Let's review

I just wanted to ask my readers, if you are actually out there, what kind of blog posts do you prefer?

If you could let me know which you like best by leaving a comment and numbering your favorites, it would help me out. I want to write, but of course I hope that there are some people out there reading it and if I know what people enjoy I can write more of that.

I guess we can review a bit to help you out...

Daily Life

"Work"

Stories

Food/Recipes

Inspiration - What I'm learning 

Culture 

Holidays

Stuff we do

Lots of people ask me what we do here, I try to explain, but in reality it's difficult to encompass everything that we do in a few words or even paragraphs at times. We are both involved in a very wide range of things at the English Centre where we work. One of the purposes of this blog is to help you to understand the wider range of things that we do. So here are some random things that both of us have been involved in the past month or so. 

Prepping for the Aids-Experience opening by making ribbons to remind the people who walk through the experience about what they learned and what they felt as they went through it.

(Aids-Experience is another simulation game where people walk through the story of someone who thinks that they might have contracted the aids virus. In the end they must wait for their results. It is another way to educate and build empathy) 

January 16th

Working towards 'warmifying and visifying' the cafe with these boards for the students. One is made for them to put up things that inspire them and the other is just for them to post pictures of them and their friends.  

January 17th

 Curtis ran a conversation club teaching the students how to use the boards and getting them to use the inspire board for the first time by making collages with things that inspire them. One of the students told me he made this for me because my cookies inspire him ;) 

January 18th

 Decorating for holidays in the cafe. 

January 23rd

Hearts everywhere. 

January 30th

 Adding a little warmth to the cafe with this bookshelf.

February 5th

 Curtis ran the 'basti life' experience game for the first time last week. This is a simulation game in which the students are put 'in the shoes' of a person who lives in the slums of India. They are taught about poverty and how complex it is. The goal of the game is to educate and to build empathy and to empower. Read more about it here: 'Basti Life Post'

February 7th

Had a lot of fun this friday learning about and celebrating the Chinese/Korean New Year in the Cafe for the first time ever!

February 8th 

Life tastes good

These are some recipes that I have tried out lately. Sometimes I am more inspired than others to bake and actually take pictures of it. I guess I got inspired to go a step further this time and make some cute little pictures with text as well :) 

1. Black Bean Enchiladas:

I have never made enchiladas before, mostly because all the recipes I looked at used cans of sauce. I knew there was a way to make it, but I was never inspired enough to look one up. Then I stumbled upon this recipe and I can't believe I waited so long! I hope to make them again soon ;) 

You can get the recipe here: The Garden Grazer

2. Yeast-less Cinnamon Rolls. 

I don't know about you, but when I want Cinnamon Rolls, I want them quick! Out here I can't get the little Pillsbury or Trader Joe's tins of Cinnamon Rolls. Since I must make them from scratch, I found a quick-prep recipe that is better than most other recipes that I have tried with yeast. 

You can get the recipe here: food.com 

I also added an egg to the dough as one reviewer suggested and make sure to use lots of flour when rolling because the dough is quite sticky. There are other recipes out there for quick cinnamon rolls, but I have made this several times and people are always asking for the recipe, so I definitely recommend this one :) 

3. Chocolate Birthday Cake 

A good double chocolate recipe is a must have for any serious baker's recipe collection. This is my go-to recipe for a quick and delicious chocolate birthday cake.

I could not find the source. I remember finding this recipe on pinterest, but not repinning it. So I will post the ingredients and my apologies to the originator of this recipe. I DO NOT take credit for this and if you know the source, please let me know and I would be happy to give them credit :)

Chocolate Cake Recipe:

cake: 

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cup flour (that's right, more sugar than flour ;) 

3/4 cup cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup melted butter

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup boiling water

directions:

mix dry ingredients, add eggs, milk, butter & vanilla. mix well. add boiling water, mix slowly! pour into 2 greased and floured round pans. bake at 350f for  25-30mins. cool completely before frosting. 

frosting:

6 TBS softened butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla 

I used only 1/2 the original frosting recipe. so this is modified. this was enough to frost the top and the middle, as well as a batch of 12 cupcakes. So basically you could use this recipe to frost the top, middle and sides generously.

Hope you can enjoy one or more of these recipes :) 

Wise Words

The wisdom of a 12 year old girl. 

Spinach Parmesan Quinoa

I posted this photo about a week ago and got several requests for the recipe. I found this recipe on pinterest and it was super easy, quick and healthy too! 

Here is the link of the original recipe with step by step directions: Spinach Parmesan Quinoa  

Here is my modified version: (italics=modified) 

1/2 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic pressed

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

1 bouillon cube

2 handfuls frozen spinach

2 handfuls of frozen red pepper

1/2 cup parmesan cheese (original recipe calls for fresh, but I used the kind that they sell in containers and it was delicious

Directions

1. Grill the onions in olive oil. Add in quinoa, water & bouillon. 

2. Defrost the spinach and red pepper in a separate pan. Then add to the quinoa mixture when water is about halfway absorbed. Stir together.

3. Cover for about 10-15 minutes until water is completely absorbed. Add parmesan cheese. Add Salt & pepper to taste. Stir well and enjoy :)