Foodie Fest

FOODIE FEST

One evening while having our friend Kyle over for dinner, our neighbor, Didi, surprised us with a plate full of beautiful orange, cooked crabs. Of course we graciously accepted them.  Although she showed us how to open them and get the meat out, we also researched the internet to give us guidance.

 
In return, I made homemade oatmeal raisin cookies to fill Didi's plate.  Someone had wisely told us to give homemade goodies in return for a gift lest a one-up price war result. Didi told me later that her family enjoyed the cookies. A classic American cookie.

We pass street vendors all over the city offering many different treats.  One evening Mark got brave and bought these doughnuts and also popcorn. The sweetened popcorn was a hit. The doughnuts, however, were a disappointment.  I had looked forward to a nice, soft dough in which to sink my teeth.  

The reality. Apparently the 'doughnuts' are soaked in a honey mixture and left to sit for who knows how long. We decided not to break our teeth on these 'tasty treats.'

Fresh fruit, on the other hand, is not only abundant but delicious.  We eat the tiniest Mandarins, dragon fruit, apples, oranges, and pomela. Dragon fruit resembles kiwi; pomela resembles grapefruit but drier.

The darkest brown sugar I have ever seen.

One of the many varieties of white sugar.  White sugar varies in the size of crystals.  I have seen sugar crystals as big as rock candy and sugar crystals finely ground, probably 10-15 different choices.  Not knowing exactly which type I bought the first time, the second time I purchased "soft white sugar" which had a higher moisture content.  It was like spooning damp sugar into coffee.

Who doesn't like a good package of M&Ms? I buy it to make trail mix, which isn't available here, so I look for the largest package of M&Ms. No matter what type of packaging (bag, tin, or round canister), they always come in these little triangular pouches.  The number 12 should have given me a clue as to how many were in this package.

We see bakeries all the time, but this one was special.  Two best friends, "sisters" (in the middle) had recently opened a franchise bakery.  Lois, the lady in gray, uses her family businesses as resources for the Kingdom community.  They celebrated their Grand Opening the next morning.