Just taking a little break

Greetings, bloggies-

Just so you don't wonder what happened to my frequent posting...

Heather and I are fine. We had a quiet Christmas at home, plus a few hours of celebrating with our church family (complete with CocaCola and a huge Tonga meal-- rice with "soup," a few green beans, and a bit of chicken).

Our internet is out (will likely be out for several more days), so... until then.

Tally-ho!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Mangoes in Smoothies!

Back home in the States, I’m used to a freezer full of Michigan fruit—tart cherries, red raspberries, peaches, and blueberries are a few of my staple favorites.

In Zambia, we have no tart cherries, no red raspberries, and not a single blueberry.

But, we have mangoes, which are one of my absolute favorite fruits (not a freezer staple back home only due to limited availability and exponential cost).

I figured my smoothie days would be in limbo in Africa. I couldn't believe my eyes when I discovered the old Oster blender on a shelf in our pantry. 

Could it really work? Dare I hope for such a wonder in this place?

My skepticism was quelled a few weeks back when I gave the blender a whirl. It worked!  What’s more- it didn't just work, it worked well! I was impressed.

Since I love fruit smoothies, I decided to experiment with the blender and our local fruit. I used frozen papaya (paw paw) puree for my first smoothie endeavor.

Mango season just started, so after I’d eaten a few fresh mangoes, I decided to try making a mango smoothie using a similar method as I had used for the papaya ones.

we happened to have fresh milk on this day; usually we use shelf milk
 

Delight is the word to describe my response to the mango smoothie. 

Sheer delight!

Mango smoothie, coming right up!

This morning as I was blending my mango smoothie, I thanked God for our blender. It’s really one of those “extra” things in life, but one I appreciate from the bottom of my heart… or, wait, maybe that was actually the bottom of my stomach.

If you want to make yourself an amazing African mango smoothie, here’s the easy method I've been using:

The day before you want your smoothie:

Peel and chunk one or two or three mangoes. Freeze (it’s nice if the pieces aren't all lumped together in one frozen hunk, just so they’re easier to blend).

When your smoothie urge hits, pour some milk (1/2 cup?) and a bit of vanilla in the blender. Dump in the frozen mango chunks. Cover with more milk (3/4 cup? More or less to suit your taste).

Blend until the mango is pureed and the drink is frothy and frozen (it will be the consistency of a thick milkshake).

Indulge!

If you have friends who like mango smoothies, you can share… 

or, you can drink the whole thing

all.

by.

yourself.

(like I do!)

Nahumba Brethren In Christ

I've always wanted to be able to walk to church. Now I can. Nahumba Brethren In Christ Church is about a three minute walk from our house. If it weren't for trees and shrubs, we would be able to see it from our dining room window. I wish you could join us for a meeting sometime.

Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter, Jelly, Jelly!

We have some friends who make peanut butter. 

First you take the nuts and crunch 'em, crunch 'em…

Since I’m the kind of gal that loves to buy fresh, 

local products, the Mudaala’s peanut butter business makes me smile. When we want peanut butter, we just send our request via a phone message or a friend. We even have options—fluffy (crunchy) or smooth. Within two or three days, our peanut butter is delivered at our door. One kg of fresh, nutty butter is about $4 USD.

The jelly, on the other hand…

Well, let’s just say it’s too bad the Jam Man of Mangochi doesn't live close by.

Considering the ease of making good jam and jelly, and the abundance of it we have back home in Michigan, the Mixed Fruit Jam at Spar (ingredients: fruit in season, sugar, pectin, citric acid, permitted colouring, sodium benzoate) is pathetic! How can jam not taste like jam? Trust me. Sugar and flavor can’t compare to the real stuff... 

next you take the berries and squish 'em, squish 'em!

1kg peanut butter

peanut butter muffins

Peanut butter, peanut butter, jelly, jelly! 

A'counting Cookies

Heather and I decided to bake cookies for our Zambian friends for Christmas. We made a quick list (separating the naughty and nice... haha. not really), and decided 184 cookies might be enough-- at least for a start.

We settled on peanut butter cookies. Our trial batches received rave reviews from Heather's coworkers. On Tuesday afternoon I mixed two batches of peanut butter cookie dough. After work, Heather and I heated the oven to 177C, set the computer's playlist to "Christmas," and baked away. Partway through the process, we realized two batches of cookie dough would definitely not yield enough cookies, so we whipped up two batches of minty African Cookies as well.

African Cookies

The mixture of laughter, Christmas tunes, and amazing aromas floating through the air made the evening a delight. "This is the most it's felt like Christmas yet," Heather commented.

It was. It sort of did feel like Christmas.

the list

Heather made Christmas cards too

Office visitor

No, he's not a snake. Just one of the lizards that lives in our house. The other day when I was in the office, he kept making noises and peeking out at me. I finally went and got my camera to make him happy. It's common to see lizards and big spiders scurrying up the walls and across the floors. One morning recently as I opened the curtains in my office down dropped a tiny lizard, probably no longer than an inch!

Work

Wednesday is errand day.

That's my brown town bag (Thanks, Gene)... nothing fancy, but it works for carrying wads of 

Kwacha and file folders and envelopes...

dinner around here

Common foods found on our table at Nahumba:

Fresh peanut butter with anything-- apples, bananas, bread

Homemade tortillas plus beans or fajita or favorite filling

Beans and rice

Lentils

Chicken-- curry or stir fry

Spaghetti with homemade sauce

Breakfast for dinner one night a week

Fresh green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc.

If you think this is a bird-size portion, you're right! You must have seconds and thirds.
sausage and potatoes with nshima in the village

Heather's own specialty white pizza!

Cookling classic.

Fav lentils. (click for recipe)

This amazing pizza didn't come from our kitchen.
If you're looking for a nice date night location, check out Olga's in Livingstone.

That's what I call amazing

the farmer

the field across from our house

Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield it's valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. James 5:7-8

Possible or not, here I come

photo complements de Google

I know it's far out, but I recently set out on a search for a delicious cookie recipe that 1) Used no Crisco (we can't buy shortening here, and didn't bring any with us), 2) Didn't use butter, or only used minimal amounts (butter is around $6.00 a pound here), 3) Didn't use margarine either (I'm just not a margarine fan), and last but not least, 4) Still tasted like a COOKIE.

Impossible?

Probably.

But, I decided to set my lofty goal anyway.

Friends, I have amazing news:

The other day I was perusing a well-loved, classic Mennonite cookbook (i.e. over two-thirds of the book covers the categories: cookies, cakes, desserts, and candies), and discovered a delightful surprise on page 254 in the "Cookies" section. At first glance over the ingredients, I wondered if the recipe was a mistake, but based on the hand-written "very good, easy, soft cookie," I became hopeful.

Cinnamon Cookies was the original label over this recipe, but I combined the original recipe with the handwritten notes surrounding it and now introduce to you...

photo not compliments de Google

African Cookies

combine:

3/4 cup sugar

1 and 1/2 Tablespoon cocoa

add and beat with sugar mixture:

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

sift/combine:

1 and 1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

a bit of salt

1/4 cup chocolate chips

After beating the sugar mixture and eggs and mint flavor, add the flour mixture and combine. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop batter by tablespoon on greased baking sheet (the cookies puff in the oven). Bake at 375F (190C) about 10 minutes or until done (middles should still be soft). This recipe made about 1.5 dozen gems
(I halved the original ingredients, because I didn't want lots of cookie flops hanging around my kitchen if they didn't turn out well).

Enjoy, share, enjoy, repeat.

These cookies are a bit meringue-ish because of the eggs, and also more cake-like than gooey.
I've already been dreaming of how to use this basic recipe to make coconut cookies, orange cookies, lemon cookies...

If you don't want to bake your own batch, just stop by for tea and I'll be happy to serve you some.

p.s. If you have any magical cookie recipes that meet the stiff stipulations listed above, please do tell!

Expat in Africa

After Thanksgiving dinner a couple Saturdays ago, I wound up at a table playing “Ticket to Ride” with a medical doctor from the Netherlands, a pilot from Mexico, a teacher mentor from Germany, and a finance specialist from the States.

Expat diversity is one of the things I love being part of in Africa.

For Amy

I miss drinking tea with you in the Cookie House.

12.12.12

Today is a special day.

Even though I'm not home this morning, I can picture my parents. After they're done praying together before Dad leaves for work, Mom will get up and go to the wall of photo books in the living room. She'll take the one from 1986 and open it.

Twenty-six years ago today I entered the world-- a stubborn, dark-haired baby, the fourth in the line of Cooklings. I can picture myself there in the hospital room, wrapped in mom's exhausted arms. The doctor was almost ready to start a C-section, because of my position in labor. Dad prayed, and I turned and was delivered. Of nine babies, I think I was the roughest labor mom had.

Who knew just over a quarter century later I'd be an accountant in Africa? Even though I'm far from home and all my family's traditional birthday celebrations, I still feel the same love enfolding me that I experienced that first day of my life. I'm so thankful for the family in which God placed me.

So, Happy Birthday to Me! I love birthdays, because I love to celebrate the life God gives.

For the past twelve months, when folks asked my age, I told them I was a quarter of a century. Now my quarter-of-a-century year is up. Maybe I'll try "2 times 13" for 2013-? Then again, maybe I'll just be conventional and say, "Twenty-six."

Weekly errands & shopping trip

loot after a morning's work

Weekly errand list may include, but not limited to:

• Choma Garage (fuel, monthly payment)
• NAPSA (employee pension payment)
• Bank 
• ATM
• Post Office
• Hunt for printer cartridge (unsuccessful)
• DeeBee's for talk time, a can opener, and sticky tac
• Hardware for a toilet repair kit
• Spar: all the usual groceries-- Mazoe, milk, flour, sliced bread (if they have), oats, beans, groundnuts (peanuts), etc. plus a newspaper
• The butcher: depends what's available today
• The street: apples, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, whatever looks good...
• Wonderbake: sliced bread if Spar is out

Unique to this week's shopping adventures:

• Bartering in the market for chitenges (two meter pieces of cloth worn by every Zambian woman)
• An official Wonderbake visit, complete with an enormous cherry scone, and a little cup of ice cream

Wonderbake

I find the name Wonderbake rather unappealing, as it reminds me of Wonder Bread in the States.

However, I find the offerings of Wonderbake most appealing.

Wonderbake is known not only for their sliced bread (which is classic, white, and nothing to rave about), but also for their air conditioning, complimentary internet, coffee and lattes, special baked goods, and

Ice Cream.

Which is the main reason I find Wonderbake so attractive.

I had the privilege of trying Wonderbake's ice cream for the first time this week.

At K3,000 (around seventy cents) for a little cup, this is a wonderful treat!

Heather and Chrissy enjoying our Wonderbake break after shopping in the market

At a friend's recommendation, I decided to try a Wonderbaked raisin scone. But, they only had cherry scones, so I bought one. It was huge and yummy (the picture doesn't do it justice). I would have loved to share it with you.

yum fun

Heather's Chickens

The tale of Heather’s chickens began last Thursday when Heather and two of her colleagues bounced out to Mbalabala for a meeting. Since they planned to serve lunch in the village, they stopped in town and picked up 5 frozen chickens, a 25 kg bag of mealy-meal, and two bags of fresh tomatoes.

Heather's chickens in one of their many stages of existence in our kitchen

Heather and her coworkers didn't wind up using the chickens for lunch that afternoon, so the chickens came to live in our refrigerator.

On Saturday morning Heather and I made the executive decision (amidst many sms messages with her coworker) to cook and freeze the chickens. Well, all except one. When I opened the 5^th chicken, I declared it unfit for human consumption based on the unpleasant aroma that wafted through the kitchen.

Heather at work

Around 15 hours on Tuesday afternoon, Heather’s coworker dropped by to see if the chickens could be served for dinner that night. Heather explained that we had cooked the chickens and frozen them. “Whole?” her coworker asked, gasping in unbelief!

Yes. In America, we’re used to cooking whole chickens, which is unheard of in Tonga world.

Heather thawed those chickens as fast as she could, and delivered them to the cooks next door, who sawed away through the still-frozen bones and began redeeming our culinary “mistake.”

Mrs. Moono and Mrs. John cutting the whole chickens

Heather’s chickens were served Tonga style Tuesday night for dinner. I wasn't there to give quality control assistance, but the smells drifting out the window were Tonga-wonderful.

cooking, cooking, cooking

Heather's amazing chickens in the end

I've been trying not to mention the word, “chicken” these days in any context.

Heather’s trying not to think about those birds, that word, her experience, the full fridge, the jars of broth in the freezer, the quandaries, the interesting “parts” included in some of the bags, the blood in the sink, the full Ziploc bags, the raw meat… she’s been trying not to think about her chickens.

Merry Christmas, Dad!

When I unearthed these candle holders from my closet, I couldn't help but rearrange them at least once before leaving them to share their traditional festive message for the rest of the season.

With thanksgiving in our hearts*

The view out our back door (to the right). The long building is the guesthouse. In the distance is the barn.

Looking to the left from the back door. Uncle Wayne- notice the outhouse with the composting toilet.

To the God who sends rain

*With thanksgiving in our hearts is a common phrase in prayers here.

Welcome to our Nahumba home

Thought you might like to see a few pictures of the house where Heather and I live. Sorry the photo quality didn't turn out so great.

Heather's room

the living room

piano, also in the living room
Note the gray-scale sketches of African animals-- my favorite wall decor of the house

yet another take on the living room (taken from the main/dining room entrance)

dining room (the doorway leads to the kitchen; the living room is to the left)

One of my favorite rooms of the house... the pantry (between the dining room and kitchen)

kitchen (you can see the guesthouse through the window)
Lydia, do you see the picture you gave me? It's on the fridge
We use the back door as our main door; you can barely see it to the left in this photo.

kitchen again

bathroom (for the Americans)/toilet (for the Brits)/washroom(for the Canadians)
Tub is to the right; no shower

another of my favorite parts of the house... the door to my office

my office (the window looks out toward the guesthouse and development offices)

the main hall
To the right: main house entrance, kitchen, bathroom
To the left: dining room
Down and right: my office
Down and left: living room

my bedroom
Betsy, notice your bed and net

my bedroom
I also have a closet on the wall that's not pictured.

 There you have it, the official house tour.