Our first anniversary here--one month!

One day this week we visited a missionary couple in Aringay about an hour and a half north of us.  They have mountains there, and this was a peaceful rural scene on the way.

They are also near the South China Sea and have beaches nearby.

They dry fish in one of the villages near there.  The stench is unbelievable!  We passed on the offer to sample.  Yum. . .

 

Just like at home, there is road construction!  But most of what they do is by manual labor--men and shovels.

 

 

Tire-hauling tricycle.  Have trike, will haul is their motto!  Doesn't matter what, they do it!

Even pigs!

 

Cemetery on hillside.  The people rent the vaults and "bury" their loved ones on top of the ground.  Some vaults are stacked several high.  Maybe rent's cheaper for high rise burials?

 

View from our friend's balcony.  How would you like to figure out that wire mess?

The Fullmers with their Christmas tree.  We don't have anything Christmas yet.  Can you believe that?!

Another day we did apartment checks--visited 11 sets of missionaries' apartments in Lingayen, north and east of us.  They, too, have mountains and beautiful farm fields.

This was near one of the apartments we visited--beautiful tropical vegetation.  Brad said he'd like to live there, and I said he'd be by himself!

 

Look closely in the left of the refrigerator door tray.  There is a tiny, live gecko in one of the Elder's refrigerators.  I won't divulge which Elders it is, but. . .their apartment checks were interesting, to say the least!

 

These are women working in the rice fields.  We're not sure if they're planting or bundling seedlings to plant elsewhere, but they were busy and seemed happy--waved at me and laughed as I took their picture.

 Calesa (horse-drawn carriage) with baskets and peddlar selling them .

 

Vehicles parked at church during meeting--ours is always the only car in the parking lot.  Many families come on tricycles or motorbikes--mom, dad, several children.  Baby is often standing up wedged between parents and kids hanging partly off all over the vehicle.  Scary!

A beautiful home with gorgeous flowers and shrubs near one of the churches we visit.

Rice drying on the road.  Today we also saw corn drying on the side of the road.

 

A Filipina lady near one of the Elder's apartments.  They are so friendly and gracious.

A caribou or water buffalo--beast of burden for the Philippines.  They use them to plow their fields or haul carts filled with stuff.

One of the sisters who is here with her husband as a missionary couple wanted a yellow cake mix and hasn't been able to find one.  So I decided to try my hand at making a yellow cake mix, then trying variations.  It was so easy and so successful!  I not only made yellow cake, but I also made coconut, lemon, spice, chocolate chip, and chocolate cakes out of the same mix.  Who needs cake mixes, anyway!    Here is the recipe I used, if you want to try it.

 2 1/3 c. flour

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 T. baking powder

3/4 t. salt

Mix these together and put in ziploc bag to store.  This is your basic cake mix.

When you're ready to bake, take mix and add 1/2 c. melted margarine, (or shortening, or butter).  I used margarine because that was what I had.

2 eggs

1 c. milk

1 t. vanilla.

Beat with mixer for 2-3 minutes.

This makes the yellow cake. 

Bake 350--9/13 25-30 minutes, cupcakes 15 min.  round layers 20 min.

 

Variations: Lemon: add lemon juice and lemon zest and frost with lemon frosting

Spice:  Add 1 t. cinnamon, 1/4 t. cloves, 1/4 t. allspice (I didn't have allspice so I added 1/4 t. nutmeg and 1/8 t. ginger)

Coconut:  Add coconut flavor and shredded coconut.

Chocolate chips:  Just add chocolate chips to yellow cake

Chocolate:  Add 1/4 c. cocoa before the milk

White cake:  Use 3 egg whites instead of whole eggs.  You can whip whites and fold in for a finer cake.

Pineapple upside down cake:  Milt 1/2 c. butter in bottom of 9/13 pan.  Add 2/3 c. brown sugar, stirring into butter.  Arrange pineapple slices in pan.  Top with yellow cake.  Bake 30-35 min. at 350.  Cool 5 minutes and invert.