Marshmallow Mania by Anna

Greetings from Haiti!

Today the guys left at about 6:40, leaving us ladies our own devices. The cook received a day off, and we debated what to cook; eventually deciding upon egg casserole and experiment, home-made marshmallows.

We used the recipe from: Homemade Marshmallows - Thrive Connection. But before we could get down to cooking we had to do a few other things.

I personally did math for a hour or so; while grandma worked on her project, refurbishing the rocking chair back.

After working for some time we finally began the marshmallows. Our original plan, plan A, was to make one batch, but since we were talking about marshmallows I thought we ought to do two batches, plan B.

We started  by making one batch of peppermint marshmallows and then a batch of orange flavored marshmallows. We left them to dry,  as Grandma and Mom made egg casserole, while I returned to my math.

When the casserole finished cooking I decided that due to our humidity the marshmallows would not dry quickly, so to speed the drying I put them in the warm oven to dry during lunch/nap time, then left them to go and eat.

After we ate lunch I decided to check them before nap time and found that the outer layer had formed a crust on the outside! We took them out and left them to see if they would dry, even through the crust.

Following nap-time we began to cut them, and found them extremely sticky. We decided that we should cover some of the mint marshmallows with chocolate, plan C.

We melted some chocolate and attempted to dunk/coat them, however the hot chocolate melted them.

 The chocolate already melted, we decided to go to plan Delicious and make a layered desert, dubbed Improvised Marshmallow Treats.

To make I.M.T. layer chocolate, peppermint marshmallows, more chocolate, and crumbled pretzels on top. We coated the remaining  marshmallows with freshly grated coconut. The orange flavored ones remain for tomorrow's experimentation.

-Anna

Snow Day. Really.

Yes, I declared today a school snow day. Home schooling perk-teacher can call school off when she wants.

Not obviously because snow closed the roads and we cannot physically get to school. But because Eli's feeling snowed under with work and today we will work hard to get him dug out.

Five weeks ago we started a new curriculum year which means adjustments. Reevaluating now to see what changes need to be made to keep Eli thriving and learning but not frustrated and overwhelmed with school work. He prayed the other day for balance and that is our goal.

Today Cory will be working with Andy, a local college student studying agriculture. Andy will also be helping us with the new plant book. Cory's also working on a Creole handout on seed storage as requested for LaGonave.

Yesterday we attempted to make homemade bread bowls to encourage Eli. During our trip to the US, Fall 2010 he really enjoyed potato cheese soup in a bread bowl. Yesterday he enjoyed pumpkin soup in a sourdough bread bowl.  Cory learned a lot and the family voted to try them again.

Living with hardly any prepackaged food can stimulate one to culinary adventures. Adventures often caused by the ever present need to substitute for items one does not have access too.

 My idea but Cory did the work. Such a versatile man who allows me to focus on school. Thank you Dear!

Eli and Anna planted 140 Moringa tree seeds while we covered some church history in the afternoon.

Last night before bed we received an E-mail from Irvines asking us to call for a medical consult.

While it is harder to consult by phone or computer without seeing a patient in real life often advice can still be helpful. Sounds like one of the visitors on a team received barotrauma from diving in the sea to his ear drum. So dispensed a bit of medical advice and added him to our family prayers.