My new leaf...

 Lately I've been cooking a lot.  I don't like to cook as in, make dinner every night whether I want to or not.  But I like "special project" cooking, as in getting ready for a birthday, Thanksgiving, special event, or even just trying a new recipe.  Since I couldn't cook a single stinkin' thing from scratch when we came here five years ago, I'm pretty impressed with myself some days. During our first few days in-country we went shopping with a Korean family in which the wife was a very experienced cook.  She powered through the fresh vegetable section, putting all these strange green things in her basket and seemingly had an amazing plan to provide for her family.  I, on the other hand, was unable to locate a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and was therefore at a total loss.  I didn't recognize a lot of the food, and what I did recognize, I didn't know how to turn it into a meal.  What's sad is that I was in one of the biggest supermarkets in Indonesia!  Still, I was sure my family was going to starve and that we had most definitely made a mistake in choosing this country.  And so I stood in the juice aisle, ugly-face crying because I didn't know how to make a single meal.  All the while my Korean friend was chatting happily with herself about the great rice, fresh vegetables, three kinds of tofu, etc.  I just cried harder.  Finally I pulled myself together and purchased four potatoes and a bag of Babybel Cheese rounds for a ridiculous import price, and we ate baked potatoes (which took almost 2 hrs to cook) with cheese and salt.  It was a sad day for the Hrabar family. 
Recently I've made caramel and caramel apples, imitation Chick-Fil-A nuggets, pecan pie, derby pie, chocolate cake and icing (from scratch, which I totally never thought would be possible for me), Thanksgiving turkey and gravy, black bean sweet potato chili, apple cider (from apples, also never thought this was possible), and a couple of random vegetable-pasta-chicken dishes that all run together.  But most of them came out pretty yummy.
I can't believe that I haven't grown up eating pecan pie, because it's so amazing.  My grandma always makes pumpkin, cherry and gooseberry pies for holidays.  Why anyone would want to eat gooseberries instead of pecans and sugar is beyond me.  Still, it's probably for the best, or I would weigh five hundred pounds!  It's also a good thing that I'm almost out of pecans, or I might be tempted to make more pies!!

My food photography skills leave a lot to be desired, but come on, nobody really cares, right??

My favorite/most amazing creation so far has definitely been the caramel.  It tastes just like caramel should, in my opinion.  The other people who tasted them agreed, and suggested I sell them.  So, I'm going to sell them at the Christmas bazaar (along with some other things) at the kids' school and use the money to help Kelly pay for her trip to South Asia this summer.  I took a bunch of caramel apples to the Halloween party at our English Center and they were a hit.  In fact, a friend actually pulled up next to us in traffic after the party, and rolled down his window to see if he could get more before the light turned red! 

Anyway, I'm having fun learning new things.  You would think Jeremy would be happy that I'm cooking all this stuff, but he's not that thrilled.  He liked the black bean sweet potato chili, and the apple cider.  But he doesn't like desserts (because he wants to eat them and it counteracts his weight loss plan), or anything expensive or complicated that requires a lot of money or time.  I guess I'll have to try some other healthy dishes!!  Or else invent some healthy desserts.

Since I know all three of the people who read this probably just do it for the kid pictures, here's proof that Caleb would have made an adorable little girl.  So cute!