> I would imagine that anyone who has taken time to read any of my (sparse) entries here would notice a general theme - cooking/baking. It is definitely a creative outlet and therapy all rolled into one! :) Pictured below are some of my most recent... projects. Don't worry, I did not eat them all! They were donated to our church's annual Ice Cream Social.

^ Pecan pie bars | It's like eating pecan pie with minimal crust, which is ideal for me! These turned out thinner than usual, but still very good. I think it was because I made them in a larger pan than I normally would.

^ Flaky pie crust | A pie crust recipe that my mom and I have used for a long time - no Crisco required!

^ Butterscotch pie | I thought this flavor sounded good, so I Googled a recipe. It turned out to be wonderful!

^ Lemon cream pie | For a long time I had wanted to make a lemon pie, so I Googled a recipe. I was told that it tasted good, but didn't get a chance to try it!

^ Meringue | My sister helped me mix it up, and I did the peaks all by myself! :)

> The next few pictures are of the pies I made today for my dad's 55th birthday. Mmm... apple!

^ Apple pie | My favorite apple pie recipe from an old cookbook on our bookshelf. I put an egg wash on the edges of the crust, which made it very brown!

^ Apple Pie, take 2 | The same apple pie as above, but with a flower decoration on top. My mom saw a picture in a magazine of something similar, and asked me to try it. I think it turned out well for a first attempt!

Kirsten

>  Just wanted to post a few pictures of the goodies we've made around here so far!

My all time fave - chocolate chip!

Chocolate-filled m&m pretzels... mmm...

Pretzels up close

Gingerbread men cut outs

Christmas tree cut outs

Angel and star cut outs

Snowmen cut outs

Kirsten

>  Two posts in one afternoon - will wonders never cease?!  Anyway, I finished binding my quilt this afternoon, and now all that is left is to actually quilt the thing. I think I am out of creative inspiration at the moment, so I will ponder on this a while. Here's what I've got done so far...

>  Also, I made sharlotka this afternoon! It is a Russian apple cake. My mom's ladies group at church is doing a lesson tonight on Russia, so guess who got to provide the snack? Anyway, I think it turned out really well - smells really good anyway! I'll include the recipe at the bottom in case anyone is interested in trying it.

After mixing all the ingredients together...

After about 40 minutes of baking...

 
Close up... mmm...

Sharlotka

1 1/2 C. sugar
1 C. oil
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 C. flour
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/3 t. nutmeg
3 C. chopped apples

Mix ingredients together in a bowl.
Pour into a greased cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Kirsten

>  So, Labor Day weekend in my village (yes, I really mean 'village') is always our homecoming/town festival/etc. You know, parade/fried food/tractor pull? Well the theme for our weekend was "We're Having A Hoedown," and the floats in the parade were decorated accordingly. We all got a big chuckle out of this one:

See the guy to the left of the one in overalls?

If you can't quite see, there is a farner on the back of the float, sitting on a toilet with his pants down, and reading the newspaper! 

>  Last night at 1am I finished sewing most of the top of my second quilt. I think I am going to add some more bordering to the sides so that it will be a little bigger, though.

Columns waiting to be sewn together

>  This morning I got up at 730am to help make noodles at my church. Our WCG (Women of the Church of God) makes these homemade noodles to serve in soup at their ice cream social in late September. I had never made noodles from scratch before, and it was pretty fun hanging out with the church ladies!

Tables of noodles

Kirsten

>  The following morning we went back to the CWCC to present to the residents.  Like the day before, Jennifer's presentation about the cycle beads was a hit.  Mine went well too, especially when I started handing out the baby hats!  There were about twenty women there, but many of them looked very young.  Most of them had already had at least one child, if not more.  When we were all finished with our presentations and getting ready to leave, the women presented each one of us with a wrapped gift.  I was so surprised! In each package was a Cambodian scarf, and mine was orange - my favorite color!  Once we got back to the hotel, Jennifer and I stopped in the cafe and got a muffin. They were double chocolate, and huge! It had a different texture, and tasted like there may have been coconut in it - very tasty.

The residents of the CWCC learning about Cycle Beads

The start of my presentation.

The ladies really liked looking at the laminated PowerPoint slides.

Handing out the baby hats.

I think they were a hit.

>  At around one-thirty, part of our group went to the hospital for another student's presentation.  On our way, we stopped at Madame Pahni's house to pick up Sophie, some materials, and to use up a little time.  When we finally got to the hospital, it didn't look how I expected. They did have quite a few departments, though.  The student who was presenting did not have a medical translator, so that threw a wrench into the plans.  It ended up going well, though.  There were about fifteen people in attendance from the hospital, and a few of them spoke fairly good English.  One in particular was very nice, and took us on a tour of the facility.  We stopped at Madame Pahni's jeweler on our way back to the hotel, and I bought a really pretty stone - a Cambodian sapphire.  I think almost everyone bought something there, because the prices were so good!  (For a graduation present, my parents had it put in a necklace setting, and I wear it often.)

Some of the doctors at the hospital presentation.

They were very good listeners!

One wing of the hospital in the background.

>  That night we decided to go to the Foreign Correspondence Club for dinner.  It was 3-4 stories tall, and a lot of it was open-air.  The best part were the little lizards crawling all over the walls.  It really drove some of our people nuts, but I don't mind lizards!  I ended up getting margarita pizza, and it was very good.

The lizards on the wall of the FCC.

>  The next morning we were to meet in the lobby at 9:30 AM, and a few of us decided to use the phone beforehand.  We got up around 7:00 AM, ate breakfast (a fried egg, rice, 1/2 a baguette with jelly), and headed to the Daniel Net.  Crossing Monivong was scary as always, especially since we were coming back during 'rush hour'!  I was able to talk to my family for nine minutes, and it cost me twenty-five cents - amazing.  We definitely decided to forget about that other internet/phone place we tried.  Once we were back to the hotel, we had to haul our packed luggage all the way downstairs (from the third floor).  It was interesting, and I had the least luggage of the three girls in my room!  Two of us got a muffin from the cafe on our way out the door, and got on the bus.  After about three hours we arrived at the home of our professor's new fiancee.  Her family was giving an engagement party, and invited us all to attend!  Their house (like many others in Cambodia) was up on stilts, and they had set up several tables and chairs underneath it.  There were many courses to the meal, including crab, cashews, 'river fish,' sour soup, beef, fruit, bread, rice, and other things.  I shared a Coke (yes, they are pretty much universal) with a friend.  A few of us were stuck setting in the sun.  We must have been getting red, because they moved our entire table into the shade!  On our walk back to the bus from their house (quite a long way), my flip flop broke.  I hobbled back to the bus alright, though.

Srey's family home.

Walking back to the bus after the engagement party.

>  After another hour or so of travel, we arrived at our destination: Kampong Cham.  It is the third largest city in Cambodia, and significantly less busy than Phnom Penh.  It was really a change after being in Phnom Penh for so long!  Our huge, Western-style bus pulled up to the Phnom Prosh hotel, and it looked pretty nice on the outside.  I was rooming with someone different this time, which was a nice change.  Our room itself was really large, but most of it was empty.  There were two twin beds, one desk, a nightstand, a TV table, and a small fridge.  The bathroom, though, was the real kicker!  The shower head was mounted to the wall, thus the entire bathroom becomes the shower.  Not gonna lie - that weirded me out!  After putting our luggage in our rooms, we all tuk-tuk'd to a temple ruin not far away, dated in the 10th century.  It was really beautiful, and I got plenty of pictures before my camera died - ugh.  We spent about an hour there, and then had a meeting.  On our way back to the hotel, though, we went by the Mekong River and saw a gigantic bridge!  After our meeting, supper was pretty good.  We had 'steak' and 'fried chicken'...  sure we did.  We also tried to explain the concept of cereal to Srey - too funny!  Later that night we headed back to the room, conquered the shower, and headed for bed.

The front of the Phnom Prosh Hotel.

Jennifer and I's room.

The outside of the temple we visited in Kampong Cham.

Some of the paintings in the temple.

Love the architecture!

A view into the center of the temple.

The center of the temple, which is used to this day.

The bridge over the Mekong.

Kirsten