New cooking options at the monastery

[Amigas del Señor]

From Sister Confianza 

In mid-November, our friends from EcoLogic Development Fund (look them up, they do good work) came to Limón. Carlos took me up to the Mother House in his pickup where we collected red clay and brought back some boards and firewood. Daniel took his chisel to the filled-in pila and created space for an oven. Then he used bricks he'd brought plus the red clay to build us a lovely fuel efficient cook stove (photo attached: fogon build 4). The neighbor boys were happy to come over and help mix the clay and molasses mortar and otherwise assist the men. Carlos, who has carpentry skills and tools, built us two tables from the scavenged wood (photo attached: build table). One is long and tall and serves in the kitchen as a counter and workspace. The other is round,  made with the "wheel" from a roll of cable, and is the worktable in the outdoor kitchen (photo attached: fogon table plancha).  We are so grateful for their contributions to our new monastery! 

After the clay had a chance to dry a few days, I whitewashed the fogón with white clay. I use the wood stove with its iron griddle comal especially when I have a lot of pots of food to heat, to roast peanuts, and to make tortillas (photo attached: fogon tortillas) . On Christmas Eve I debuted the oven and made gingerbread cake. I had had to wait for it to dry fully and to make a door for the oven. Alex (the guy who put in our plumbing and built the chicken house) is an all-around handyman. He came over a couple different days to do some odd jobs, including making the oven door and making a concrete counter over the rest of the pila (photo attached: fogon table plancha). He also put up a partial wall using old metal roofing around the outdoor kitchen to keep out the chickens and curb the breeze (photo attached: kitchen wall). I was glad to have gotten permission to take the roof panels and some wooden parts from the run-down kiosk where Fela used to sell snacks outside Centro de Salud. A door served for our chicken coop, a window shutter for a half-door for the outdoor kitchen, and more. A nice guy who owns a car was willing to haul the metal roofing the four blocks from the clinic to the monastery when I asked him on the street. We are so blessed! 

We've also purchased an electric burner to use indoors to heat things quickly and to cook when there isn't too much to make (photo attached: elecric burner). (Not having a refrigerator means we have to boil beans and other things twice a day so they will keep.) Sister Alegría doesn't want me to have to work too hard, so we often make simple things like pasta. We also buy pan de coco (coconut bread) regularly from a teenage vendor. His mom bakes it, and the sturdy rolls are often still warm when he comes by the Monastery in the afternoons.

Bendiciones, 

Sister Confianza 

Amigas del Señor Monastery
Limón,  Colón, Honduras
amigasdelsenor.weebly.com