Saguaro Syrup Cupcakes

 

The saguaro (pronounced sa-wir-ral, like you're trying to say swirl but with a sa in the front) syrup is similar to maple syrup except not so insanely sweet.  It's like caramelized sugar that's almost too caramelized.  There's a slight bitter aftertaste to it but also very delicious.  It's also loaded with fiber!

 

As I mentioned in the previous post, this syrup is expensive.  I was doing some research and came upon a site called Acacia Artisans that sold it.  For a 1.5oz bottle it's $18.55 and for a 8 oz bottle it's $75.55.  On the website there is a description of the syrup:

Taken from http://www.acaciart.com

Arizona Mission Trip - Part III

Some of you know that I recently came back from a mission trip from Arizona. We stayed on the Tohono O'odham reservation in Sells partnering with a missionary couple who live right on the reservation.

Among many of the blessings I've received one thing I was able to take away this year was something unique to the Tohono O'odham Native Americans.  It's called Saguaro Syrup made from the flower that blossoms on the Saguaro cacti.  

Taken from http://ablogtoread.com

Making the syrup is not only a crazy long process but it's not done by a lot of people anymore.  The lovely lady who made it, Liz, told us very briefly about the process which starts with her waking up at around 3 or 4 in the morning to drive out to Tucson (which is about an hour away from Sells) to harvest the fruit.  Here is a bit more detailed description of the fruit and the processing of it.

Taken from http://arizona-cactus.com/

The fruit is harvest using this really long wooden tool.  The Saguaro cacti are pretty tall so it's not a matter of simply picking the fruit off.

Taken from http://amazingarizona.com

 

If I remember correctly, after the fruit is harvested, Liz takes the fruit mashes it and boils it with water for about a few hours.  Then she strains it and boils the remaining liquid for a few more hours until it becomes a syrup. 

Because this old tradition is becoming more and more sparse Liz charges about $40 for a pint.  That's right... A PINT.  And that's a cheaper price.  A local gift shop sells it for $10 an ounce.... AN OUNCE.  But because of the recession, they've lowered it down to $8.  Yeah.. pretty insane.  Liz was kind enough to let some of us have it for $25.  My first thought when a friend talked about buying it to help support Liz (who was going through some financial difficulty) was, "OooOoOooooH!!!  Maybe I can make cupcakes or cookies out of it!!"

One pint is not nearly enough to be experimenting with, let me just tell you right now.  It's over if you mess up even once.  So you can imagine the stress I was under to not only create something absolutely delicious but also not screw up in the process.

 

Let me spare you the suspense.. I messed up... TWICE!!! And now I don't have any more of the syrup to try again.  

More on my attempts at making the first ever Saguaro Cupcakes next time.  Sorry to break up the flow but my room is still a huge mess and the house is under constant fixing.  Thanks for understanding!!!

Arizona Mission Trip - Part I

Ahh.. lovely Southern California.  It's definitely home sweet home to me.

We flew in last night from the crazy hot state of Arizona.  As much as I was excited to leave the weather behind, it was just the opposite feeling of leaving the people there.  There's one particular teen that I will miss dearly.

A small group of us (all women and all who are my very close friends) went to a small city called Sells that's about 1 hour outside of Tucson.  The Native Americans that live there are of the Tohono O'odham nation.  For the past 10 years or so our church has been sending a team out each summer to do what's called a VBS, Vacation Bible School, where we sing songs, do skits with messages from the Bible at it's core, and crafts.

Arizona had some of the most beautiful sunsets and skies I've ever seen.  

I'm sure California has beautiful clouds but there's too many things off in the horizon that get in the way.  The sunset was absolutely gorgeous.  Right as it sets all of the orange and reds get reflected onto the clouds and it seriously looks like something out of a painting. 

One of the ladies, Annette, from the church where we held our VBS took us out to lunch at the town's only shopping center.  There was a new cafe called the Desert Rain Cafe that opened up that was serving the traditional Tohono O'odham meal.

The soup dish reminded me a lot of what Korean's call bori cha, which is barely tea.  Sometimes it's made with roasted corn and this soup had pretty much exactly the same flavor.  One of the side dishes was cholla buds.

Here's a bit more information on the buds and also a some recipes from the Tohono O'odham Community Action website.

I had never had anything like it.  The taste of it is hard to describe but all in all it was a meal I was really glad to have tried.  A lot of one's culture can be found in the food and it's always fun to partake in it.

For the most part we had to do our own cooking which was actually kind of fun.  None of us are gifted cooks but we ate very well. =D

AZ Missions Fundraiser

 

These past few weeks have been (and will continue to be) the busiest I've been in a very long time.  It just seems like all the different areas of my life are colliding all at once.  I used to be really good at remembering things but now... it's not even funny how many things I forget on any given day.  Sometimes it's hard to stop and really enjoy the gifts right in front of me.

In a couple of weeks myself and four other beautiful ladies at our church will be going to Sells, Arizona on a mission trip.  Our church has been sending a team almost every summer for the past 10+ years to share the love of Christ to the Tohono O'odham people who live on the reservation in Sells.  Last year was my first time in Arizona and... it was HARD.  I HATE the heat and it was over 100 degrees every day.  But it's amazing what God can do.