Monday, November 17

Cultural differences - sights, sounds and smells...

The past few days I have been meaning to post about something that is a noticeable difference between our western cultures and the culture of Taiwan.

In Taiwan, it is completely culturally appropriate to pick one's nose, and flatulence and burping in public are not considered taboo. It is one thing I have yet to adjust to. It's bizarre to see old people just really into picking their nose as they walk down the street, or to have a student "pass gas" loudly in class and no one turns their head or laughs.

Oh Taiwan.. the sights, smells and sounds. ;0)

Tuesday, November 4

Chocolate Chip Cookies and Banana Bread


Sometimes it makes me smile to see how God can bless us in the little things.

Nic and I had heard that we could bake anything in a toaster oven that you can bake in an oven. We decided that we wanted to get a toaster oven. For a few weeks we put it off, thinking about what kind to get and decided where to get it. Well, on the day that Nic was leaving his job to go get our toaster oven, (helmet in hand) his co-workers asked him where he was going. He proceeded to tell them about our desire for a toaster oven. One of his co-workers told him that the ones were were looking at were made cheaply in China and that we should look for a better quality one. It just so happens that his father owns an electronic shop. He called his father who said that they were out of stock on the toaster ovens but that they owned one that was 6 months old and had only been used a few times. He would be willing to sell it to us at half the cost of a new one.

All that to say, God blessed us with a toaster oven the size of a microwave for half of the cost of a smaller one.

So for Nic's birthday I was able to make chocolate chip cookies in our new toaster oven!


The cooked in exactly the right amount of time - the toaster oven is perfect!



Here are the cookies!






I was also able to find Banana Bread that tastes just like home made banana bread at the grocery store.
Heated in the toaster oven with some tea, this treat has been such a fun blessing to us! :)