An International Dinner

Tonight my Sweetie and I enjoyed a truly international dinner. We had tamales (Mexico) and a noodle dish (Korean.)

I had planned to have tamales for dinner -- these became a Christmas tradition with us after my children and I moved to El Paso.
These are the tamales -- the one on top has been taken out of the wrapping.


Tamales are made from "masa" a ground corn product, and are usually gluten free. They are filled with (in this case) pork. Other fillings can be chicken, beef, or some kind of sweet. I have never had a sweet one. I have seen spinach tamales and black bean tamales but have not tried these. The masa is formed around the meat and then the tamale is wrapped in a corn shuck and steamed until done. In the picture below the tamale has been unwrapped and is on top of the shuck so you can see them together.

Then in the afternoon a Korean friend called and asked if she could bring some food. (You will see her pictured in the pictures of our quilting group Christmas party.)

This is the dish my Korean friend brought. I don't know what to call it (except delicious) but is contains noodles, mushrooms, carrots, onions, carrots, and beef. All the ingredients are shredded before being added to the noodles. She said it was made by her Mother-in-Law who is also Korean but who lives in Canada.

It was delicious and surprisingly quite tasty with the tamales.

With our main items accounted for, we added rice and a tossed salad and it was a great international dinner!

Merry Christmas!

I've been reading a lovely book entitled "Cleo" which was written by Helen Brown. She is a journalist who lives in New Zealand and the book is a memoir of a time and a cat who changed her life.

It is interesting that when she speaks of Christmas it is warm summer (just like where you are, Chooky,) and here Christmas is usually cold. Of course, here it was 82 deg F yesterday, but it is going to be cooler and then cold over the next week or two.

You might check out this book if you are interested in a rather different read.

A candy cane adventure...

I decided that I wanted a box of candy canes to hand out at my volunteer job Wednesday. I know we will have a lot of clients picking up their food for the rest of December, and with school being out and all the children with their parents, we will be crowded.
A friend was going to Sam's so she picked me up a box of 280 candy canes plus she was going to give me the 1/2 box she had left.
Sweetie volunteered to pick them up for me -- on the Harley, of course.
I questioned the wisdom of his transportation choice but he said "That's what bungee cords are for!"
So, off he went and stayed and stayed and stayed.
Finally he came in with his sad tale.
About halfway home one of the bungee cords slipped and the new box of candy canes fell and slid down the street. Several cars swerved to miss it but one car just clipped it on the edge, causing it to go spinning down the street some more.
He managed to rescue it and did arrive home safely. There were a good number of the canes that were now in pieces and the box was a bit broken in spots, but we still have plenty to hand out.
Anyone need some pieces of candy canes to sprinkle on cookies, brownies, ice cream, etc.? I'll be glad to supply them!
Merry Christmas everyone!

An early start...

Ever have those days when you wake up early and just can't go back to sleep. Well, that was this morning. Finally got up and went upstairs to the sewing room and finished cutting the large squares for my latest project. Got them all cut and the four patch blocks squared up.

I can't help but wonder...as careful as I try to be when I cut and sew squares, why are there always a few blocks that don't come out the right size? It is all going to fit together but I would like it to come out perfectly and that doesn't happen.
Oh, well...
I'll try to take some pictures over the weekend. I think it is going to be pretty.

Had a great day -- my oldest daughter and SIL are in town. OD and I got to shop and talk -- lots of talking. It was good to do this. We seem to have so little time together.

After we shopped and SIL worked we all gathered, including YD and Granddaughter, for a good dinner. Nice to have family together

Weigh In

One more note -- I have rejoined Weight Watchers. This past week, despite 5 parties, I managed to lose 2 pounds. REJOICE!!

King's Quilters -- Christmas 2010 -- a gift of giving

After we ate our lunch, played a game, and had a devotional, we all went out to the "office" where we decorated bags to be filled with birthday items. The Social Services office where I work gives "birthday bags" to the children on our assistance list when their birthday arrives.
This may consist of a decorated cake or a box of cake mix and icing, decorated plates, cups and napkins, and/or small gifts. The things we usually have for our children when we give them a birthday party. These things are totally out of reach for children whose parents don't have a job and who are living on the bare edge of existence.
Our ladies had great fun stamping the bags that would be given to the kids as part of their "birthday bag." One member brought her supply of stamps and we created all different kinds of designs.

As we drove home I stopped by KCM to drop off the items we had collected (my trunk was full!)
The ladies with me were delighted to get a tour of the facility and of the "birthday room."

King's Quilters -- Christmas 2010

My quilting group had a Christmas luncheon last Monday -- we drove 30 miles west of Katy to the home of one of our members who lives on a small cattle ranch. Lunch was great fun and we all enjoyed a time of visiting and eating!

Above -- the group -- I'm on the middle row in levi jacket next to woman in red.

This was part of our spread -- the desserts were around the corner and can't be seen. We had salads and desserts. Yum!

It is finished!

Sweetie and I have been ever so busy -- the past three nights we were a part of our church's Christmas program called Celebrate Christmas. Celebrate Christmas is a free drive-through life of Christ with sets and live animals and many, many people all working together to portray the life of Christ from birth through death and resurrection. After touring the drive-through section visitors are invited inside the church building to eat cookies, drink hot chocolate or coffee, and listen to a variety of Christmas music presentations. We had hand bells, puppets, children's choirs, adult choir, and several Praise team presentations. It was a great event but one which left me tired to the bone.

My job has always been as a "greeter" at the last stop on the journey -- I retrieve the sound track CD's and hand out a bag of information and candy canes. We had more than 1200 people come through over the 3 nights -- from single occupant cars to cars with 10 children and adults inside. Some people loaded their cars with neighbors and all came together. Some brought their dogs. Some came in pajamas, ready to jump into bed as soon as they were back home.

This was a great event and one that I love to participate in despite the cold (and it was cold last night!) and the tiredness that I'm left with. It is an important part of our Christmas.

The picture I posted was taken by Lyn Hunter Sullivan and depicts the scene where Jesus is being made to carry His cross while being shouted at by angry mobs. One woman said that she didn't realize that being mad at Jesus was such hard work. Her arms and hands were tired from her shaking her fist at him. Hummmm, being mad at Jesus is hard work. Sounds like there is a devotional thought there!

However you celebrate Christmas I hope you will treasure your traditions and enjoy your family, never forgetting, however, ...IT'S ALL ABOUT JESUS!

An Update

On Nov 1 I updated a prior post about the little Cambodian boy who received one of the quilts made by the King's Quilters. I've since learned a little more about this child. His name is Samnang and his mother is a slave. Yes -- in this modern day world there are still people who live in slavery! This mother gave up her child because she did not feel she had anything to offer him.
Can you picture having to made that decision about one of your children? This mother gave up two of her children so that they would have hope of a future.
Can you picture being a slave?
A totally different world from the world most of us live in.

You can learn more about this child and others by reading the blog
Jungle Adventures
written by Steve Hyde. You can learn more about this ministry by logging on to
http://stevehyde.wordpress.com/ The post about Samnang was written on Nov 11, 2010 under the heading King's Quilters.