A Christmas of Blessings

The Christmas celebrations are drawing to an end here in Costa Rica as the people look forward to a new year. The sounds of fireworks fill the air from dark until well after midnight every night. Sadly, many have no interest in the true reason for remembering and celebrating. This is why it is so important to reach the children now with the truth.
Our celebrations with the children and the church were hectic, but wonderfully blessed. With help from old friends and new friends we were privileged to make this Christmas a special time for 77 children. Saying thank you to all those who made this possible seems inadequate to express the gratitude and appreciation we feel! Making these young ones feel special and loved was possible because of all of you who cared and prayed and gave. Bless you!!!! Because not all 77 children are in the same location, we actually had 3 different parties. Thanks to you we were able to provide the children not only with a toy, but with some much needed clothing, shoes, and other personal items. We want to share a few photos with you of some happy, smiling faces as well as some shots of the gifts and food and the Christmas drama. Thank you so much for making this possible. We pray that God will greatly bless you in this coming year.

Share the Blessings - Update

Christmas is just around the corner and we want to update you on the Christmas gift situation. As you know from reading our newsletter, we are providing a gift for 75 children. In my last post I shared with you that 50 of the children have been provided for, leaving only 25. God is so good and gracious. There are now only 12 children who are still without a gift. Please keep this need in your hearts and prayers, and share it with others. God, through His people, can make the difference for these precious little ones. If you feel lead to help with this, please contact me through the comment option at the end of this post or at our email address: nolascoincostarica@hotmail.com Blessings from Costa Rica.

Share the Blessing

The time is rapidly approaching when we will remember the birth of God's Son, Jesus Christ. For many people that means the giving of gifts to friends and family, and to those who are less fortunate. It is time to give to others as God so unselfishly gave to us. Each year we, the Nolasco family, here in Costa Rica strive to share the meaning and the joy of this special time with the children we work with in the ministry. This year we have 75 children. To date we have been blessed by finding enough donations to provide a gift for 50 of the children. We still need help to provide for the other 25. As many of you know, we work with children who live in extreme poverty and many of them are in abusive situations as well. For these precious young ones a gift of love and kindness is something they have experienced far too rarely in their lives. We are truly in need of your help and your prayers as we seek to meet the needs of these remaining 25 children. We are hoping to have approzimately $20 per child. This will allow us to purchase them clothing or shoes or personal items such as toothpaste and shampoo or school supplies, and possibly a small toy like a doll or a car. If any of you would like to help meet this need we would be most grateful. you may contact us by leaving a comment on this post or by emailing us at nolascoincostarica@hotmail.com . The slideshow is photos of the 25 still to be provided for. Blessings to you and yours.

Butterflies of Costa Rica

Costa Rican Orchids

Recipes from around the World #2

IRISH SODA BREAD
Irish soda bread contains no baking powder. It will rise because of the acid/alkaline combination of buttermilk and baking soda. After baking, you are to wrap the bread in a slightly damp towel and let it rest for at least 8 hours. Of course, who can wait that long! You need to at least let it cool so it will slice well.
4 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease baking sheet or a round cake pan. In a large mixing bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients. Add the buttermilk and stir the a fork until the dough holds together. Knead on a floured surface for 30 seconds. Then place into the cake pan, patting it out to about 1 ½ inches thick. Using a sharp knife dipped in flour, slash a large X across the top. This should be about ¼ inch deep. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until nicely brown and the X spreads open. Place on a rack to cool. Afterwards wrap in a slightly damp towel and allow the bread 8 hours to rest.
This is great with the Irish Coddle from the earlier recipe. Just slice off a slab of bread and spread on lots of butter. Remember, this bread is moist, tender, and rather heavy.

Recipes from around the World # 1

This is a favorite with my family. Hope you enjoy it.


CODDLE
Nationality: Irish
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Serves: 4 (large portions)
8 sausages (pork or beef)
4 strips of bacon
2 large onions, chopped
2 large leeks, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
6 large potatoes, peeled and sliced
¼ teaspoon of sage
¼ of thyme
Black pepper
Salt
¾ cup of chicken broth (can use apple cinder)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place sausages in a pan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let cook uncovered for 7 minutes. Drain off water and set the sausages aside.
Slice the bacon strips into 1 inch pieces. Place in a skillet and cut for 1 minute.
Add the onions, leeks, garlic, sage and thyme to the bacon. Saute until the vegetables are transparent. Remove bacon and vegetables from the skillet.
Place the sausages in the skillet and fry them in the remaining bacon drippings.
Place the potato slices in a cassarole dish. Top with the bacon/onion mixture. Sprinkle with black pepper and add the chicken broth.
Lay the sausages on top.
Cover the dish with foil and place in the oven.
Bake for 1 hour.

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This is great served with Irish Soda Bread. I will share that recipe with you next time.
Blessings from Costa Rica