Well, my computer is messed up big time and that is why I have not been blogging or have changed the web page. I have more recipes to add and some stories.
I was able to open up Windows today and was able to transfer my word documents to two flash drives. My computer keeps turning itself off for no reason. We have tried many things, but it appears the hard drive is damaged?!?
I am not worried about pics as most of those are on Face book or my website or other places. It is all my documents that I am worried about. I have so many years of work.
The past week has been crazy. I have cooked as though I had a restaurant. We had an average of about 20-25 people here each day, and I suspect we had around 125-150 show up for Maria and Travis’s reception.
If you remember, I had made tamales, enchiladas, and Pupusa mixture beforehand. I took all that out of the freezer Tuesday morning, but I should have taken it out sooner. By the afternoon, I realized the meat and cheese Pupusa mix was not going to be thawed out in time. I promptly filled up the sink with hot water and put the pan in that.
I kept adding more hot water and it finally started to defrost the mixture. I also had made 4 cheesecakes, 19 loaves of Poppy Seed bread, and 22 loaves of Apple Coconut Bread. I also took the cinnamon bread I had made for Christmas (that was hard because I had left it in the oven too long…because I was trying to fix my computer) and tore it into pieces.
I put the pieces in a glass baking dish, added sugar and enough milk to moisten the whole bit. You could see the milk…almost like a bowl of cereal. I baked this in the oven, and took it out once to squoosh the bread down into the milk. When it was brown and looked baked…I took it out…this is what the Pioneers did with leftover bread and it is called, Bread Pudding.
Since it already had cinnamon in it, I did not add any, but if you just had regular bread, you need to add cinnamon, sugar…even raisins or dates.
A friend of mine came from Kansas to help me. She really is from Oklahoma, but I knew her when I lived in Kansas. She called on Monday and said she was coming down with a friend of hers and her daughter. She was not able to stay for the reception, but she helped me clean and cook the whole time she was here.
Her friend too was a great help and an amazing person. She had been hit by a boat when she was water skiing when she was just 15 years old and had broken her neck. She was told she would never walk again. She walks with the help of crutches and married and had children She is now in her late 50’s and has even been run over by a car, and had many other incredible trials.
Her determination and faith are incredible and she is an inspiration to be around. We also had some friends drive up from Houston to help with the reception and visit us.
They have an older daughter that, it appears, will come live with us in the spring. We spent Wednesday talking about the possibility and we will see how everything works out. This family helped too, with the reception and it amazed me that the people, who had come the farthest, helped the most.
Friends, though, know no distances, and our family has been so blessed to have made such friends in every place where we have lived.
I have never cooked so many Pupusas in one evening. Fito and I stayed in the kitchen, and I was like a robot on an assembly line just making and making Pupusas…and I could not keep up with the demand. Only when my Houston friend was helping me.
Overall, it was a delightful evening. Friends and family in all parts of the house. Music and good conservation. Hugs and congratulations. Travis and Maria greeted everyone and did a good job of making the rounds and visiting with all who came.
We had friends from many cultures come and it was neat to see how all mingled and tried to speak each other’s language and share with one another.
Douglas, Ary, and Celeste left the next morning and the house seems dead without my sweet little grand baby here. Our friends from Houston were still here and we visited. I had forgotten how sweet and intelligent my dear friend was and delighted in becoming acquainted again.
After she left, I thought, “That’s why we were such friends…she is so intelligent and I enjoy conversing with her so…” I felt the same, too, after my Kansas friend left..."Oh, what a helper she is...she is such a loyal friend!"
Oh, how I wish that all such friends could remain close. I know we contact each other via email and Face book, but it just isn’t the same!
Even the videos that my sweet daughter-in-law (though I love them) does not do justice to my granddaughter. Seeing her for real, holding her, watching her laugh, watching her explore the house, being chased by her aunts and uncles was so much more than seeing her in photos.
I did not cook again until Friday, when I made a Turkey and rice. We still had other things leftover from the reception like beans, bread, and the potato salad (a recipe from Venezuela). Then we had cousins come from Dallas for New Year’s. Saturday, I made Pupusa’s again, but had plenty of help. I also made chocolate chip cookies and Humming Bird bread…again with lots of help. I do not even think I washed but a few of the dishes on Saturday.
The toilets were having a hard time flushing and I even had to plunge one, so when another friend showed up (a hard working male)…I got him to go outside with me and start digging for the top of the septic tank. We dug while we were waiting for Fito to come home. He had gone to return the tables and chairs we had borrowed from the church.
When he got back, he and the friend found the top and yes,…it was full. The company came out to empty it. I also had to have a plumber come out. One of the hot water tanks is not staying lit. We keep buying parts and doing things, but it keeps going out. In addition, when I went on the visits yesterday, we ended up helping one sister clean up her flooded bathroom. She was having water issues, as well.
Cold weather and lots of company seems to tax plumbing…oh well…I guess that is the nice thing about getting older. When I was young, things like that would stress me out, but now I know they happen and happen often, and are simply part of life. Now I just seem to roll with the punches’ instead of allowing them to knock me down.
Some of the cousins went home on Saturday and others, Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon, I went to do some visits and when I came home, there were just the four children, Fito, my mom, and I. It seemed too quiet with only seven people in the house.
However…it is a quiet that I CAN and WILL completely enjoy!
Comments