Mail!

Caleb finally discovered some mail in our apartment mailbox! He was pretty thrilled. Even more so when it was full of Cars and Thomas stickers!  Thanks, Oma!

Pecan Maple Pork Chops

I am finally back in the swing of things in the kitchen after a looooooooonnnnngggggg time away.  I'm finally back to enjoying cooking, which I was afraid might never happen again.  I'm pretty happy about that and I think Steve is too (although Caleb is having a rough time adjusting to not eating raisins, nuts, yogurt, fruit and peanut butter sandwiches I think! He didn't seem to mind that menu a whole lot).

I even ventured making a new recipe the other night and we really enjoyed it so I thought I would share. That and I have a tendency to forget my recipes so if I type it up, I'll have it for safe keeping.  I know several readers have mentioned they like when I post recipes (and if I'm honest, I stalk all ya'lls blogs and facebook pages too - to see what's on your dinner table.  I love seeing what other people are cooking)!

I found my inspiration for this recipe from here.

I hope you enjoy!

- Remove 4 Pork chops (I found some *kind of* pork chops at Costco that I used...they sadly didn't have a bone)

- Fill a shallow dish with several Tablespoons real maple syrup (I mixed some honey in as well to make it go further because real maple syrup is really expensive here and a special treat).  Add a little bit of juice from an orange and a little bit of all spice and cinnamon.

- Take about 2 cups of pecans and finely chop them (I did 1.5 cups in the blender super fine and then hand chopped half a cup a little chunkier).  Add with some salt and pepper into a second shallow dish.

- Add several tablespoons ghee (or you could use oil or butter if you wanted) to a pan and start heating it on low

- Dredge the pork chops in the maple syrup mixture and then in the pecan mixture (as if you were breading chicken).  And add to the pan, turning up the heat to medium.

- Chop up an apple into small pieces (I left the skin on and used a green apple but use whatever you want!)

- Flip the pork chops over and add the apples around them, let cook.

- Drizzle the left over maple mixture over everything and if you have any left over pecans, you can pile them on top of your pork chops.

- If it gets dry, add a little more ghee or a little more orange juice or both

- Cook until done, turn as needed.

We really, really enjoyed these.  Maybe it was just because we haven't eaten many good meals in a while but I hope you enjoy as well!

Summertime!

hello Inch Worm!

a happy morning find on an early walk to highwaymart

Vacation Fun(ny)

We did make it back home safely almost 2 weeks ago now from our little 3 day/2 night get-a-way to Southern Korea.

Train from Pohang to Seoul - bye bye vacation!

 I have a lot of pictures to share but not a lot of time to post them right now, as we are preparing for our Back To School Lock-In that starts in a few hours.

For now, I'll leave you with a little vacation fun(ny). 

Woops! Caleb has grown 2 inches since the end of May and lost 2 pounds so his waist isn't quite holding things up these days!  

Yesterday

We had a blessed Sunday yesterday.  I hope you did too, wherever you are in the world.

We have grown to dearly love our little Church nestled in Songtan on this side of the world.  Our head pastor and his wife were away on vacation this Sunday so Steve had an opportunity to preach.  I was especially encouraged by his sermon this week.  I am linking it here if you have 30 minutes this week to take a listen, I pray the words from Isaiah 61 encourage you as well.

Another high point of yesterday was that IT RAINED!! Now typically this would not be very notable during the end of monsoon season but we have had uncharacteristically little rain the past month and this was sorely needed.  Not only was the rain wonderful, it cooled the temperature down!!! I am so excited.  We actually pulled a light sheet on last night while we slept. Wonderful.

We also took some time in the afternoon to take Caleb out and enjoy the cool rain, puddles, mud and the slick wet slides on the playground.  He was absolutely delighted and the hour we spent playing was not nearly long enough for him!

What do girls eat?

Situation:  Caleb and Steve were enjoying a "chip snack" and I asked Caleb if he would share one of his chips with me.

Conversation:

Caleb, very seriously:  "No, mama.  Chips are for boys.  Only boys eat chips. Not girls." 

Silly me.

Me, curious:  "So....what do girls eat?"

Caleb, very matter-of-fact:  "Girls eat vegetables, Mama.  Not chips!"

Obviously.