Taste like "home"

Hello!  It is likely that you won’t see all THAT many posts by me (Jenn).  I’m not real good with social media and certainly don’t have prose like Yahaira.  In fact, I obsess and obsess (and obsess) over just the perfect words to convey, what I’m thinking and feeling...typically resulting in more than what really needs to be said.  So it’s not often that I take the time to write out, and actually finish something worth reading….but today I was inspired.  (Actually I started writing this two days ago and have decided to go ahead and post the portion that was ready! J).  So, if you can forgive the inherent spelling and grammar errors and potential redundancy from Yahaira’s last post….please read on!

The Perfect Chili…and Friend

Most of you who know Yahaira are aware of how amazing she is…even if you don’t know her that well I imagine you’re getting a good idea just reading all her posts.  Anyhow, I am beyond grateful to have her in my life and be walking thru this new adventure together.  Today I was especially blessed by something so simple and yet so meaningful…the ingredients for Chili!

I love making Chili, it is an easy recipe I inherited from my mom…brown your meat and onions, add chili powder, cumin and some Pace picante sauce, throw in a few cans of diced tomatoes and beans, let it simmer in a can of beer…and Vuala!  Always a hit and one of my staple dishes that our family requests…and except for the new addition of lime and cilantro (which my sister recently taught me) they prefer it without embellishment or modification.  You see that is the kind of cooking I am best at…not too complicated…no new modifications…I know the way to make it and it comes out good!  LOL, but that’s not exactly the way things go in Peru.  Raw ingredients and condiments are a little different, at best.  Staple pantry items such as canned tomatoes, canned beans, or jarred salsa are either non-existent or exorbitantly priced.  And so we come to completing the ‘simple’ task of making chili.

Thank goodness for Yahaira or it never would have happened!  We encountered the Pace picante issue last week when I offered to make tacos.  I knew our availability of tortillas would be limited, but adequate.  I knew we would be using the local cheese instead of cheddar (still delicious, still melts well),  but I did not think about the salsa!  I am from Michigan and medium spice Pace Picante Sauce is a key ingredient in most of my family’s “southwest” recipes.  I didn’t expect to find Pace brand but I also did not expect that the only small jar available (found near those few tortillas)…would cost $7 US!  There was no way I’d ask my MIL to pay that on our first family grocery trip….but I honestly had every intention of sending my husband back out to see if he could find a more reasonable priced option elsewhere…Or just go ahead and buy what they had…just this once, just so that my first rendition of tacos in Peru didn’t turn out tasting like crap.   When the morning of taco day came and I realized there was no way I was going to have salsa I’ll admit that inside I wanted to just give up right there, make something else, something simpler, something that wouldn’t take all that effort and come out tasting all wrong.  But then there’s Yahaira, who believes anything can be made from scratch and quite enjoys the process of making it yourself anyway.  Before I could give up she found a recipe…we had all the necessary ingredients in the house (even a jar of jalapenos!…which we can’t get fresh here)…and she made a perfect rendition of Pace picante before it was time for me to start cooking tacos.   Together, our meal turned out beautifully and it was a lot of fun once I embraced the process J.

So back to today….Yahaira pre-made a triple batch of ‘Pace Picante’ (since we know it is good, she made extra to keep in the freezer for next time), pre-pressure cooked the beans, and even pre-diced and simmered tomatoes (just ‘like’ they came from a can…but fresher!).  LOL, I bet your thinking it sounds like Yahaira was the one cooking chili…well she was!  It was another collaborative effort and this is one of the many tremendous benefits of living in community.  She did all the prep work, the time consuming, tedious parts I have honestly have no patience or excitement for but thankfully she genuinely seems to take pleasure in.  And then I was able to assemble these ‘recognizable’ ingredients into something that was familiar and that I love (and thankfully the family loved too)!  I know this sounds ridiculous…but I literally got choked up when I had my first taste of the assembled, still simmering chili.  It was not from spice…I’m not sure if it was from joy or from the simple fact that it tasted exactly like what I wanted…what I expected…it tasted like ‘home’.  I literally grabbed Yahaira and gave her a huge hug the next time she walked into the kitchen…I just had to say thank you for making it taste like ‘home’.  I know this sounds silly but these are stepping stones.  I do enjoy cooking.  I know cooking here will be different.  It will have its own set of challenges and rewards.  It will redefine my sense of taste and enjoyment.  But for the moment it felt so good to create something that tasted so familiar and that everyone loved!  And I could (or would) never have done it without Yahaira!

To be continued…I realized this post was getting a little long (go figure) and taking me way too long to finish…so for now you have the taste of home.  I’ll try to finish writing more later on some other little blessings in my life that are helping make it feel like home.  Peru is our home now and I know God has so much in store for us as we make this transition.

-Jenn