Indonesian food attempts

Macy's girl scout troop chose Indonesia for their country to learn about this year for the annual World Thinking Day event... which is a world wide event to promote cultural awareness amongst Girl Scouts. Knowing Macy was moving to Indonesia, her troop leaders thought it would be interesting for the other girls to learn about the country where Macy is moving- and they asked me to head it up. Crafts and food for 200+ girls? Sure, I got this! Maybe...

First, I went to our local Asian store to find the very small selection of Indonesian foods they carry and bought them all- 

And proof for my Indonesian Instructor that I went to the Asian Market-

Oh the smell! But, better than doing my homework I suppose...

So Brian's language Instructor and mine too each suggested foods which I should try to make.

First up-

KUE DADAR GULUNG (CREPES STUFFED WITH COCONUT)

These weren't too bad, but they were time consuming and upon a taste test with Macy and another scout in her troop- the consensus was no. Turns out most kids don't even like coconut!

 Next up-

Klepon (Sweet Rice Ball)

No no no. So time consuming- they were filled with coconut sugar. And I used rice flour- which after being boiled (Who boils a cookie?) they were chewy, more like a dumpling consistency...

Okay, the above 2 I'd never tried before, but these ones my Instructor had brought in for us before. I wasn't crazy about them, but figured I'd try my hand at them...

Indonesian Pineapple Cookies (Kue Nastar)

 SOOOOOO time consuming to get the pineapple jam in the center of the cookie ball-

 But, I've gotta admit- they turned out delicious! For some reason, my recipe didn't call for cloves and I way under baked them, keeping them moist- but they were a hit! Brian's instructor, along with Tate, were begging for more!

But, there's just no way I have time to make 200+ of those little cookie balls...

Next up- Pizza Mi. Mi in Indonesian simply means 'noodle' so this is noodle pizza-

 And it was crazy good! Ramen, eggs and vegetables- that is it. My mom used to make us "Spaghetti and Eggs" as a kid, and I feel like this is a fancier, more flavorful version of that. It was a hit, but again- no way I'm making this for 200 kids.... so the verdict is still out!

And by the way- that green food coloring? Natural green from the Padang plant, which we don't have here. So it was green food coloring in my kitchen. Nope, not authentic at all.

PS- I can't wait to get to Indonesia and try all of these things for realz