A World Without Baking

is no world at all.

Most people in China do not bake. There are some lovely bread stores around Nanjing, but it is not common to have an oven and baking ingredients are very rare (baking soda, Crisco, vanilla). We love us some baked goods, so I decided to buy a "crockpot" and try using it like an oven.

Here she is in all her glory. There is an off, warm, low, and high setting. It is a ceramic material...it kind of reminds me of a brick.

We haven't been able to figure out how to use our stove and we (really I) were tired of having the instant "oatmeal" we found. SO I did my research and found a delicious french toast casserole receipe for a crockpot. Miraculously, we had all of the ingredients! I could almost taste the good old USA while putting it together.

The aroma of cooking eggs and sugar filled our home all night long.

In the morning I woke up
to a
rock.

Out of 8 pieces of bread, we saved about 2--and ate them right away! Apparently, even crock-pots are different in China.

It seems everything is set to a higher heat here. Maybe this is where I went wrong? Any suggestions or knowledge would be great.

Until then, I will keep trying to feed this little family. And this big belly.

This little boy is growing fast and kicking all the time!

I have some banana bread in the "oven" right now. Your prayers on its success would be much appreciated. :)



Also, we could see the SKY today. The blue sky and white clouds. What a precious gift for a trying-not-to-be-homesick family!