travels!

Empanadas were awesome! The flan flopped, but it tasted really yummy. Hard to go wrong with that much milk and sugar. The following week we went to Germany with a favorite of Hubby and mine: mashed potatoes with a creamy mushroom and sauerkraut gravy and bratwurst. AND I made a nearly authentic Black Forest cake! (I didn't soak the cherries in Kirsch, but I had the coffee in the middle layer frosting) and it was AMAZING!! The following week we went to Saudi Arabia (Monkey chose it because it was pink on our little globe...) and we made Kapsa (chicken and rice) and Basboosa which was all delicious too. We've been pretty lucky so far in the meals we've prepared. Added fun is when friends are able to join us in our travels. Good friends from our time in Calgary way back when there were only two little Macintyres running around our house were in the area that weekend and came for an afternoon visit and joined us for that particular destination.

Last weekend Smarty didn't want to go to a new country, but visit another area from within our own wonderful mosaic of culture in Canada. He decided that poutine was needed to explore Quebec, and I found a tarte au sucre recipe that was so yummy. In my excitement and haste, I didn't thicken the gravy quite enough, but I made that adjustment before we had the leftovers for lunch a couple days later. The tarte au sucre was absolutely delicious (again, hard to go wrong with sugar and eggs!). Next up is apparently New Zealand.

Aside from broadening our tastes and experiences, this activity we are doing is making the children aware of what they are eating and creating an excitement in them that I'm very happy to see! I made up Parmesan breaded pork chops last week just because, and Sergeant asked what country that recipe came from. They are looking at the ingredients, seeing how they are put together, what foods create which tastes, and an eagerness to choose the next country.

Monkey and Smarty got sick the week we went to Germany. Smarty came home from school  one day and stayed home the following two. Monkey was worse when she got it. There was lethargy, sore throats, coughing, and headaches. She spent a full week in pajamas, not eating much but we supplemented her with meal replacement shakes. And seriously pushed the fluids. She has now gotten into the habit of sleeping with her water bottle tucked in beside her in bed and cuddling it like she would a stuffed animal! Thankfully the other two more or less avoided it. Sergeant got the cough really bad but not the rest. Girlie developed a sore throat a week later but it only lasted a day or two. Very grateful for antibiotics!

Hubby was able to get away to Canmore a couple weeks ago for the pastor's study conference and I was very glad he did! It was good for him to reconnect with friends and colleagues from civilian ministry and feed that part of him. He missed most of the snow on his travel days too, so that was fortunate.

Sergeant has the opportunity to learn archery this spring! He is pretty excited and his after school practices start tomorrow, running for the next two months with a couple of competitions in there as well. I think it is so cool that there's a chance to learn this skill! After seeing him with Hubby's pellet gun over the Christmas break, I think he's really going to enjoy it and do well too.

That'll be all for now, I think. Busy times have past, busy times ahead. Looking forward to more yummy food, crafting, and school. I will be starting a medical transcription program in the next few weeks that I'm pretty excited about. So it'll be school for the kids and myself for the next while! And registering Monkey for Kindergarten. Yikes! Time moves too quickly!