Coming backAs I sit here at my laptop, I think ... "How am I going to do this?" Where do I start? What am I going to talk about? HOW am I going to even begin writing about the journey that I have been on?
Countless times have I started typing and set aside a few words, a paragraph or two, or even a whole page. Though, I never did post. I didn't think I was ready. Thoughts, feelings, insights, etc... entries in my email or journal, in personal texts, on scraps of paper, or swimming in my mind. And I am finally deciding to bring it all together. To share my burdens, my joys, my strengths and weaknesses, my insights, ... my life; this blog is no longer just about food. And if there's an ear out there, I am blessed. And perhaps I can bring truth to your world, as God has brought it to mine. Truth. About our purpose here. Truth. About my struggles. Truth. About my joys. Truth. About health. Truth. About our world. There are so many lies we were born or taught into believing and their manifestations are far beyond UgLy. But when we learn the Truth, we can make the changes we need to be better for our Lord and Savior. The changes that perfect us and make us new. I am becoming new. It is no easy journey and I am certainly not through, but I will no longer let the waiting period dictate the postponement of sharing my story. And so let it begin. This is my story... |
"Food is an infinitely rich subject, and there's always something about it to understand better, something new to discover, a fresh source of interest, ideas, and delight." |
Arepas. Tostadas. Sopapillas. Pupusas. So many foreign dishes! And I have recently learned just how available ingredients for Mexican cuisine are. In fact, yesterday Travis and I ventured into Bravo supermarket and my eyes were opened to a greater selection of Spanish/Mexican/Portuguese ingredients. Yucca, plantains, corn meals and flours, ... odd offers of chicken feet, pork fat, several sausages, ... I could go on. My discovery of a new (and preferably cheaper) grocery store is similar to Jasmine (from Disney's Aladdin) going out into the street markets for the first time in her life: new treasures (and some at interesting prices) just waiting to be purchased. My intention to going into this supermarket was to look at their produce, but I gave the whole store a run down and learned that they have a fairly vast produce selection and that their meat is cheap! Otherwise, shelf-stable, frozen, and dairy foods were more expensive than Wal-mart. One thing I pride myself in is my ability to keep a mental excel sheet of grocery prices to compare with so to save as much money as I can. So what are we talking about today?
Arepas. An arepa is comparable to a corn pancake and is prominent in Colombia and Venezuela. These corn cakes should be made with a pre-cooked corn flour (Masarepa) rather than just regular corn flour (Masa). I am not certain as to why, but it has something to do with the binding of the flours. Corn flour does not have as great of a binding agent as wheat flour has gluten or potatoes have starch (think of corn tortillas!). Though, gluten is not activated until treated (i.e. water) and potato starch is extracted through heating. So I will make a conjecture that pre-cooking the corn and producing a flour from that corn will yield a product that has a better binding ability. Back to the dish… Arepas are best eaten freshly made (and thus hot), but can be eaten on their own or filled. The best way would be simply filled with cheese. This enables you to savor the basic, earthy flavor from the corn flour and the cheese inside. Think about it, though: we tend to over-complicate our dishes by adding more ingredients than needed. My reasoning is oftentimes: more ingredients = more nutrients, however that can be a detriment to the palate. We end up drowning our palate in too many ingredients and are unable to detect and enjoy each one. I have recently posted a note above our kitchen table: Savor. Every. Bite. This is particularly useful when you’ve so many ingredients on your plate. Why do I propose everyone follows this rule?
The recipe I used was very simple:
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February 2017
"Food is an infinitely rich subject, and there's always something about it to understand better, something new to discover, a fresh source of interest, ideas, and delight."
From Pennsylvania to France to Washington DC to Florida, I've had myself many an adventure. Now it's time to indulge in the life of a Floridian. With great food, great friends, and great experiences, I offer you stories and pictures to take you away, into my world at Disney. Categories |