Rat-a-tat-tat

We are ever so lucky to have encountered yet another pest whilst renting.  So far, after 7 years of marriage and 6 different houses, we have racked up quite the list:

• Countless mice
• Cockroaches (short-lived, thank heavens!)
• Bat (one-time gig, you may recall.)
• Garden Beetles (ha! and I thought it was termites. That was a happy ending :)
• Ants (and they march one by one-hundred)
• A regular trash-visiting racoon (oh, but how cute was he?!)

...and now there is another to join the ranks:  Mr. Rat.

That really is the name we've given him over the last few months (yes, months.) Qiana is sure that she will get to meet him someday.  I am sure that she will not.  He has been scratching around for countless weeks, so our landlord had a pest-control company come out to take a look.  Indeed, there was something living in our attic.  Quite possibly many "somethings".  After setting out enough rodenticide to kill 10 rats, the pest guy left us quite un-ready for what was to come.

You see, once the rat finally found and ate the bait, he didn't leave the house like they usually do to find water (the bait leaves them very thirsty.)  He must be trapped in somehow.  I don't even think I can describe the sounds that incredibly large rodent was making today as he was dying a gruesome death.  I wanted to take the kids and run.  Actually, in hindsight I am thinking, "Why didn't I leave?!" It was awful.  So, now I am recording it because this blog seems to be right on track to be the most disgustingly-detailed account of our lives. (People didn't respond well to the Tacos de Lengua.)

So long, Mr. Rat.  We will be encountering you again in a few days when your lovely smell of death starts permeating the house and we have to have the pest guys come back to retrieve your corpse.

Birthday Punch Cuppy Cakes

My one and only idea I will share with Pinterest:

Flavor-boost your plain ol' frosting by lightly sifting Koolaid powder on top and lightly misting with water. You could also skip the hassle and mix the powder right into the frosting. The result is a high-kick of "Woooow!" with a side punch of "Yipee!"

Ladies and Gentlemen... I Bring You Tacos de Lengua!

a.k.a. Cow Tongue Tacos

Caution: this post contains graphic food images much like something you'd find on Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.  STOP reading if you have a weak stomach!!

Okay, if you insist on reading on...

First, don't let the name throw you off the idea: it's tongue, GET OVER IT.  I will be the first to admit that even biting into a taco de lengua was a huge leap for me a few years ago.  Even after eating it plenty of times, it still took sheer courage to accept Juan's invitation to make it ourselves at home.  You see, Juan has been eating tacos de lengua ever since he was old enough to say "tortilla".  He even remembers sitting his cute little tooshy up to the bar of a taco truck in Mexico ordering tacos de lengua all by himself "Un taco de lengua, po-fa-vo."...But I digress. People, it turns out you don't die from ingesting it!  Prepare yourself: it's actually quite tasty.  For that reason, I decided to give in and attempt the un-attemptable.  

I'll have you know that I was fully prepared to make the tacos de lengua myself.  However, upon seeing my weak constitution at the sight of raw tongue, Juan stepped in and took over.  My hero!   I could have done it.  No, really! (I just wanted to be able to eat it afterwards.)  So instead of touching the taste buds, I took over the camera duties.

5 Simple steps to tacos de lengua:

#1- Clean the tongue thoroughly under cold running water and remove excess fat.  Don't let it touch your disgusting sink that hasn't been cleaned for days anything. We take cross-contamination very seriously here.

#2- Throw it in a crockpot with a medium onion (quartered), three bay leaves, 2 cloves of garlic and 2 beef bouillon cubes.  See? Easy!

#3- Cover it and let cook on high for 5-6 hours or until the meat falls apart.  (It should still be very juicy!)

(You can tell this crockpot has had a hard life.)

#4- Take it out and peel off the outer layer (yep, the one with the tastebuds.) Rip 'em off and move on.  Shred remaining meat. Soooo succulent.

#5- Salt it, sprinkle with lime juice and devour it like there's no tomorrow.  (But no worries, like I said... you will still be alive in the morning.)

This is our version: pure and unadulterated tacos de lengua.  No super-fancy garnishes, just a simple green salsa that hits it out of the park.  Want that recipe too?  Okay, but just because I'm nice: Creamy Green Salsa
(raw version)
4-5 tomatillos, quartered 1 avocado pitted & peeled juice of 1 lime 1 jalapeno, chopped (seed and deveined if you don't like heat) 1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped 2 cloves of garlic, minced 3/4 cup onion, chopped salt and pepper, to taste Puree all together in a blender. Adjust flavor to your liking. You've made it this far through the post.  I'm so proud of you!  For that, I'll give you extra credit: Roasted Garbanzos
canned garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas) olive oil ancho chile powder garlic powder sea salt Drain and rinse garbanzos.  Pat dry and lay out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil over the chickpeas and roll them around in it with your hands.  Sprinkle with chile and garlic powders.  Roast at 400 degrees F for 30-40 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle lightly with salt.  Eat 'em up like popcorn. (Incidentally, you can use these same spices to jazz up boxed mac and cheese.  Try it and thank me later.) Simply Fruit Salad Canned mandarin oranges (no sugar added is best) kiwi fruit Granny Smith apple lime juice and lime zest Toss. Eat. Repeat.

You're welcome.

First World Problems

Every once in a while I will have one of those days where everything seems to be working against me, but for every day of rain there is one of sunshine. Well... this is not the case where we live, both literally and figuratively. There are plenty more days of sun than rain, and we have countless more blessings than trials.

I was reminded of that today. I learned that the mother of two children in our primary has been incarcerated, and that a father of a different family was just deported. The father of the first two children works from 1 pm to 3 am so he has relied heavily on babysitting from people in the branch. However, the youngest boy, around five years old, had a nervous breakdown yesterday because he just wanted to be home. 

My kids won't ever have that kind of experience... assuming constance. Whatever my worries or fears or even discomforts, they do not compare to what people--even people I associate with every single week-- struggle with.

There is a magnet on the refrigerator here that I see quite often while doing the dishes and wallowing in my sorrow. I love the reminder:

GOD grant me the

Serenity

TO ACCEPT the things

I cannot change;

Courage

TO CHANGE the things

I can; and

Wisdom

TO KNOW the difference.

A Casserole Affair

It's been way too long since I posted about food.

As I was planning the menu for the week last Wednesday, I came across an e-mail from Better Homes and Gardens all about Casseroles.  Sparking my interest, it had around 30 different spins on traditional casseroles.  "It's been a long time since I've made a casserole. This will be fun!," I thought.  So I closed the apps I was referring to previously and decided to return to the ever-comforting casserole.  Casserole Week was born!

And we really did eat casseroles. All. Week. Long.

Why I didn't think it through, I will never know.  I feel like I have a brick in my stomach... and it's only 9:30 in the morning. We did, however, discover some awesome--and not so awesome--recipes in the process and I'm gonna share 'em.

Chicken Taco Casserole

My review: B+

Liked: Sauteed peppers and onions; spinach was a nice twist. Similar to Pastel Azteca

Recommend: Use good salsa, not just the cheapest.  It will make a difference.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

My review: B

Liked: The twist that caught my attention was the dijon mustard added to the roux as well as the celery and the roasted red peppers. Nice textural change to the traditional version.

Recommend: Don't expect a completely new taste.  After this, although it was tasty, I decided that Tuna Noodle Casserole will be Tuna Noodle Casserole.

Cheesy Shell-stuffed Shells

My review: A (with a side of guilt)

Liked: Gruyere, although a Swiss cheese, has the perfect sour-sharpness for this Italian dish.

Recommend: Add a lot of basil! It not only makes it more pleasing to the eye, but your stomach will thank you too.

Pumpkin Black Bean Bake

My review: A+

Liked: This Southwest version of Shepherd's Pie was chock-full o' flavor.  Loved the butternut squash, ground beef instead of ground turkey (which we usually find in "healthy recipes" like this so it was a nice change,) green chiles that gave a little kick, and the surprisingly small addition of cream cheese--anything is better with cream cheese--that didn't overwhelm the dish.

Recommend: If you make this, try it with the jalapeno-olive relish and let me know what you think.  I was feeling a bit lazy so we omitted that.  I regret it because it just screams to be tasted.

Creamy Chicken-Broccoli Bake

My review: ?

We were supposed to eat it but is has to wait because of a kink in dinner plans.  If after eating it I feel the need to write a review, I will post it.  It does look tasty, no?

Well, there you have it.  Casserole Week will probably never happen again because it is just TOO HEAVY; however, it was fun to dive into the world of comfort food again. Check back soon because I'm about to make Tacos de Lengua and am going to document the whole thing.  Oh, you don't know what those are?  Two words: Cow. Tongue.  You're not going to want to miss it!

Color Blind

A Sunday for the Books

Sunday is usually a day of rest.  Bah!  Not when you are in the Primary.

It's totally worth it though, to be able to teach those little cutie-pies.  Our  Spanish Branch just became an independent branch a last week, so everyone is still trying to pick up all the responsibilities until people get official callings.  I am so excited to be in the Primary presidency because learning right along side the little ones is an incredibly profound experience.  As odd as it seems, I learn more about what I personally believe when I am preparing and teaching even the most basic of lessons.

Between Week 1 and Week 2 (today) we have averaged about 25 children total in Primary.  This is far beyond the headcount I was used to in Philly, but pretty close to what we experienced while in the Midvale branch.    We have three classes besides Nursery, with 2 official teachers.  Lacking one teacher is usually not a big deal because one of the presidency can take over the extra class for the week.  As for the way Sharing Time is run, it's not so simple.  We have called a Singing Time leader but not a  pianist.  No problem--I can play the piano in the meantime until we get someone called to the position.  Well, today happened to be the day when all of the responsibilities were left on my plate and it turned out...well, interestingly.

Besides having been called to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting, I was in charge of presenting Sharing Time.  It was a simple lesson, so I wasn't too stressed out with that.  It was just that darn talk....

Last night I discovered an email from our newly-called Singing Time leader which stated that she wasn't planning on going to church today.  So I tried to call in the blogging brigades to help me prepare that too.  Luckily, there are a lot of ideas out there, so I felt in good hands.  It was just that darn talk....

Today, as I was scrambling to translate my already-written talk myself, Juan was honing his own talk.  It was not a terribly rushed morning, but stressful nonetheless so I didn't want to leave that time-consuming task to Juan this time.  I later realized that maybe it would have been easier in the end for him to have done it since he had to correct my poor grammar and sentence structure anyway. Sacrament Meeting was overflowing with stake announcements, branch news and missionary farewell testimonies so our alloted time was cut short.  Usually people are happy when they don't have to speak as long, but I was in a panic.  I wasn't sure what to cut out of my talk!  It was in a different language, so I wasn't speaking comfortably anyway and I stumbled through it. I cut things the best I knew how, but I feel like maybe overall it didn't flow together that well. :( Oh well, life moves on.

Beforehand, as I knew the tasks of the day weren't impossible to accomplish, I was just worried about how well it would go.  Well, it went like I said earlier: interestingly. In the end the Talk was talked, Sharing Time was shared, and Singing Time was sung.  Who knows if anyone got anything out of my talk or presentations.  All I know is that besides learning and reviewing a few doctrinal things, I learned that we can truly take on and accomplish a whole lot more than we feel comfortable with and IT WILL BE OKAY.  IT WILL TURN OUT.  Church callings will come and go, but the methods we learn and skills we develop will be lifelong tools to benefit us and those we serve.