July 7th 2014 quezadillas by white lady

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long delay between posts, no excuses just busy and lazy on this end of the world!

So I've been cooking stuff the last few weeks and I thought I'd teach you about Mexican quezadillas. I'm not referring to quesadillas which are cheese melted in flour tortillas, rather I'm talking about one of Mexico City's preferred street snacks made with fried corn masa and a wide choice of different possible fillings!  I was so happy a few months back when we were able to order some Maseca for corn tortillas and a friend from one of the military bases here brought them to us!
                                                                     

Finding ingredients here for Mexican cooking is almost impossible so I only have what we have brought in ourselves or like in this case, were able to order. Anyway, on to the quezadillas! I wasn't able to bring with me my tortilla press from the states so I had to improvise. Instead of the press, I used my cutting board, a couple of circles cut from a plastic grocery type bag, a small rolling pin and a pot with two handle for even balance.

First I made the Masa.

2 cups Maseca flour,1/2 cup regular flour, 1 tsp. baking powder and between 1 1/2 and 2 cups of hot water from the tap.(This is the same recipe for corn tortillas but leave out the baking powder and you don't fry the tortillas you cook them on a hot skillet)  Some folks may add a pinch of salt to their masa, I never have as the little old Mexican lady who taught me how to make corn tortillas said it makes the dough dry and crack or something..hard to say for sure what she said as at the time I spoke very limited Spanish! 

                              I mix well the masa with my hands until it's a firm but moist consistency.

Then I roll them into balls.

                                            I place a ball between the two plastic circles

                                            I use the cooking pot to flatten the dough evenly.

  I roll the dough out a with the rolling pin, a little thicker than for a tortilla. (If too thin the dough will rip when fried and all the cheese will leak out - which is a sad thing)

Time to add the fillings!

While Mexico City has many different delicious  types of fillings to choose from, I usually just make mine with cheese or with mushrooms and cheese as those are the ingredients that I can find here.  I chose mushrooms and cheese this day.

I fried up the mushrooms, a mix of button and maitake mushrooms! (I let them cool off before using)

For cheese a Mexican queso Oaxaca is best  but I can't get that here so I just used a mixture of grated mystery cheese and some italian cheese blend I put together! The mystery cheese was a melty type and the italian blend gave it more flavor) After flattening the dough, I careful lifted the top plastic circle off and then I added some cheese and mushrooms. Add the ingredients in the circle of the dough, not too close to the edges as your are going to fold it over, don't over fill it either.

 Next, take the bottom plastic and fold it over bringing the edges of the dough together.

                                                                            like this

                                                        gently press the edges together

 Pull the plastic back and placing a finger under the bottom of the plastic, push the dough up to crease the dough closed and seal it well resulting in this nice empanada looking quezadilla.

           Gently remove the quezadilla by placing it in one had and carefully pealing the plastic off the back. Carefully place the quezadilla into hot cooking oil. Cook for a few minutes until a nice brown, flip and finish cooking. I place the cooked quezadillas on the metal rack you can see in the picture for a couple of minutes to drain off any excess oil.

                                                      Voila! Cut the quezadilla open.

                                                                   
                                                                Yummy melty goodness!
                                       
 Add shredded cabbage,(yes cabbage not lettuce, it holds up beautifully and tastes great!)crema mexicana if you can find it or sour cream. Here in Japan we have been using plain yogurt and it is good! Top it off with some salsa (and now you can add salt too if you like..I always do!)

                                                               Yummy Goodness!!!  Enjoy!!!

June 24th 2014 To Boldly Go! (to different train stations)

When I was in 2nd grade some of the neighborhood kids and I liked to play Star Trek. (Yes, the original series, I'm THAT old!) There were some funny little bushes that were the perfect height for small children to crawl inside of and that was our Enterprise and from there we explored different planets and battled Romulons and Klingons! So, when I was home one of my siblings asked me what my favorite thing to do in Tokyo was and I told him it was hopping on the train and getting off at a station I don't know and exploring! It may not be the same as different planets but it satisfies my curiosity.  That's what I did today. First stop was Hino Station. Hino turned out to be a bit more rural Tokyo than some areas I've visited and it was hilly! It also had lots of trees and vegetation though which I like! Here's some pics from my wanderings around.
                                                                   
         I first ended up at a little temple area/graveyard. I found the little knit cap on the statue amusing. Was his head cold? What is the custom behind that I wonder?

                                                                    Graves

Then I went on my way and climbed some hills....

                                                                             Up!

                                                                                Up!

                                                                              Up!

And then SIT!  There was a little park at the top of the hill with some benches to sit on, Yay! 

         And then back down the hill while stopping to admire Hino's street covers! Every area has their own                                              design I always enjoy seeing the different styles!

By then I needed an ice cream so I stopped at a vending machine! I wanted the watermelon flavor but it was sold out so I got grape instead!

Then I continued my exploring, I saw a bus headed to Hachijoji train station so I hopped on! You can see areas of the city by bus that you don't get to see by the train route. It was a pleasant ride and Hachijoji had more things going on than Hino.  I only took a little walk there and decided to save further exploring for a time when Gary could come too! Good news though was that I found a Burger King! We have only run into one so far here in Tokyo and it was far away so this is closer and will be fun to check out the area too.

View from the station.

                               Another view from the station. (Aren't you glad I'm explaining this? lol)

                                                                You get the idea...

                                                                         
                                                             It's starting to rain a little.

                                                                               
                                                                        Burger King!!!!

                                 
                                    Fugu fish staring at me...we are both thinking of killing each other!

                                                                             
                                                                Cool building!

                                                                           Street view

Sherlock Holmes Pub... which is here instead of England.

Then I headed back to the train station and went towards Tachikawa.

By the time I got there and had just left the station looking for the second hand store I like, THIS happened! Even with my little umbrella my feet and legs got quite wet!

       After wandering around a bit and buying a treat for Gary, I decided to head back home, I re-boarded the train and headed to Kichijoji and hopped on the Mu bus and after a stop at the grocers I dragged my soggy self in the door!  Now you have an idea of what a day of my exploring looks like!  Mostly it involves alot of wandering around!

                                                                Hasta Luego!                                                                
                                                                           

                                                                           

June 17th 2014 Happy Birthday Katiebear!!!

Our Katiebear celebrated her 26th birthday this week! She was such a sunshine-y happy baby and her sweet happy personality has endured!  Here she is with one of her students!

 

                                 



In honor of Father's Day I thought I'd share a picture of my own Daddy.  He passed away in 2001 and I miss him still.  When I was a little girl he laughed at me because I was such a tomboy, he said he should have named me Louie instead of Lisa and the name stuck. He called me Louie the rest of my life!

 

 

 

 

 

This week was spent mostly in rain until Thursday afternoon when it finally cleared up so I could catch up on laundry! On Friday we went to Narita airport to meet up with the pastor couple from Pearl City, Hawaii. They were on their way through to Guam for the annual conference there and had a long layover in Narita, so we hopped on the bus and headed out! It's a about a two hour trip to the airport depending on traffic but the bus is comfortable and the ride enjoyable!

 

 

 

We met at our favorite Hot Dog Man in the airport!

 

We had lunch and afterwards enjoyed some coffee jelly frappuccino's  at Starbucks!

 When you are the only church in the country you enjoy the occasional visit!

 

(Robert and Ariya Santos)

 

On Saturday I did some running around getting things for the Father's Day service on Sunday.  Here I am dressed to blend in, the obligatory hat that everyone wears and sunglasses.  I don't think it worked... lol!

 

 

 

 

First, I had to go hunting for a tall fan for the church. It's getting very hot in the season now and until we get the air conditioners installed we will be needing fans! It's hard to find tall fans, many are low to the ground because futons, chairs tables and sofas are often built to sit very low to the ground.  I decided to look in Mitaka as that is close enough to the church I could carry the fan there after I bought it. 

I looked...

 

                                                                                 
                                                                        and looked....

 

Finally, in the third store I looked I found a fan! Then I had to carry it to the church!

 

 

                  It only took me twice the time it would take a normal person to assemble it!  I'm getting better!

 

Now I was ready to shop for some Father's Day gifts!  I headed to Kichijoji!

It was VERY crowded (and apparently blurry)!

 

 

My trip was a success and Father's Day at church went well!

 

                                Afterwards, we had donuts and tea and fellowshipped!

 

 

On To Food!!!!!

 

 

When I went to Wisconsin last month I told Mom I only had two places I needed to go, Walmart and the Dollar Store! Every missionary understands why I say this. There are always little things that we crave that we just can't find in our host country so trips home or friends visiting are when we manage to get a few goodies!  I picked up things like, toothpaste and deodorant which for some reason is very expensive here. I also found some little treats like a box of unfrosted blueberry pop tarts and a salted nut roll. I managed to bring a couple bags of pinto beans which enabled me to make Enfrijoladas!   Enfrijoladas are just lightly fried corn tortillas, dipped in blended beans and then you add crema, thinly sliced onions, cheese and salsa on top. They are not fancy at all but they are a delicious and filling comfort food!

 

(a picture I stole from the internet)

 

I also found some Dona Maria Mole!

 

Legend has it that Mole originated when an arch-bishop was to visit a poor nuns convent and they didn't have anything to feed him. They took what ever they could find around the kitchen,  chiles, dried bread, bananas etc. and mixed it all together cooking it and creating a sauce that they poured over a boiled turkey. When the arch-bishop asked what it was the nun replied Mole which is from an old word for Mix. Usually Mole is served for special occasions like birthdays and weddings.

  Mole is a very individualized dish. There are almost as many mole styles in Mexico as there are Mexican last names! I always loved the Mole almendrado that I would pick up in the Tianguis. Tianguis are weekly open air markets that travel from neighborhood to neighborhood.

(Here's a cool picture I stole again from the internet Wikipedia site for mole. )

 

 Mole can be found in paste or dried form. There are of course probably some people that still make it from scratch but all the ladies I knew bought it pre-made in paste or dried form because it is a very laborious process! I prefer the paste myself. Anyway, the Dona Maria mole is a good enough base to begin with but I like to improve upon it by adding some of my own ingredients and try to get it as close to my favorite Almendrado as possible.

Don't laugh or say gross because I add... peanut butter, cocoa, cinnamon, sesame oil and sugar. I blend it all with the paste and some chicken stock and cook it while stirring until it is smooth.

 

 

 Here is the finished product served over boiled chicken with Mexican rice and home made corn tortillas... it was delicious and a real treat! (There was enough mole sauce left over to freeze and have for a couple more meals later on!)

 

 

That's it for now!  Have a great week!!!