Posts tagged #food

Tomorrow changes everything. Again.

Our home for the next three months.

We cannot believe that our lives will forever be changed tomorrow at 11:00 am (4:00 am CST). It’s the night before we meet our daughter. We are excited, nervous, scared, happy, pretty much everything under the sun.

Everything changes tomorrow and yet today was a relatively normal day, as far as spending time in Johannesburg / Centurion, South Africa is concerned. We got to meet up with Tisetso’s Grade R (Kindergarten) teacher, Emmylou (“Teacher Emmy”). She had a profound impact on Tisetso’s life in the short time that she was a part of it. She believed in his ability to push beyond goals that others said he would never achieve. We are forever thankful for her.

Getting to meet her, her husband, and daughter was such a treat! They met us at Bosvelder—a seemingly traditional Afrikaners lodge-style restaurant that they suggested, and It was amazing! Her husband ordered six starters (appetizers) for us and we tried new things and they were all so tasty. It was hard to pick my favorite, but I’d have to say it was tripe & totters, a seasoned stew with mashed potatoes on the side. Brian liked the tripe & totters and the lamb’s tail best. For dessert, Brian and I split peppermint crisp tart and malva pudding with custard. Needless to say, four hours later, we walked away full and were thankful for this time with these two friends from afar.

So here we sit, Tisetso in bed, getting ready to end the day ourselves. We have a bag packed by the door with stickers, paper, markers, and other fun activities to play with our children (!!). Just like Tisetso got Roy the Lion, our daughter is getting a special stuffie. “Shelly the Turtle” has made the voyage across the ocean with us and will be introduced to her new best friend tomorrow.

Please be in prayer for us. We are so excited, and hope she is too, but know there have to be a lot of nerves on both sides. We want tomorrow to go well for us, Tisetso, and our daughter.

Here we go!

Bourbon-Poached Peaches

Lined up and ready to boil.

For the last three years, I've made bourbon-poached peaches (recipe here). This year, I got to continue the tradition working with my sister and having constant interruptions from my son and Erin's kids. I loved it! It was, hands down, the best time I've had making this recipe!

My beautiful sister.

My favorite part of making these is how sweet your kitchen and hands smell when you're all done. The smell from scraping the vanilla pods to collect the seeds is intoxicating! (Vanilla is one of my favorite things/smells) I don't have many baking traditions, but I think I can include bourbon-poached peaches now that I've hit the three year mark.

Simmering.

Definitely give the recipe a try! It makes more than you can eat in a month, so they're great to give away, too. Invite a friend and make a double batch. Peeling all of those peaches allows for some quality time!

The finished product.

Posted on July 5, 2016 and filed under at home, baking and cooking.