The Cat and the Rat

Paul and Lori Vernon are a couple of Four Square Gospel missionaries working with the Ankh tribe in Thailand. This story from them made me laugh so hard I cried.

Pizza night

Tomorrow is pizza night. The come around quickly nowadays. See, we decided to make Fridays pizza/movie night here in the fam. Since many missionary kids have a problem developing a concept of time, I thought it would help Blake to get the concept of a weeks and months down. [A week is the amount of time between pizza nights; four pizza nights is one month, etx.].
After almost a year of pizza nights, I've got it pretty much down to a science. But it still takes all Friday afternoon. Two dough recipes and three pizzas-pepperoni, Canadian bacon/pineapple, and banana. The boys (all three of them) absolutely love it.
My favorite dough recipe is Basil Parmesan. I like it not only because it is beautiful and good tasting (in that order), but it's very easy to handle. I also get a big ego rise out of using my own fresh basil and grating parmesan cheese. It also fits perfectly on a rectangle pizza stone. I put pepperoni on it.
In addition to this, I use Jay's Signature Pizza Crust from allrecipes. For some reason, I have to use 5 1/3 cups of flour instead of Jay's 3. But, then I divide it in half and make the banana and Cannadian bacon/pineapple.
To make a banana, I roll out the crust and coat it with a heavy layer of cinnamon sugar. Then layer banana slices to cover and coat with another heavy layer of cinnamon sugar. Then, layer just a sprinkling of mozzarella, and yes, even more cinnamon sugar. Basically, the more cinnamon sugar you use, the better. If it's low-moisture mozzarella like in the states, I spray the bananas with some Pam to keep them from drying out. Bake as usual.
Since I use fresh pineapple for the Canadian bacon/pineapple pizza, I microwave the pineapple for a few minutes and try to get some of the moisture out. I do the same for the Canadian bacon.
One unanticipated benefit for me has been that it has really helped with menu planning. Since we eat the leftovers on Saturday, that's two less days for me to have to plan.
So, anyone have a good movie suggestion?

"To be a missioner is to go where

you are needed,

but not wanted,

and stay until you are wanted,

but no longer needed."*

Yep-
that's pretty much where we're at right now.

This quote, from a Catholic missionary to Hawaii, appeared in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin upon the closing down of a beloved mission in Honolulu in 1997. I do not remember the man's name or the details, but the quote has stayed with me ever since.

Taco Salad

Here is a version of Taco Salad that my family loves. It's a little on the sweet side.

Throw
one large chunk of onion,
one garlic clove,
2/3 cup of oil,
2/3 cup of ketchup,
1/2 cup of sugar,
1/2 cup of vinegar,
into a blender. Blend well. Congratulations! You've got Catalina salad dressing the missionary way!

Now,
Brown:
1 1/2 pound ground beef. Drain and rinse.

Add:
¼ cup water,
1 small onion, finely chopped,
2-4 Tbsp. Chili powder (How much depends on how long you've been on the field and, therefore how old your chili powder is),
and the blender mixture to the ground beef. Mix well and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.

Layer on a plate:
Doritos,
Lettuce,
Chopped tomatoes,
Grated cheddar cheese (or the substitution available in your country).