Where did January go?

Oh dear ! What a month January was! I’ve been knee deep in year-end but the end is finally in sight and the dreaded auditors arrive next week. The theory is that I will then be year-end free and I can let my hair down. The truth is that we will then be preparing the first budget revision and so the cycle goes on.  My new year’s resolution was to get out and about more. I’ve not been very successful but I’m working at it and have certainly been out and about more than I did before Christmas.  

January started with  a karaoke evening. Imagine approx. 25 ladies aged between 35 and 55 on a Friday evening in early January sitting in someone’s lounge with two microphones, a tv screen and five cds worth of music. Thankfully the lights were low and before very long, the evening had turned into a general sing and boogie along!  I must have been enjoying myself as when I looked at my watch it was already 11pm. A very late night in Malawi!

A new bar opened just before Christmas. The various settees and comfy chairs make its name “The Living Room” seem very appropriate. So far this year they have hosted a quiz night and there is now a film show every Monday. Sitting on a veranda, watching a film in the  dark of night in a short sleeve top is not something I expected to do when I signed up for this job.

January also saw the usual round of eating out and eating at other people’s home. I hosted my first, and last, dinner party at Joseph’s house. Thankfully the power behaved itself although I not realised just how the cooking speed slows down for each extra ring of the hob you put. I want for an old faithful Delia which those of you who were at my summer soiree enjoyed – chicken and chorizo sausage bake. Ok, I lie, not chorizo but a good substitute from one of my favourite supermarkets which underwent a facelift and extension just before Christmas.    The range and choice of foods has increased in the new layout although, as you may have guessed, most of the new foods are from …..South Africa.

The rains were here in earnest in January and   an umbrella was a must. Not much different from an English January in that respect. 

Alive and kicking!

If you have been wondering where I am and what I’m doing, apologies. All is well although my UK  mobile has decided to misbehave and so for all of February I’ve been out of touch.  Work is busy, busy, busy and when I arrive home sitting in front of laptop feels like a busman’s holiday. So, sorry there have been no blog updates and no personal emails. 

Response to Challenge 1

Before I start to cook Audrey's challenge, I thought I'd better finally post my response to Lesley's challenge. It was a challenge! I had to visit three supermarkets, substitute a few items and left a couple of others out.

Cheese is available here but does not seem to be a great favourite. It’s usually pre-packed and the type of very orange looking processed cheese I usually avoid with a barge pole. One shop has a deli counter where the cheese/meat is already cut and you choose the piece you’d like.

Herbs and spices also seem to be limited and despite scrutinising the shelves very closely, mace was nowhere to be seen.

As you can see most packaged food is not made in Malawi while the fresh produce is.

The key challenges during preparation were that I do not have any weighing scales, no steamer and no food processor. All are available to buy in the bigger stores. Think I’ll invest in some scales but will try to survive without a steamer. I never use a food processor at home anyway!

There was enough for five portions so I had left overs to enjoy once my guest had left. We both agreed it was a tasty meal. 

Cooking the beans, the lentils etc meant it took a fair chunk of my Sunday to cook this but I enjoyed. It also introduced me new ingredients which I never use at home. I'll be making this, or a variation on theme again so thanks for the challenge, Lesley

Ingredients	Available or alternative used	Country of origin	Price  - per pack/total purchased
dried black-eyed beans	pack of 5 mixed beans	Canada, Holland, India, South Africa, Malawi	2.00
green split peas	Yes	South Africa	1.50
green lentils	Yes	Canada	1.50
peeled carrots	Yes	Assumed Malawi	1.00
peeled swede	Butternut squash	Assumed Malawi	0.50
peeled celeriac	Extra butternut
large onion	Yes	Assumed Malawi	0.10
small green pepper	Yes	Assumed Malawi	0.75
butter	Yes	South Africa	3.50
tomatoes	Yes - fresh	Assumed Malawi	0.25
chopped mixed fresh herbs	Dried mixed herbs	South Africa
ground mace	No idea! Left out
ground cayenne pepper	Yes	South Africa	2.00
salt and freshly milled black pepper	Not freshly milled!	South Africa
soft goats’ cheese	Cheddar	Not shown on the label	2.00
potatoes	Yes	Ireland	1.00
2 tablespoons milk	UHT	Zambia	0.25
Pecorino cheese	Mozarella	Not shown on the label	0.50

Challenge 2

Ok,so I confess I have not given you the results of Challenge 1 yet. In my usual style of procrastinating, the blog item is three quarters finished. I promise to look up the last few prices before the end of this week.

Audrey has agreed to provide us with a recipe for January so please check in later in the month to see what it is. I'm planning to cook this on Sunday 20th and will no doubt inflict my culinary skills on some colleagues! Hope you'll join me.

To misquote a famous TV programme ..... keeeeeeeep cooking!
  

Belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Well, if I upload this quickly it will still be the Christmas season as today is the feast of the Epiphany.

Hope you all enjoyed the festivities and didn’t put on too many extra pounds over the holidays.

I was lucky enough to be with my family over Christmas and New Year which was an unexpected surprise for us all. The two weeks at home flew by and now I’m back in Malawi and in the throes of year end. Oh joy!

Christmas is celebrated in Malawi and usually people just have Christmas Day off work. This year, just a few days before Christmas an extra bank holiday on 26^th December was announced. Our office had a planned closure from 21^st December to 2^nd January and we are all required to hold back holiday to cover this.

All the usual Christmas goodies of cards, trees and presents are in the shops from early October although overall it felt as if Christmas was more low key. That’s hardly surprising as Christmas in the UK feels like overkill. There are very few Christmas decorations or lights in the shops, streets and we had no decorations up in the office. 

I’m not sure how colleagues in the   office will have celebrated at home. Many will enjoyed a special meal with family and friends. Those whose family live outside of Lilongwe will probably have travelled across the country to spend time together. As these journeys can be time consuming and expensive, it is not easy for people to meet up regularly and so Christmas is the ideal time to be together. Most people will have been to church to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

These photos were taken at a local hotel where there is a lovely café that I often visit on a Sunday. Interestingly, the tree is made from old water bottles. I’ve not seen much recycling of plastic, paper or anything else for that matter whilst I’ve been in Malawi so this seemed an unusual choice.

Here’s to a very happy and healthy 2013 for us all! 

More firsts!

The weekend before last, 10^th – 11^th  November, I felt I was seeing and experiencing lots more new things in Malawi. The truth is I see new things every single day. I never cease to be amazed.

1. No carrier bags in the supermarket, thankfully I hadn’t bought too much and was able to take the trolley to the car to load up my shopping. I’ve not seen any recycling initiatives since I been here although colleagues tell me there is some newspaper recycling. Some of the shops sell bags similar to the Bags for Life ideas in UK supermarkets although I’ve seen very few people using them. I have one and now need to invest in a couple more so that I’m ready for the next time there are no carrier bags. I’m pretty sure there will be a next time!
   
   
2. A deaf teenager wearing a hearing aid and a tee shirt from International Week of the Deaf. From my time with the National Deaf Children’sSociety, I know that being disabled in a developing country often means you are stigmatised and have very very limited access to support that we take for granted in the UK. I was delighted for the teenager that he had a hearing aid and had also been part of a worldwide event.
   
   
3. Believe it or not I was up early on the Sunday and went, for the first time, to St Peter’s, my local Anglican church. The service started at 7.30am, according to the notice board. I arrived early (unusually for me!). More details about the whole service in another post! This was my first experience of a bilingual church service. Thankfully, the prayer book had Chichewa on one page and English  on the facing page so I was able to follow the service. Where the Chichewa wasn’t too complicated to pronounce, I was even able to join in! My knowledge of Chichewa increased from zikomo (thank you) to include Ambuye, mutichitire chifundo (Lord have mercy). A great way to start the day.  If you want to learn prayers in Chichewa have a look here. Be warned, lots of the words have lots of constants (eat your heart out Carol Vorderman!)  
   
   I’d not expected any reference to Remembrance Day and there wasn’t but the service did end with the hymn “O God our help in ages past” so I felt I’d been part of the service of Remembrance despite being 4,948 miles away (yes I checked the distance on this website!)
   
   
4. Last Sunday (18^th) as I drove back from a colleague’s house I had to take a second look when I saw a man pushing a baby in a buggy. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’ve not seen a single buggy since I've been here, not even one  being used by Europeans. 

Is it a coincidence?

Last weekend, I tried Lesley’s recipe and thoroughly enjoyed the beanfeast. I’ll post all the details in the Challenge section. Hope some of you also tried the menu. A colleague came for dinner to act as my guinea pig and, I am relieved to say, she lived to tell the tale!

While I was in cooking mode I also tried a Trotter’s jelly. The recipe also includes condensed milk to make it more like a mousse. Thankfully, my colleague was too full to try the pudding. Let’s just say I tried it on Monday evening and on Tuesday and Wednesday was trotting to the bathroom! The hint was obviously in the name (yes – you can laugh although I wasn’t at the time!)