So I sent out a brief message to many of you yesterday about how you could be praying for me this evening. I am sitting down at my computer, 5 minutes before midnight to begin this post... who is staying up way too late again? me!
However, I had to give a quick update on how things went this evening with a little background first. One day I spotted pumpkins on the road and decided I just had to have one...it's
not fall without it, right?
And since autumn is so short here, I figured a pumpkin would help extend the season a little. My language teacher saw it and asked, "will you eat it?"
My first thought...well, no. It's decoration. It got my wheels turning though and I looked up what it would take to make a pumpkin from scratch (aka, a real pumpkin) since, of course, they have no canned pumpkin here. I found this site: www.PumpkinPatchesandMore.org. It seemed easy enough to make a pie, so I decided I would. Then got the brilliant idea to open it up to others at English Club to come and cook one with me!
Yes, I have to admit, I wasn't thinking at the time about the fact that I had never made a pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin before and have no idea how to do it, nor have I ever made a pie period!
Everything went well and I am proud to say that here is pie number 1 and 2...and they're from scratch! crust and everything...there was NOTHING from a can in this pie (including the evaporated/condensed milk - that comes in a box).
I wanted to have a pie prepared before guests arrived for 2 reasons, 1 so I could do it once and actually have an idea of what to do, and 2, so if the pie we made together didn't finish cooking in time, they could still taste one.
Overall, the evening was much a success. A good number of people showed up and things just played out so smoothly. I tried making a pie crust earlier this afternoon and it just wasn't coming together - it was clumpy and sticky and not mealy like it should be. This evening, I had a beautiful example in no time at all. Praise God for small miracles. Everyone seemed to be having fun and it was a great chance to enjoy conversation with those we have met, outside of the English Club setting.
Does it look like I know what I am doing now?
We are scooping out the seeds and plan on roasting those later. :) yummy.
God gave me a calm spirit and a LOT of help! The Browns were amazing and spent their afternoon helping me prepare the first pies and my apartment for guests. My other teammates helped clean up and show parts of the process.
By the end of the evening, everyone was very tired and just sat and talked about upcoming holidays, traditions, and cultures, among various other topics.
So thank you all for your thoughts and prayers as our evening progressed. They truly were felt and answered. If you would like to try making a pie from a real pumpkin, its a little mess but a lot of fun. Its actually quite easy and tastes amazing! You can't beat it when it's fresh!
I will update with more stories soon of our time during a major Catholic holiday, All Saint's Day which took place Nov. 1 and of a recent baptism of 3 new believers.
Until then, thank you again and continue to keep us all in your prayers.
- open hearts
- opportunities to share
- relationships to be built
- needed rest
- Language
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