Huele!

Sam and I are absolutely obsessed with learning Spanish.  My last lesson had some words in it I thought I would never be able to remember.  Then after being at Casa Betania for only an hour or so, one of the kiddos said, "Huele rico".  AHHHHH!  I know that word, that's one of my new words!  "Huele, huele, huele, huele!", I said.  "Este es mi nueva palabra!"  See how that works!  Learn it, use it, so what if you sound like a 3 year old.  I'm absolutely surprised how much the word smell is used, especially when you are cooking for 40 people. 

Oh and just in case you're not sure what to do with those nopales you picked up at the market today here's a recipe and how to prepare them.

Boil in water until they are olive colored, and then I boil a little more because they are toxic if not cooked and I am paranoid...about that anyway, not about most things.  Then you stain and rinse.  If you're really hard core you can buy them whole and remove the thorns and cut them up yourself.  You'll have to find those instructions elsewhere.

Now for Prickly Pork (Hahaha!)....get it!  You will later.

4 K pork
4 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
10 cloves garlic minced
20 tsp mexican oregano
6 cups nopales (cactus)
2-3 yellow onions
2 cups salsa verde

Accompaniments (all are optional)
fresh flour tortillas
taco shells
tostades
shredded lettuce
sour cream
salsa

Place pork and herbs in crock pot, cover with prepared nopales (see instructions above) and sliced onions and top with salsa.
Cover and cook 6 hours until pork is tender.  Strain (or not) and serve with accompaniments.  This is one of my favorite meals at Casa Betania.  Again, you'll have to divide it yourself if you want to feed less than 40.

In other news the boys have caught the futbal bug that is so prevalent here in Mexico, especially during World Cup tournament.  They are telling me how the teams are doing and who has won the Cup in past years and who all the other boys think will win this year.  The US and Mexico have both done well so far, which make it extra fun.  Yesterday they got to watch Mexico stomp France with their friends here at Casa Betania, very exciting. 

And finally more Superman of course, on the trampoline with his buddy Brayan.

Aren't those last two the best!