Our busy week

Maribel's family--our FHE guests.

The house under the mango tree where we visited the less active sisters.  Pretty good hammock, right kids?  Notice the fire where they cook all their meals, and how the dirt is swept clean each day.

This is the sister and her family in their nipa hut.  This room has a cement floor while the rest are dirt.  The girl had just finished showering in the river nearby.

Following the missionaries to the nipa hut by the river.

This photo is the outside of the nipa hut by the river.  You can see the woven reed construction--not too sturdy during a typhoon.

A Philippine version of egg plant?

More of the egg plant hedge.

Spoiled senior missionary couples in the nipa hut restaurant.  The food is so good!

A welcome home celebration for the man who has been working in Korea for 7 years.  It's been 3 years since he's been home at all, and his family is celebrating his return.  He's a returned missionary, father of 4, and is much needed in the branch.  The sisters are around a large pan of pancit, waiting for the rest of the meal to cook.

A close-up view of pancit--rice noodles, vegetables, seasoned with soy sauce and cooked to perfection.  I took out the chicken hearts and ate the rest of this delicious dish.

Cooking pancit.  How are those for spatulas!  The man on the right is Br. Art who has been gone.

What is this?   My favorite Elder taking a turn cooking pancit.

More sisters enjoying the afternoon waiting for lunch.  The whole branch came over for the celebration.

Pancit almost done!

Besides pancit, they served rice with ulam (topping) of a mung beans soup, some meat (not sure what--didn't get any because it was long gone by the time we got to the food), and tomatoes.  The pancit was the best!

Waiting for the boy to pick mangoes for dessert.  They serve them green with vinegar and salt, much like a green apple.  They really love them, and prefer them over ripe mangoes.  Not me!  I'll take ripe any day!

Somehow the women always get stuck with doing dirty dishes.  Oh well, even that can be fun.  Notice the outdoor pump for their water source.

Mangoes fresh from the tree, and a reat treat for everyone.  The trees are loaded and it's almost mango season.  This type of tree produces green mangoes, while other varieties has the ones they eat when ripe.

This is actually the nipa hut under the mango tree.  The ladder leads to the sleeping quarters where the floor is bamboo slats. 

Our second scone making class in Rosario.  In addition to teaching them how to make scones, I also made chocolate no-bake cookies and gave them the recipe for English muffins.  If any of you wanted to try those, I've included the recipe (at the request of some of you!)  A funny story about the scones--as I was putting the flour, which I had bought at the local market,  into the bowls, I saw a quite big black thing that looked like a potato bug (rolly-polly).  The first one I tried to discretely dispose of , but when I came upon a second one I told the sisters, "Oh no!  This flour is bad!  It has bugs in it!  I'm sorry, Sisters.  I don't have any other flour with me"  The sisters crowded around and one said, "They're not bugs.  They're rocks from when they made the flour."  Someone else said, "Even if they're bugs, they won't kill you!"  I guess that's a good attitude for cooking in the Philippines!

English Muffins

1 3/4  C. warm milk

3 T. butter

1 1/4 t. salt

2 T. sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

4 to 4 1/4 c. flour

2 t. instant yeast

Place ingredients in a bowl and mix together, or use a bread machine.  Transfer the dough to a cornmeal-sprinkled surface and roll it out until it's about 1/2" thick.  Cut out circles with a floured 3" cutter.  Re-roll and cut out the leftover dough.  Cover the muffins with a damp cloth and let rest for about 20 minutes.

Heat a frying pan or griddle to very low heat.  Do mot grease, but sprinkle with cornmeal. (I couldn't find cornmeal here, but breadcrumbs work fine.)  Cook four muffins (or more) at a time, cornmeal side down first, for about 7 minutes a side.  Check after about 3 to 4 minutes to see that the muffins are browning gently and are neither too dark nor too light.  Adjust temperature as needed.  When the muffins are brown on both sides, transfer them to a wire rack to cool, and proceed with the rest.  If you have two frying pans, you'll be better able to keep up with your rising muffins.  Yield 16 muffins.  Split and toast, or serve with butter and jam, poached eggs, ham, and hollandaise sauce for eggs Benedict.  Enjoy!