Moments

In case you hadn't heard, life is made a of moments. Here's some of my favorites from this week.

Two of the rowdy 5th grade boys stayed a whole half hour after school and painted ducks with water colors while I cleaned the classroom. We listened to Mozart the whole time and they didn't complain once.

One of the new 4th graders (who has only known me 11 days) saw me in the internet cafe and walked back and forth in front of the window waving for about 2 minutes.

My little sister struck up a rather deep conversation (for a 4 year-old) and asked me why people should be nice to each other. That night when I got home, she crawled in bed with me and she fell asleep hugging me.

Esteban, my 3 year-old Kinder developed a remarkable love for having me read to him in English. I went over to his house today and he made me read to him for 10 minutes.

Daniel, our new 2 year-old Kinder, didn't cry when his mom left the Kinder room. I think that's pretty remarkable for day 2.

Andrea's Easy Enchiladas

My wonderful parents brought me enchilada sauce when they came to visit and I finally put some of it to use today.

And so we begin. The photo tutorial of Andrea's Easy Enchiladas. But first, some history.
I am a halfsican, in case you didn't know. And in case you don't know what that means, it means that I'm half Mexican. My mother grew up making enchiladas, the real deal, where you dip the tortilla in sauce, throw it in hot oil and stuff it with cheese. However amazing these taste, it's a lot of work and so my mom invented* a short cut that I learned before I even went to school. Yeah, they're that simple. So when I was six, my school was making a recipe book and my mom entered the recipe as Andrea's Easy Enchiladas. She used my name (remember, I was only six) to stress how delightfully easy they are to make.
*I use the term invented, loosely. I'm sure others have done it, I just haven't seen it.

Now for the tutorial. This is for making individual enchiladas. Maybe one day I'll give you a tutorial for the original, which is a bake-version, but I don't have the original recipe or an oven here in the blessed highlands of Monteverde. So if you want to try the bake-version, read this recipe and adapt. Deal? Deal.

Tools:
- A plate
- A can opener
- A spoon
- A microwave
- A fork
(do you see how easy I'm making this for you?)

Ingredients:
- Enchilada sauce (if you wanna get all fancy, try making your own, but I use it from a can. A 10 oz can will be more than sufficient for one person)
- Corn tortillas (3 for one enchilada)
- Cheese (not sure about the measurements. Maybe like, 1/2 cup? I like the shredded cheese blend, but basically, anything that melts well will suffice)

Ingredients and Tools. Minus the microwave.
You know what that looks like, right?

Step 1: Sauce your plate. Sauce it, ever-so-slightly, bigger than the tortilla.

Step 2: Layer 1- Place your tortilla, sauce your tortilla and hit it with cheese.

Step 3: Add 2 more layers of tortilla, sauce and cheese.

Step 4: Nuke it. About 1 1/2 minutes should do it. 

Tips:
- Taste your sauce before you use it. If you don't like the flavor, tweak it. If it's too spicy, add some tomato sauce (no, not spaghetti sauce, silly!)
- Don't skimp on sauce. There are few things sadder than a dry enchilada. Don't drown it either. Enchiladas are not good swimmers. Find a happy medium.
- Layer your cheese evenly. It's frustrating to have no cheese on the edge and then get too much goo in the middle.
- You are not required to make an enchilada with 3 layers. You can do just 2 or you can do 50! Have fun. Btw, if you make an enchilada with 50 layers, please take a picture and show me. I'd love to see that!
- Let the last sprinkle of cheese be more for garnish than for taste. Trust me, you probably put too much in the middle layers anyway.
- The sauce WILL splatter when you microwave it. I suggest you cover it.

The end. Try it. Enjoy it.

Soon

Let me make one thing clear (if I haven't already). I LOVE it here. But anyone who's been away from friends and family for an extended amount of time will understand that even if you love where you are, it's still perfectly reasonable to miss the folks back home. For that simple reason I made this countdown today. That and I'm sick. It came out of nowhere, which is really annoying. Yesterday, I was fine and then I just started coughing in the middle of the night. Super lame. Anyway, now you know, and I know, how long I'm here for. Just for funzies. It's sooner than you think!