Don't read if you are Hungry! PS. Safari Photos


In Africa, if you want something that reminds you home, you have to make it. In America you can walk into a grocery store and find everything: bagels, donuts, good bread, cheese, sour cream, pumpkin puree, creamer, hummus and more. In Africa you have much more limited options, even in the nicest grocery stores in the capital. So, I’ve learned how to make so many things. Each of these things has a memory attached to it: from people trying a new food, to learning to make something with my new friends. 

So far my most popular treat has been Hotteok, or sweet Korean pancakes. I highly recommend you try this wherever you are! You can find box mixes in Asian markets like the 888 Market in Kansas City.  You make this super light sweet dough and let it rise for an hour. Then you mix brown sugar and cinnamon together for the filling. (Side note: you have to make your own brown sugar here too by mixing molasses and sugar together, the more molasses the darker the brown sugar.) After its done rising, you put a spoonful of the filling into a flattened ball of dough. Then you close it up and put it in a pan with a bit of oil and fry both sides. It’s soooo good. I made these the night that we were having a typhoid outbreak at the Secondary School here. I was up at the directors house and their mom was gone at the Hospital and we had 7 kids to entertain. After that night, almost every time I am up at the house one of them asks me when I am going to make them next. Who would have thought that a Korean dish would be my thing in Africa? (Try making if for yourself with this recipe: My Korean Kitchen Hotteok)

At the farm, we have some dairy cows and we are able to purchase fresh milk… and since there is no sour cream and only very expensive cheese and butter, I’ve been experimenting. The first time I made sour cream was on accident. I had separated the cream from the milk and left it in the fridge to make butter later. I forgot about it for 3 days or so and tried shaking the container to make butter, but it wouldn’t separate — and then I tried it. It tasted exactly like sour cream! I was thrilled. I made pita bread quesadillas the next day. Butter has been pretty straight forward, but cheese has been harder. 

To make cheese I’ve let the milk turn into keifer and then used a scarf to strain off the whey. I let it dry for a day and then salt and season it. It’s been ok. I’ve also tried to make cream cheese by almost boiling the milk and then using lemon juice to curd it. I think I might have used too much lemon juice, because it was a little weird. I still have some more experimentation I need to do, but its definitely been an interesting experience. In some ways I feel like I’m homesteading without any of the hard parts of raising cattle or maintaining a garden. 

My personal favorite so far has been a batch of donuts I made with some of the girls/moms here. I convinced the girls that instead of cake we should make donuts! We found a recipe and started the process. The dough turned out so perfect. Then Amber, the mom of the new family here, made a custard pineapple filling and I made a glaze and we made the most perfect filled donuts ever! They were better than Krispy Cream or even Yo’s!

The main meal I’ve made and been pretty proud of is Orange Gluten, or Orange Chicken made with gluten instead of chicken. I made gluten meat substitute for the first time and a the orange chicken glaze. It was the perfect thing to satisfy our cravings for Chinese food. The first time I made if for the SMs, the second time, which turned out even better, I made it for all the expats. It’s amazing how creative you can be when you have nothing to fall back on. 

        Some honorable mentions are the Everything Bagels I made for the very first time. Tortillas that Jane and I made, they’ve been great for breakfast burritos. Buttermilk biscuits I made on my birthday that turned out perfectly flakey. Grandma Fran’s bread that we ate in a day. Banana Bread with my mom’s recipe, using homemade sour cream and butter, that makes 4 loaves at a time and is gone within a few days, if that long. 



Cooking has always been something I looked at as an unfortunate necessity in the States, but here I’ve found it to be a creative outlet and an enjoyable challenge. Baking/cooking has been a great way to get to know people and to share a little bit of yummy happiness with those around me. There are some days I wonder if God actually sent me to Africa to learn how to enjoy cooking!


PS.  Some Photos of the our weekend trip to Lower Zambezi National Park. 








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