Boasting a New Bread Maker

Last week I took my first stab at bread-making. I had never tried, because C is such an expert at it, but I got tired of being on her her bread-making schedule. So I tried just half of her Oatmeal Honey Bread recipe in case it flopped, but it turned out fine. A little stiff, but the taste was there.

Yesterday I tried again with a whole recipe and it turned out great! I am so proud of myself. :) Who needs a machine? Oh, maybe people who don't have all day to waste on a loaf of bread. Ha ha. Although I must say it was a very productive day in between the kneading, punching, and baking.

Pyromania!

What’s Cooking? A whole lot. It is the fasting month, but ironically there is more food focus and consumption now than any other time of year. The kids have been doing a lot of cooking of their own—and not just the girls. Don't try this at home without your parents!

Half a coconut shell becomes a cooking pot for flowers, with kindling ranging from sticks to cardboard to old flip flops. A large, flat piece of coral with a smaller piece of coral becomes a mortar and pestel for crushing flowers (note boy on the right in the picture of the 2 boys on the left). The picture in the middle is the girls' cooking station. Can you count the three different "cooking pots?" Click to zoom in.

So, I was fat.

The immigration officer studied my passport. He looked up at me, then quickly back back down to my passport. Up again, then down, and then looked up said, "You were fat before."

Uhhh... Thank you??? How do I respond to that??? Are you complimenting how I looked in the picture or complimenting the weight you think I've lost? I wasn't sure what to say. I just got a new passport in April or May. I said, "That picture was taken just a few months ago."

I still am not sure what I was supposed to understand from his observation, but in this country, there is definitely no point in being offended.