Cooking our way through Paula Deen’s

my first cookbook

Introduction

I am cooking from Paula Deen’s cookbook for kids. We’re cooking every recipe. I am exited!

I am going to at least get close to know how to cook. When, is at least through the middle of the project- I think.

17 May 2017

This was the day Mom started our cooking camp. We hadn’t decided to work from Paula Deen’s book yet so this recipe was not in the book. We made grilled pork chops and pasta with a liquidy sauce. It had chopped cherry tomatoes with mushrooms and goat cheese for flavor. Disgusting! I hate tomatoes, mushrooms, and goat cheese. The herbs brought us out to our herb garden, and we learned that herbs have smells. I also learned that you could eat herbs raw. I thought it was pretty interesting. I recognized the smells from spaghetti and pho. Basil! There was another plant that smelled like pho. . .cilantro! I learned that the grill is hotter than water that burns you. 650 degrees before we lifted the lid! When I put the pork chops on, I got nervous. Why did I get nervous? Because I was supposed to put three pork chops on the back of the grill without searing my skin. Searing means to cook it really hot so the outside keeps all the juices inside.

18 May 2017

Mexican Omelet

The Mexican omelet in Paula Deen’s cookbook is just like a French omelet except with salsa and sour cream on the side. I don’t like either of those, so Mom helped me make our own. We added cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne, onion powder, and garlic powder. It was so yummy. Except there was too much cumin, and it got a little too strong. I didn’t eat it all.

19 May 2017

 For dinner, we made pancakes. I didn’t help.

May 2017

Bull’s Eye
The next morning, I made Bull’s Eye, which is a piece of bread that had a circle cut out of the middle and replaced is an egg. Uncle Charles calls these Egg-in-a-nest. The bread was my mom’s homemade wheat bread that hadn’t risen very much. It looked too small to have a hole cut in it. I managed to take the smallest cup in the house that was actually a dish we got from Costco with my favorite dessert in it- a yummy pudding, caramel, crunchy cookie layered delight with fudge on top. In the middle is coconut cream. YUM!!! Anyway, I used this little cup and cut into the middle of the slices. It was fun to like actually put the eggs in the hole and flip them over with the bread. One, I accidentally let the yoke flip out (my mom doesn’t understand how it happened. It was crazy!) and it made a yokey mess in the pan. Another bread broke, ruining that egg too.  But, the other five were great. My mom didn’t help me at all with this breakfast.

I learned when you have a hot pan, don’t put it in the sink or it might melt something (my mom’s mixing bowl). Ooops.

Cheese Quesadilla with Salsa

My friend Regan was over so this lunch was easy and rushed. It was just a regular quesadilla in a pan, but I didn’t eat salsa or sour cream. Ew! There was nothing interesting about it.

21 May 2017

Applewiches-

This was new! The applewiches were like sandwiches but with apples as the bread. We cut green apples into thin slices with the core in the middle! The picture showed us leaving the core, but we didn’t want to eat that so Mom cut the stuff out. In the middle of the apple slices we put almond butter and thin slices of sharp cheddar cheese. I don’t like nut butters because they stick to your mouth and it’s hard to get it out. At least it feels like it to me. The apples and cheese just needed more taste. I guess I just needed the nut butter. This didn’t feel like a meal. It was like and appetizer.

I learned cooking could be fast but delicious.

“Cinnamon rolls”

These were marshmallows completely wrapped with crescent dough but before they are wrapped, they are covered with cinnamon and sugar. THEN you wrap them, and, again, you cover the dough with sugar and cinnamon. They are baked for just 10 minutes, and the marshmallow melts. These weren’t really cinnamon rolls, but a fun treat. I get why they are called cinnamon rolls though. They are like rolls but with cinnamon. Cinnamon roll! Mom said these are like Vanishing Breakfast rolls that she learned to make in her home-ec class in middle school. Home ec is a class that taught you how to do useful things around the house. I learned Nana used to teach this class! I think I would like sewing. Too bad they don’t do it anymore. Mom says that is why we are doing this cooking school!

Magic Rice, Broccoli with cheese sauce and chicken

This was two dishes mixed and we added chicken to make it a whole meal. As I poured the beef broth, the mushrooms, and French onion soup it smelled sooo good. Our neighbor, Annabel, and her brother, Jacob were here and they helped a little bit. They take walks in the evening, and usually stop by to play with our toys. Annabel is 3.5 and Jacob is 1.5. The chicken and rice took an hour to cook in the oven, and that is when I had fun on the computer starting this blog!

The broccolini in our garden were starting to flower and need to be eaten. We picked a couple heads while the chicken cooked. We steamed this and made the cheese sauce very last so it wouldn’t get gross. Broccoli is gross anyway, but Mom likes it fresh.

I learned when you pound chicken it get flatter and bigger. You pound chicken so it all cooks evenly, and you don’t get dry crunchy parts that I hate. It matters which side you pound chicken with. If you pound with the jagged side, you’d shred the chicken. As for beef, you need it ‘cause it’s tougher. I learned that meat has bacteria so you need to clean everywhere it has been with soapy water so you don’t get sick.

22 May 2017

Green Eggs and Ham with Cheese Bread

Green Eggs and Ham may sound like the food in Dr. Seuss’s book. But really it is chopped ham with scrambled eggs that have been died with blue food coloring. Why blue? Because yellow yoke and blue dye make green! The Cheese Bread was cheddar cheese sprinkled on bread and broiled in the oven. Broil means only the top of the oven gets hot so it is like a giant toaster. The cheese melted in the oven, and when our meal was ready, I put my eggs on the cheese bread and I tasted all the delicious flavors. Eggs and bread are a perfect match. : )

I learned what broil means. I also learned that you can make eggs green. The green on the eggs was too. . .blue. Mom went crazy with the color. But I still liked it.

Stuffed Shells and Strawberry Delight

The stuffed shell was our dinner and the strawberry delight was our FHE treat. The stuffed shells were big pasta noodles shaped like shells. Cool! The stuffing was Parmesan cheese and cottage cheese. We were all hungry and I didn’t think four shells would be enough for me, so we doubled it – 8 for each person. We didn’t have enough cottage cheese to double so Mom added plain Greek yogurt. I tasted it because a good chef tastes EVERYTHING. I even tasted the non-stick spray. Greek yogurt is gross! . . . when it’s plain. I have frozen mint chocolate chip Greek yogurt in the freezer. Its junk food but it’s delicious. Like ice cream.  Stuffing the shells was tricky and messy. The raw stuffing looked gross to me and it tasted too bitter. I was afraid I wouldn’t like the dish but Mom told me the stuffing was like the stuff Gramma Diane puts in her lasagna and I felt better. 8 shells per person was WAY TOO MUCH. I only had 5 shells.

The strawberry delight had angel food cake, like foam. When I smelled it, it made me gag like popcorn makes me do. So, I couldn’t help Mom shred it. I liked the texture of the cake. It was like foam. The finished Delight smelled like something I have had before, but I can’t remember what. We used sweetened condensed milk.

My mom told me that she had a friend that took this milk in the can, unopened, and put it in boiling water for some time. It turned into canned caramel! My mom also told me that when Nana was in the Philippines with Papa Dave, the Filipino moms wanted to used bottles like Americans do. But they didn’t have enough money for the formula so they used the sweetened condensed milk. It rotted the babies’ teeth out!

We whipped our own cream. When I tried the whipped cream, I felt like there wasn’t enough sugar and asked Mom to try it. She added more powdered sugar and mixed it up. Then she realized I was licking the beaters that only had plain whipped cream because we stirred in the sugar with a rubber spatula. The beaters never got to the sugared cream!

I learned that you should turn off the electric beaters BEFORE you take it out of the bowl, or it sprays everywhere and makes a big mess. I learned that a spatula is actually the white rubber scraper thing. The flat ones I use for fried eggs and such are actually called pancake turners. I learned, when you cook Greek yogurt, it curdles, making it a good substitute for cottage cheese. I learned, when you cook foods, their flavor can change.

23 May 2017

French Toast

I have helped Mom make this several times, but this time I was the main chef. I had fun flipping the bread. When I was flipping the last three, I realized I hadn't been scared at all like I usually am; Mom's electric skillet has high sides that can easily burn you. I actually felt proud of myself.

I learned, if you let the bread soak in the eggs, it will get soggy and tear easily when you try to lift it out. I learned to use the piece of bread that will go into the egg next to catch the egg drips under the soggy piece so it doesn't make a mess as you move it to the pan. I learned that if you put the cinnamon into the egg, only the first two pieces of bread get any cinnamon. But, if you sprinkle cinnamon on the bread in the pan, they all get some. Yum!

Pigs in a Blanket

These are hot dogs (pig meat), wrapped in crescent dough (the blanket!) and baked. I actually thought this meal was a simple one to make. I liked them better than regular hot dogs, but it was my second least favorite meal so far. . . .maybe my third because I didn't really like the magic rice either. Mom was putting weed and feed on the grass so I had to put the pan into the oven and take it out all by myself! It was scarier to take the pan out than it was to put it in. But I didn't burn myself or drop the pan. Mom was proud of me.

She told me about the first time she took food out of the oven alone. It was chocolate chip cookies. Nana left her alone to go do errands. Mom used a dish towel, and it hung down and touched the heating coil that used to be inside ovens. The towel caught on fire! She was so scared, but she threw it in the sink full of dishwater. She didn't know what to do because now she was too scared to pull the pan out, but she was worried she would make the cookies burn. She cried. Luckily, the Avon Lady (someone who sells make-up) came to talk to Nana, and she helped my mom get the cookies out. The next time Mom pulled something out of the oven, it was a big pot of stew. She said the pan was too heavy and it sloshed and she dropped it everywhere. What a mess!

24 May 2017

Fried Egg Sandwiches

I like to flip food. Flipping eggs is harder than flipping ham.

I learned to tell when to flip an egg; when the white outside of the yoke are cloudy white, not oily yellow. I learned how to separate the yoke from the whites before you put them in the pan (David doesn't like yokes.), by passing it back and forth between the shell halves. It's really tricky. I also learned, when you cook just egg whites as long as you cook an egg with yoke, the whites-only get rubbery. I learned to keep a towel over my shoulder so I always have something to quickly wipe my hands on. I also learned, if you clean while you cook, it makes your life easier, especially when there are a lot of steps to your dish.

Personal Pizza
It was kind of frustrating that I didn't have mozzarella cheese; we had used it all for the stuffed shells. It was a really simple meal. Just cheddar on an English muffin with pepperoni. David used hamburger buns because I used the last of the muffins. We had to bake the pizzas in the oven because we don't have a toaster oven. We ate these outside with our bunny. I learned you can put anything on pizza you want. Mom said in Argentina they put green olives, boiled eggs, ground beef, and all sorts of weird things. She said the cheese isn't shredded and sprinkled on; it is cut from a brick of cheese and then places around. They don't use as much cheese as we do. They don't use as much sauce either. She said she ate so much pizza in Argentina, that she couldn't eat any for almost two years after her mission! I think pizza from pizza shops and grocery stores are better than homemade. In my house they end up soooo different.

Breakfast in a Cup
Breakfast in a Cup is sausage, scrambles eggs and grits layered in a cup with cheese on top. Delicious! I have never had grits before. They were my least favorite. They taste like plain porridge (Cream of Wheat). It was so cool to eat breakfast out of a cup. I'd definitely eat that again, but next time, instead of grits, I'd have a shredded pancake/waffle with syrup in its place. Or hash browns! Yum. I learned that you want all the foods to come out at the same time, which is tricky when some take longer than others to cook.

25 May 2017

Monkey Bread

Monkey Bread is biscuit dough cut in 4th's put in a Bundt pan with cinnamon, sugar, and topped with melted butter and brown sugar. This is a lot like Sticky Buns that the Liebels make on special holidays. I think Sticky Buns are better. While we were working on the dish, Scarlett, David and I had an assembly line. I cut the biscuits in fours, Scarlett put the pieces of dough in the sugar/cinnamon, and David rolled them around in the sugar/cinnamon and dropped them in the pan. Scarlett wouldn't stop eating the dough. Mom says she is her Gramma's granddaughter. When the Monkey Bread was finished baking, we put a plate on top and flipped it out of the pan. That was fun! David had his last gymnastics class this day, so we were also trying to make his teacher a card while the bread baked. It was a very busy morning and so we left what we didn't eat on the table. It was grainy when we came back; not good left overs.

Pasta with Homemade Cheese Sauce

Mom says this was Alfredo for cheaters. We used cooked pasta left over from an earlier meal. The sauce was half and half, butter and Parmesan warmed on the stove. That was it! Easy peasy! The flavor was a lot like Mom's Alfredo, but it was gritty, not smooth. I learned that proper technique often affects the texture. If we had done the proper technique, it would have been silky like I like. Mom says we will make this again, but with a roux. What is a roux???

26 May 2017

Cheese cake and frosting!

Today we made my birthday cake! This is not in the book, but it was part of our cooking school. I chose cheese cake instead of a chocolate sponge like I normally want. I am having an artist party, so we made the cake into the shape of an artists's palette. And we put colored frosting blobs for the paint. We also made rice crispy treats to make big paintbrushes, but they were ugly, so we just ate them. Yum.

There are a lot of eggs in Aunt Katie's cheese cake. 7! Well, 4 whole and 3 yoke. I learned another way to separate eggs; you crack it into a bowl, and then use you hand to gently grab out the yoke. I like this way better than trading the egg back and forth to the shell halves. But as I was taking out the third yoke, it broke. Oops. I did not like the smell of the graham crackers with butter. It gave me a gagging feeling like the angel food cake and popcorn. We used a spring cake pan. This is a flat pan that has a collar that becomes the sides when it squeezes the pan. After you bake in it, you undo the buckle and it springs off leaving the pan without sides. Something was wrong with ours because just a few minutes after we put it in the oven, smoke started coming out! It had dripped all over the bottom and made our house stink. It was hard to breath so we had to open all the windows and doors! Even the big garage door. The cake had a huge crack. It looked terrible. It was like a mini version of The Grand Canyon. Mom didn't want to frost the top, but we had to hide the crack. Mixing the frosting was the most fun part. We started with the primary colors, red, yellow and blue. Then we mixed them just like real artists to make the secondary colors, orange, purple and green.

Packaged Pasta

This also was not in the book. It was a package I found in the food storage room. It was boiled noodles with a liquidy, cheesy sauce. I didn't read the instructions thoroughly and dumped everything into the water before it was even boiling. Then Mom showed me the noodles needed to go in first to boil and add the cheese/seasoning after so it didn't burn. She also told me that the texture would feel different. Uh oh. When the noodles were done, Mom showed me the bottom of the pot and what happens when milk is overcooked. There was brown stuff and burned noodles stuck to the bottom. I learned milk should not boil. It was still delicious though. I didn't notice a difference in the texture like Mom warned.

Sloppy Joes . . . no, quiche . . . no, breakfast burritos

Dinner was funny. We kept switching meals because we were out of ingredients. We cleaned the house for my party and didn't get started with dinner until 6pm. We wanted to make sloppy joes first (in the book), but, as the ground beef was browning in the pan, we realized we didn't have any kind of bread in the house. We couldn't think of anything to do with browned ground beef that was quick (We were HUNGRY.), so we decided to put it in a tupperware for tomorrow night and make quick quiches (in the book). But, the crust was frozen, and Mom ruined it in the microwave. Shoot! So, now we had ground sausage on the pan and decided to make breakfast burritos. I don't like breakfast burritos, because the tortillas ruin it. I just ate the ground sausage and scrambled eggs side by side. I learned you cannot put grease down the drain because it will clog the drain. Water and oil do not mix. I also learned, if you dump hot grease right into the trash can, it melts everything. You should pour the grease into a safe container until is cools and hardens before throwing it away. Or, you can soak it up with paper towels and let it cool a bit before throwing it away. That's what we did.

27 May 2017

We had my birthday party this day. We all slept in and didn't eat breakfast. We ate Costco pizza for lunch and dinner. In the evening we watched The Water Horse. It was soo cool. It was a great day.

28 May 2017

Happy birthday to me! I am now 8 years old, but I still feel 7.  I will be baptized this Saturday. My grandmas and grandpas are coming, as well as some aunts, an uncle, and cousins. I am very excited. I am mostly nervous. I have never been baptized before.

Dad made breakfast. For lunch I made my own turkey sandwich. Mom let me cut the bread. I learned you need to keep the same distance from the edge at the front and back of the loaf, and you can't angle the knife or it will cut the bread weird.

Teri Yaki Chicken, rice and corn

This is my favorite meal! I call it chicken-corn-and-rice. I tasted the soy sauce. It was really salty, but in a good way. I learned to grate fresh ginger. I learned ginger is a root! David said, "It grows from coral??" My mom explained that it was the root of a ginger plant. It smells really good and I could taste it in the dinner. It filled my mouth. I learned that you want 1/2 dry rice per person, and you double the amount of water than rice. Or, you can fill the water to your first knuckle when you gently touch the top of the rice layer in the pot. I also learned you should rinse the rice first. Why? the starch? dirt? Dad said he always rinsed because that is what the Viet ladies all do. Mom told a funny story about doing "traditions" with out knowing why. A girl got married and made a ham for her husband. Her husband was very excited because he loved ham, especially the ends. He was horrified when the first thing the new wife did was cut off the ham ends. He asked her why???! She said that is what her mom always did. She asked her mom. Her mom said, "That is what my mom always did." She asked her grandma, "The ham was always too big for my pan so I had to cut the ends off so it would fit." Hee heeee

12 June 2017

Mango Ice Cream

I didn't really help "cook" the mango ice cream, but Mom says tasting is an important part of being a chef. Mom mixed frozen mangoes and Half and Half in the Ninja and blended it with a little sugar. We had ice cream in less than 60 seconds! It was still a little boring, so I picked fresh raspberries from our raspberry bushes and smashed them into my cup with a spoon. It was DELICIOUS. I learned that raspberries and mangoes are delicious together. I don't like mangoes fresh, but in ice cream, YUM!

Camp Fire Stew and Homemade Bread
About the campfire stew and homemade bread- I had these together. Campfire stew is sliced potatoes and carrots with ground beef wrapped in tinfoil and bakes. We made our "Hobo" dinner style, because that is how Mom knows it. The recipe says you are supposed to crumble the ground beef evenly with the veggies, but we made our beef into patties and covered them with the veggies. I was the only one at the table who didn't take the patty and potatoes out of the tin foil; the tin foil was like a little bowl. Mom and Dad were the only ones who had carrots and onions. Ew.
Mom said "Hobo" is the word used for homeless people that started during the Great Depression. I read the American Girl books about Kit, a girl who grew up during The Depression. She had friends who lived in the Hobo communities and jumped trains. Ms. Weber read to us a Wayside School book, and there was a chapter about Show and Tell and a boy brought a Hobo to show. The Hobo said he made garbage stew, boiled food scraps from the garbage. He said he didn't wear socks. Our Hobo dinners did not taste like garbage. They were scrumptious; one of my favorite things so far. Mom said, when she was young, she loved to make Hobo dinners when she went camping because she could make them at home where it was easy. That way she didn't have to pack so much for food prep and it tasted better than hot dogs. You can take everything raw and just cook it right in the coals, making sure to turn it over half way. I would like to cook these in the fire some day.
My mom makes the best bread ever! We ate all she had with the stew and had to make more. I learned that you want a cup of water for each loaf of bread. We made three loaves. I also learned that the water has to be the same temperature you would want to soak in the tub. I learned that yeast eats sugar. I learned that salt can kill the yeast if you add it too early. I learned the salt is important or the bread is boring or gross. That's why the scriptures so we should be the salt of the earth! My mom over cooked the bread a little bit because we were too distracted outside making s'mores. I learned that "proof" means letting the bread rise in a warm oven; you want it hot like a hot summer day, but not hotter (90-100 degrees) or you will bake it. I tried the yeast and, at first, it tasted mild and then is was so disgusting I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth. I barely had some taste after I drank water.

S'mores
Everybody knows these are delicious. It's fun to put the marshmallow on the stick and put it over the fire to roast. We put ours over my dad's rusty Camp Chef burner. The fireflies came out and flickered as we roasted and ate. Every time I roasted a marshmallow I put it close to the fire. In ten seconds, my marshmallow was done; I got so close they burned. When my mom said it was time to go in, I stuffed my mouth with four dark chocolates. We all thought this was a fun dessert to eat with campfire stew.

13 June 2017

Baked Potato Bar

This meal was very simple to make. I learned that when you rub olive oil on the potato before you bake it, it softens the potato skin. In Farmer Boy (By Laura Ingalls Wilder), Almanzo bakes potatoes in the fire while they are harvesting. And a potato explodes into his eye! It happened because he didn't poke holes into it to release the pressure. We chopped all sorts of things to put on the potatoes. Scarlett ate all the cheese! which is bad for her stomach. We had chopped ham, bacon, green peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes. We also had cheddar cheese, sour cream and butter. On my potato I ate butter and salt with chopped bacon. You can put anything on a baked potato.

14 June 2017

Sausage Quiche

This wasn't really delicious. We have made quiche many times, and we have all decided it is our least favorite kind of egg. Its basically just egg pie. I was too busy watching Ellen and left Mom to do most of the cooking.

17 June 2017

Macaroni and Cheese and Steak
Mom 

18 June 2017

Strawberry Cream Pie

19 June 2017

Lemon-aid

21 June 2017

Saucy/Sassy Shells - original recipe
These are kind of the opposite of Stuffed Shells. The noodles are stuffed with sauce instead of cheese, and the cheese is sprinkles on the noodles instead of the sauce. I actually boiled the pasta in a small sauce pot because I was only making 2 servings. I think this is one of the best meals I have ever made. It is actually a recipe I made. I've been watching cooking shows, and when you

Viet Nam Trip

Vietnam trip

December 10-December 22, 2013

We packed two shirts, two garments, wide scarf, skirt, minimal toiletries, camera, Sudoku book, Viet National Georaphic book, Vietnam Lonely Planet book. Wore long, fast drying, roll-up pants from REI, and my only pair of shoes were Chaco flip flops. Everything fit in large school back pack to make for a very portable trip. Total Budget $5k including air fare. Patrick took his smart phone but only used in airplane mode where there was wifi. Took radios to talk within the four of us. Worked pretty well once we started to use them, even in busy city. Hesitated at first because Dad felt they looked “policey” and we didn’t know how we would be received by a communist country we had showered with bombs and Agent Orange.

Day 1 - Dec 10 and 11

The plane ride from SLC to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) was a few minutes under 24 hours, including a layover in San Francisco and one in Bejing China. Excluding the original 2 hour wait in SLC. Departure 11:30am Dec 10 SLC time, arrival 12:40am Dec 12 Vietnam time. (They are ahead of us by 14 hours.) Sleeping on the plane sucks. Patrick and I were separated but he grabbed an empty seat after take-off; still separated by aisle. Mom and Dad scored exit seats with an empty chair. Because all the shades got shut fairly quickly on the plane, it felt like it got dark very quickly. We probably really did lose the light at around 6pm Utah time, and it never came back the rest of the 12 hour flight. Sudoko and Viet Nam travel books helped pass the time. Note: Viet Nam is two words. In Viet, all words are only one syllable, and many have no meaning on their own and have many meanings depending on which other syllables they are places with. Viet also uses tones that change the meaning of the word. Com for example can mean no, part of thank you, cooked rice, etc depending on the music in your voice. The language can sound like pouting at times. Also, Nam has the short A sound. We joked that American really suck at pronunciation. We use the short A sound for Iraq and Iran when it should be a short O sound, and we use the short O sound for Nam when it should be the short A sound.

Airport security is really annoying. I think there is a conspiracy with water bottle companies. We had to go through security and dump out our water bottles when getting off planes?! What is the reasoning for that???

When we landed in Sia Gon at 12:40am on Thursday the 12th. Is was still dark. We were very tired. We negotiated with a taxi driver to take us to our hotel. The price was more expensive since it was late at night and there was little competition eg: buses, other taxis, etc. The only reservation we had for the whole two weeks was the hotel for the first two nights in Sai Gon. Unfortunately, the arrival date of the 12 threw me when making the reservation and I scheduled 12 and 13, rather than the 11 and 12. The hotel was good to us and upgraded our room and gave a 50% discounted rate for the early check in night but would not refund night of 13. Hotel was pretty and clean. Equal to 3 star hotel in service, clean and décor. Hot water and flushing toilet.  First night $30USD second and third nights $60USD each. This was the second most expensive hotel we stayed at. I think we would have gotten a cheaper rate had we not reserved in the states, but I knew we would be tired after landing and wouldn't want to spend any time looking in case of no vacancy.

Day 2 – Dec 12

Good food with complementary breakfast. Viets don’t have “breakfast” food, but they catered to westerners with baguettes, fruit, cheeses, eggs, etc. Our hotel made some killer homemade yogurt and Panna Cottas (Italian dessert). Yum! “[We] must ‘a had [us] about 14 [Panna Cottas]”. . . each . . . . every morning. I have found a recipe since being home; it is basically gelatin-ized whipping cream. YUM!

Panna Cotta 

4 cups heavy cream (can use any combination of whole milk, half-n-half, and/or cream, but straight up is most delicious)

1/2 cup sugar

1-1.5 packet of plain gelatin (about a teaspoon)

The recipe calls for 2 packets and we all agreed this was too much after trying.

1/3 cup cold water

Heat cream and sugar in pot on stove until quite warm and sugar is dissolved; stir frequently. In medium bowl, sprinkle gelatin into cold water and let set 6-10 minutes. Spray 8-10 dishes with cooking spray. (Clear juice glasses, wine glasses, etc are prettiest, but any 1 cup sized dish is fine.) Pour very warm milk into gelatin bowl and stir until dissolved. Carefully pour or dipper mixture into dishes and chill until solid. Min 2 hours, at least 6 hours best. Good for a few days. Yield: 8-10 Can garnish with honey, berries, chocolate sauce, etc.

We decided to do the Sia Gon walking tour. Our hotel was located right at the heart of district 1 or old Sia Gon. I had planned that; thought the walk would be a good jet lag recovery activity. The big market was right around the corner. Fish and crabs still alive; made Dad’s eyes glisten. Any meat, egg, or fish product you could want.  Everything seemed to be kept very clean although, in wisdom, I have been postponing a much wanted 3^rd child ‘til after this trip because of the idea of these market smells. Really glad I wasn’t pregnant. Market was large and sold ingredients, fresh made food, clothing, jewelry, trinkets, thing-a-ma-bobs, etc. North Face is made in Viet Nam, so great deals are available for their products, – If you can tell the difference between the real and knockoffs. There is a big pearl industry there as well, both river and sea types. We were disappointed at the prices – not as cheap as we expected. We had bad luck with street food that day as well; everything mediocre to plain and more expensive than we had thought. We paid 60,000 vnd ($3usd) for a bowl of pho. We had read and heard reports of only 50 cents. The walking tour had some good markets, a few fancy hotels, the post office and buildings connected to the “American War.” – Hotel where media stayed, a hotel that got bombed and rebuilt, the reunification house (house southern Viet Nam leader built with US money, place where north busted through gate with tank and forced southern surrender). We came to realize most of the tourist attractions in the country were just desperate attempts to create any kind of tourist attractions to bring in revenue. Viet Nam is definitely a developing country. We saw a lot of beautiful buildings, fancy hotels, business buildings, etc showing growth and prosperity. Who is getting all that money, I am not sure, but there is definitely money to be had.

 Sia Gon smells like a mixture of cigarettes, diesel, gasoline, fish sauce, trash, and something delicious. Very hazy, never saw stars or blue sky.  Everyone wore fashionable versions of doctor masks.

Viets dress very nicely and modestly. No cleavage, no long shaggy hair, no tattoos or male pierced ears. No belly shirts or short shorts. I did see shorter skirts and strapless dresses, but nothing skanky and always professionally accessorized. They were face maskes, like doctors masks but they are ususally made with fun fabrics and wrap all the way around the neck and drape down. We thought is was to protect themselves from the smell and the dirt. Patrick later learned it was mostly women and "softer men" who wore them to keep from tanning or getting wrinkles.

Public bathroom are easy to find, but don’t count on toilet paper. Some places had flushable holes in the ground. All bathrooms have a spray hose, but no bode.

During the day Sai Gon is a crazy chaos. Mopeds (saw a small handful of motorcycles) by the thousands fill in any space the many new Asian-made vans and cars don’t take on the road. We didn’t see any vehicles older than 10 years old and most were newer than 4 – Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, Kia, etc. We did see a Ford dealership somewhere on the trip. And then any vacant space after that is taken by bicyclists and pedestrians. There are not many stop lights in Viet Nam, and even those I observed to be optional to anyone smaller than and car. Main roads cross with round-abouts. To cross the street you just start walking at a steady pace, and keep on walking, somehow no one dies. There is A LOT of honking but the surprising thing is there is no anger, no obscene gestures or yelling, not road rage. Honking doesn’t mean “Get the heck out of my way! What do you think you are doing?!” like it does in The States.  Is just a courtesy call meaning, “Hey I am coming up on your left so please no sudden moves.” Cars drive in the middle of the road, essentially playing pac man with the white dotted lines, and since it is the largest thing on the road, it has the right of way. It only moves out of the way for oncoming vehicles larger than itself, or if it is passing another vehicle going the same directions. Mopeds and bikes move to the outsides when a car approaches. We didn’t see many pickup trucks – but who needs a pick-up truck with you have a moped? They piled those suckers as if they were an F350. They did have a few semi – mostly made by Hyundai.

Viets are tenacious salespeople. One girl physically restrained Patrick as he was trying to walk away from some North Face backpacks when he couldn’t get a price he was happy with.  She wouldn’t come down on the price nor let go of him. : )We quickly learned no one is nice for free; if you ask someone for directions they will happily show you but expect to pull out your wallet . . . and they have a specific number in mind. Patrick tipped a guy once for walking us around the corner to a food place -gave him the equivalent of .50USD – he could buy a coke or a bottled water. The guy threw it back in our faces and started shaming us. When sitting on the sidewalk to eat or look at something in a shop, street peddlers bombard you with their oozing ways. We quickly gained preference to restaurants with closeable doors. Dad was slow to learn and could not resist the friendly faces. He got taken a time or two. I think he finally learned his lesson when he unwillingly bought 2 coconuts for 100,000VND each (Viet Nam Dong – pronounced Dome) = about 5$ each!

There is a Western price and a Viet price. We were told in advance to always bargain and start at 50% of asking price. We didn’t have much luck getting that low off the price. The prices were just not that flexible for westerners. I was even shooed away by a lady when she told me one bottle of spray sunscreen was $7 and I gasped in true disbelief. I can get it cheaper than that at Walmart at home.

By 4pm we had hit a jetlag wall and went back to hotel. Patrick and I meant to only take a nap, but we didn’t wake up until midnight. 

Day 3 - Dec 13

Our fully alert minds finally forced us out onto the streets at 3am. We thought we were gluten for trouble, but it was very nice. Weather was perfect, roads were mostly clear and there was still enough local night life that we felt safe. We hopped Pho (Fu)stands – beef and noodle soup – what Ramon noodles wishes it could be when it grows up. Very delicious. Revisited the main plaza, and enjoyed the sounds and smells.  During the day I had noted there were very few pan handlers. I think I saw two. Everyone else was at least trying to sell something. I saw no obviously homeless people; started to think communists at least kept people off the streets, even if just public appearance. We saw lots of people sleeping on sidewalks at this time. Whole families, babies and grandmas included. We even saw someone sleeping on the second level of the window display in a store. Weather great for it as long as no rain, but not very comfortable. Safety? Returned to hotel around 5:30am for a nap before breakfast #2.

At 8:30am the 4 of us got in a van with 9 other people plus tour guide headed to Cu Chi (coo chEE) Tunnels – tunnels outside of Sai Gon built by Viet Cong starting in early 1900’s during the . . . other war they fought before the war they fought before they fought us. (They have fought A LOT of wars)  These tunnels made it very difficult for Americans to fight. Fellow tourists were from Australia, Holland, and I think another Asian country; We didn’t talk with the front row seeing as how we were clear in the back. Our tour guide’s name was Eli – His Viet name meant elephant and was unusual even in Viet, so for Westerners’ sake he called himself Eli. He grew up near the 17^th parallel (imaginary line drawn to separate north and south viet nam). His father fought with the Americans. Didn’t volunteer info about what happened to his dad after American bailed. Eli said that the country talks about the war a lot, but it is only for something to give tourists. He claims the people have moved on and don’t think about it. However, we just didn’t see many American tourists . . . if any. It is just not a country Americans typically think of when visualizing a relaxing tropical vacation.

Tunnels were very cool. Dad climbed into a hole and could fit standing up and cover the whole but there was no way he would be able to bend over into the 90 angle and travel the tunnel. Patrick squished his butt in but there was no way his shoulders were going to fit. Viets are tiny little people.  I think they weigh 80 lbs nine months pregnant with twins. Something interesting we learned – Viet cong made sandals out of tires – supposedly very durable but looked dangerous to toes with all the brush. They looked like early Chaco sandal model. After the area was defoliated and burned, the Americans could track the Viets by footprints in ash. So, the Viet Cong created sandals with the soul made backwards, so the Americans tracked where the Viet Cong come from, not where they were headed. The Viet Cong created fake termite hills to disguise air holes for tunnel. We saw demonstrations of the many traps created by Viet Cong to fight Americans – very intelligent – very brutal. We got to climb through a tunnel that was enlarged for Western tourist, less space than tunnel under Recapture dam – I had to walk totally bent over, Patrick had to duck walk. Hot. Dark. Couldn’t believe towns sought safety here for hours and days. There is another large set of tunnels in Central Viet Nam where the entire population actually lived, slept, delivered babies. : O

Our driver took a detour en route home to a place where the disabled make the beautiful lacquer décor.  They justified it by saying they were taking us to meet “a viet war hero.” I think they were claiming their disabilities were from Agent Orange so they could justify the obligated shopping stop. The “production floor” was a poorly ventilated warehouse with no A/C. It was hot and hard to breath from the chemicals. They claimed it gave these people a skill they could be proud of but it looked like slave labor to me.  The display room was very clean with great A/C. Very beautiful art but expensive and shipping was “only $180USD.” People who are carrying everything they own in their backpacks don’t make for great customers. We were told by fellow group members that every hired trip would be full of these obligatory shopping stops – The smaller businesses took you to shops that just happened to be owned by a family member or a “very close friend.”

After we got dropped off at our hotel around 3:30pm, we walked over to the War Remnants Museum. It was clear full of very graphic photos and Anti-American propaganda. It was terrible but enlightening. I never knew what to think about the Vietnam War because Americans of the time were confused, much like now, where media and politicians had conflicting and changing stories. Hippies lives were so frivolous and irresponsible that their views held no credibility to me. It was good to see the data behind the strong opinions. Obviously, according to the museum agenda, Americans were evil imperialists who were never invited and unwanted by anyone and did nothing but massacre women and babies. And because of the Americans anyone born during or after the war to date has birth defects from Agent Orange or will die from a land mine. I know They won the war so They get to choose how history is told, but I understand better why our Viet Vets are so messed up. It was a complicated war against tiny prairie dogs who used their women and children to fight. The enemies were carrying your back packs and your own politicians were screwing you the most.

Did you know Dad fought in the war????? I did not know that! I knew he joined during that time but his comments and stories always made me think his training was done then and he was used mostly during the cold war. He did 2 deployments to Viet Nam, 6 months each!  When planning this trip Dad bit his nails a lot and the thought of going to Ha Noi just about canceled the deal every time Patrick talked about it. “Only POW’s go to Ha Noi, Ruth.” Dad wasn’t interested in seeing any more war things after that day. He was tired of them “making him feel guilty and pay for it all over again.”

Mom, Patrick and I stopped in for the mani pedi’s and feet massage next to our hotel. I think my manicure was $3usd and massage was another $3 . . .maybe $5.

Day 4 – Dec 14

Get the heck out of Sai Gon! Note: Anything worth seeing in Saigon can be done in one full day. Don’t recover from jet lag there. Push on to somewhere else, ANY WHERE else. Worst food. Expensive. Noisiest.  Dirtiest. Most obnoxious street venders.  We stayed the extra night since we would lose the hotel money either way, we should have just bolted when done the day before.

Got on bus to Vien Long (Lome) in Mekong Delta at 8:30 – well, we took a taxi to a bus that took us to the bus that took us to Vien Long. Bus stopped for 20 minutes to get lunch at a large bus stop. Arguably the best Pho we had the whole trip, and almost half the price as Sai Gon. Met a German girl and mom . . .grandma. They had been traveling together for several weeks and then the girl was going on for several more weeks to other countries alone. They had classic wheel luggage. We were really happy with our backpack ideas after watching them lug all their crap around in the crowds and dirt roads. Arrived in Vin Long around 2pm. Had no plans or reservations once there. Met a guy named Nam at bus stopped who offered a deal to do a “homestay” with his family. We had read in our Lonely Planet book that that was a popular thing to do in the Delta. He was offering $12usd per person – included boat ride to and from his house on the island, dinner and breakfast, 2 rooms, and 4 bikes to roam the island. We had turned down the arrangement when the travel agent (who helped us get transportation to Vien Long) offered to book us for $32usd each. We weren’t sure the previous night if we were getting set up for an ambush, but in the moment of the day we were feeling adventurous so we took him up on it. We had no idea where we were being taken when we got in a taxi, but we were met at the pier by Nam’s wife, Yen, who was trying to get us a boat. She was nice, and we had a little more confidence when a couple from England got on the boat with us. At least it would be 6 on our team if we were getting led to the slaughter.  Ben and Nerissa had also chanced their sleeping arrangements when they met Yen in the Café. Once we got to the island and started walking back into the brush amongst homes and gardens, thick with fruit trees, we were excited. It was so awesome and exactly an experience we had been hoping for.  Sections of homes were bordered with dried up water ways that appeared to be used in high tide. Mango trees, jack fruit trees, lime, and banana trees were abundant. There were lots of other bushes and trees with beautiful flowers, some edible and used in soups. The home was about 200 meters into the island and not the only place with homestay signs. The house was a long rectangle, stretching back into the land toward the water. The front face was stucco? And painted over but the back part was still brick. The entry room had musical instruments, a sewing machine and some dressers. Then there was a “hall” that separated the first small section of rooms, the doors were on the inside hallway so I think this is where the family slept. Then there was another dividing hall way and there were 8 rooms, 4 on each side, sharing the back and side walls. Then behind was a very spacious area. In the farthest corner was a small counter space full of countertop propane burners and cooking equipment. On the right wall were faucets in the wall, bathtub level and about a 2 inch drop in floor level with drains. There was one fridge and a bunch of water bottles, and canned beverages. The whole house had one common roof, but it was risen above and unattached, like Dad’s old hay barn before he enclosed it, and the walls made underneath, all very breezy and visual privacy but don’t fart or the whole house will hear. Cement floor extended  out to create large wrap around porch. Lots of hammocks to enjoy. The bathrooms were separate from the house in the back and made an L shape in the yard, 4 rooms, 3 with showers. Showers equal flexible hose with handle/head. Argentina style where you can sit on the pot and rinse your hair at the same time. : )  Not sure about sewer, but shower and sink drains went right into the river. Rooms were clean but basic. Fan, mosquito net, trash can, bed (terribly hard mattress) and padlock for door. Towel and sheets provided but that was it.

Dad immediately took his shirt off and headed for the hammocks. : ) For the first few hours we laid about talking with the family members and a few fellow homestayers (there were a total of 11 that night I think). The Family consisted of Nam (positioned at bus station until 5pm), his wife Yen (positioned at peir), and Nam’s 3 sisters (housekeepers and chefs). Brothers-in-law were boat drivers I think. It was a pretty well-oiled machine. And there was a really cute 2 year old little girl that I played with. As it started to cool, we jumped on the bikes and went to see what there was to see. Bikes were uncomfortable and not much horse power. “Road” was really a side walk and we had to share it with the passing mopeds. Think Skinny!! Beautiful Island. Thick green flowery foliage. NO BUGS! We expected swarms and swarms of mosquitos. I didn’t see or hear a single one. I got bit by something sometime, but the itch was half as irritating as US mosquitos. We were greeted with lots of English “hello!” It was so fun to see what the pictures tried to portray in all the books and movies.

We made is back in time to help finish dinner preparations. Dinner was fried fish, whole fish (well, minus the guts) wrapped with veggies in rice paper. Not sea food tasting, and quite moist but the eyes and spikey scales are not good plating for those who are already hesitant with water food. Not to mention it came for the same river the drains went into. Dad and Mom sure picked them clean. Chicken and rice came next followed by tea since we didn’t pick beers from the fridge. : ) One of the sisters said Dad looked Vietnamese. We laughed and pointed out that he had blue eyes. She still stuck to her opinion. We teased Dad the rest of the trip about being a 6ft blue-eye Viet.

Hand washed garments in sink and hung to dry in room. Slept fairly well, but woke up earlier than desired. Pretty humid and sticky.

Day 5 – Dec 15

 A handful of us headed out at 6am for a boat ride up the river to the river market. “Only 200,000vnd more.” ($10usd each) This was on my bucket list. River was dirty and fairly shallow, but surprisingly beautiful. It was very fun to watch life happen in the houses that hung over the wall and the life on the boats. We saw one lady washing her hair and then leaning over the boat to rinse as they past us.  Asian boats have eyes in the front, “So they can see where they are going; so they don’t hit the other boats.” We saw boats heaping full of rice and some so full of sand that they were almost equal to water level. The market was slow since it was Sunday, but we found a boat full of fruit that we tied to. What started out as an intention to buy a pineapple turned into an all you can eat tropical fruit feeding frenzy. At one point, Dad even climbed over and into the ladies boat and just started handing her things rapid fire to peel. Mango and jack fruit are my favorite, but we tried all sorts of things that we had never seen before: dragon fruit, durrion (a very vicious looking fruit that smells horrible and slimy in texture; the Viets love it but we can’t understand why.) and others we don’t know English names for. We gave the lady 100,000vnd ($5usd) and she had a big smile on her face. Seemed like we were ripping her off, but she seemed to feel she got a great deal so we all moved on happily. The boat driver dumped us off at a honey/tea shop, no options of skipping. We politely looked around and killed some time and then boarded again. He dropped us off at a “market” that sold painting. We looked. He told us to walk down the walk along the river and go spend money. ; ) We walked and killed time and asked questions and tried to barter but bought nothing. Third stop potty stop and liquor stop. Oh boy. We really are a peculiar people, aren’t we? We headed out of the market and over to a tiny river inlet where 2 ladies in their San Pans were waiting. We didn’t know that was part of the deal. They rode us back into the back streams and saw more life. My rower let me row. It was a bit tricky since the oars were set up for little short Viet ladies and the water was very shallow, but I figured out the momentum. The tide was down, band we could see where it rose up about 2 meters during high tide. Our motorboat was waiting at the other mouth of stream. Well-oiled machine. Back to homestay by 2pm and very happy. Yet how could we be hungry again? : )

We were taken back to Vin Long where Yen enlightened us that it would be faster for same price if we taxied to our next destination rather than do the bus thing. She got us a viet price of 1.4 million vnd (less than $75usd – exchange is 21,000 to 1, so larger numbers the 1,000 can make a difference, but for simple calculations we just rounded to 20k) We ate lunch at the market down the street while we waited for Yen to rap up the deal. The food at this market was some of the best we ate the whole time. Patrick was quite a show stopper with his Vietnamese, here and everywhere else we went on the trip. The teenage girls (they could have been 40 but Viets appear to stop aging at age 12) giggled like middle schoolers. Passers stopped, some pretended to have business nearby, some just stared dumbfoundedly. It was funny to watch people’s faces; they would nudge each other, drop their jaw, or mouth how impressed they are to us. As we were leaving the island toward our boat, locals were shouting out to Patrick just to hear him respond to them in Viet. Apparently word gets around quick in small places all over the world. : )

Taxi was small and squishy and driver pumped the gas pedal the whole time rather than maintaining a steady foot/speed, but 1/3 the time of bus. We got to our next destination at dusk. Our taxi driver seemed lost and pulled over to make a call. A guy on a moped appeared out of nowhere and motioned the driver to follow. We weaved in and out of one way streets and ended up at a guest house (the basic of basics for hotels). Magically they had rooms waiting for us and boat tickets to Phu Quauc (Foo Wuk -the island we had intended to go to the next morning) ready and waiting. At first we were flabbergasted, but then Patrick learned the owner of this joint was friends with Nam and they passed each other clients.  Well- oiled machine! And they didn’t cheat us once. We legitimately got a great deal the whole way through so we were happy. The room was very simple, like the homestay, but I think they forgot to clean it after the previous guest. No hot water. The bathroom wasn’t gross, but borderline. I fell asleep on the bed fairly quickly and was a little annoyed I was woken up for dinner. We walked and walked and walked and couldn’t find anything that didn’t have food poison written all over it. Finally we turned around and went back to a place we passed right in the beginning but were being ignorantly selective. (That was the good thing about Sai Gon – lots of food options.) We ate outside a long river, pretty ambiance and food was pretty good but just too tired to really enjoy. A guy on his moped drove up with a giant speaker on the back. We learned  he was a mobile Karaoke . . .business and you paid per song. The whole crowd that night was square, so he left quickly. As we headed back to the guest house ($10usd), a very drunk Viet jumped up from his table and started welcoming us to his country. When we told him we were Americans he ran back to his table and got his beer bottle for us to have.  He wished us a great vacation. : ) Very Very drunk.

Day 6 – Dec 16

Boat left for Phu Quac at 8am right on time. 1.5 hours. We were not allowed on deck because there was no rail. We were forced to stay inside and watch a very inappropriate, not edited rated R stupid Sylvester Stallone movie. Not in Kansas anymore Toto.  Island was beautiful. Boat exit was crazy with hungry taxi drivers. We grabbed a van with a few other people that took us to the center of town. Rented 2 motorbikes for $10 each per day, paid 3 days in advance, no ID required (Hotels make you leave passports, yikes! But we lucked out by having color photocopies and gave first. Usually they wanted to see the visa, and some wanted at least one real passport.)  Mom and I waited at a table in a restaurant for almost 2 hours while boys filled up with gas and figured out airplane tickets back to Saigon. Very boring. Ate good food. Boys came back. Still no plane tickets. Ate more food.  Mounted bikes and rode off to find a hotel. We had picked out a place recommended in the Lonely Planet that was away from people on a less used beach. Leaving the town was harder than figured since maps weren’t so great. We were dodging through tiny alley ways, and very red muddy roads also used by other mopeds. Patrick was stressed but it was the most fun I had had thus far. We were very lost at one point and a sweet old lady dropped what she was doing and jumped on her bike and told us to follow her. We knew it wouldn’t be free but we were so lost we didn’t have another choice. She took us through who knows where and at one point when she started to head away from the water and into thick brush on a cow trail we all stopped and thought, “Not on your life.” But for some reason, we kept on and wouldn’t you know it, she led us to the main road. We offered her 200,000vnd ($10usd) and she said she wanted 500,000 ($25usd), but seeing as how she hasn’t set the price before and we were where we needed to be and we thought that was a ridiculous request, we left her the 200,000 and drove on. We stopped at a few hotels to see and get a feel for market. There was a very pricey, “earth friendly” hotel that boasted it’s self-righteousness but we interpreted it as $200usd for no hot water and no A/C. Moving on.  When we were reading about the beaches we didn’t understand how such a small island could have unused beaches when it was such a popular vacation spot for locals and tourists and it was “the season” since it was still 90 degrees while snowing in the north. But the muddy dirt roads quickly made it obvious how things were preserved. We passed a place (Carole) that looked way too nice to be in our budget but our butts were sore from the bikes so we stopped to look around and get a price. It was stunning! The walk ways were large stone set a little apart so the ground cover could fill in and make a deep green Asian grout. It had a giant pool with blue tile that just made it stunning and the pool was visually in line with the beach and ocean. The beach was private and well kept. The decor was luxurious, beautiful lit Asian lanterns were all over in the trees. The kitchen eating pavilion was right on the beach. And the rooms were to die for. Wow! I for sure figured $215usd. Only $100! Wow! It was on my bucket list to stay at ta 5 star hotel. I don’t know if it was 5 star was it was fabulous. Mom and I jumped on a bike and headed down to the last hotel we were meaning to stay at, just to make sure we weren’t missing out on anything since it has such high reviews.

Driving the bike was a blast. They are quite a fun little toy. I was a rookie and we had some close calls, but it was the first time I heard Mom laugh on the trip so I was happy. The Bungalow was very quaint and family friendly and had we gone there first we would have been happy. But the Carole just made us very very hapy and the bungalow was $85 a night. We thought the difference was worth it at the other place. We headed back just as it started to rain. Pouring rain. Wet t-shirt contest. But we were happy. Dad had gotten the rooms down to $80 per night so Mom and I high-fived, extra pleased with luck and Dad’s doing. Everything about this place was picturesque.

We gave ALL our laundry minus swim suit to be done. I figured they would have machines and dryers since I had seen them in the country and they had to do so many sheets and towels, etc. Come to find out it was done all by hand and air dry and wouldn’t be done for 36 hours. Woops! Mom had forgotten to check some of Dad’s pant pockets and his passport and a bunch of money got washed. Nothing detrimental though.

 We got on our suites and headed to the beach. It was dusk and the rain was off and on. There was no one else in hotel it seemed, the light were gorgeous, the water was very warm, less salty than some “oceans” I have been in. Picked up a bunch of sand dollars and other shells. Dinner at the hotel restaurant was delicious, which was good because there weren’t many options to be found clear out there. The hotel staff was so great and they even let us go into the kitchen to watch. It was an open kitchen anyway, but it was still fun. The reception girl, age 24 (?) lived at the hotel and had worked there since age 15. Our main server in the dining pavilion lived a little down the road and had a 6 year old son. Many of the staff lived at the hotel or very close by.

Day 7 – Dec 17

Slept well but woke up before sunrise. Patrick and I got up and went shell hunting. Tide much higher than night before. Not a lot of shells but lots of little crabs. Started to rain again. Water was very warm, sometimes bathtub warm. It was beautiful with the deep cloudy sky. The beach created a lagoon, deep blue water (don’t get close because then you see trash) back dropped with lush, thick, deep viet green foliage. Perfect. Hot water was solar powered so no hot water. : ( Excusable since everything else was 10’s. Breakfast delicious. Can’t get enough mango or passion fruit juice.  Still raining. Late morning. Still raining. Getting ADD. Still raining. Finally I manipulated the group into going in on a taxi for the day so our time wasn’t wasted. After getting a price for the remaining 4 hours of daylight, we passed on the taxi and decided to buy ponchos and go on our motorbikes. Rain stopped just before we left. : ) Stayed away rest of afternoon. We rode north away from people. Beautiful views, but enjoy from far away because trash up close kills the mood. Ate street . . . house food. Very delicious. Except Dad got something that made his stomach churn. Not really bad but flavor kicked in muscle memory of Navajo food that had made him sick. We helped him eat it since the couple was there with us and Dad didn’t want to be rude. I felt on the mission again! It was a blast. Dad had bad luck with food a lot on the trip. His main problem was he couldn’t stay away from the fish. Also, he was excited when ordering and would order for himself and then Patrick would order for the rest of us and Dad’s order always got messed up. Once he ordered salmon and got . . pig fat. Once he ordered another fish and got fried banana. ; ) That night we tried to go see the main town and got lost. In desperate hunger we stopped at the only place we saw. It had a tank full of snakes and frogs. That was a tip to me that it was a no go, but Dad and Patrick were feeling adventurous. Dad ordered catfish, Patrick ordered steak and egg, mom ordered . . .  I can’t remember.  Dad’s fish came back cooked three days ago and burned 3 ways today. Patrick’s steak looked pretty good, but the egg was totally raw which ruined his steak. Mom was not happy with her dish either. I just smiled as Dad stubbornly ate his fish ashes. We went back to the hotel and ate a very late, but very delicious place of pork and rice noodle with crisp veggies. Finished with scrumptious fruit smoothies. Gotta love Viet food!

Day 8 – Dec 18

 Still raining. We were considering staying another day if the weather was good, but rain just makes beach life short. We checked out, tipped our marvelous staff well, and rode back into Duong Dong. In Viet Nam, you don’t tip waiters or hotel staff. You do tip people who do physical labor for you eg: tam pan rowers, bell boy, etc, but this hotel staff so was great we just couldn’t help ourselves. So happy we did not stay near the town. It was so terrible and dirty and confusing that I can’t even remember the real way to pronounce the name. We passed the pearl place and as we passed I just had a great urge to go and see how pearls are made.  We didn’t know what to expect. It had a small explanation of how they are made, and a video that we didn’t watch because we thought we were short on time. (Dad had kept his watch on North Dakota time which made it really confusing sometimes when he gave us the time.) Most of the shop was a gorgeous, very high-end, Tiffany’s of pearl display room. There were about six beautiful Viet girls ready to help us. Six each I should say. Viet people are very eager to serve. When on commission it is obnoxious. The pearls were beautiful but just not the right time of life to be forking over $2k on calcium build-up on a string.

Dad and Patrick dropped Mom and I off at the airport and then went back to return the bikes. That way we only had to pay taxi for 2 people instead of 4. But they had to pay to get pack in to the main roads. Did we save any money? No, but you can’t keep ‘em from tryin. Plane ride from Phu Quac to Sia Gon, 30 min $60ish per person. Very happy. Took plane from Sai Gon to Danang. Walked from airport toward area where Patrick thought was a bus stop according to his plane time study. Kind of a long walk since we didn’t know the scale of the map, but it felt good after sitting all day. Beautiful night, definitely cooler in the central part of Vietnam. We found a cheap hotel - $15 per night – basic like guest house but clean. Still no hot water. Sleeping was patchy. Smoking in halls. Noisy in halls all night.

Day 9 – Dec 19

Woke up and left early to catch bus to Hoi An. Got frustrated with goose chase to breakfast. Bailed and went straight to bus stop. Man offered to take us on 4 mopeds to Danang. Half the time, 100,000 ($5) each. We accepted. I was very nervous when I was whisked away by some Viet guy and immediately could not see anyone from our group. “Taken” came into my mind and I was plotting my escape.  Patrick must have gotten nervous too because he made sure his driver could point out to him where we other three were at all times. Our drivers stopped in the middle of the trip at a place called Marble Mountain. It is a serious of . . . giant rocks that are solid marble. The Viets used to cut at it and the area was a hub for sculptors. Then they realized it was silly that they were cutting at their own mountain when China would ship it from there for cheap. There were still a lot of Buddha Statues being carved and displayed at the base, but all from Chinese stone.  Our drivers offered to wait while we climbed the mountain (only 100,000 more per person ; ) ). Patrick was excited so we said yes. It was more interesting than it looked from the road, with all the caves and stuff I was not expecting. There were temples and Buddhist stuff, but once you have seen one you have seen them all. Plus all the old ladies following you around trying to sell stinky incense to light for Buddha and “so you can sleep well at night” gets annoying. We climbed and we climbed and we climbed (steep rock steps). The caves got cooler and bigger and our backpacks got heavier and heavier.  At the main plateau (not the top) Patrick found a windy, VERY steep stairway and we took it to the very tip top. 360 degree view. Gorgeous.  Danang was actually clean and beautiful, and from above it was spectacular.  We looked out onto China Beach, which is where the first actual troops, fully geared, landed in Vietnam, and they were greeted by the people with flowers and a warm welcome.

On to Hoi An. Passed cool bridges, one in the shape of a Dragon. Got dropped off at town central. Found a restaurant around the corner that looked clean and nice. Pretty good. And wouldn’t you know it but the owner had a son that had a homestay. He put us in his car and rushed us right over. The rooms looked beautiful and $30. It was not the same homestay experience as the Delta, more like a really nice motel in their back yard. We probably should have found a different place to compare the market, but it was starting to rain and our bags were heavy. It would have been double that at home and he promised hot water so we agreed. We got bikes with the deal, and that is an experience changer. Really it is. We dropped our gear and rode our bikes around and down the river, and in and out of the residential areas. If we had been on foot we would never have done that. Hoi An is an old textile trade port that kind of froze in time and evolved into a tourist attraction. Very clean! Tailor shops everywhere. Mom and I got measured for a dress each, and I ordered 2 shirts. At another shop I measured for a nice wool dress coat (cream with black buttons and edging), and Patrick measured for some dress pants. Mom and Dad tuckered early in the evening, so Patrick and I roamed the area alone. We spent more money on some ties, a North Face jacket for Patrick for the North and an imitation Prada purse for Diane. We hit the wall at about 9 pm. Slept well.

Day 10- Dec 20

Hot shower! : ) Had local noodle dish for breakfast. Yummy. Went to a fitting at 10am. Worried about dresses – not a great fit for Mom or I. Perused. Fitting at noon (LOVE my coat!!!) and 12:30. Dresses turned out well. Sigh of relief. Ate lunch at local place. Very delicious. Due to Viet servings we were still hungry though. Went around the corner to Blue Gecko (PS, geckos make a noise that sounds like they are saying gecko. That is how they got their name. We heard it on the island. It was cool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wsKoYspJ94 ). Arguably the best food we ate the whole trip. Delish! Returned for Patrick and my final fitting.  Tailor lady had made coffee for us and Patrick thanked her and explained to her that we don’t drink coffee, even at home. That sparked up a conversation about other things that we do and don’t do in our religion (He never told her the name of the church which I was sad about – he was so paranoid about getting busted for proselyting that he was over cautious.)  She thought it was CRAZY that Patrick and I were virgins when we got married. She just could not understand how you know you love someone until you sleep with them. Patrick talked to her about commitment and loyalty and true love. That left her thinking. : )

The Tailor lady got us a Viet price on Taxi to Hue – 3 hours away. 200,000 vnd cheaper than bus x’s4. Driver was good to us. Took us on scenic route up and over mountains. Breathtaking. Roads so windy it stole my thunder. Finally I just closed my eyes and tried to sleep. Mom took lots of pictures so I will have to look at them later. Driver answered all of our questions. Patrick is a good interpreter. To get a license in Viet Nam you have to wait until you are 20-years-old. It is a 6 month course – 2 hours a day. No extra licensing to drive a taxi. School is the same age 5-18. 2 hour break for lunch.

Hue was a little dirtier. Passed many hotels for no reason. Ran into a nice one - $45 promo. Took it. Very nice. Met us with tea and wet face towels at reception desk. Rooms super nice but a little “dirty” after looking. 9^th floor so beautiful night view. Had dinner at restaurant next door. Boys ordered filet mignon. Did not look like filet mignon. Looked more like cubed steak, but not as tender. Finally got a full night’s sleep.

Day 11 – Dec 21

Started day with breakfast at 7am. Mangos are delicious.

Raining. Colder. Checked out of hotel and bell boy got us a taxi driver. Too many people involved in the rate – Bell boy, boat owner, Taxi driver and someone else. Taxi driver was the only person in the whole country who didn’t know what Patrick was asking when he asked how much to the Citadel. Should have known we were getting had. Boat owner said 60,000. We got in. Got to Citadel. Magically the boat owner was there at the citadel. Meter said 32,000. Patrick called the men out on the difference between the price agreed on and meter. They all smiled still friendly and business like trying to get us to hire him for boat tour down Perfume River to kings’ tombs. Boat guy gave us a water proof map of the citadel. Funny, since they all seemed to have no clue what we were asking of them when we were trying to get a price to the dad gum place. Citadel really was very cool. Very rainy and cold so not as enjoyable as on a sunny warm day. The Citadel was the home for many of the great viet Kings up until WWII times. It took a hit with Viet Nams war with Japan and then again during war with us. Mostly ruins but government was restoring. I think it is considered a global history site. Mom had been hoping to do the river tour and see the tombs but her coat was not water proof and she got drenched. She and Dad were too cold to continue with much excitement, so we decided on going back to the same area as our hotel and just roam around. Mom and I had a flight at 6pm to Sai Gon. The boys had a bus to  . . .somewhere farther north at 4:30pm so we had a couple hours to kill still.

We gave the boat guy back him map, slammed his stupid sales pitches and Patrick told him we would not go anywhere with him. We really  were offended by how bad they had cheated us and couldn’t believe they thought we were stupid enough to do any more business with them. We always felt safe in Vietnam and lost concern of being pickpocketed – in fact, once my back pack was unzipped and falling open and someone quickly told me. I had a drink falling out of my bag and someone told me. We didn’t feel like they would steal from us from behind, but they were fine ripping you upfront. We walked right over to another taxi from a company that the book claimed is federal with reliable meters. He took us to town center and offered to pick us girls up at 4 and take us to the airport. We piddled around the area admiring the beautiful hotels but it really was wet and cold and a good ending to a great vacation. Dad commented that many of the hotels were more beautiful and elaborate than the citadel; we really get to live like kings! The weather made it easier to leave than if we had ended with the beautiful beaches and 90 degree weather.

Plane ride to Saigon was good. Viet people seem to ignore the no smoking signs and announcement on the planes because all the domestic flights constantly smelled of rotating cigarette smoke, although I never caught anyone. Our theory is it is first class and the air just gets circulated around the plane.

Arrived in Saigon around 8. Promised Patrick we wouldn’t leave the airport even though our flight to LA was not until 5:40am the next day. Mom ate dinner in the food court. It was too early to check into our flight so we looked for a dark place to sleep for the night. Found some benches but it was not an original idea. Late at night the airport bench “hostel” increased in vacancy. Still not great sleep.

Day 12 – Dec 22 . . . twice

Woke up on bench. Free dollar and hardly worth the expense. Brushed teeth. Check-in to flight 3:30am.  Waited for flight. Let the Sodoku marathon begin. Flight to Bejing. Slept a little. Bejing very cold. 29 degrees and we had no coats. Felt colder in Hue though. Asian airports have plans load and unload on tarmac, bus you to plane even if it is only 20 paces away. Flight to LA left late morning Bejing time, but we lost light fairly quickly. I felt jipped. I felt a little what it was like for the Americas after Christ’s crucifixion. Trippy. Airplane food was Chinese food. Yuck! Mom didn’t understand Patrick and my prejudice on the flight over, but she understood on the flight home. Viet food plays with crunchy and smooth, sweet and sour, salty and spicy, hot and cold. The plating is beautiful and the flavor all fresh. Chinese food is rice, soy sauce and something sweet thickened with cornstarch. Blah! Plane had awesome individual movie screens and we could pick what movies we watched. That killed several hours. Finally I crawled onto the floor and let Mom spread out on the three seats we had in our row. Two people to 3 seats is better than 3 people to 3 seats, but it still is not conducive to good sleep. Just as I was dropping off in a nice stretched out sleep, lights came on for more Chinese food. Yea. Arrived in LA tired and happy to be an American. I put mom on a bus to the train station that would take her to Coral’s in San Diego. I boarded my plane to SLC and I was aching for my babies so much I could hardly stand it. Sat next to man who gathers in Eden, UT with kids to go skiing. He was not interested in hearing about the gospel, but interested in my personal and The Church’s reasons for attending church every week so diligently. He got a little gospel anyway. ; ) Arrived in SLC in one piece although exhausted. My babies are beautiful and excited to see me. People keep asking if I would go again. It was a great vacation and I am glad I did it. Right now I’m thinking I would do it over, but not a second time. For all the time and money, I want a different stamp in my passport. Ask me later when I have recovered from jetlag. They say it for every hour of time difference it takes a day to recover. (14hour time difference.)