But what will you eat?

My friend Deb and I have decided to post daily on our respective blogs for the month of July. I had tonight's post all planned out since I was going to Deb's for dinner after work and knew I'd need to have something relatively easy to crank out when I got home. Well, after yet another of my dear friend's delectable meals, I decided to digress from the plan (shocking!).

Instead, I will write about food tonight. Surprise!

I suspect my trip to Nicaragua will be the dominant topic this month. There will be some not-so-lighthearted posts, to be sure. After all, I went on a mission trip to the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti. When I told friends where I was going, a number of people asked, "But what will you eat?"

Here are some highlights - in no particular order:

Loved this happy sign (pronounced "nyam nyam"):
Breakfast, lunch, grilled meats and pizzas

My lunch consisted of plantain chips, marinated beets
and carrots, squash casserole y frijoles. Ñam ñam!

The first two days we worked in La Chureca,
we went to Tip-Top for lunch. It was air-conditioned.
It was clean. People were friendly. But somehow
Carolyn's food always came last. Of course, the second
time was because I inadvertently gave her meal to our driver.
Oops.

Fairly typical breakfast of fresh fruit, fried plantains,
huevos y gallopinto (rice and beans)

The guest house where we stayed had many fruit trees -
mango, lime, orange, starfruit, papaya, avocado ... and one
with the awesome name of guanábana.

Of course, there was GUACAMOLE. Y mas frijoles.
Fresh tortillas, pico de gallo ... y pollo.

The chefs at Quinta Havilah (the guest house where
we stayed) preparing tortillas ...

... y fajitas

Del Fogón a Su Mesa - "From the grill to the table" - 
local eatery with fresh, affordable fare ... enjoyed amid the 
awesome aroma of wood smoke.

Pollo muy sabrosa!

One day, after working in the school at La Chureca, we were completely grubby and sweaty and disgusting (having finally finished painting a very large wall). We asked our driver to take us to another place we'd heard of - local like Del Fogón a Su Mesa - but outdoors. Somehow we ended up at a (somewhat deserted, thank goodness) five-star restaurant and found our grody selves inside with linen tablecloths and attentive waiters. We all chose non-chicken dishes. I ate fish. One member of our group had shrimp with huevos de toro. You might want to look that one up.

 

Pescado a la Tipata - boneless whole fish infused with garlic.

On our last day, I enjoyed a fruity batido in Granada,
served by our friendly waiter, Ramón. For lunch I had
a cup of gazpacho, Nicaraguan style - puréed. It was herb-yand garlicky. Quite delicious.

With one notable exception, we ate very simple food. Fresh fruit, frijoles at least twice a day, eggs, chicken (BBQd, grilled, rotisseried, steamed, curried, fajita-d ...). Rice. Potatoes. Simple ensaladas of shredded cabbage, tomatoes and sliced cucumber. Even macaroni and cheese, spaghetti and pizza. Oh, and Subway after our day in Masaya and Granada. One day we ate granola bars for lunch and another day an assortment of fruits and munchies from a local market, but other than that we ate three meals a day. Unheard of.

I did not expect to eat that well on a mission trip! I was not at all concerned about what I would eat before I left. In fact, I had very few concerns or preconceived notions about what I would do or see or experience. Perhaps that is one of the many reasons I was surprised and delighted each day in numerous ways.

Even in the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Year to Date

I can't believe this is my first post of 2012!

I'm (mentally) preparing to write some thoughtful posts about my recent trip to Nicaragua and other important happenings, but here are a few highlights of the year to date:

I went to a Saginaw Spirit game in January.

In February, I went skiing for the first time since 1984.
This is not me.  But easily could have been. I fell a lot.

I had some roommates for a few weeks in February/March.
One was human. The others were not.

I attended a few hockey games ...

A soccer game (go, Butterflies!) ...

And a coupla baseball games.

The amazing Lizz graduated on April 29!

My favorite sister had a surprise birthday party in May.

I had a memorable time in Nicaragua with Aunt Linda in June. 

Also in June, I saw a lot of poultry.

I made some new friends.

And I had the best ceviche tostada EVER at a taco truck in Detroit.
This one is at W. Vernor and Military.

So, it's been an eventful year. July is a good time to document it, right?

I'm no-baking

Nancy's Not Very Quiet No Bake (left)
Emily's Whipple-Scrumptious No Bake (right)

This was my plan: Run home from work, throw together one batch of couldn't-be-easier no-bake cookies, eat dinner, make second batch. Go to store and buy fruit or veggies or some other snack option to go with cookies for birthday treat tomorrow. Then do other Important Things.

At my no-longer-new job, it's my turn to be birthday treat girl tomorrow. I got my assignment in January and was so excited I consulted the Dec. 6 birthday person right away to find out what sorts of treats he liked so I could put this in the reminder on my calendar. Without hesitation, he said "no-bake cookies."

(And before anyone gets any ideas, the birthday person is a very nice, very married man. Being the birthday treat person is kind of a big deal in our office - and this is my first time not-cooking for my co-workers.)

Seriously? NO-bake? I had a distant memory of sampling this type of cookie in the 70s or 80s. But in all the thousands of cookies I have baked in my life, I don't think I ever made the no-bake variety. Well then. I asked around the office to see if anyone had a favorite recipe. Apparently, there was a no-bake-off some years ago and several people brought in cookies. There was reminiscing. But no sharing. My copy director told me that she hadn't made no-bakes since her daughter was little. She called them "quiet cookies" because they were the only ones she didn't use the mixer for so could whip up a batch during naptime. I just love that.

So I started researching - months ago, really. I discovered so many recipes, all similar, that I shelved my research until the last minute, figuring it would be a no-brainer. I'd just get the ingredients, then close my eyes, pick one of the ubiquitous recipes and make a few minor modifications to Nancy-fy. They'd be the best darned no-bake cookies ever. Most call for 1/2 cup butter, 2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup of milk. Then things started to vary. 2 T cocoa (that just sounded too light on the chocolatey-ness). 1/2 cup peanut butter. 1 cup. 2 cups oats. 3-1/2 cups. Quick cooking oats? Old-fashioned? Oh dear! Then there were the variations with evaporated milk and margarine (oh my, no), coconut, nuts and other crunchy bits ... Of course, if I were making these for my family, there would be nuts. But I wanted these to be "traditional." Then I read one recipe that used 1-3/4 cups brown sugar. The rationale was that it was less sugar but a richer taste. Hmm. I liked that. So I thought I'd compromise.

Well, class. Here's what I did:

Recipe 1 (Nancy's Not Very Quiet Cookies)
In heavy saucepan, melt together:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups sugar (I modified: 1 cup brown, 1/2 cup white)
1/4 cup cocoa (I used 5-6 tablespoons)
1/2 cup milk

(I melted the butter, then added the other ingredients and whisked together. Not sure if that matters. I watched a video where the cook just dumped everything in all at once.)

Boil for 1 minute (start timer after a rolling boil begins)

Remove from heat. Stir in:
1 cup peanut butter (I got Simply Jif - the less-salt, less-sugar kind, which was kind of blah by itself but I thought would be fine in the company of all that butter and sugar)
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups oats (I used old-fashioned)

I had covered the counter in wax paper during the butter-melting stage so it was ready to go right after the boiling, etc. I started plopping out my tablespoons of hot gloopy cookie mush right away.

Result: Very soft (but very dark and rich cookie with definite peanut buttery flavor). After about an hour and no signs of setting up, I slid the cookie-covered wax paper onto cookie sheets and put them in the fridge.

Then continued to research. I read that many people cool the stuff first. Some even chill it. Did I cook it too long? Not long enough? It's definitely not too humid. I was still trying to figure out what I did wrong when my friend Deb popped up on Facebook chat like she KNEW I was having an culinary emergency. Deb to the rescue!

She had three recipes from her son's third-grade cookbook ("Whipple-Scrumptious Chocolate Favorites" - how incredibly cute is that?) and all three called for less peanut butter than I'd used in Recipe 1. Most other quantities were the same. So I chose the one with more cocoa and more oats.

Recipe 2 is Emily's from Whipple-Scrumptious
In heavy saucepan, melt together:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 cups sugar 

1/4 cup cocoa 

1/2 cup milk

Boil for 1 minute (start timer after a rolling boil begins)

Remove from heat. Stir in:

1/2 cup peanut butter (used Simply Jif again)

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups oats (old-fashioned again)

This time, I allowed the stuff to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. I think. I was writing and almost forgot about it. It was definitely a stiffer dough. 

Result: Slightly crumblier cookie with smooth, fudgy flavor and only the merest hint of peanut butter. Set up into cookie form in less than 30 minutes.

Now I have to decide if I should make a batch without peanut butter. Just in case. Oh dear. I don't think I'm going to the grocery store tonight. I gotta wash dishes! Does anyone out there have a favorite, no-fail, no-bake cookie recipe? Do share!