Posts by Melissa

Surprise!

May19th
2013 26 Comments Written by Melissa

If you know Ryan or me very well, you’d know that we’re not the first people to want to hold someone else’s baby at a gathering, or to volunteer for nursery duty at church. I’ve always said that I’m either having zero kids or four, leaning more towards zero. In Haiti, literally everywhere you go, when you see a Haitian you’ve talked to before, they ask you, “Why don’t you have kids,” or “When are you going to have kids?” My typical response is, “I have cats.” And they laugh but continue to press on for more answers.

Sparing you the details, which if you know me well, you know that I am also not good at talking about subjects like this, Ryan and I suspected that we may… possibly … be expecting. After putting if off for a few weeks, we decided to go buy a pregnancy test. Now I didn’t want to get one from the Heartline Maternity Center because I wasn’t ready for ANYONE to know. And I couldn’t go to Delimart, our regular grocery store, because every time we go there, all the cashiers ask us when we will have kids, so they would have FREAKED out! So we found some obscure store and pulled up on our motorcycle.

Ryan, being the gentleman that he is, decided that he needed to stay out and “watch the bike” rather than going in with me on this dreaded trip. Thanks husband So I go in to the pharmacy and ask for a “bagay pou tcheke si ou ansent” (thing to check if you’re pregnant). After repeating myself a few times, the man said, “Pregnancy test?” I guess I could have just used English. So he gave me one, and I concealed it well in the bag and we zipped home on the moto.

Well, after taking that test, and then going back to the same place and buying another one the next day (from the same man who remembered me), the tests came back POSITIVE! CRAZY!!!! We were (and still are) a bit in shock, but are also super excited. It’s unbelievable to me how neither of us ever really thought we’d have kids, but as soon as we found this out, it was pure joy!

Not really sure what to do next, I called my friend Melissa who has lived in Haiti about half her life and is a nurse/midwife. Her and her husband just moved to the States, however, her husband happened to be back here needing to work a few weeks still. He is an OBGYN, and had a shift at the hospital the next day! She said we could go in for a sonogram. Thank you Lord!

So it would be our first experience in a Haitian hospital, and we had no idea what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised, as it was neat and clean. He met us with a huge smile and congratulations. I got on the exam table and he started the sonogram. At this point I still had doubts that this was actually happening and we were really pregnant. But the first second he started it, he said, “Yep, there it is.” Aaaahhhh! It was crazy. And so cool. There’s actually something in there! And moving around!

So, God willing, Ryan and I will add another member to our family mid-November. I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence, but I am finally convinced that it’s true. We are excited for the next part of this journey, and wanted to share our news with you!

Family, Haiti, Life baby, family, maternity, pregnancy

Macaroni au Gratin

Apr26th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Melissa

This recipe is brought to you by our cook Marjory. When she was one year old, her mother died, and so she was taken in by another Haitian woman. This woman was an incredible cook, and taught Marjory most everything she knows, including this recipe. It has become a guesthouse favorite!

Ingredients:

For chicken

(From steps 1 & 2 of Haitian spaghetti recipe)

15 chicken drumsticks
3 limes (or Haitian sour oranges)
Vinegar
Salt
Parsley, 1 bunch
Scallions (green onions), 1 bunch
Garlic, 1 head
Chicken bouillon, 1 cube
Butter

Remaining Ingredients

Oil (any kind)
Salt
Garlic (2 pieces)
Butter
Flour
Milk
Mayonnaise
Rigatoni pasta (10 6-oz. bags)
Mozzarella cheese, shredded – 2 1/2 lbs.

Step 1: Prepare Chicken

Follow steps 1 & 2 from the Haitian Spaghetti recipe. *Be sure to save about 3/4 cup water from when you boil the chicken the second time. Add it to the chicken after it is shredded. It will give it extra flavor.

Step 2: Prepare noodles

Bring water, a splash of oil, some salt, 1 green onion, and 2 pieces of garlic to a boil. Add rigatoni pasta and cook until al dente. Drain water and discard garlic and green onion. Pour noodles into a large bowl and set aside.

Step 3: Make the Sauce

In medium saucepan, melt 3 Tbsp. butter. Add a large spoonful of flour and several cups of milk. Heat to a boil until it thickens. Stir continuously! If sauce is chunky when thick, you can pour it through a fine strainer to remove chunks.

Add about 2/3 cup mayonnaise and stir well. Taste and if it still needs more flavor, you can add salt and/or a small part of a crushed chicken bouillon cube.

Step 4: Mix it all up

Pour cooked chicken in the large bowl with your noodles. Stir. Then add sauce and stir again.

Pour noodle mixture into cake pans or whatever dish(es) you want to bake them in. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese over the noodles.

Step 5: Bake

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. We like our noodles to be softer, so you can bake them for less time if you want them softer. Haitians cook everything until very well done, so they like to bake it a lot longer than 30 minutes – until noodles/cheese are pretty hard (not my favorite).

Enjoy with a nice side salad and some fresh baked bread. Mmmmm.

Guest House Recipes, Haiti haiti, recipe

Thoughts on Haiti from Melissa’s Daddio

Feb24th
2013 1 Comment Written by Melissa

A Parents’ Second Perspective of Haiti Written by John Mortier

Several weeks ago Cathy and I (Melissa’s parents) had an opportunity to revisit Haiti. We previously spent a week in this incredible country last Christmas. During our first trip we experienced only the city of Port au Prince, witnessing the effects of two million people living in a city built for 200,000. We saw people living in terrible conditions in a dirty, dusty, deteriorated city of which no person should be subject to live. We witnessed individuals who were strong-willed , determined, and tough living in conditions you and I would never endure. We returned from our trip last year with a new appreciation for the many luxuries we enjoy in the United States, realizing that our problems are few compared to the daily challenges of survival encountered by so many Haitians.

Upon our return we immediately planned a return trip to expand our experiences and to bring additional supplies and support to ease the burden placed on Melissa and Ryan, and the wonderful people to whom they are ministering. This trip, though, was totally different from our previous adventure. As Ryan and Melissa have learned the lay of the land and have become quite fluent in the Haitian language, we asked them to show us a different perspective of Haiti, allowing us to experience life outside of the city of Port au Prince.

Similar to Lewis and Clark, they took us to areas of Haiti where few foreigners have ever traveled. It was like stepping into a National Geographic magazine and experiencing the sights, sounds, smells, and taste of the Haitian culture. We walked mountain pathways which lead to the tiny shacks occupied by families, viewed incredible hills and valleys colored with beautiful greenery, spoke to Haitians who shared their daily lives with us, and once again witnessed a culture of people who were strong and determined to survive. We were able to hand out dresses, designed by Cathy’s Bible Study group, to young girls we met as they walked long distances to and from school, and saw the joy they displayed from such a simple gift received from us. In addition, we enjoyed very tasty, breaded snacks sold from old, rusty, roadside stands and watched the locals playing dominoes at a local gathering area. Despite their poverty, every person we met was friendly, smiling, and welcoming as we talked with them throughout the gorgeous countryside.

We had two highlights on our mountaintop experience of which we will never forget. The first occurred as Melissa and I had ventured into the hills. We met a family of five who had welcomed us into their living area to experience life in the mountains of Haiti. They answered many questions we asked regarding their everyday lives, allowed us to view their cooking hut, and even attempted to sell us a chicken and a rabbit of which we declined. The view from their shacks was heavenly, with miles of rolling, green hills in every direction, it was truly a far cry from the subdivisions where many of us live back in the States. As we departed to continue on our hike and were several hundred yards up the steep mountainside, we stopped and I asked Melissa if I could give the family some money for their needs of which she agreed would be a good gesture. I barely reached into my pocket and suddenly we saw the mother running up the hill toward us in anticipation of the gift, she had a smile the size of the state of Texas. Upon giving her only $5.00 she started jumping up and down shouting “Merci” (thank you), and proceeded to run down the hill to her family, waving the money and voicing continued thanks. Upon her arrival back down to her home, the entire family began rejoicing over the gift, it was as if they had just won the lottery. Cathy and Ryan were one quarter mile away and could here the family proclaiming their thanks and joy. Do you believe it, all for $5.00?

Another highlight was when we met a ten year old boy on the hilly pathways. He asked us if he could give us a tour of the area (for money), sell to us some potatoes or a fresh bouquet of mint from the hills. We declined his offerings but continued to talk with him about life in the mountains. He was very polite and respectful and shared with us information about his schooling; he then gave us six potatoes and the fresh mint as a gift expecting nothing in return. It turned out he loved school but unfortunately his parents could no longer afford tuition; the young man was attempting to earn the $6.00 necessary to attend classes for a month. As our hearts fell to the ground, I reached into my wallet and gave him the money for tuition for one month. He repeatedly thanked us proclaiming that he would walk to school the following morning to pay the tuition; we then watched him run down the hill with excitement. When you compare that experience to purchasing a morning “latte”, quite frankly there is no comparison.

Our experiences on this trip provided us a view of Haiti which showed a country of beauty and hope. Their new president is making positive changes such as cleaning up the garbage on the streets, repairing the roads, rebuilding the State Capitol, tightening the adoption requirements, designing greenhouses, and promoting a tourism package. Like turning around the Titanic, it will take many years for these changes, but with much prayer, support, and continued commitment by many missionaries, the Haitian people may once again experience a life of joy and unlimited potential. Cathy and I thank Ryan and Melissa for allowing us to experience the fascinating country of Haiti. We pray for them and wish them safety as they complete the final months of their mission.

Dad & Mom

Haiti guest post, haiti

Fried Haitian Accra Recipe

Dec13th
2012 4 Comments Written by Melissa

Haitian Accra Recipe

Accra is Ryan’s favorite Haitian food! It can be eaten as an appetizer or as a side to chicken, beef, fish, or anything you want. It is best when eaten with pikliz on top, so I encourage you to check out that recipe and make both for the same meal.

*Do not confuse with okra, an edible green seed pod in the U.S. They’re not the same

Ingredients

• 13 Malanga root *Can be found in Latin American markets and some garden stores.
• Half of a Green Pepper, chopped
• 1 Green onion (white part only)
• 4 Garlic cloves
• Small bunch of Parsley
• 3 Hot peppers (scotch bonnet)
• 1 ½ chicken bouillon cubes
• Salt to taste
• Hot sauce to taste
• Vegetable oil for frying

*Serves about 20 people (or 5 Ryan’s)

Step 1: Prepare the Malanga

Start off by chopping off the ends of the malanga. Then with a sharp knife peel off the brown, hairy skin. (You can try doing this with a peeler, but from my experience, you need something more heavy duty.)

Then clean further by scrubbing each one with a brush under running water until it is mostly white and smooth in appearance. Use your hands also to clean each one. *You may want to use gloves whenever you are touching the malanga because they will make you itchy!

Over a large bowl, “grate” each malanga up and down with the smallest holes in your grater. (The more surface area on your grater, the faster it will go). It will start dripping off your grater as a wet paste. This is hard work, and I was almost in tears because my arm was so wimpy! Continue until you have grated all malanga.

Note how much Josiane grated and how little I grated in the same amount of time

Step 2: Prepare the Seasonings

Get out your mortar and pestle (or small bowl and something to smash the following ingredients). You could use a food processor or blender, but as our Haitian cooks says, it won’t have the same flavor.

Put it all together and use a Haitian mortar and pestel

Put green pepper, white part of green onion, 4 garlic cloves, small bunch of parsley, 3 hot peppers, and 1 ½ chicken bouillon cubes into the mortar and smash with pestle. This will also take some work, and it may make your eyes tear up from the hot peppers. Do this until it becomes a paste.

Step 3: Mix Everything Together

Pour the smashed up paste into the malanga bowl. Add a little salt and hot sauce to taste. Mix well.

Step 4: Fry to Make Accra

Put a deeper frying pan on the stove and turn heat to medium-high.

Fill pan with ½ to 1 inch of vegetable oil. Heat for a few minutes.

Take a small spoonful of malanga mixture and drop it into oil to see if it’s hot enough. It should bubble but not be spitting.

Get ready to fry for about 3 – 4 minutes

When oil is ready, use a wide spatula to scoop ½ inch wide strips of malanga mixture up. (Kind of the shape of a fat French fry). Drop into oil and continue doing this until your pan is full of malanga strips.

Fry for about 3 – 4 minutes. You can shift them around in the pan while it’s cooking. When the bottom is a golden brown color, flip each one and fry the other side for the same amount of time.

When finished, remove from pan and set on paper towel to drain off oil.

Repeat until all malanga is fried.

Step 5: Bon Apetit – or in Kreyol – Byen Manje!

Display your beautiful accra in a fun pan and enjoy! As the saying goes, “I bet you can’t eat just one…”

Accra and Pikliz

Guest House Recipes, Haiti haiti, haitian food, recipe

3 Things I Can’t Get Off My Mind – Toilets, Cell Phones, and Second Hand Laptops

Dec7th
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Melissa

Recently I’ve had a few conversations with different workers at the guesthouse that I can’t seem to comprehend. Even after being here for a bit of time, there are some things as Americans we just can’t relate to or understand – ever.

One of our workers is trying to fix up her house. It’s just a little one or two room cement house, and it’s in rough shape. Every time it rains hard, it floods with water and they have to take everything up off the floor so it doesn’t get soaked. She told me yesterday that her family finally was able to purchase a toilet for the first time ever. Up until now they just had a hole in the ground in a corner of the house, and she said often times it smelled really bad. She said they had been praying to God for a toilet for a long, long time. She was almost in tears because she was so happy that they were finally getting one. Granted, they will still have to bring in buckets of water to flush it, since they don’t have plumbing, but she was overjoyed. Have you every prayed to God for a toilet? Me neither.

Another one of our workers only comes about four hours a day to help us out, so her pay is small, but it helps her get by. She has been arriving early every day for the past couple weeks – like an hour early. Here I’m thinking, if I didn’t get paid that much, why on earth would I come to work so early every day. I finally talked to her today about it and asked why she is doing that. She responded, “My cell phone broke one day in the rain, and I don’t have money to buy another one.” (We’re talking less than $25 USD). I said, “What does your cell phone have to do with anything?” She then said that it is what she uses for a clock. She said that they don’t have any other clock at her house, and no one else has a cell phone to tell her the time. So since she doesn’t want to be late for work, she just comes plenty early to make sure she’s there on time. So many layers of her story I can’t comprehend.

Finally (for today at least), I was asking the guesthouse workers for ideas for what they wanted for Christmas. I only asked about four of them before I realized that this was not a good idea. Three of the four of them said that they wanted laptops. I was a bit surprised that they would say something that was so expensive. Then one of them suggested a second-hand laptop instead of a new one. I asked him to check on the price, and he came back saying that they were about $300 USD. The kicker was the look on his face when he told me the price. It was as if he was hopeful, thinking, oh, this is no problem for an American to buy. You can afford that, can’t you? The conversation is still sinking into my head a week later, as I am trying to understand how much money they think we have. I mean, obviously we have a lot more than them, when a good wage in Haiti is $5 per day. But still. What do they really think of us as Americans? And what image are we projecting?

Guest House, Haiti, Life haiti, laptop, phone, toilet

Haitian Pikliz – Spicy Pickled Vegetables

Dec3rd
2012 1 Comment Written by Melissa

Pikliz

(Spicy Pickled Vegetables)

Pikliz are a staple food here in Haiti. They are served as a side-dish at most meals. Though they look a lot like coleslaw, don’t be deceived! They taste a lot different and have a huge kick with every bite.

Ingredients:

Cabbage – 2 heads
4 – 8 Hot peppers (scotch bonnet)
1 Carrot
1 green bell pepper
1 orange or red bell pepper
4 limes
½ Chicken bouillon cube
Splash of Vinegar
1 tsp. salt

This will feed about 20 people.

Step 1: Chop Vegetables

Remove outer leaves and core of cabbage. Finely shred with a knife.

Finely chop the hot peppers by holding on to the stem and cutting the rest with your other hand. Be careful not to touch the insides or your fingers will be burning! Discard the tops.

Thinly slice green and orange/red peppers into strips.

Grate carrot.

Put all vegetables into a large bowl and stir.

Step 2: Add some flavor!

Cut limes in half and squeeze all juice into a bowl. Strain to remove seeds.

Crush chicken bouillon cube and mix with lime juice.

Pour this over the chopped vegetables and mix well.

Add a little salt to taste. You can also add a splash of vinegar if you like.

Step 3: Patiently wait…

Let everything sit for a while (at least a few hours). The longer is sits, the spicier and more flavorful it will be.

Step 4: Enjoy your “Pikliz”

You have now successfully made pikliz! They can be pretty hot, so you don’t eat too much of them. They are best when eaten with a Haitian food called “akra” or over any food you want to spice up, such as fried meat, fish, plantains, or rice. (Normally you don’t eat them by themselves, but rather on top of something else.)

Pictured here is pikliz and akra (recipe for akra is coming next…)

Guest House Recipes, Haiti cooking school, haitian food, recipe

Koket de Ri – Kou Kizin avek Katelyn

Nov16th
2012 3 Comments Written by Melissa

Koket de Ri – Cooking Class with Katelyn

You may remember our post titled, “Excuse me, but I don’t own any chairs for you to sit on.” This was when we went to one of our workers’ houses for lunch. Katelyn, Edphort’s wife, made this delicious “meal” for us. We thought (with our silly American minds) that it was going to be the appetizer, when in fact it was the whole meal. Either way, it was delicious and not difficult to make. Katelyn came to the guesthouse this last week to teach us how to make it. Hope you like it!

Ingredients

White rice, 2 cups – uncooked
Salt
Laughing Cow Cheese – 4 triangles
Evaporated milk, 12 oz. can
4 Eggs
½ cup Sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Flour
Vegetable oil

Marjory, Katelyn, Risline, & Wergsy

Edphort and his daughter Kalida

Step 1: Prepare the Rice

*You can prepare the white rice however you usually do, but here’s how Katelyn did it:

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add about 1 tsp. salt

Rinse 2 cups of white rice and put in pot of boiling water. Stir.

Cover and reduce heat to medium low. You will see a little steam leaking from the lid. Do not stir or lift lid.

Cook about 20 minutes or until water is absorbed by the rice. Stir.

Step 2: Flavor the Rice

Separate the whites from the yolks of the eggs. Here’s how Katelyn did it: Use a spoon to break a small hole in the top of each egg. Carefully pour the whites out into a bowl. Then make a bigger hole and dump the yolks into a different bowl. Beat the egg yolks to mix. Set aside.

Add the egg whites, sugar, laughing cow cheese, vanilla, and evaporated milk to the rice. Stir.

Pour rice out onto a long baking sheet to cool for about 10 minutes. It should be about ½ inch thick.

Step 3: Form rice into balls

Using a spoon, scoop up rice and press together to form balls (about meatball-sized). Repeat until you have used all the rice.

Roll each rice ball in the egg yolks.

Then roll in flour to thinly cover.

Step 4: Fry the rice

In a frying pan, heat about ½ inch vegetable oil over medium-high heat for 3 -5 minutes.

Add rice balls to the hot oil to fry. Let sit on one side for about 2 -3 minutes. Then flip over to fry the other side. They should be a light golden-brown color when finished.

Step 5: Bon Apetit!

Enjoy as an appetizer or dessert.

Guest House Recipes, Haiti cooking school, haiti, haitian food, recipe

Haitian Spaghetti – Kou Kizin avek Marjory

Nov15th
2012 1 Comment Written by Melissa

Haitian Spaghetti

Haitian spaghetti is a standard dish here, and it is eaten morning, noon, or nighttime. I felt like I became a little more Haitian the other day when I was hungry and ate it at about 10:00 in the morning Often people have limited resources, so they make it with ketchup and hot dogs. However, this is the more upscale version that we serve at the guesthouse. You will quickly learn to love this new twist on spaghetti.

Ingredients:

15 Chicken drumsticks
3 limes (or Haitian sour oranges)
Vinegar
Salt
Parsley, 1 bunch
Scallions (green onions), 1 bunch
Garlic, 1 head
Chicken bouillon, 1 1/2 cubes
Butter
Vegetable oil
Water
Tomato Paste
Green pepper
Hot sauce
Spaghetti noodles

Serving Size – about 15 people

Step 1: Prepare the Chicken

Cut peel off the middle of your limes. Save peel. Cut limes in half and squeeze juice out of them. Set juice aside. (Pictured here is a Haitian orange, which is what Marjory used.)

Peel skin and trim fat off each of the chicken drumsticks. Discard. (Or as Marjory did, fry it up and feed it to the dogs. Haitians never waste anything.)

In a large bowl, mix a few tablespoons of vinegar, some water, and about a teaspoon salt. Add the pre-squeezed limes to the bowl and all of the chicken drumsticks. Mix it all around. Then “clean” each piece of chicken with the limes.

Fill a medium size pot with water, lime peels, a bunch of parsley, and the green part of 1 scallion, and salt. Bring to a boil. Add chicken and let boil for 5 minutes. Stir to make sure all chicken is being heated.

Remove chicken and discard the rest.

Step 2: Prepare Marinade

With your mortar and pestle, mash 2 scallions, 1 whole head of garlic (peeled and separated), and 1 chicken bouillon cube. When it becomes a paste, add juice from the limes that you squeezed. Mix.

In a large bowl, add chicken, marinade, and about 3 Tbsp. butter. Stir well to cover all chicken.

In a large pot, boil water (about 2/3 full). Add chicken and boil for about 10 minutes or until cooked through.

Remove from pot. *Save water! When cool, shred chicken into small bite-sized pieces.

Step 3: Make the Sauce

In a medium sized pot, heat a few tablespoons vegetable oil. Add shredded chicken and fry for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add a little water as needed. Stir and scrape bottom of pot, mixing it all around. Do this to prevent it from burning or sticking.

Add a large spoonful of tomato paste. Stir. Continue adding water and scraping bottom of pot.

Chop a half of a green pepper into small pieces. Add this to your pot.

Add the water that you boiled the chicken in. Also add a half of a (crushed) chicken bouillon cube. Bring to a boil and stir.

Add anywhere from 1 tsp. – 1 Tbsp. hot sauce. Stir. Taste to see if it’s to your liking.

Boil about 20 minutes longer.

Step 4: Prepare the Spaghetti Noodles

Prepare spaghetti noodles as you usually do. For this amount of sauce, we made about 6 of these packages of noodles.

When your noodles are finished, put them in a large serving dish. Pour the sauce over them and mix well to cover. Sauce should be a light red color.

Guest House Recipes, Haiti cooking school, haiti, haitian food, recipe

Kou Kizin avek Marjory (Cooking Class with Marjory)

Nov12th
2012 4 Comments Written by Melissa

At the guesthouse we serve both Haitian and American cuisine. Our cook, Marjory, is extremely talented, and people are always asking for her recipes! I have decided that once per week I will spend the day in the kitchen with her to learn her secrets. Haitian cooking is not a quick, four-step, three-ingredient job. So reserve a good block of time, put your apron on, and enjoy the process. Haitian legumes is probably the most difficult Haitian recipe to tackle, but I know you can do it!

Haitian Legumes

We’ve been here about 15 months now, and I’ve asked many Haitians what their favorite food is. Almost every time, they respond by saying that it is Haitian legumes. Legumes mean vegetables in this case. Many Americans say that it reminds them of the taste of beef stew. It may not look too appealing, but trust me, it’s delicious!

Ingredients

27 Militon (Chayote squash)
18 Eggplant
7 large carrots
2 bunches of cabbage
3 Large bunches watercress
Parsley, small bunch
1 green pepper
1 bunch green onions
Head of Garlic
3 lbs. Beef (round steak)
Vinegar
Salt
3 Limes/lemons/Haitian sour oranges
Butter
Vegetable oil
Tomato paste
Chicken bouillon cube (Maggi)
White rice

*This quantity feeds an army of about 30 people. You can trim the recipe down for however many hungry mouths you have to feed.

Step 1: Prepare Vegetables

Rinse all vegetables to clean.

Peel carrots. Chop off top.

Peel chayote. Cut each chayote into fourths – down the center the long way. It has a “heart” in the center of each one, so cut that out with a knife after quartering it.

Peel eggplant. Cut each eggplant into fourths – down the center the long way.

Remove outer leaves and core of cabbage. Cut into large chunks.

Roughly chop watercress, removing any bad leaves.

Step 2: “Boil” Vegetables

In a large pot, heat a little vegetable oil, about 2 tablespoons tomato paste, a little salt, a little water, and a crushed chicken bouillon cube. Stir.

In this order, put chayote, eggplant, carrot, watercress, and cabbage into the large pot. (You will need two pots if you’re making a lot.) Turn on heat to medium/high and cover. Leave on for about 1 hr. and 15 min. You will not need to stir this, as your pot will be too full to do that. It will create its own water, so do not add any during this process.

Step 3: Make Marinade

Rinse a small bunch of parsley, 1 hot pepper, and 2 green onions. Peel and rinse an entire head of garlic.

If you have a mortar and pestle, that is perfect for this next step. If you don’t, get one soon. In the meantime, you can use a small bowl and something to smash these ingredients. Put parsley, hot pepper, green onions, and all garlic into mortar/bowl and smash away. Do this until it becomes a wet paste. *Marjory tells me not to use a food processor or chopper for this step. It will not be as flavorful.

Step 4: Prepare the Beef

Cut limes in half. Squeeze juice into separate bowl and remove seeds. Set juice aside.

Trim fat off beef and discard. Cut remaining beef into small chunks.

In a large bowl, but a few tablespoons vinegar, about 1 tsp. salt, limes, and beef. Stir and clean beef with limes. *You can use chicken or goat instead of beef.

Fill a large pot with water and heat – not quite to boiling. Put beef in water for 1 minute. Remove beef. Discard water.

Return beef to same pot. Add previously prepared marinade, juice from limes, a few tablespoons butter, and a few tablespoons vegetable oil. Turn on stove to medium/high and let cook until soft, stirring occasionally. This may take 30 – 60 minutes.

Step 5: Back to the Vegetables

By now they should be done cooking, and be nice and soft. Drain all water from pot.

Slice carrots into relatively thin slices.

In large pot, mash all the rest of the veggies with pestle until they are pretty mushy. This will take some elbow-grease and sweat. Add them little by little to the pot to accomplish this task.

This device will work as well to mush them up. Not sure what it’s called, but apparently every Haitian owns one.

Step 6: Put it all Together

Go back to the pot where the meat is. Add a few large spoonful’s of tomato paste and a little water to the meat. Stir.

Add all cooked legumes to the meat. Also add about ½ to 1 cup of vegetable oil and a few tablespoons of butter to the pot. Stir well.

Chop 1 green pepper and throw that into the pot as well.

Turn heat to medium-high and boil everything for about an hour – uncovered. In doing this, you are trying to get all the excess water to evaporate from the pot. Stir about every 10 – 15 minutes to prevent it from burning/sticking to the bottom.

Step 7: Prepare the White Rice

While you’re waiting for the vegetables, you can prepare the white rice. Feel free to make it however you usually do, but here’s how Marjory makes it:

In a large pot, pour about ½ cup vegetable oil. Throw in 1 green onion and some salt to taste. Turn stove to high and heat this up.

Then add water. (Marjory never measures, but she added enough to fill the pot about ½ to 2/3 full.) Cover and heat this to boiling.

Discard green onion. Rinse about 10 cups of uncooked rice and add to pot. Stir and cover. Let cook until water is absorbed and rice is soft. If water starts boiling out of pot, uncover and stir again. Recover after it calms down.

Step 8: Enjoy!

Put some rice on your plate and then the legumes on top of that. Sit down with family or friends and enjoy this delicious meal!

Guest House Recipes, Haiti haiti, haitian food, recipe

Pumpkin Carving – Haiti Style

Nov8th
2012 3 Comments Written by Melissa

For whatever reason, I love Halloween. Maybe it’s the beautiful fall colors, cooler weather, dressing up in goofy clothing, memories of trick-or-treating… I also love carving pumpkins. We were in the states in September this year and had a chance to do that with our friends one evening. Now back in Haiti, I wanted to share that same tradition with our Haitian workers at the guesthouse.

Josiane went to the market for us to pick up a pumpkin, carried it on her head, transported it in a tap-tap, and eventually arrived at the guesthouse with … a watermelon? No, it really is a pumpkin. Haitian pumpkins are actually green! So I did my best to explain our tradition of carving pumpkins each year, and though they thought it was a bit strange, our workers wanted to try it out.

Clarel drew the face on, and then we set up shop to carve it out. Each of them took a turn scooping it out, and then carving the face. They were pretty serious during the whole process, and ended up doing a great job!

The best part was our discussion trying to understand the other’s viewpoint on pumpkins. Haitians never carve them, but rather slice them in half, gut out the middle, and then bake/boil them to make soup or other things. Sometimes after baking it, they eat the pumpkin with a spoon, just like that. The seeds are sometimes used for planting more pumpkins, but only one of our workers who was from the countryside had ever eaten them. Her family would rinse the seeds, then lay them out in the sun to dry (because they don’t own ovens), and then peel off the outer shell to eat the seed.

When I told them that we put our pumpkins outside at night, they all had the exact same reaction – “Don’t the rats eat them?” I guess we in the States don’t really have that problem, but when I explained to them that people smash them in the streets, they were very confused.

It was truly fascinating to look at one of our American traditions from new eyes. Who knew that something so “normal” as carving a pumpkin could be such a crazy concept in another culture.

Guest House, Haiti haiti, pumpkin

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