The Things I do for my fellow Volunteers...

I just got into Asuncion. There is a Seed Bank meeting tomorrow that I had to come in for because, if you all didn't already know, I am the President of said Seed Bank (I dont know if you all know this, but....I'm kind of a big deal) But in all seriousness, the Seed Bank was founded by volunteers and is completely run by volunteers. The bank is set up so that farmers in sites with volunteers have a source for green manure seeds that they might not have been able to find around where they live. The seeds are given out as a loan and the farmer has to sign a contract and pay back 110% of the debt in clean seeds. So if Don Fulano wants 10kilos of Mucuna seeds he has to sign the contract and the next year pay back 11kilos of Mucuna. This keeps the system as sustainable as possible. The end goal of all of this is to potentially have seed banks created in every community. We also have garden seeds which are usually used by volunteers in the gardens as a way of getting new vegetables on their plates as well as get Paraguayans to experiment with less known vegetables etc.

So. I had some time on my hands and what does every good Jewish boy do when he has time on his hands and lives in the middle of nowhere in Paraguay???? Obvious. He makes Bagels!!!

I don't know what was going through my head, wanting to do all this baking in my tiny house when it is well over 100F outside. I guess I have just been on a Sourdough kick and wanted to bring goodies to share for the meeting.

The bagels are Honey Cinnamon Raisin Oat Rye Sourdough. phew. Try saying that 5 times in a row. And yes, that is the honey I paid so dearly for in my last excursion with the bees.

It doesn't stop with the bagels. I made two batter breads. The first is Whole wheat Carrot Ginger spice sourdough.

Not the prettiest, but it makes up for it in taste.

Finally, I made a Roasted Jalapeno and herb cheese (homemade) cornbread (also sourdough) it is probably my favorite of the three.

This is the cheese. It was very easy to make, you just boil milk then add either vinegar or lemon juice to make it curdle. Strain and add salt and whatever else youd like.

And now I am off to eat.