for 9^th & 10^th graders who, for whatever reason, decided not to do their homework last night, I was in the mood for some popcorn.

It had been a while since I’ve made popcorn at my house.  I knew that my popcorn was getting old and that I’d have to shake out the popcorn pretty well (refer to this post, if you need to jog your memory) before popping it.  I got out the colander and the popcorn and began shaking the popcorn over the sink.

Sure enough, there were quite a few dead little weevils who found their way to the bottom of my kitchen sink.  There were even several live ones – at least for a while.  I also needed to pick out quite a few kernels of corn that were way too dried out to even think about popping.  Plus, there were little holes in a lot of the popcorn, which I knew were from the weevils.  In fact, I was pretty sure that if I somehow managed to break into some of the kernels, I would find a couple of  weevils within the corn.

Even with all of this, the shaking out weevils and picking too-dried kernels out of the corn for a while, Operation Popcorn was still a “go”.  I got out my popper, a little bit of oil and the popcorn salt.  I added more popcorn than normal because I knew there would be a lot of unpopped kernels.  And there were.

Finally, though, I was sitting at the table, Kindle in hand and a bowl of popcorn in front of me. I began munching.  After a few minutes, I started wondering if there would be any now-popped weevils in the bottom of the bowl.  I stopped reading to check the bowl. There were.  But not too many.

That actually didn’t bother me too much and I continued eating.  A few more minutes went by and I started thinking about all the holes I had seen in the unpopped corn.  I inspected the popped corn a little more.  Some pieces of popcorn seemed to have dark spots on them, at the center of the kernel.  Any guesses as to what they were?

I guess a little extra protein never hurt anyone.

Flour Tortillas. Mmmmm...

I love freshly made flour tortillas. I've been over in the kitchen several times when Rosy is making them.  They're used for baleadas, gringas, and sincronizadas, which the school often serves for merienda, our mid-morning break.  I have wanted to learn how to make the tortillas for a while now, but never managed to get to the kitchen before Rosy started the process.  I always seemed to come in somewhere along the way.  Even with that, I had learned what the dough should feel like, how to form the tortillas, how to cook them, etc.

Well, last night I decided to take off the training wheels.  That's right, boys and girls.  I, Susan Smith, decided to make flour tortillas by myself (and for myself).  I looked up a promising recipe on line and began gathering all the ingredients.

Right off the bat, I knew I would have to make a player substitution.  The recipe called for (and strongly demanded that you not substitute anything else) lard.  My bad  -- I don't have any lard in the house.  I also don't have any solid shortening or stick margarine, which were presented as acceptable substitutions by user comments on the recipe site.  So, I used what I had: Parkay spread.  I was already prepared for less than stellar results, based on my fat substitution, but consoled myself that at least the Parkay was mostly solid and would serve the intended purpose of 'cutting in' the solid fat among the flour.

I'll spare you the details of the step-by-step process and jump straight to the bottom line:  They came out great!  The recipe made 8 tortillas, the first two of which were less than round.  By the third one, I pretty much got the hang of it and they were actually round tortillas.  I was forming them by hand -- no rolling pin.  After I cooked them, I took the two most perfectly shaped and cooked tortillas, which happened to be #7 and #8, over to the Center for our folks there to try.  They all said they were very good.  That they looked good and tasted good.  Victory!

I think I'm going to make some more tonight, to refine my skills.  Then, who knows?  I might get really brave and venture on to corn tortillas.

Here's how my tortillas turned out.

Yup! Good enough to eat.  And I did!  The whole batch, except the two I brought to the Center.

¡Buen Provecho!...

¡Buen provecho!... or “Bon appétit!”, as the French would say. Here, everyone says, «¡Buen provecho!» I’m constantly asked, “Miss, how do you say ‘¡Buen provecho!’ in English?” I tell them that loosely, it means, “Enjoy your meal.” Sometimes I tell them that it’s the same as “Bon appétit!” in French. But then I hit them with the kicker: We don’t say it in the States. WHAT??? Nope. We don’t use it.

Let me explain… Here in Honduras, if you walk into a restaurant and others are eating, you say, “¡Buen provecho!” as you walk by their table. It doesn’t matter that you don’t know them; you say it. If you walk into an office and someone is eating a meal at their desk, you say, “¡Buen provecho!” Again, familiarity means nothing; you say it. Wherever you are, if someone is eating, you say, “¡Buen provecho!” It’s the polite thing to do. Always.

Enter the cafeteria at school and it’s a veritable “¡Buen provecho!”-fest as students and teachers alike are greeting each other as they pass tables. Now, many of them have added, “Enjoy your meal” or “Enjoy your food” into the mix.

When I explain that we don’t use it in the US, the inevitable question is, “Well, then what do you say?” I’m met with blank stares when I tell people that if we enter a restaurant, we don’t say anything to those we pass. I explain that the only ones who say “Enjoy your meal” are the waiters. Really? Hondurans find that incredulous.

Personally, I’ve come to appreciate the manners that saying “¡Buen provecho!” shows. It feels cultured. Refined. Of course, when people say it to me it’s usually when I have a mouthful of food. “Graviath” (Gracias) is often my muffled reply.

And since we’re speaking of food, let me leave you with a couple of pictures I took last week after the parade for the kindergarten. Baleadas are one of my favorite foods here and they are the quintessential street food. Baleadas are a simple bean burrito: flour tortilla, refried beans, mantequilla (basically, sour cream) and grated cheese. You can add more ingredients, like scrambled eggs, sausage, chicken, or whatever, but the basic baleada, a baleada sencilla, is just fine by me.


 A smiling street vendor making the homemade tortillas for our baleadas.

Erica, Haniel, and Heydi, patiently waiting for baleadas.

 

From the Inside Looking Out...

A big benefit of walking with our kids in last week's parades was that I could much more freely take pictures. Today, rather than regale you with tales, I'll let my camera do the talking. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

When waiting for the bank to open, it's important to lock your bank bag to your bike.

Enlaces has distributed many of these hand-cranked carts for those who cannot walk.

Here's another version. (Not provide by Enlaces.)

Selling oranges on the street can be very tiring.

Or, you could be selling ropa interior (underwear).

I Love a Parade...

...well, actually, two parades. Our school was in two parades this week, celebrating Honduras' Independence Day. On Tuesday, our pre-school, kinder and prepa classes marched. They were adorable. On Thursday, 5th-10th grade was out there on a longer route. I took a ton of pictures, many of which are posted on the Bridge Ministries - Enlaces con Cristo - Honduras page on Facebook.


Another benefit of being out there with my camera was that I could also take a few pictures that I normally can't. During the parade, it was much easier to take pictures without me feeling like a tourist or something. So, here are just a few more pictures from Comayagua...


I hope this little girl aspires to more than being a street vendor. But she sure is a cutie.

Just a typical view.

La Princesita ~ Home of the best baleadas in town.

To guarantee your view, you can always sit on the roof of the Health Department.

Or, just bring a couple of couches from your living room outside.