Sika | June 22, 2009
Cocoa is something that just isn’t that useful most of the time. But in cold season, hot cocoa may just be the best thing ever in the whole entire world.
Mix in a cup:
2-3 heaping teaspoons cocoa
1-2 heaping tablespoons sugar
3 heaping tablespoons powdered milk
Dash of vanilla (optional, but nearly always worth it)
Healthy dash of cinnamon (optional, [...]
Sika | June 22, 2009
This is one of my favorite dishes, and is Malawian with a twist. You can use different greens, too, like spinach or bonongwe or Chinese cabbage or anything else you like. Mnkhwani (Pumpkin Leaves) are my favorite, though.
1 small onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups pumpkin leaves prepared and thinly cut
1½ tsp dried ginger
2 [...]
Sika | June 22, 2009
For the crust:
1/3 cup margarine
1 cup flour
¼ cup sugar
Dash cinnamon (optional)
For the filling:
2 Tbs flour
¼ tsp baking powder
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbs finely shredded lemon peel
Juice from 2 lemons
dash vanilla
In a small bowl mix flour, sugar, and cinnamon for the crust. Cut in the margarine and mix until crumbly. Press the mixture into the bottom [...]
Sika | June 22, 2009
The best cake recipes, probably in the whole world, are written by Nigella Lawson. But I like to mix and match my favorite recipes.
Cakes
Yellow cake with custard powder:
200 g plain flour
3 tbsp custard powder
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
4 eggs
225 g soft butter
200 g caster/regular sugar
2 tbsp milk
Make sure everything you need [...]
Sika | June 22, 2009
This is one of my common recipes that I just make up as I go along. Amounts are estimates, not hard and fast rules. This can feed two-four depending on the hunger and what ndiwo is available..
Cook until slightly more undercooked than al dente, then drain and set aside
½ bag of noodles—not spaghetti.
While the noodles [...]
Sika | June 22, 2009
My favorite banana bread recipe didn’t make the cut into the second edition of the Peace Corps Malawi cookbook. So, I’m going to reprint it here. This banana bread is very moist, but doesn’t rise much and is very pale. It’s not the most attractive banana bread, but it sure is yummy.
Preheat oven to 170°C [...]
Sika | June 22, 2009
These are the absolutely best fudgey brownies on the face of the earth. If you like cakey brownies, these are not for you.
Preheat oven to 150°C or 300°F
Mix dry ingredients well:
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup flour
¼ t salt
2 cups sugar (sometimes I use brown sugar to make it more caramel-y tasting. This is Malawi brown [...]
Sika | June 22, 2009
I have had many requests for the recipes I use regularly. So, I’m going to write some of my favorites as well as the modifications I use to make them work in Malawi.
I’m going to post the recipe I got from this amazing book for Vegetable Pilau first, because it’s one of my favorites, it [...]
Sika | June 22, 2009
Derek recently said that you don’t really need any other forms of entertainment other than following politics here. I can only give a brief summary, because it’s taken me too long to write this post, and so I’ve forgotten details.
Ok, so let’s start with the media, in the recent election, was for the most part [...]
Sika | June 18, 2009
There was an article recently about the high cost of poverty in the US. While I thought the author for that article could have come up with better examples, it was interesting and reframed some random thoughts I’ve been having about Malawi. It’s really expensive to have anything here. For one thing, Malawi (the [...]
Sika | June 16, 2009
Obviously, I have not figured out how to properly use this function yet, but I’m sure it’ll be AWESOME when I do, ‘coz Sony wouldn’t do me wrong, would it?
Oh, and it’s actually worse today. Noel and I are going to try to swap out my hard drive into Denise’s (Thanks, Denise!)old laptop tonight, and [...]
Sika | June 16, 2009
In a country known for its interesting fashion sense, I saw what is perhaps the best outfit ever. Believe me when I say this guy has a lot of competition here. To start with, while gender roles are even more rigidly adhered to here, the whole concept of pink being a girl’s colour seems to [...]
Sika | June 15, 2009
Oh, my technological gurus:
The monitor on my laptop cracked. Again. Bastard. (For the record, I literally did nothing to make it crack in the first place. One night it was fine, the next morning it was cracked.) I can now use less than half of the screen, which means, I’m in the market for a [...]
Sika | June 11, 2009
Besides when I go to the chip stand and small children literally run screaming from me?
When I go to the chip stand and find fried plastic in my egg.
Mmmmm, bonus plastic!
Sika | June 10, 2009
Someone pointed out to the prison officials at Zomba Central that an old, tattered, faded Malawian flag might not be the best thing in the world to have flying at a government institution. So, they decided to replace it with a fresh, clean, bright and shiny Malawian flag.
So bright and shiny in fact, that it [...]