Halo Halo

I know I have blogged about halo halo in the past, but I thought I would share a picture of the kids eating some. Recently we went to the pool after dinner and stopped for a treat on the way home. The kids kind of debate whether this was a treat or not. They would have rather stopped for milkshakes, but that's not an option. For those of you who didn't read the earlier blog or don't remember, halo halo is kind of the national dessert for the Philippines. While there isn't one particular way to make halo halo, it is basically a mixture of crushed ice topped with milk or coconut milk, sweet beans, coconut, jackfruit, other various tropical fruits, pinipig (pounded dried rice), ube (a purple colored sweet yam), cream flan (leche flan), shreds of sweetened plantain, and jello cubes. Sometimes the whole thing is then topped off with a scoop of ice cream. Halo halo literally means mix mix and I think it accurately describes this dessert. I was a little skeptical about a dessert with beans, but they are actually not bad.

On another food related issue--while we were at the missions conference a couple weeks ago, Em went fishing with some girls. She has always loved to fish, but mostly just throws back what she catches. Here the fished were cleaned and cooked by the staff and served to her for dinner. She had caught quite a few and so we shared them with some friends. Em decided she really likes talapia. It's amazing how much better something tastes that you have caught yourself. The week before conference she had eaten part of a fish head (OK so we bribed her with cold hard cash to try the head). That night I talked her into trying the fish eye. She wasn't wowed by it and probably wouldn't eat it again anytime soon. In our ministry here, people always laugh about the Holmes twins fighting over the fish eyes. Em would gladly give them her share. I guess she is truly an MK now that she has eaten fish heads and eyes. By the way, I'm not sure I've ever seen a fish here served headless.