As the season changes to consistent rains, we are beginning to see and hear different wildlife around. For example, Seth is very interested in birds and was excited to see a pin-tailed wydah in front of our house. If you have a chance, look it up while you are on line, they are a really neat little bird. The male has an excessively long tail during the rainy season. We have now also acquired a fruit pigeon in our menagerie. The word pigeon is misleading as this is a wild bird that is really quite pretty. Almost every evening now, we hear monkeys on the hills behind our house. Unfortunately, it is also the season to watch out for snakes. So, pray for safety.
Well, I have another couple of cooking stories for you. I managed to can green beans. Now, before you start wondering what's the big deal with that, please remember that I have only ever canned once before(twice if you count freezer jam :) So, I am far from being expert. Coming into canning can be a little intimidating, but add to that the um... adventure...of using a pressure cooker over a campfire during rainy season. I almost stopped before I started when I read the cookbook - "maintaining an even pressure is essential to pressure canning" HAH! How in the world... But, faint heart never had vegetables in the off season so...I pulled my courage to the sticking place and now have jars of nicely sealed green beans sitting in my dining room. Praise God - with Him all things truly ARE possible!!! I was using a pressure cooker, not a pressure canner, with a seal that was questionable to say the least, and was at least 5 years old. Well, lets just say that I am glad it didn't blow up!!! :)
Then, today, I had another little um... adventure... I was baking in my big cast iron pot, I made crackers. They had browned quite nicely and were ready to come out when I hit my snag. The cookie sheet was stuck, and I mean STUCK! Roy couldn't even get them out. For those of you with teenage daughters who are saying, "why do I have to study science, it's not like I'm actually going to use it" - you now have your sarcastic reply -"Someday when you are making crackers in Africa, you are going to need to know that iron pots expand differently than cookie sheets when heat is applied." See, you learned something helpful today. Anyway, the solution was simple - a crowbar. Yes, today I made wheat thins in my oven and had to remove them with a crowbar. How can you do anything but laugh!
Two days ago, though, I think I crossed some sort of an ethical line. I taught the little African kids about Spam. There's just something wrong about that. In my defense, meat is scarce right now and Zwan ( our version of Spam) is the natural fallout of a need for meat flavored protien (sorry to any of you who are vegetarian, but I don't think you can be too offended since I am pretty sure it isn't even really meat) I was making fried rice, and in the absence of vegetables ( I hadn't gotten any green beans yet) I had to make it using only Zwan, onions, and eggs - oh, and a can of peas. My normal panel of 7 and under advisors were present and had a long discussion amongst themselves as to what it was that we were eating. One of the kids solemnly informed the others that he was pretty sure that those little squares were bouillion cubes. I told that it was meat - to which they responded "Na LIE" (I don't think that I need to translate that). SO, I introduced them to Spam. I hope I haven't done any permanent damage....