Too Many Cooks . . .

It has been said that too many cooks spoil the broth, but that was not the case at Niki's cooking class last Friday afternoon. She had been asked to demonstrate how to make some "American" desserts at the Santa Cruz district meeting of the women. So she chose three simple desserts that would be possible for the ladies to make at home with limited resources: papaya crisp, no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies and finger Jello. She began with the papaya crisp. Niki asked for volunteers to help mix it up. The first line of business was to wash hands.

Next the papaya had to be peeled and cup, the topping mixed up, syrup boiled and everything put together.

The finished product was soon ready to go into the oven.

No one turned down the opportunity to sample the finished product. In fact, there was none left to bring home.

Next up were the no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies. After mixing the ingredients together they were cooked on top of the stove.

The cookies were then spread out on waxed paper to harden. The waxed paper proved to be quite an item of interest. While available here in the super markets, it is not a common item. The women were quite interested in the texture of the paper, having never seen anything like it before. The cookies were then enjoyed by everyone.

Finally it was time to make finger Jello. The women helped to mix up a batch of it but there was no time to allow it to set. However, Niki had prepared enough ahead of time for everyone to have a sample. Bolivians eat a lot of Jello like products, but usually the Jello is kind of runny and often is eaten in a long, slender bag much like a freeze pop. So the idea of hard Jello was a novelty. What do you do with finger Jello?

  
                                         You pat it.

                                          You squeeze it.

                                         You put it on your face.

                                          You eat it.

All in all it was a very successful two hours and the proverbial good time was had by all. Pray for Niki as she continues to have interaction with the district women in the months to come. Also pray for the ladies as they seek to serve God faithfully at home, in the market and wherever they find themselves.