hey guys

I'm an auntie again! His name is Austin, and of course he's cute. Someday when I make it back to the States I'll get to meet him.

fruity

I recently discovered fresh Grandadilla (Passion Fruit) for the first time.

How delightful.

sweet

juicy

tangy

bursting with flavor

crunchy (the seeds)

Wonderful little treats.

Also, we finally got some oranges from our tree... the kids didn't eat quite all of them yet!

I was going to post a knock knock joke with these photos.

Orange you glad I didn't?

Just wondering, what do you like to do with fresh granadillas?

Come

Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.

~Jesus

Matthew 11:28

*more Mozambique shots from our visit to the river Friday evening*

Home Sweet Choma Town

Some shots from Emily’s visit a few weeks ago.
Thanks, Emily!

on the way to Makalangunzu Market (sorry... not sure I have the correct spelling)
First you cross the tracks.

mukuwa sighting! mukuwa sighting!

new tennies, anyone?

 These shots are taken on the road parallel to the main (Livingstone/Lusaka) road through Choma:

This is a common area for me to be when purchasing building supplies... in fact, I was just there
yesterday hunting for some plumbing parts...

Hungryman's Clinic

To North American eyes, signs, lettering, and shoppe names that line the roads and paths of Southern Province evoke smiles, chuckles, and an occasional classic, tummy-shaking laugh. One of my favorite local shoppe names is the Hungryman’s Clinic, located just down the road from our house, directly across the road from the Choma hospital entrance.

Heather enjoys going out for village chicken and nshima periodically with her coworkers for lunch at Hungryman’s. Recently, two of the field officers invited me to Hungryman’s for the traditional Zambian special. It was great to finally patronize the clinic for the first time. If you want, I can take you there sometime too.

eclectic

Teammates from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, plus 3 guests from the States
photo thanks to Doug and Sakkie

eclectic: made up of what is selected from different sources (dictionary.com)

Mt. Gorongosa

the last 20k's of our two-hour trip to the foot of the mountain took about an hour and required 4x4 vehicles

take-your-breath-away views the entire morning

sort of like visiting an outdoor conservatory!

love, love, love that view

Sundowners

Heather and I joined a group of guys in hiking down to the river to watch the sun set Friday evening in Mozambique.

sorry 'bout the extra leg! haha.

It was, of course, better than the pictures.

a tale of Julie Tabbouleh

After our trip to Mozambique, Heather and I arrived home to an empty fridge (which was just the way we left it the week before) and sapped inspiration.

I haven’t told you about the unbelievable meals we were served in Mozambique, and I can’t show them to you, because I took zero pictures of my plates. I’m pretty sure you won’t believe me if I tell you about the amazing South African fare we enjoyed, but I’ll just list a couple scrumptious items that appeared on our weekend menu: yellow rice with raisins, stuffed butternut squash, shrimp (fresh from the ocean!), and coffee muffins (I am hunting for that recipe!).

*side note… you may have lived in Zambia for several months when… one of your weekend holiday highlights is eating fresh grapes!*

As I was saying, we came home to an empty fridge… and depleted creativity in the cuisine department. After Ria’s cooking, I felt incapable in the kitchen. After a couple days without any fresh veggies in the house (you know what it’s like when you open the fridge for the fifteenth time only to discover the same three bottles of salad dressing, ketchup, and jelly… nothing more, nothing less-??) our situation became increasingly desperate.

So, I did what I usually do when I lack culinary inspiration: 1) messaged my aunt (“we arrived home from gorongosa adventures plum run out of creative cooking ideas...”) and 2) began sleuthing the internet. Searches included: “how to make shawarma bread” “easy hummus recipe” “healthy recipes for two blog,” “coffee muffins” (of course!)… and just for kicks, “South African recipes” (not that my cooking could ever duplicate Ria’s).

Enter Julie’s Tabbouleh. This is the second tabbouleh variation I’ve made since arriving in Zambia thanks to a delightful package that included wheat bulgur and couscous (thanks again, Monica!).

The beauty of tabbouleh is that all the ingredients are available FRESH and local here at Nahumba (as long as we've been shopping within the past 5 days)… well, except the grain! hahaha. I even used a lemon from our tree.

Enough rattling on and on. If you want to try your own version of tabbouleh, here’s a link for the recipe I used (of course, I had to make a few adjustments… such as skipping the entire cup of parsley, as Heather’s not a fan of parsley, and I was too lazy to walk out in the dark to get some anyway…)

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did… come to think of it, I’m still enjoying the garlic breath :P. 

of binos and bird books

We were surrounded by bird enthusiasts during our recent trip to Mozambique.

You can search the world over, but the Green Headed Oriole is only found in this part of Mozambique.

ps- you probably noticed, but Heather and I were the entire sum of female representation on this hike.