A few weeks into our trip, we were asked to prepare an “American breakfast” for the children at the orphanage. My team and I wondered what we would cook that could be considered American. A few of us voted for grits, but whenever I told one of the kids that I liked grits, they asked, “What is a grit?” Grits were out of the picture.
So, once we thought about what would be the most practical thing to prepare, eggs and toast seemed to be the perfect meal. We planned to be in the kitchen at 7am Saturday morning, but whenever I went to the laundry room at 6, the lights were on in the kitchen, so I woke my team up so we could begin cooking. My team and I went out to the chicken coop and scooped up close to 50 eggs. Once we got the eggs, we went and milked a goat for some milk. That was a challenge. After we gathered our milk into buckets, we had to walk a mile back to the orphanage so we could begin to churn it into butter for the toast. The toast had to be cooked one at a time over a fire, which finally set ablaze after we rubbed two rocks together for about 20 minutes. One of the pieces of toast burst into flames and we sadly had to waste a whole bucket of goat milk to put the flames out. That was a sad day. My team’s motto: “No use in crying over spilt milk.” Joke lang!
Okay, so although my story does sound completely convincing, that’s really not how the morning went. We prepared the eggs over the gas stove and toasted the bread in a skillet and in a wok. Simple enough, huh? And of course after that, we had to prepare rice. What is a Filipino meal without rice? Yes, in America we like our eggs and toast with grits, but rice is a great substitute. Believe it or not, if my team and I don’t have rice at least 3 times a day with every meal, something is wrong. We feel empty on the inside…really. We’re becoming more and more Filipino the longer we’re here. When we first arrived, we thought it was strange that they always wanted rice, but now we crave it as well.
Once breakfast was prepared, the children set the table and seemed really excited about their “American breakfast.” I guess you can say that we brought a taste of America to the children here, if you consider eggs and toast to be American. It’s good so that’s what matters the most. Even Ate Susan, the cook, loved the meal, and that’s saying something, because she is an awesome cook. So even though we didn’t really have to collect the chickens’ eggs, rub rocks together to make our fire, or waste a whole bucket of goat milk on the inflamed toast, we still had an adventure and a great time serving the kids. It’s always an adventure with my team.
So, once we thought about what would be the most practical thing to prepare, eggs and toast seemed to be the perfect meal. We planned to be in the kitchen at 7am Saturday morning, but whenever I went to the laundry room at 6, the lights were on in the kitchen, so I woke my team up so we could begin cooking. My team and I went out to the chicken coop and scooped up close to 50 eggs. Once we got the eggs, we went and milked a goat for some milk. That was a challenge. After we gathered our milk into buckets, we had to walk a mile back to the orphanage so we could begin to churn it into butter for the toast. The toast had to be cooked one at a time over a fire, which finally set ablaze after we rubbed two rocks together for about 20 minutes. One of the pieces of toast burst into flames and we sadly had to waste a whole bucket of goat milk to put the flames out. That was a sad day. My team’s motto: “No use in crying over spilt milk.” Joke lang!
Okay, so although my story does sound completely convincing, that’s really not how the morning went. We prepared the eggs over the gas stove and toasted the bread in a skillet and in a wok. Simple enough, huh? And of course after that, we had to prepare rice. What is a Filipino meal without rice? Yes, in America we like our eggs and toast with grits, but rice is a great substitute. Believe it or not, if my team and I don’t have rice at least 3 times a day with every meal, something is wrong. We feel empty on the inside…really. We’re becoming more and more Filipino the longer we’re here. When we first arrived, we thought it was strange that they always wanted rice, but now we crave it as well.
Once breakfast was prepared, the children set the table and seemed really excited about their “American breakfast.” I guess you can say that we brought a taste of America to the children here, if you consider eggs and toast to be American. It’s good so that’s what matters the most. Even Ate Susan, the cook, loved the meal, and that’s saying something, because she is an awesome cook. So even though we didn’t really have to collect the chickens’ eggs, rub rocks together to make our fire, or waste a whole bucket of goat milk on the inflamed toast, we still had an adventure and a great time serving the kids. It’s always an adventure with my team.
The kiddos enjoying their Americano breakfast
-Brittney C.