a day at Children's Heaven

I can’t say it enough, but Ethiopia is constantly opening doors for me in terms of opportunity.  A month or so ago I was contacted by the CEO of Studio Samuel, a NGO based in New York City started by a couple in response to the poverty they experienced while in Ethiopia adopting their son.  It’s an amazing story and the program aims to build sustainable business for impoverished girls in Ethiopia.  After finding my blog, Tamara, contacted me about a photography opportunity.  How neat is that?  

I was thrilled of course. I am always looking for experiences to stretch myself as a photographer and gain new skills.  There are only so many cupcakes I can photograph before I want to scream, you know?  Anyway, I was more than happy to help Tamara.  She asked me to photograph the girls at Children’s Heaven so she can show her board of directors and potential donors the wonderful things their generosity can assists with.  I can only imagine trying to describe, with words, to someone in the States what life in Ethiopia is like for these young girls.  Photographs tell a story.  They speak a thousand words. 

I’m emberassed to admit that I didn’t have a lot of time to research what I was getting into at Children’s Heaven.  I scheduled a ride to the orphan care program for the Saturday after Ethiopian Christmas. I packed my camera and a bottle of water. Children’s Heaven is an after school/weekend care program for 105 girls from the ages of 5 to 18.  The girls are orphaned or have HIV positive mother.  Sometimes extended family is in the picture, sometimes not.  Children’s Heaven supports the girls in their schooling, provides meals, clothing and safety.   Little did I know how special that day would be for the children who attend Children’s Heaven.  It happened to be their Christmas celebration and I just got lucky in that I was there to photograph for Studio Samuel.  Studio Samuel is sponsoring programs for girls at Children’s Heaven.  I photographed each girl involved in the programs individually, then snapped away as they played games on the concrete slabs.  Their director and mother figure, Hanna gave me a tour of the buildings including a chicken coop, small library, tutoring rooms and even showed me their new industrial grade oven so they can hopefully start baking their own bread for the meals they provide the children.   She was really surprised to hear that I was a baker and was eager to talk bread with me!  

I could hear the singing as I finished up the last few individual portraits.  Next, I was escorted into the main room of the compound and I was faced with one of the most precious scenes I have ever experienced.  Girls of all ages sat shoulder to shoulder, sometimes even on one another’s lap, across benches arranged along the walls and lined facing the front of the room.  Garlands of all colors were hung and draped from the ceiling and walls, a small modest Christmas tree stood proud in the front of the room.  Older girls and handed out song verses to the girls and they sang, chanted, drummed to traditional Christmas hyms all in Amharic.  It was beautiful.  They love singing, Hanna told me.  They are always singing. 

For the next two hours I took photos of the Christmas celebration, including the cooking of the special Christmas meal (goat tibs, lamb, dorro wat, injera, hard boiled eggs).  The girls presented Hanna with Christmas gifts to which they all gasped, clapped, cheered and yelped in excitement as she tore open the paper and help up the photo album

The singing continued until the meal was announced and then I watched the girls line up from youngest to oldest to wait for a heaping plate of beautiful hot food.  This is when I took my leave.  The insisted that I stay and partake in the meal but I just couldn't.  It didn't feel right.  These lovely children and their teachers deserved to enjoy every last bite.  

The day was a healthy reminder for me of all the greatness in Ethiopia.  Of all the beautiful selfless people  who care for the less fortunate in this country.  But emerging from these thoughts was another idea.  These beautiful young women may be less fortunate, but they are not to be pitied.  They are strong and full of life.  They clearly are loved and cared for and have amazing things in store for their futures.  Especially if organizations like Studio Samuel have anything to do with it.

Absence

It’s already mid January and I just had a chance to get my Christmas day photos up on the blog.  Isn’t this how January usually goes though?  I enjoy Christmas and the holiday with my family so much that I can’t possibly take a moment to blog about it.  Life is happening and I’m less eager to break the blissful holiday spell by sharing with the world.  Maybe Christmas, and that lovely laziness that follows, is meant to be kept to myself. 

But truly, January just sort of flies by!  We spent Ethiopian Christmas in Gheralta with friends of ours and it was the most glorious family vacation.  I have absolutely gorgeous photos from the trip to share and it’s on the list to-do.  So when I get a moment I can’t wait to share the photos with you.  Gheralta is just stunning. 

My absence from the blog has a lot to do with focusing on the girls while they were on winter break from school.  They JUST went back.  Addie on the 14^th and Bella on the 15^th.  It was an amazingly long vacation and I enjoyed every second of it.  Addie, Bella and Ashlynn have become inseparable friends.  Justin and I watched in awe as they spent their entire winter break entrenched in the sweetest and most earnest imaginary play together.  There was hardly any fighting and we rarely intervened unless it was meal time or bedtime.  As they've grown older, they've just become closer.  Addie and Bella especially.  They can play endlessly for hours together and never tire.  Ashlynn is almost always included in the fun although she can’t quite keep up for the length of time they will play. 

I adore Bella's look of adoration towards Addie.  I love how much my girls look to one another for guidance.

It was lovely to have my girls home with me.  We had lazy mornings with breakfast and a movie, maybe tea at 10AM before we were dressed for the day.  The girls helped in the kitchen and didn't get in the way when it was time for me to work.  We enjoyed every moment of it and they even expressed remorse about going back to school when the time came.  Luckily that was short lived and we’re happily moving back into our early morning, school buss, shoes on, backpacks packed routine.  Ashlynn and I have the house to ourselves for most of the morning.  But even that is short lived because she’s starting a preschool program (same school as Bella’s) in a week. 

Random coffee photo.  Ethiopian coffee only gets better with frothed milk on top.

I’ll also admit that there will be fewer blog posts from me in the coming months because as of right now, we only have five months until our departure of Ethiopia.  I know!  It’s wild and to be quite honest I am equally thrilled and devastated by the move.   Inevitably, the wind-down period of any overseas tour comes with mixed emotions.  I felt the same way in the Philippines.  It’s hard to grapple with the idea that this place that we’ve called home for all this time, will soon become a memory and likely a place you won’t ever return.  The things that I have built up bravery and coping strategies to manage in Ethiopia are starting to crumble.  I'm starting to let go of Ethiopia.  Letting some of the barriers crumble means that things I could easily manage 6 months ago, suddenly feel too big to handle.  The random construction road closures, the defecating in the streets, the pollution, the rotten egg that I cracked open every day.  These are all examples of the types of things I have done a really decent job of managing and in some cases embracing for the past two and a half years.  But as our time in Addis is marching towards our departure, I find these things more annoying and in some cases a frustration that I try to avoid completely.  It’s all a part of mentally preparing myself to leave.  I get it.   We’re looking forward, past Addis and it’s hard not to be excited to spend time with our friends and family in America we haven’t seen, in some cases, in two and a half years! 

I'm making my own shiro for lunch, my guard is sweet enough to pick up fresh injera every day.  Best lunch ever.

There is less exciting discovery for me in Ethiopia.  We’ve done a lot of discovering during our time here and I’ve blogged about all of it.  Sometimes the last few months for me is hard to write about.  The combined feelings of elation to leave, with sadness to say goodbye is something I find very difficult to capture in words.  We’ve loved so much about Ethiopia and I’d like to focus on the good things, so over the course of the next few months I’m going to try to complete a series of posts about what Ethiopia has taught me.  

It's prim (tiny plums) season in Ethiopia.  We're buying them by the kilo.  Instead of trying to perfect prim tarts this year, I'm going to just eat as many as I can.

Christmas Day

The girls were up bright and early on Christmas morning.  Addie woke me up with a kiss on the cheek and whispered "Merry Christmas Mommy".  It doesn't get much sweeter than that.  Justin was up earlier than the girls and he said that they popped their heads out of their bedroom and immediate asked, "Did he come?".  Ashlynn slept longer and wandered down the stairs about 30 minutes later and when she saw the gifts under the tree almost squealed with excitement.

The girls opened gifts, the cinnamon rolls baked and Justin made coffee.  We topped with milk foam that we made with our new milk frother.  It was pretty perfect.

We all got dressed and went to Christmas Mass at the Vatican Embassy.  When we got home we had a big turkey leftover meal and let the girls play with their new toys for the rest of the day.  Justin and I may have polished off a bottle of wine and another round of frothy homemade cappuccinos.

Christmas Day and the days that followed were blissfully quiet.  We colored with the girls new art supplies, listened to all their imaginative play with their new dolls and read lots of new books.  We ate a lot of leftovers and I've been concocting all sorts of variations of turkey dishes.  I took several naps and lounged in my pajamas.  It was quite possibly the best few days of the year.

Christmas Eve

The girls' first Shirley Temples by the tree

I'm posting some photos of Christmas and Christmas Eve a little behind schedule.  But the fact that I'm late about it means I had a great Christmas.  Just the kind of Christmas I needed.  Busy, bustling with anticipation  for weeks until Christmas morning when I just get to sit back and relax and watch the enjoyment on the faces of my loved ones.  After all the work preparing for Christmas I spend the days after just being lazy and eating good food!  It's a wonderful stay-cation in our house the days after Christmas.  I curled up on the floor with a pillow every afternoon for a cat nap.  I was fantastically lazy.

But before then...I was a Christmas mad-woman.  After our Christmas party I had just two days to prepare for our own big Christmas Eve dinner.  I brined our turkey on Monday so it would be ready for the oven on Christmas Eve morning.

Christmas Eve is just as much fun and just as special of a day for our family as Christmas Day is.  My childhood was full of Christmas Eve memories.  It was an evening I looked forward to all year long.  As an adult, with my own family and being so far away from our extended family; it's very important to create our own traditions and hold true to them every year.  We started making a big Christmas Eve dinner in the Philippines and it's become a tradition.  Here in Ethiopia, I've made a traditional American Thanksgiving meal on Christmas Eve for the last two years.

I started the mood off on Christmas Eve morning with a little hot chocolate picnic in the family room for the girls.  They drank it with peppermint sticks and cinnamon sugar toast.  When they saw the tray coming up the stairs they cheered.

This year Christmas Eve was just the five of us.  The anticipation and excitement was so thick in the air I could taste it.  The girls all got their fancy Christmas dresses on early in the morning to be ready for our big Christmas dinner.  I donned a frock as well but quickly topped it with an apron to get to work in the kitchen.  Justin worked most of the day on Christmas Eve so as he was kissing me goodbye with is coffee in hand, I was pulling out our bird and chopping onions for the stuffing.

Along with Christmas Eve dinner, I made cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning.  Something I've been doing for years.  Making them the night before and just popping them in that morning makes my life easier.

The turkey was stuffed and in the oven by 9:30AM which left plenty of time for all the rest of the meal.  Addie helped me peel the potatoes for the big bowl of mashed potatoes.  Turns out she's completely capable of mashing them as well with my hand mixer.  This year I was very excited to learn that my KitchenAid hand mixer makes smoother fluffier potatoes than my big stand mixer.

During the entire process of preparing the meal, our Christmas music is playing and I'm sipping wine.  At some point Bella came skipping into the kitchen and cheerfully asked me. "Can I help you with anything Mommy?", which brought me to tears.  Such generosity and joy on Christmas Eve and a little bit of wine in my system and I was a blubbery idiot.  All the girls helped and it is that much more fun to have my sweet daughters hands in the kitchen helping and making messes with me.

Sneaking bites of the sweet potato casserole.  That was me.

Justin kept the girls entertained during the last painful hour waiting for dinner.  They read fairy tales and danced to Christmas music.

The girls were giddy to cut into the turkey.  Justin and I as well.  We get one turkey a year and it's such a glorious treat in Ethiopia.  To prepare a traditional American meal like this in Addis, is no small feat.  It's a lot of work but totally worth it.

 Ashlynn sneaked into the turkey before it was served and just kept saying, "more", and picking off bites.  We had to steer her towards the table.  A spoonful of sweet potato casserole had her interested until she discovered the holy grail of a turkey meal-the mashed potatoes and gravy!  Once she discovered gravy, it was game over for all other options.  The girls adored the turkey and sweet potatoes while Justin and I oohed and aaahed over the stuffing.  As a kid I hate the stuff, what was I thinking?!  It's perfection with gravy on top.  Oh man, we were in a food coma pretty quick.

Addie wrote a beautiful note for Santa Claus and carefully laid out cookies for him and a carrot for the reindeer.

Addie and Bella giggled in their beds for a few minutes after bedtime and Addie even had to peak downstairs with the pretenses of getting more water.  But once they were out, they were out and Justin and I could enjoy a slice a pie (pecan pumpkin perfection) and watch thirty minutes of It's a Wonderful Life (our Christmas Even tradition) before we were about ready to pass out.

I heard a little rustling down stairs later that night and had to go see if Santa had found us in Ethiopia.  Sure enough, he did and he filled the stockings and tree.  I didn't sleep much that night after that!  I couldn't wait for Christmas Day.

Christmas pants 2013

I love the tradition of my husband's Christmas pants.  His grandfather wore them every year on Christmas Eve to the country club.  I had the pleasure of attending one of these evenings and he looked so classy in these pants.  He was a tall handsome man and he wore a white turtle neck tucked in, loafers on his feet.  Think classic Annapolis, MD.  Justin always admired the pants and when his grandfather passed away, his grandmother passed the pants on to Justin.  It was a very touching surprise.  Not many people get to say they inherit something quite so close to their heart from a loved one.  Justin had them tailored for his shorter frame and has been wearing them for Christmas ever since.  They are wool and it's comical that we haven't had a cold Christmas for years.  In Manila, Justin sweated in the pants on Christmas.  It's a tad better in Ethiopia but there is definitely no need for wool.  But the pants make it Christmas and it's festive.  Everyone loves the story.  And Justin wears them well.  Here's to many years with the Christmas pants.

Christmas party report-out

The last three weeks flew by and I didn't have a chance to post anything about our Christmas party (or Christmas for that matter).  It was so much fun and everyone was in the holiday spirit.  The entire day with people bustling about, jovial laughing, glasses clinking, and all the delicious food smells made me that much more excited for Christmas.

The party was a potluck which is wonderful for two reasons.  I don't have to break my back to provide enough food for everyone and I get to taste everyone else's cooking.  Some highlights from the food brought by others were the cheesy baked grits, BBQ green beans, spinach dip, and potato salad.

Our traditional Christmas cookies, pecan crescents, nutted thimbles and almond rocca

I prepared desserts for the party. I made lavender lemon bars and ginger oatmeal cream pies along with all the usual Christmas desserts I make.  Once again the flourless chocolate peppermint patt

y cake flew off the table.  I should have made two of those.

The pretty candy cane cake was delicious and gorgeous.  Such a  treat for anyone who loves candy canes. I tried my hand at homemade old fashioned fudge this year since it's one of my absolute favorite holiday treats.  After plenty of frustration I was able to produce two batches, one salted dark chocolate and the other mint chocolate.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it because it was gone rather quickly!

Making old fashioned fudge at this high of altitude proved more difficult than I imagined.  

I don't have any photos of the real food, mostly because it flew off the platters.  I made two rosemary roasted pork loins, two batches of curried chicken rolls and two batches of scalloped potatoes.  As well as smoked salmon dip, and roasted red pepper and goat cheese terrine.  I'll be honest, it wasn't enough.  I should have had a few other main course selections because they didn't last on the table more than ten minutes.  Maybe something easy like lasagna or a rice dish.  Even a pasta salad would have added something hardy to the table.

But the drinks were flowing and no one seemed to complain of the food going so fast.  It was nice because it was an open house so people trickled in all afternoon with dishes to add to the table.

I have so much fun planning the drink menu for parties now.  People enjoy the details and like to have instructions for a pre-planned cocktail.  I really had no idea how much people would enjoy the cocktail I chose.  Now I know to prepare for twice as many ingredients for the drinks.

 Non alcoholic spiced fruit wassail.  A fun option for something kid friendly and festive. If people wanted they could add a dash of bourbon or rum.  But I think it tasted great all on it's own.  It was super easy to make and I omitted any additional sugar in the recipe.  For a drink that combines three store bought fruit juices, it definitely doesn't need any extra sugar.

Spiced Fruit Wassail from Of Tide and Thyme cookbook
2 1/4 cups pineapple juice
2 quarts apple juice or cider
1 cup lemon juice
2 cups orange juice
a little cheesecloth bundle of cinnamon bark and cloves tied up tight (1/2 cup bark or a few cinnamon sticks and 2 Tbsp whole cloves)

Just add all the ingredients and let it simmer with the spices for a few hours.  Be prepared for this to go quickly.  I doubled this recipe and I should have doubled it again!  The kids loved the red and white striped straws.

Cinnamon apple martini.  This was a huge hit among the adults, men and women alike.  I came up with this recipe because I ordered two pounds of cinnamon red hot candy for Christmas.  I knew I wanted to create a cocktail that used these spicy candies I just didn't know what it was until three days before the party.  As I searched online, I realized I would never have just the right ingredients for some of the cocktail recipes I was finding.  But I wasn't deterred.  This is what cooking in Ethiopia is all about-substitution.  So, I used what I had and it was simple and delicious.

Ingredients for Cinnamon Apple Martinis
1 bottle vodka
1 and a half cups cinnamon red hot candies
1 bottle of cranberry apple juice
ice

Two days before the party I poured the vodka over the red hot candies in a decanter and let them dissolve. Swirl and stir the candies from the bottom often.  You could pour the candies straight into the bottle of vodka to make it even easier.  Just use a funnel.  After almost all the candies were dissolved, I strained the cinnamon infused vodka over a fine mesh strainer to remove the waxy like candy coatings that were left in the alcohol.  You're left with a lovely red sweet cinnamon vodka.

Sara's Cinnamon Apple Martini
1 shot cran-apple juice
1 shot cinnamon vodka.

Shake with an ice cube and serve with the ice.  The colder the better. Serve in short martini glasses.  I like stemless just because they can serve as a pretty glass for lots of cocktails, not just martinis.  I loved this drink for the flavor, but also for the festive red color.  Gorgeous!

Hot Chocolate bar.  This is such a fun concept and I could have done so much more when it comes to options for this drink but I decided to pay tribute to one of our favorite decadent desserts we enjoyed in South Africa.  Thick hot chocolate served with a scoop of chocolate ice cream.  It's really quite simple.  Soft peppermint sticks and peppermint Schnapps for the adults made the drink more holiday festive.  This was a huge hit for the kids.  Those peppermint sticks went quick!

I cheated on this drink and used pre-made cocoa drink powder and just added water.  I made it nice and thick and added vanilla to the mix.  The pot sat on the stove simmering during the party so people just had to bring a mug to the kitchen and get a ladle of cocoa and a scoop of ice cream.  Pure decadence.

The gingerbread people kits were a hit and I think it saved some mess and heartache from the parents about this or that.  All I had to do was life the box of kits outside and let the kids have-at it.  One mom helped snip the ends of the frosting bags with scissors but after that, I didn't hear any issues.

We had a silly white elephant gift exchange and 24 people participated by bringing a gift.  I ended up with a lovely latte style coffee mug which seemed unbelievable after seeing a can of boiled peanuts opened as well as a umbrella hat and a dust pan.  Justin came away with a new mop!  HA!  I liked how the game brought everyone at the party together.  Lots of our friends from all sorts of different places in Addis all got to know one another better when you're stealing one another gifts and laughing at the hilarity of some of them.  Such fun.

All in all, the party was a success, thanks to all our enthusiastic friends who brought good food and plenty of wine.  What a way to kick of the holiday party season!

gingerbread people kits

Making cut-out cookies and letting the children frost and decorate them as a party activity is pretty much my go-to for all our parties.  We've done it for years at our Halloween parties and I continue to do it because the kids love it so much.  But let's be honest.  It's usually a big mess and kind of chaotic to get all the kids seated and with cookies and a kid-friendly knife with little pots of colored frosting.  There's plenty of jostling for the best sprinkles and colors and, well, yeah, it's a nightmare.  I've relied on helpful moms and dads at our parties to assist me in getting this process to work.  It's not easy.  Fun, but not easy.

For our Christmas party this year, I wanted the kids to decorate gingerbread people but I didn't want the hassle of it all.  I started making the gingerbread people and as I was rolling out the dough, had a bright idea to make little kits.  Prepackaged gingerbread people kids, complete with cookies, frosting and candy.  Perfection!  No fighting over the candy bowls or frosting knifes.  Everyone gets the same amount and it also limits the kids from eating handfuls of the decorative candy.  

This idea created more work for me because I packaged all the frosting in tiny sealed bags (the kids will pipe the frosting from the end of the bag by sniping a corner with scissors), and the candy, so I had to sort out a small amount of this and that for 40 gingerbread people kits.  Okay, so this was a lot more work for me. But, it will pay off on party day!

To be honest, the tedious part was rolling, cutting and baking 80 gingerbread people.  The minute I started, I was regretting my bright idea.  I pressed on (pun intended) and each gingerbread people kit is actually a little family.  A dad, mom and baby gingerbread family.  It was Addie's idea and it's pretty darn cute.  

Luckily, I had a stash of Christmas printed cellophane bags with twist ties because  my mother keeps me supplied.  Thank goodness.  

frosting, to pipe just snip one corner at the bottom

The great thing is that the kids can grab and bag and take it outside to a table and decorate their little gingerbread family whenever they want.  This way, we don't have to decide on at time to schlep all the supplies outside and deem it "gingerbread decorating time". 

I think the kids are going to love it!