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    Kitchen Nightmares

    Kind of Cake.

    That right there? That was supposed to be a cake. I ate the hot gooey batter out of the pan with a spoon and really truly loved every bite, but come on. Cake? Not even close.

    Then there’s our frying pan.

    Buying the one that was less than one dollar was not our brightest idea. Correction: my brightest idea. Every single thing I put in there sticks to the bottom and immediately gets burned, even with excessive amounts of oil and butter. Tonight we panicked because the burnt remnants of a pancake started smoking enough to set off the fire alarm.

    But then we realized that we don’t even HAVE a fire alarm.

    Double fail.

    Man holding a pan.

    Cooking is a major frustration. Of all my home cooking experiences in Cebu (totaling about 8) only 1 has been successful. O-n-e. And successful is being a tad generous. There’s been over-soy-sauced chicken adobo, pancakes that burn to the pan, fried rice that resembles rice pudding, and cakes that bake into hot batter (see first goobly goopy picture).

    What is going on?! I could seriously cry. Ok, maybe I did cry.

    It could be unfamiliarity with new foreign cooking appliances (I have definitely never used an oven that literally has a little flame inside), cheap equipment, phantom kitchen cockroaches, humidity, different ingredients, or just plain error. I don’t know.

    But I want to cook and I want to eat and yet somehow it seems like all I ever eat is peanut butter. Side note – they have Peanut Butter & Co’s White Chocolate Wonderful at our little local Cebuano grocery store. What the what?! So as I complain about eating peanut butter, let’s be real: it’s exceptionally yummy peanut butter and I love it.

    I fully intend to blog recipes this year, but believe me, you don’t want me sharing anything that’s coming out of that frying pan just yet.

    Kitchen Nightmare in the oven.

    I’m also feeling sad today because an inspiringly faithful lady in my hometown passed away recently after a year long battle with pancreatic cancer. What unfairness. My eyes are filling with tears as I type this, thinking about her husband and two kids who are missing her so much and the community who has lost a caring friend, teacher, and leader. I can’t even come close to understanding it, but I trust and believe that her soul is with Jesus and that the Holy Spirit will bring peace and comfort that’s beyond our understanding to those who are mourning.

    There are no shortages of dark-ish moments for us as we adjust to life in this new place, but we’re doing our best to remember that there are many who are dealing with far more difficult challenges than we are.

    But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:7-8

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