Whats for Dinner? Doro Wat

Chicken Stewed in Red Pepper Paste (Doro Wat)
One 2-1/2 lb. chicken,
cut into 8 serving pieces
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
2 onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup Niter Kebbeh (Spiced Butter)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger root
1/4 teaspoon ground fenugreek
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup Red Pepper Paste (aka Spice Paste, Berbere)
2 tablespoons paprika
1/4 cup dry red wine
3/4 cup water
4 hard-boiled eggs
Freshly ground black pepper


Rinse and dry the chicken pieces. Rub them with lemon juice and salt. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

In a heavy enamel stewpot, cook the onions over moderate heat for about 5 minutes. Do not let brown or burn. Stir in the niter kebbeh. Then add the garlic and spices. Stir well. Add the berbere and paprika, and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Pour in the wine and water and bring to a boil. Cook briskly, uncovered, for about 5 minutes.

Pat the chicken dry and drop it into the simmering sauce, turning the pieces about until coated on all sides. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, piece the hard-boiled eggs with the tines of a fork, piercing approximately 1/4" into the egg all over the surface. After the chicken has cooked, add the eggs and turn them gently in the sauce. Cover and cook the doro wat for 15 more minutes. Add pepper to taste.

Beads!

What kids don't like beads? Our kids really get into making necklaces with them. We have a huge tub of them and some glow in the dark. We have started making necklaces for the kids at the orphanage in Ethiopia. We may need to make some bracelets also. I am getting concerned with weight limits and not having enough for all the kids. Our goal is 60. Again, everything will depend on how much formula donations come in. That is the most important item as other items we can purchase while there if need be. Our daughter is taking ownership of the beading project, so this pulls her into the preparation of the pending trip, knowing she will bring a smile to a child's face. She is very proud of this. It is neat to see them glow while laying in bed at night.

Happy Valentines Day!

We enjoyed a great Chinese meal followed by a most delicious DOVE Heart candy, it was sooo good. Its been a while since I have enjoyed chocolate, looks like I have yet again fallen off the wagon.

31 Days til court

Nesting, worrying, planning, nesting, trying to plan with no firm plans, will this all come together? Yes it will, but I just want and need a travel date so bad! We have been on this tread mill for so long, it all still seems surreal. We have her photos up all over the home. I keep a small wallet album in my purse, proudly show her off to all that I see. The heart races with every day that passes, we are closer to bringing her home, bringing her into a forever family. We will promise to raise her with full birthrights and never harm her. That is an adoption promise that we have pledged before, it is wonderful words that I will never forget. There are several things that need to be done. It would be great to re-organize every single closet, dump all the dressers, start fresh. I know it should happen, every day I see what should be done, but I can't seem to kick it into gear with the attack mode on. There are a few families that are currently waiting for news of a child matched to them. I think of them every day, waiting with excitement, it should be soon for them, real soon. It will be nice to share that joy, knowing that we may get to take photos of the kids for them while on our trip.

Full day & Lucky 37!

Yesterday we had to renew our fingerprints....they just phoned me, WE PASSED! This is very good news. Normally I fail the first time, my hands and prints are very worn, it usually requires two trips because of me. So to recap yesterday.

1. Crawled out of bed, hacking up my lungs every 5min, 20 cough drops later at USCIS apt 10am .

2. Son announcing his ear is now hurting. (yes he was infected)

3. Hang out at the mall carsoul (organ music pounding my head, the breeze of the ride making me sick) until 1:30 waiting to hear if we pass, trying to save a 2nd trip back in. By 1:30 no word so we head home about 2hr drive.

4. Phoned my Dr. and Sons' Dr. YES we now have a 3pm & 5Pm doctor apt. Pick up daughter at school to also get her checked out. She is just starting to cough.

5. Pick up our meds, 6:30pm arrive back home, eat then BED,,,sweet bed. What a long day.

6. Phone rings at 9am sharp, restricted number, who could it be? USCIS with bad news. NO .....WE PASSED. This is huge, as our fingerprints must be current to apply for our daughters VISA. So we are all green lights.

This always makes me laugh

Need I say more?

Well if you can get sick from Blogger friends, I want to say thanks T! Can we be flu buddies? At least you posted your photo, not sure I have the courage to do that. I deff have something brewing, not full blown, just luggy and tired small cough. Give it a few days. I probably got it from my kids whom by the way did have flu shots, but you know, they love to cough in my face. All the door knobs have been washed down, fresh pillow cases, hand washing increasing, hey, fighting the battle. On a sad note, we had to put our cat of 12 years to sleep. She was acting off on Friday, turns out she had a stroke and would not stand, by Sat she was not improving. Being that our ground is frozen, and we could not store her outside until spring, or have my husband cremate her. (too much to ask of him) We used a service that the vet offered. I am sad, because all our pets are buried in a little spot by the pear tree. Its sad that we could not honor her this way, bury her in her own hunting grounds. I sort of wish we just kept her home and not even brought her to the vet, she basically just laided in the kennel, she could of been home with us. I was just afraid of not knowing how to care for her and I panicked being a Friday not thinking we could get help if needed.