Buddies and Blossoms

  Michael and his friend. We are up high in the hills for a hike!

 First there is our beautiful yard......

 Our street on a cold spring day....

And the entry into our house.

Persian New Year

The first day of Spring is a cause for celebration here: Persian New Year. It is a time to get new dresses so you can dress up, enjoy walks in the parks and admire everyone's finery and the beginnings of Spring, and put on display national dress, food, dance, and customs. A school in our neighborhood had a big celebration yesterday. In this picture you can see tables lining a big field.  The school children had prepared national dishes and artwork to put on display. It almost seems like it is for foreigners like us to learn about their customs, but it is more of a cultural appreciation display for each other!  After we admired all the tables, we got ready for the performance. These lovely girls were some of the dancers. We love that you can see the snow capped mountains surrounding the city this time of year.

Here are four cuties all dressed up and ready to go. The city is filled with girls wearing the national dresses with beautiful patterns in every color like our girls are wearing here.

These lovely girls show us national dress, hats, and hair with their braids streaming down their backs.

 Wonderfully, this year our kids had friends to hang out with and enjoy the celebration together. This table of national dishes was hosted by the class of Anna's closest local friend. The wheat sprouts are a Spring tradition. In Spring time, our friends here sprout wheat and then cook it with flour and oil in a huge pot outside, stirring it non stop for hours and hours. The result is a wheat spread with a peanut butter like consistency. We think it is delicious.

 The school building is in the background.

Friends!
More pics to come......

She turned 12!

Ancient Fortress

 These pics are from last spring. We think it's pretty cool that there are ancient fortresses nearby to explore....

Homemade Peanut Butter

by Anna

“Can I have two jars of your delicious peanut butter?” Foreigners order peanut butter from me because it is homemade and yummy, and also because there is no peanut butter sold where I live. My teammate has gone to High School, and she passed making it down to me. I am always happy to make peanut butter for people because I get the money. Sometimes I get so many orders it is frustrating, but it is worth it in the end! Wherever I visit to hang out, someone has to order one or two peanut butter jars. When I first started it about a year ago, I took the longest time to make it, like about an hour. Now I can easily make it in twenty minutes, and it is fun and easy too. Making peanut butter can be hard, but it is very delicious in the end.

          First I gather all the supplies needed. I gather five to ten kilos of peanuts, a spatula, a blender, oil, jars and lids. Here I am able to attain big bags of peanuts. My Dad finds the big bags of peanuts from the store. By now the man that my dad buys from, knows my dad well! Whoever makes peanut butter will know where to find it.  Everyone is easily able to get oil.  Just run to the store and buy one to two liters of oil. In America finding spatulas and blenders can be super easy.  Our family has to have people sent spatulas from America! The blender I can also find here for a lot of money! Jars and lids will be different, but anyone can find them too. Usually jars are one liter bottles, and the lids are made for the jars. I do not need very many things to make peanut butter.

          Secondly I roast, peel, and clean the peanuts. I turn the oven onto 250 degrees, stick the peanuts in, and wait for ten minutes. After that, I move the peanuts around and sit and listen for the wonderful noise of the delicious peanuts to crackle! If it is quiet in the room I can really hear it. When that happens, I pull them out and taste the hot peanuts that are still popping! I usually let them cool down so my hands don’t burn. Next, I peel the peanuts by putting them on a perfectly round pan and scrunch them with my hands, until most of the peanuts are white. I go outside and blow the peels off with my breath. Back inside, I look very carefully for things because I once found a screw in the peanuts! Every time I see rocks, sticks, and big chunks of salt and take them out. My favorite part is cleaning the peanuts, because it is the easiest.

          Finally, I blend the peanuts into peanut butter, and put it into a jar! First I put about three cups of peanuts into the blender and turn the blender on. It will be very piercing! When the consistency feels chunky and dry,

I happily turn it off because, I am halfway done. After that, I am supposed to only add three tablespoons of oil, but I add three and a half so that it goes quicker! Usually I just sit and wait until it sounds like a vacuum cleaner. It can be about five minutes for that to happen. When it sounds like a vacuum cleaner, I turn the blender off and stir the peanut butter, so that the chunky and creamy mix together. I turn it back on and wait a few more minutes. After that, I turn it off and I am ready to put it into the jar. With the spatula, I scoop out some peanut butter, and quickly slide the peanut butter into the jar. I repeat that a couple times until that batch is done, and then do it all over again. Sometimes it takes three batches, and sometimes two. Peanut butter is fun to make!

          I know that anyone that makes peanut butter will be happy and surprised that it is fun to make, pretty easy, and of course delicious! Somebody might want to make and sell it like me. My peanut butter is a lot healthier too because I don’t put any sugar in it. I promise that anyone who makes peanut butter will long too make more when they are finished with a first liter! Homemade peanut butter is a big yummy treat.

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

 We had a lovely Thanksgiving this year with good friends. Anna was put in charge of making the centerpiece. Delicious food was provided and enjoyed by all and even carving pumpkins were thrown into the mix.