Home Ec--Cooking, DR Style

In middle school and high school I always wanted to take a home ec cooking class. There was sewing and crafts, but never cooking. I've managed to teach myself a few things about cooking or find recipes on Pinterest.

Last week I took on the challenge of cooking up some Dominican food. Tostones, salami, and queso frito. Lots of oil and lots of frying. I've been living here almost a year so it was about time I learned! I had just never taken the time to find recipes or directions, but a few weeks ago missionary friend, Angela Mitchener,  posted instructions that were so simple to follow.

Tostones are plantains that are fried, twice! Think of plantians as the Dominican equivalent to American potatoes--fried, mashed, chips.

Salami here isn't like the sliced deli meat that I picture when I think of salami in the States. Here it comes in a tube (plastic?), you slice it up, and fry it.  If you're interested in trying these two yourself, check out Angela's blog for the directions.

Finally, queso frito, frito cheese.  Angelo didn't mention this one, but I figured it I'm already going to have the oil out might as well make use of it. It's simple. Buy queso freir from the store. Literally, that translates to frying cheese. I don't any other name for it in English or Spanish. Make sure the oil's hot and you have enough that the queso doesn't touch the bottom of the pan. Think, deep frier. Slice the cheese and add it to the oil--watch out for hot, oil splatters.  Once the cheese changes colors it's done.  This is definitely my favorite and it's best eaten hot.

Peel the plantains...

....slice them about like this.

Fry them once.

Smash them and fried them again, so they turn out like this.

Slice the salami and fry it up once the tostones are done.

Then slice the cheese and fry that.
It should look something like this when it's done.

Dinner time! (Finally, I'd been cutting frying for hours.)

Tostones are like French Fries, eat them with ketchup.
I prefer the sweeter taste of the Latin brands!

My #drlife

The past few weeks were a bit of a whirlwind.  One of my roommates had finished her student teaching so we packed as made adventures into her last week and a half as possible.

I love being able to visit so many different places so easily.  That one day I'm at a waterfall in the mountains and a few days later I"m building sandcastles on the beach.  Puerta Plata a nice town on the beach with a cable car that takes up the mountain for a gorgeous view of the city and ocean below.  At the top on the mountain there's a status of Jesus, one of the landmarks of Puerta Plata, trails though  the woods, and supposedly, caves, but we didn't make it to them.

Saturday--Trip to Salto Baigaute in Jarabcoa

Tuesday (Huelga)--Trip to Playa Cabarete

Saturday-Trip to Puerta Plata and the Teleferico

While in Puerta Plata, we rode the moto taxis.  They're just like normal taxis but on a motorcycle, so it's cheaper and funner.  I did get, as one co-worker put it, 'my first' moto burn.  It's very common to have burn on the inside, right leg just above the ankle from the motorcycle muffler.  They say one's not really Dominican until they've had a moto burn. My burn isn't a bad one. It happened so fast I was already off the bike before I even realized I was burned.











Neosporin has been my best friend since last Saturday. As you can tell, I pretty much used up the Neosporin.  The generic brand in the back is almost gone, too.  I stopped by the Farmacia to pick up some more. I was expecting it to be a bit pricey, but that Dominican brand antibacteriano contra quemaduras (antibiotic against burns) was only 80 peso, about $2!!

This most recent Saturday we has a surprise birthday party for a friend from my church here.  As we were putting decorations and preparing the food, I noticed something strange--well strange from my perspective.  I couldn't figure out why the balloons had been kept in the freezer.  Was I confused? Did he really get the balloon out of the freezer? I went to blow some up and picked up the bag. Definitely, frozen. It took me a while but I finally figured out why and asked my friend's mom to be sure. Any guesses? 

Finally, one of my most favorite things about living here--RAINY SEASON!!! It's rainy and sunny all at the same time. In this weather, rain is a welcome chance to cool off rather than a dreary day.  Unlike where I'm from in the States, rain rarely lasts all day here; rains, then out comes the sun.  The sky is the best this time of year!  Check of these to pics from my rooftop.  The first clear blue with white clouds.  The second, taken from the exact same spot, just a quarter turn to the right, giant storm cloud rolling in!  Soon after I took these it began pouring; I grabbed The Return of the King and my blanket and headed for the couch.  I love the sitting by the window, reading, during a downpour.  The rain smells so fresh and the cool breeze encourages snuggling in a blanket, rather than sweating without the blanket. 

Como Roca Son

The other night while I was fixing a snack I overheard my roommates' conversation about the future, what that might look like, and how God's working.  Again, my minds was brought to Ephesians 3:20, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." As I've shared before, God has made this my 'theme verse' since accepting my job at SCS. This verse just keeps popping up on me--in a Bible study or devotional, on a t-shirt, in song, or some other way. 

With this verse in my head, I took my snack back tomy room to begin my devotions.

I've been reading through the book of Joshua, which isn't nearly as exciting as I remembered in being.  Once you get toward the second half it's chapter after chapter of land allotments and boundary lines.  This is Joshua 13:9,  ^"It extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the middle of the gorge, and included the whole plateau of Medeba as far as Dibon."  To be honest, it gets a little dull verse after verse, chapter after chapter.  Many of my journal notes for these chapters when something like this: "God what's the purpose of this?  I get that it's helpful for historical notes or creating a map of Israel at that time, but what am I suppose to learn for this?"

I open my Bible to Joshua and turn to the next chapter, Joshua 21.  It starts off just like the past several chapters have.  With Ephesians 3:20 still in my head, I reach the last verse of the chapter.  Joshua 21:45, "Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled." In that moment I knew this is what I'm suppose to learn from reading all those boundaries lines. Those lists of cities were the fulfillment of God promises.

"Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled."

This is the God that Israel worshipped, a God who keeps his promises.  This is the God who Paul wrote about in Ephesians.  Our God, who has the power 'to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine''; the same power that provided Israel with the Promise Land.

Two days later at church, one of the songs we sang contained the words, "Tus promesas como roca son (Your promises are like rock).

Ephesians 3:20, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us."

Joshua 21:45, "Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled."