Cooking!

For our market and coking activities, my group joined with EDUCARE, which is also in Kihonda. We were each given 2 things to buy at the market or nearby shops. I had to get a coconut and a pile of cassava root, which was something I had to ask for because I didn’t know what it looks like. I didn’t bargain for my items because they seemed reasonably priced but I did help my friend bargain for the bananas. We only saved ~100 Tsh but it’s a start.
We did the cooking at Will’s house and it was perfect. His family had set up a couple of tables and some chairs in the back for us and there was plenty of room to operate. To accommodate our large menu, we borrowed a little stove from Uma’s house next door (well, kiddie corner). In the end, we had way too much food but it was sooo good! We made pilau (rice w/ cumin, nutmeg, & cinnamon I think), beans, meat, cabbage w/ some other veggies mixed in, ugali (thick white mash I mentioned before), spinach, banana bread, and more all from scratch. This means the meat was cut from a hunk, beans were hard, and the spices were ground in a large mortar and pestle. To get the coconut milk we needed, we used a device you sit on that has a rounded saw-teeth scraper at one end to remove the pulp in small pieces. The pulp was added to a little water and squeezed to get the milk. The banana bread was made by Uma and it came out really well even though she had to measure everything by eye and then cook it in our makeshift oven (sitting on charcoal stove with hot coals on top too).
There are several animals at Will’s house that helped entertain us including a cat with a kitten, a (mangy-eared) dog, hens w/ chicks, goats, and a turkey, all of which wandered freely at least for some of the time we were there. I won’t mention names, but there were a few people who distracted the mother hen enough to grab one of the chicks – she was not happy and started to go after one of the people when the chick was put down to return to its mother. The turkey was let out after lunch and provided yet more entertainment (what would we do without the poultry). He kept coming very close to us people but was also puffing himself up; he didn’t seem scared but was still trying to look big and macho. Of course, he would tend to back down and even smooth his feathers sometimes if you made a sudden move toward him. The 2 little kids, who were around, weren’t really afraid of the turkey and were able to go up and even pet his feathers a little. As an adult who reasons that turkeys hurt, I kept my distance.
At home, I continued my cooking lessons. I helped with the rice that was made w/ some coconut milk today. Later, I watched (and learned) how Simon makes the breakfast cake I’ve been fed most mornings since I said I like it. The ingredients surprised me a little: sugar, margarine, eggs, baking powder, flour, and Coke. The Coke reacts with the baking powder to create air bubbles. Makes me wonder if the caffeine is cooked out or I’m getting a slight jolt in the morning. Simon was also finishing making juice from lozera berries; I don’t know if it translates but it tastes good and I like knowing I can use them for juice.