More than Rice and Beans

Good morning everyone... thought I'd write a bit to calm your fears. The country is not going up in smoke... yet! Zèzè went to work this morning. Last week we spent the mornings singing... English and Krèyol, and that was fun, but you do have to make a living. It hasn't been as bad as we thought. I went to market on Thursday, and there were only about a fourth of the vendors, and maybe a tenth of the people that are usually buying things. But Saturday we went to stock up on some other groceries and there were traffic jams everywhere. Probably everyone was trying to do their business in case this week gets scary. My husband was out in the tap-tap that evening and he did see some demonstrations with tires burning. But such is life in Haiti.

Right now I'm working on this cookbook, which has become my obsession... also because the other things I have to do are clean a house after a week of dusty, windy days, and scrub stubborn stains out of dresses with lye soap. I wanted to give you all a sneak peek and a recipe to try!

This book is so much more than recipes for rice and beans and the stories you always hear about life in the poor mountains of Haiti! It's so full of down to earth life... and quite a few of us girls have lived in Port au Prince, so it kind of has a "city girl" flair. The whole book is about Haiti, but the first section is just full of traditional Haitian recipes that we've learned from our mom-in-laws and Haitian friends. The second section is, I would say, about maybe simplifying your baking. Some simple, cheap recipes we've learned over here and really how to make do with basic ingredients and then add some flair to make great tasting baked goods. The third section is really cross-cultural... pizza recipes and toppings, tortillas and what to put inside, and some of those old Mennonite stand by meals and how to replace the cream cheese and bacon with yummy fresh seasonings... and how we modify our American food so it's not weird for our husbands, then end up liking the modified version better. And there's lots of stories and a few poems and tons of pictures!!! All the Haitian recipes for sure have pictures so you can see what the food looks like. Here's your sneak peak:

So ya... make some crepes tonight for supper... And we're hoping the full book is done sometime this fall! Have a happy week. Pray for this country, but please don't obsess about the news... I'm not. I know it's fragile but God is in control.