Bread and Tacos and Cookies, Oh My!

One of my better loaves of bread

If you know me at all, you know that I have lots of adventures—generally having to do with either cars or cooking. Since I don’t drive a manual, or have any desire to deal with a vehicle here, this post is about, you guessed it…cooking! Most of my “adventures” in the kitchen back home involved burned food, courtesy of me getting a little too engrossed in whatever I was currently reading. I’m happy to report that I haven’t been burning my meals—especially since I’ve (finally!) figured out the ins and outs of the gas oven.

Cooking in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a whole different ballgame—especially for someone used to all the conveniences available in the States! There isn’t a Little Ceasar’s just down the road or a Target to stop at on the way home to grab something quick. I’ve learned how to make things that I never would have made from scratch back home—things like tortillas, bread, enchilada sauce, and a whole host of other things.

One part of the adventure of cooking is simply finding the necessary ingredients for your recipe. In general, our store is well-stocked…but what they have in stock may or may not be what you need! For example, last week I decided that I wanted to make baked tacos (my own creation made up of chicken or beef, black beans, corn, chiles, cheese, and enchilada sauce wrapped in a tortilla, covered with more cheese, and baked until crispy), so I had been looking for canned black beans for a few days, to no avail. Then, finally, I happened to notice some fresh black beans in the produce area. Wait, what?! Fresh black beans?! I knew you could buy dried beans (the store didn’t have those, either), but I had no idea you could buy fresh black beans…at home they come in cans! (Just like how milk comes from Kwik Trip! J)

My not-quite-round tortillas

Once I got home with my bag of fresh black beans, I did what any confused, modern-day cook would do—I googled “how to make fresh black beans!” After reading several articles with instructions on how to cook fresh beans (all with slightly different variations, of course), I decided on a fairly simple plan of action—soak the beans overnight and cook until done. While my beans were cooking, I made a batch of tortillas (maybe someday I'll master the art of making a round tortilla...until then, well, the lopsided ones taste good, too). Once the tortillas were finished, I mixed everything together and put the mixture in the tortillas, then placed the tacos in a cake pan to bake.

The oven lighter thingee (yes, that's the technical name!)

Next step: lighting the oven. How do you turn on your oven? Turn a knob, push a button? Here…not so much. Some of the ovens here have a functioning igniter switch; the rest of us have to get creative! When I first moved into the fire-mapartment, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what this little device was for…then one day I realized it was to light the oven! You strike a match (or use a lighter to light the match if it won’t light, which it usually won’t), slip it in the clothespin, and reach all the way to the back of the oven while turning the knob to open the gas valve. And—voila!—you have a flame! (Unless the gas bottle is empty, in which case you run outside to flip the switch to change tanks and then call the maintenance department to come replace the empty bottle…not that that’s ever happened before!) I generally bake most everything at about 200°C—any lower and it doesn't seem to get done, any higher and my food turns into a burnt offering.

And there you have it—my latest adventures in cooking! I’ll leave you with some picture of a few of the things I've made recently. Bon appetit! 

Spaghetti and meatballs and homemade bread

Strawberry rhubarb jam (I'm loving the rhubarb that is available
at market; I also made a rhubarb crisp for my Bible study a couple

weeks ago...no picture, though, because we devoured it!

Made from scratch brownies; one of the things that didn't quite
get done all the way through...but since brownies are better when
they're not quite done, they were a hit!

You know those sugar cookies with the bright colored frosting
and sprinkles that you can buy at the grocery store? Well, they're called
Lofthouse cookies, and they are my absolute favorites! These are from a
recipe I found online, and taste pretty similar to the grocery store version.
(Plus I got to play with food coloring...it doesn't get much better than that!)