Round 2

Sunday morning we had a second brunch. It included breakfast Stromboli, cheese scones, eggs, bacon, and muffins. We carb load well around here. 

I tried two recipes- one new recipe and a different version of one I have tried before!

During my exploring here, we have found many good bakeries/patisseries. I knew I could find good bread, so I wanted to try French Toast Casserole again. I used the same recipe (except I doubled what is written here, I had halved the original), I just assembled it differently, based on a couple different recipes.

Find yourself some good French bread. And some good friends to cook with :)

 



This time I spread half of the cinnamon, sugar, butter mixture on the bottom of the casserole dish, instead of just covering the top of the bread. This was a good decision.

 

Then pour the egg, cream, milk, and vanilla over the top. Next time, I would dip each slice of bread in the egg mixture before placing it in the dish, then pour the remaining over top. Most of the mixture was soaked up by the bread overnight, but dipping it would ensure it was all covered.

 



Cover the top with the remaining cinnamon sugar, refrigerate overnight, and bake!

 

 

The second recipe was from the PICU Gourmet cookbook, courtesy of my friend Brandon. Apples are abundant here and I may or may not have stockpiled quite a few in my room for snacks. So I decided to use them here. What we do not have are crescent rolls. So I had to make my own!

 

Apple Dumplings

 

- 2 large or several small apples, peeled, cored, and cut into wedges

- 2 cans crescent roll dough, or homemade dough (below)

- 1 C butter

- 1 1/2 C sugar

- 1 tsp cinnamon

- 1 (12 oz) can Mountain Dew (seriously! it's the secret ingredient)

 

1. Preheat oven to 350*. Grease 9x13 baking dish.

 

2. Roll each apple wedge (or 2 small wedges) in crescent roll dough, starting at the smallest end. Pinch to seal and place in the baking dish.

3. Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar and cinnamon. Pour over the apple dumplings.

 

 

 

4. Pour Mountain Dew over the dumplings.

 

5. Bake 35-45 minutes at 350* or until golden brown and flaky.

 

 

Homemade Crescent Rolls

 

- 2 Tbs yeast

- 1 C barely warm water

- 2/3 C sugar

- 1 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 C butter

- 1 C boiling water

- 3 beaten eggs

- 6 C flour

 

**This recipe makes A LOT! I would halve it next time- I had plenty to make a batch of plain rolls as well**

 

1. In a bowl combine the yeast, warm water, and a pinch of sugar. Set aside. It will foam up!

 2. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2/3 C sugar, salt, butter, and boiling water. Stir until the butter melts and the water is cool.

 

 

3. Add the beaten eggs to the yeast. Then slowly pour mixture into mixing bowl.

 

 

4. Use a dough hook or paddle with mixer on a slow speed. Slowly add 6 C flour, about 1 C at a time. Dough will be sticky.

 

5. Cover bowl tightly with saran wrap or transfer dough to Ziploc Bag and refrigerate overnight. The dough will rise and firm up.

 

 

6. The next day, roll the dough onto a floured board. Roll so it is 1/4 in thick and cut into triangles.

 

7. Roll triangles up starting at the wide end for regular rolls.

 

8. Let rise at room temperature for 2-2.5 hours. They will double in size. (For dumplings, I left the triangles to rise on the counter, unrolled.

 

9. Bake at 400* for 10 minutes, or until golden and flaky!



How many times have I seen, you give me just what I need

So many times this week, I have been reminded of just that. I have been aboard the Africa Mercy for a month. While each day becomes easier, I am coming to terms with the fact that I may never be completely comfortable here. Maybe I am not called to be. But for every moment of uncertainty, there is a reminder.

  ~ A friend who makes a Pumpkin Spice Latte that tastes so deliciously of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove that I forget my view is not of leaves changing to the colors of fall

  ~ And delivers said PSL heaven to me on night shift

  ~ Biking through the streets of our new town with new friends, then relaxing by the pool, talking and learning their stories

   ~ Talented friends who play piano and guitar

   ~ Hearing the voices of night shift friends from home

   ~ Friday night dinner of bar-b-que pork and mac n' cheese, eaten out on the top deck watching the sunset on one of our few clear days

   ~ Night shifts, with good friends and one 8-year-old who would rather watch The Little Mermaid than sleep at 3am

   ~ Phone calls from family and friends

   ~ Patients who insist on being called "King of the Ward"

   ~ Cleft lip little ones with silky smooth baby skin and steri-strip whiskers

 

 

   ~ Another Sunday morning brunch (recipes coming!), with friends that are becoming family who look out for each other on board this home away from home

I am forgetful, but He is constant and He is relentlessly reminding me of His love.


"Know By Now" - Josh Wilson

Be still, there is a healer, his love is deeper than the sea

Gercia came to us for an encephalocele repair. She was staying with her grandmother in Pointe Noire this summer and she was brought to selection day.

 

Her operation went smoothly, but her recovery was less than. The second night I had her, we made a little trip to CT scan for pupil changes and constant vomiting. The next few days she continued to complain of great pain in her head, refuse to eat, vomit, and keep her head arched backward at an extreme angle. She slept on her stomach, with her head arched back, rarely moving from this position. She was started on antibiotics in case of meningitis, but 5 days after surgery she was just not getting any better.

Saturday after morning rounds with Dr. Levy, it was decided to take her to the OR that afternoon to sedate her for a CT scan and lumbar puncture to see if there was anything we were missing. At home, this would be easier. PICC line, gent/vanc, PICU monitoring. Here, not as easy. No gent/vanc levels can be measured, no PICC lines inserted.

I left my shift worried that we could not do enough for her. That night, the ship had a night of worship, just a time of singing and sitting before God, bringing to him my worries and fears.

Sunday morning, she was lying in bed with her head in a neutral position. A good change. Dr. Levy stopped in and prayed over her before morning rounds. She was still refusing to eat the food we offered her, but her grandmother had said she only ate cookies and candy at home. So I went and got some cookies.

When I offered her a cookie, her eyes lit up for the first time in a week. I can easily be bribed with cookies, maybe she could be too... I asked the translator to tell her it was time to get up to the bathroom. She refused. When promised a cookie for her efforts, and with a little coaxing/commanding from her grandmother, she was up out of bed for the first time in a week. Successful bathroom trip earned 2 cookies.

Now we knew she could sit, hold her head up, stand, walk, and eat cookies without pain or vomiting. It was Sunday, so all the patients would be going to ward church. I told Gercia that this is what we were going to do. Though she wasn't to excited about this, when her grandmother and all the other patients in the ward got up and ready to go, she went along. For an hour, she sat and clapped and listened to the service. I left the whole sleeve of cookies by her bed.

At lunch, she slowly began to eat. Not much, but it was better than nothing! That afternoon, we went to Deck 7. This time she was coaxed with bubbles. We blew bubbles for almost an hour up on the deck; occasionally catching her smile when they would land on her head. She walked over to the railing, looking down at the deep sea and out at the ships coming in.

 

We went back inside and I told her I was proud of her for all the things she had done that day, and that now she could take a nice long nap. Which she did.

The rest of the week the improvement continued, though we saw a little more of her stubborn personality shine through. Thursday, we played with balloons, bubbles, and play-doh; then she and her grandmother slipped off the ship, without any commotion, back to their life. All of us amazed at her healing. There is a Healer, who loves us more than we can explain and works in ways we cannot explain. And who has created cookies to be a love language :)

 

 

Here are some more pictures of the continued healing we are seeing in our patients as they leave and return for their follow up visits.

Ebenezer- dressed to impress

Look how GREAT Emmanuel is doing!!!



Vernel- still just as cute :)



D- ward friends

 "I Lift My Hands" - Chris Tomlin

 

Like a ship in the night, so far gone tonight

Reminders that I am far from home are constant here. And tonight, as I sit out here eating graham crackers (comfort of the week), I am almost convinced that this would be easier if I were out in a small village in Africa, far from anything Western.

In Uganda, nothing was familiar; I had only my faith which had brought me there to rely on. We treated the basics, doing the best we could with the few supplies and resources we had.

Here, we have a ship shop full of American candy, graham crackers, and chips. We have Starbucks, Wifi, functioning iPhones, and buffet style meals (and even sweet tea yesterday!). In the hospital, we have a CT scanner, ventilators, IV pumps, medications, and modern operating rooms.

Yet today I found myself mourning the fact that I am missing Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks at home and Pecan Pumpkin Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory, more than I care to really admit. Maybe it's not the coffee or cheesecake itself, but what it represents. Fall- the most beautiful season in my opinion, football season, driving an hour with good friends just to get cheesecake- memories from home that I cherish.

In Uganda, I wasn't jealous that someone else packed a can of pumpkin puree or chocolate chips in their bag. Or that others brought more movies, a hair dryer, or scarves and cardigans.

I find it leaves me wanting more, but at the same time less. If I weren't so near to all of this, if I were really out "in" Africa, I wouldn't be reminded of the things that I miss today. If electricity was only an occasional luxury, if rice and beans were the menu every night, if 'to shower' meant pouring buckets of cold water over my head, maybe then...

But there are other reminders. These faces. These surgical incisions that will soon fade to scars and memories of life "before."

Ebenezer, before

Ebenezer, after

Vernel, and he's just as cute after!

These remind me that I am far from home. Faces and lives changed. Changes that would be impossible in the middle of a village, without our ship of plenty.

Arphonse

Presley

Merveille

They remind me that it is not about me. It is for His glory. They remind me that even when I feel far away, from home, from the Africa I remember, He has promised to meet me here.


"So Far Gone" - Thousand Foot Krutch