I still remember the first day that I saw her. I was 19 years old and I had gone down to Peru to prepare for the ministry. My Mom had been messing with me right before my departure. She said, "I bet you will find your future wife in Peru!" Of course, I was very "spiritual" I told her, "I am going to Peru to serve God and learn more about missions, and plus, all Peruvian women are ugly" (I can't believe I said that). Guess what, God had a wonderful plan for me. My first day in Peru, we went to a youth meeting and there she was. In that moment I took everything back that I had said about Peruvian women. You know what happened? I don't know how to explain it. The first moment that I laid eyes on her, it was as if I heard a small voice in my head, "you are going to marry that girl." It wasn't love at first sight but I knew that she would be my wife. I went to Peru without any intention to fall in love or marry but God brought her to me. I have known Favi for 7 years now and we are celebrating our 5 year anniversary tomorrow. I love you baby! Marrying you was the best thing (after my salvation) that could have ever happened to me. 

I am thankful every day for the men that God has given us in our church. While God loves every one, male and female alike, it is always encouraging to see men with an interest in spiritual things. Why do we get excited about seeing men? In the majority of churches today it is mainly women and children that fill the pews. Somehow we fail to reach men. No matter how our society has inverted the roles of men and women we still believe that God has ordained the man to be the head of the home. Men have been created to lead and to be innovative.No wonder many churches lack leadership and creative ideas; we don’t have any men! I can’t say that we have discovered the key to reaching the male gender but we certainly pray and work towards impacting that sector of our city. In our new church in Parla we have seen men take the initial interest in seeking after God. It’s so amazing to us because we are used to witnessing quite the opposite. These men that have been saved and are growing in the Lord have been able to reach their wives and we are little by little seeing families come together. It’s funny because the men are the most faithful to the church services. 

Not too long ago Carlos (he came as a result of the DVD project) suggested, almost jokingly, that we should start a futbol sala (indoor soccer) team. Immediately, we looked at each other and we said, “why not?” Since then every thursday we have been playing soccer. I must say I really look forward to this time every week. Not only do we get great physical exercise but we are growing as a band of brothers seeking together to be better husbands and fathers. The trip back and forth from the game, fellowshipping at Mcdonalds afterwards, etc… have all be wonderful oportunities for discipleship. Not only that we are meeting new men and building relationships with them. Eduardo, Julio, Stefan, Carlos, Jeffrey, Paco, Rufino, David, we believe that God can and will use these men to capture this city and beyond with the gospel.

We want to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. For the past 3 years, I have used the method below to make the Turkey and it has come out wonderfully and I wanted to share it with you. Normally at Thanksgiving, we think of dry meat that is good only if you pour lots and lots of gravy on it.  Not this recipe.  If done right, the meat comes out so juicy and tender that it doesn't even need any Gravy! 

This recipe is not for the faint of heart. It is not difficult, but there is a process. Make sure you allot enough time to carry out each step. However, in the end, it is well worth it. So have fun and enjoy it.  Soon, I will post my famous Turkey Soup recipe so make sure you save all the leftovers, bones and all! :)

The first thing you want to do is ‘Brine’ the Turkey. This is done one day in advance of Thanksgiving Day. You are going to brine the Turkey for at least 6 hours up to 24 hours. Brine is much like marinating meat, i.e. steak, pork, chicken, etc.

Brining the Turkey

Use a very large pot, bowl, bucket, etc. whatever will allow you to submerge the Turkey in liquid. I used a mop bucket. (Don’t worry, I bought it brand new just for this use.)

• Add 2 cups of cooled vegetable stock (broth) and enough water to your apparatus so the Turkey will be submerged (Don’t add Turkey yet)
• Add 2 or 3 cups of Salt, Kosher, regular, or sea salt. (I used sea salt)
• Add 1 to 2 cups of sugar; regular or brown (I used regular) Now you want to stir in the salt and sugar until it is dissolved. Then:
• Add 2 purple onions; quartered
• Add 1 whole garlic bulb (probably 7 to 10 cloves)
• Add approx. 1/8 cup of whole peppercorns
• Add a handful of garlic pepper
• Add 2 tbls. cummin
• Add several sprigs of rosemary (fresh)
• Add several sprigs of thyme (fresh)
• Add several sprigs of Basil (fresh) If you can’t get these fresh, you can use the dry stuff. 

Make sure that mixture is completely cooled before you submerge the turkey, or else the turkey will begin to cook. Stir mixture and then submerge turkey in the mixture. Make sure the turkey stays fully submerged. So if it floats, you can put cans or coke bottles on top to keep it submerged. Keep submerged for at least 6 hours, up to 24 hrs. Overnight is the best. If you don’t have room in the refrigerator, you can substitute the water with ice water and place it in a cool place; covered.

Roasting the Turkey

You want to start preparing your turkey, depending on the size, 3 to 4 hrs. in advance. A 14 lb. turkey should take between 2 and 2 ½ hrs. total cooking time. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. You want to take your turkey out of the brine and wash it off. After the turkey has been thoroughly rinsed off, place in a shallow baking pan, on a rack. Now you want to prepare the aromatic mixture that will go in the cavity of the turkey. Here is what you will need:

• 1 apple; quartered
• ½ purple onion; quartered
• 5 -6 garlic cloves
• ½ lemon
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 2 basil leaves
• 1 ½ cups water

Take rosemary, thyme and basil and stuff them in the turkey cavity. Take remainder of ingredients and place them in a dish, along with the water, and microwave for 5 min. While these are cooking in the microwave, coat turkey with canola or vegetable oil. When the 5 minutes are up, take the dish out of the microwave and stuff the ingredients that are in the bowl into the cavity of the turkey. Before you place the turkey in the oven, you need to make a triangle out of tin foil, that will cover only the breast area of the turkey. This is so that the breast does not dry out before the dark meat is done. Form the tin foil onto the breast and then take it off and lay it to the side. This is done so that you do not have to later fold the foil over the turkey when it is hot. Go ahead and add 2 cups of chicken broth to the shallow pan to prevent burning. Now place turkey in the oven that is set at 500 degrees and cook for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, pull turkey out of the oven and turn oven down to 350 degrees. If you have a digital thermometer that will alert you when it reaches a certain temperature, you want to stick this into the fattest part of the breast and set the thermometer to alert you when it reaches a temperature of 161 degrees. If you do not have this kind of thermometer, then for a 14-16 lb. turkey, you want to let it cook for approx. 1 ½ -2 hours. Be sure to check with a regular thermometer, to see if the meat has reached an internal temperature of 161 degrees, making sure you are placing the thermometer in the fattest part of the breast. Once your turkey reaches 161 degrees, you will want to pull the turkey from the oven and set it someplace where you can let it rest, fully covered with tin foil, for 15 – 20 minutes. This is because the turkey will continue to cook and if you immediately cut into it, all the juices will pour out. So if your turkey came with a pop-up thermometer, first of all, don’t pay any attention to it and secondly, don’t pull it out before or after the turkey is done. Wait until you go to carve the turkey to pull it out. You want to be sure the turkey rests for 15-20 minutes.

Gravy

Some of this you will be able to prepare while your turkey is in the oven. Here is what you will need:

• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 large shallot
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 stick butter
• ½ cup flour
• turkey drippings
• 2 tbls. olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Chop garlic and shallot and set aside. In small sauté pan, melt butter and add flour. Add flour a little bit at a time, till consistency becomes almost like a thick paste. You will also notice a nutty, almond smell. This is called a roux. This is to thicken sauces. In large pot or sauté pan, add 2 tbls. olive oil and sauté garlic and shallots till they begin to caramelize in bottom of pan. One they are caramelized, add 1 cup chicken broth. Let this simmer for a few minutes. Take all of turkey drippings and add to pan. If this is not going to be enough gravy, then add the second cup of chicken broth, or as much as is needed. Bring sauce to a boil. Then add roux, a little bit at a time, (Do not add all of it at once) continually stirring, until you reach the correct thickness. This has been obtained when you place a spoon in the gravy and when you pull it out, the gravy coats the spoon. Put gravy in blender and puree till smooth. If gravy is as thick as you like it, you are ready to serve. If you would like it thicker, return it to the pot, bring to a boil and add any remaining roux, until you reach your desired thickness. Add salt and pepper to taste. Next...pour gravy on turkey and enjoy! We sure did!!

For quite some time I have wanted to write on this subject. As today is the culmination of July I thought it would be appropriate to review this amazing month in sports for Spain. As those who know me can testify, I am a huge sports fan. I was born in Spain and I didn't grow up around football (American football as I call it) or baseball, but my passion was soccer (better known in the rest of the world as fútbol). Unless you were in a cave this month I'm sure you realized that the World Cup of soccer was going on in South Africa. You may not have seen a single game but you knew it was taking place. If you've ever had the opportunity to live in another country you would know just how big an event the World Cup is in reality.  I am sure you also heard that Spain won the World Cup for the first time in all of their history. It was amazing to see the millions of people lining the streets to celebrate this historic event. For just an instant the divisions between the different provinces, especially the Basque region and Cataluña, seemed to dissipate as the whole country united under one flag and sang in unison, ♫ - Yo soy Español, Español, Español - ♫ ♫ - I am a Spaniard, a Spaniard, a Spaniard - ♫. 

Add to that the amazing victory once again of Rafael Nadal in Wimbledon, which makes a historic 8 grand slam titles for the 24 year old (to put it into perspective he already has the same amount of grand slam titles as Andre Agassi and he is far from being at the end of his career). We would have to talk about the recent Tour de France victory for Alberto Contador (his third title) and Pau Gasol winning his second championship ring with the L.A. Lakers (of coarse I understand this is a team trophy and he is the only Spaniard on the team, but this man is huge in Spain). Spaniards are seeping with national pride (as you can expect) because they can say that they are on the top of the sports world looking down at the rest of the mere mortals that dare challenge them. I want to mention, however, that although I am thrilled for my countries achievements I realize that none of these accomplishments can fill the void and guilt in their hearts caused by sin. Fame only lasts for a season and eventually all that you are is a side note on some sports history book. Our desire is to make the gospel of hope and peace available to every Spaniard so that they can experience true forgiveness of sins and a sense of purpose and fulfillment that will never go away. As the Bible says in 1 Timothy 4:8 "...bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and that which is to come." Pray that Spain will go from soaring atop the sports world to understanding and knowing the maker of heaven and earth and living for the one who promises to bless them on this earth and elevate them to the heavenlies to live with Christ for all eternity.

Happy Thanksgiving!!! I hope your turkey's come out wonderful! Don't throw anything away because you can use it to make some amazing Turkey Soup...just what you need on a cool Black Friday! Enjoy!

Keep all the scraps from the turkey i.e. juices, gravy, bones, turkey insides, onions, apples, etc. The steps to preparing a good soup are:

• Prepare the stock (broth)
• Prepare the soup

Turkey Stock (Broth) The nice thing about a stock is that anything can be used; the ends and skins of vegetables, bones, etc. You don’t want to use old rotten stuff, just stuff that you would normally throw away like the skin of an onion or the end of a carrot. Here are the basic ingredients for preparing a stock.

• Carrots
• Onions
• Garlic
• Celery
• Turkey Bones
• Left over gravy
• Any of the left over vegetables
• Whole Peppercorn
• 2 cups of turkey or chicken broth
• Water
• Olive Oil

Pull all the good meat off the turkey bones and set aside. (The good turkey meat will be used for the soup.) Rough cut the onions, garlic, celery, and carrots. Keep all the ends and peels in a separate bowl. Throw in the olive oil and let it get hot. Throw in the onions and let them cook until they are slightly caramelized. Then throw in the garlic. After the onions and garlic and caramelized, throw in the celery and carrots. Let those cook for a few minutes. Once those have cook for just 2 or 3 minutes, throw in about ½ cup of chicken/turkey broth. Stir together and then add the bones, peels, ends, leftover gravy, and leftover vegetables. Stir and let those cook for just a few minutes. Then, add the remainder of chicken/turkey broth and enough water to completely cover everything. Let that comes to a boil and then add a half handful of peppercorn. Turn the heat down so that is at a slight simmer. Let the stock simmer for atleast 3 to 4 hours, if not more. The idea is to reduce the stock by a 1/4 . So if the liquid comes up to the top, you want to let it simmer until the liquid only comes 3/4 of the way up. Once the stock is finish, you will want to strain the liquid through a fine strainer or china cap if you have one. A regular strainer will work. You may have to fish out little pieces if they slip though the holes. Set the liquid aside and discard all the bones, vegetables, etc. Turkey Soup This soup is not based on measurements. If you like an ingredient, add a little more or less. But I will put some quantities just for guidance. It also depends on how much you want to make. Here is what you will need for the soup:

• 3 Cloves of Garlic
• 2 small shallots
• 2 cups of chicken (or of the Turkey Stock)
• Vegetables of your liking, cooked (I usually use carrots, peas, corn, and onions; You can use fresh veggies which is always better or you can cheat like I do since I am lazy and use half of a family size of frozen mixed vegetables)
• Leftover turkey
• Egg noodles or bowtie pasta
• ½ cup of Heavy Cream
• Turkey Stock
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a little olive oil in the bottom of the pot. Chop garlic and shallots and throw them in. Let them caramelize so that the bottom of the pan has a few little brown spots (don’t burn them). Then throw in a cup or so of your chicken broth or turkey stock and scrape the bottom so the brown spots come up. Now throw in the cooked veggies and stir them around. Add the turkey and mix it well letting it get nice and hot. Now pour enough of the Turkey stock so there is atleast 2 parts turkey stock to one part ingredients. Let all this come to a boil. When it reaches a boil, add in the heavy cream and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy.

*There are 2 secrets to making this soup taste really good. Number 1 is ‘Turkey preparation.” If the turkey is juicy and flavorful, the soup will also be flavorful. Number 2 is the Stock preparation. This is the base of the soup. If you take time to make a good stock, then the soup will taste very good. If the stock is done well, sometimes you won’t even have to add salt and pepper to taste when finishing the soup.

Here we are enjoying turkey soup with some friends last year. This is good comfort food that you will want to share with friends and family!

We want to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. Last year, we made a Turkey that came out wonderfully and we wanted to share it with you. This recipe is not for the faint of heart. It is not difficult, but there is a process. Make sure you allot enough time to carry out each step. However, in the end, it is well worth it. So have fun and enjoy it. Tomorrow, I will post my famous Turkey Soup recipe so make sure you save all the leftovers, bones and all! :)

The first thing you want to do is ‘Brine’ the Turkey. This is done one day in advance of Thanksgiving Day. You are going to brine the Turkey for at least 6 hours up to 24 hours. Brine is much like marinating meat, i.e. steak, pork, chicken, etc.

Brining the Turkey

Use a very large pot, bowl, bucket, etc. whatever will allow you to submerge the Turkey in liquid. I used a mop bucket. (Don’t worry, I bought it brand new just for this use.)

• Add 2 cups of cooled vegetable stock (broth) and enough water to your apparatus so the Turkey will be submerged (Don’t add Turkey yet)
  
• Add 2 or 3 cups of Salt, Kosher, regular, or sea salt. (I used sea salt)
  
• Add 1 to 2 cups of sugar; regular or brown (I used regular) Now you want to stir in the salt and sugar until it is dissolved. Then:
  
• Add 2 purple onions; quartered
  
• Add 1 whole garlic bulb (probably 7 to 10 cloves)
  
• Add approx. 1/8 cup of whole peppercorns
  
• Add a handful of garlic pepper
  
• Add 2 tbls. cummin
  
• Add several sprigs of rosemary (fresh)
  
• Add several sprigs of thyme (fresh)
  
• Add several sprigs of Basil (fresh) If you can’t get these fresh, you can use the dry stuff. 

Make sure that mixture is completely cooled before you submerge the turkey, or else the turkey will begin to cook. Stir mixture and then submerge turkey in the mixture. Make sure the turkey stays fully submerged. So if it floats, you can put cans or coke bottles on top to keep it submerged. Keep submerged for at least 6 hours, up to 24 hrs. Overnight is the best. If you don’t have room in the refrigerator, you can substitute the water with ice water and place it in a cool place; covered.

Roasting the Turkey

You want to start preparing your turkey, depending on the size, 3 to 4 hrs. in advance. A 14 lb. turkey should take between 2 and 2 ½ hrs. total cooking time. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. You want to take your turkey out of the brine and wash it off. After the turkey has been thoroughly rinsed off, place in a shallow baking pan, on a rack. Now you want to prepare the aromatic mixture that will go in the cavity of the turkey. Here is what you will need:

• 1 apple; quartered
  
• ½ purple onion; quartered
  
• 5 -6 garlic cloves
  
• ½ lemon
  
• 2 sprigs rosemary
  
• 2 sprigs thyme
  
• 2 basil leaves
  
• 1 ½ cups water
  

Take rosemary, thyme and basil and stuff them in the turkey cavity. Take remainder of ingredients and place them in a dish, along with the water, and microwave for 5 min. While these are cooking in the microwave, coat turkey with canola or vegetable oil. When the 5 minutes are up, take the dish out of the microwave and stuff the ingredients that are in the bowl into the cavity of the turkey. Before you place the turkey in the oven, you need to make a triangle out of tin foil, that will cover only the breast area of the turkey. This is so that the breast does not dry out before the dark meat is done. Form the tin foil onto the breast and then take it off and lay it to the side. This is done so that you do not have to later fold the foil over the turkey when it is hot. Go ahead and add 2 cups of chicken broth to the shallow pan to prevent burning. Now place turkey in the oven that is set at 500 degrees and cook for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, pull turkey out of the oven and turn oven down to 350 degrees. If you have a digital thermometer that will alert you when it reaches a certain temperature, you want to stick this into the fattest part of the breast and set the thermometer to alert you when it reaches a temperature of 161 degrees. If you do not have this kind of thermometer, then for a 14-16 lb. turkey, you want to let it cook for approx. 1 ½ -2 hours. Be sure to check with a regular thermometer, to see if the meat has reached an internal temperature of 161 degrees, making sure you are placing the thermometer in the fattest part of the breast. Once your turkey reaches 161 degrees, you will want to pull the turkey from the oven and set it someplace where you can let it rest, fully covered with tin foil, for 15 – 20 minutes. This is because the turkey will continue to cook and if you immediately cut into it, all the juices will pour out. So if your turkey came with a pop-up thermometer, first of all, don’t pay any attention to it and secondly, don’t pull it out before or after the turkey is done. Wait until you go to carve the turkey to pull it out. You want to be sure the turkey rests for 15-20 minutes.

Gravy

Some of this you will be able to prepare while your turkey is in the oven. Here is what you will need:

• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 large shallot
  
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 stick butter
  
• ½ cup flour
  
• turkey drippings
  
• 2 tbls. olive oil
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  

Chop garlic and shallot and set aside. In small sauté pan, melt butter and add flour. Add flour a little bit at a time, till consistency becomes almost like a thick paste. You will also notice a nutty, almond smell. This is called a roux. This is to thicken sauces. In large pot or sauté pan, add 2 tbls. olive oil and sauté garlic and shallots till they begin to caramelize in bottom of pan. One they are caramelized, add 1 cup chicken broth. Let this simmer for a few minutes. Take all of turkey drippings and add to pan. If this is not going to be enough gravy, then add the second cup of chicken broth, or as much as is needed. Bring sauce to a boil. Then add roux, a little bit at a time, (Do not add all of it at once) continually stirring, until you reach the correct thickness. This has been obtained when you place a spoon in the gravy and when you pull it out, the gravy coats the spoon. Put gravy in blender and puree till smooth. If gravy is as thick as you like it, you are ready to serve. If you would like it thicker, return it to the pot, bring to a boil and add any remaining roux, until you reach your desired thickness. Add salt and pepper to taste. Next...pour gravy on turkey and enjoy! We sure did!!

I watched as this car parked and it was impressive.  I didn't stick around, but what was going to be more impressive was how she was going to get out. 

 

When you are learning a language, you learn to humble yourself while people correct you.  In fact, I am constantly asking people to correct me because I know that that is the best way to learn.  I guess it is ok until your 6 year old son begins to correct you.  Aaron, like myself, is learning Spanish.  He has been in school this year and has really learned a lot of Spanish.  I picked him up from school yesterday and it was one of those days where when you walk outside, you immediately start sweating.  So I told him in Spanish, "I am dying from the heat."  He said, "Daddy, you don't say it that way, this is how you say it."  After he told me, I was humbled to realize that...he was right!  :)  Out of the mouth of babes! 

In life, you can't help but learn something everyday.  However, some things that you learn, you learn the hard way. 

A few weeks ago, Deanna had gone off one Saturday so it was just Aaron and I.  Aaron was excited that he was going to be able to spend the whole day, just he and daddy.  Since Deanna had the car, we were stuck walking or taking public transportation.  I asked Aaron where he wanted to go and I got the usual answer “McDonalds.”  So ok, it was his special day and they had his favorite toy that they were giving away in the happy meals, so I agreed.  Since Mickey-D’s isn’t within walking distance, we took the Tranvia of Parla.  (Parla is the city that we live in and the Tranvia is a scaled down type metro-rail system that circles around Parla.  See the picture).   So we were off to the Tranvia. 

When you purchase a ticket for the Tranvia, you can purchase a one-trip ticket or you can purchase a 10-trip ticket.  The 10-trip ticket is a little cheaper since you are buying in bulk.  I am the type who likes a deal so I usually purchase a 10-trip ticket, so I had a 10-trip ticket in my wallet that I had not used. 

Aaron and I boarded the Tranvia and we were off to McDonalds.  It was a nice day and a peaceful ride.  Once on the Tranvia, it doesn’t take long to arrive at your stop so with in 15 minutes we were at our stop.  On this particular day, however, just before our stop, one of the Tranvia officials came up to me and asked to see my ticket.  I said, “no problem” and handed it to him.  He looked at it and said, “This ticket is expired.”  I looked at him a little puzzled and said, “I didn’t know these tickets expired. This ticket still has the full amount of trips left.”  He said that the ticket was no good and that I was going to have to pay a fine.  I reiterated that I was from the United States (trying to play the dumb American routine) and that I had no idea that the tickets could expire.  He proceeded to point me to the clear instructions that are written on the side of the Tranvia and also at each stop, reiterating to me that I should pay more attention next time.  (whoever reads that stuff anyways, especially when it is in a different language.)  So he proceeded to write me a ticket.  He asked for my resident card that I didn’t have at the time, so he told me that I would have to pay the fine on the spot. The fine was 20 Euro or $26.00.  So, that day I learned that the tickets do expire and that by not reading instructions, a trip that should cost $1.30 actually costs $26.00.  

So Aaron and I got off the Tranvia and proceeded to our special destination, McDonalds, and I had to explain to my 6 year old son why Daddy just received a fine.