Flora Family

Bekah Cooking

November 7, 2009 

Today, mom and I spent the morning in the kitchen. I love to cook! I only had one “accident”. I cracked the egg just fine, it just didn’t make it into the bowl. Mom said that I was just learning and it was ok. Here is the recipe I used to make my cookies. They were so good that Mom let me eat 5!

Macaroons 

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup melted butter or shortening (we don’t have shortening where we live in Africa, so I used butter)

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

2 cups corn flakes

1 t soda

½ t baking powder

2 cups flour

2 cups oats

 Cream sugar and butter/shortening. Beat eggs and add to sugar mixture. Mix flour, soda, and baking powder. Add to creamed mixture. Stir in corn flakes and oats. My arm got real tired, so you might need help mixing.

November 1, 2009-YUMMMMMMYYY!!!

Pumpkin Pie Cake…I was able to make this the other day because I had packed a few cake mixes in our crate!

1 can pumpkin..I used butternut squash-2 cups

1 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

4 eggs

1 can evaporated milk

1 t ginger

2 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

dash of cloves

Mix all above ingredients together.  Pour into greased 9×13 pan.  Sprinkle one yellow cake mix over the batter.  Pour 1 c melted butter over the top and if you have them, top with 1 c nuts.  Bake at 350 for about an hour.  Watch it closely in the last 15 minutes or so.

Bob’s Apples…You’ve Got to Try These!

Do you know Bob?  Bob is a friend of ours from Hamlin Baptist Church.  Bob was in the senior adult class and he is a VERY good cook!  One of Gracie’s favorite “Bob Dishes” was his cinnamon apples. This is my version of Bob’s Apples:

10 golden delicious apples, peeled and sliced

1 box of Red Hots-mine were sent to me in a care package–these are the big  boxes

1 qt of water

1  1/2 cups of sugar

Melt Red Hots in water.  Add sugar and apples.  Simmer until apples are tender.  Enjoy!

In the villages that are along the paved road there are always women sitting under a piece of tin, just outside a shack, or near the sign designating a taxi stop.  They are all selling their goods, sometimes fruit, sometimes “MAQENYAS”.  Maqenyas are donut like bread about the size of a golfball.  Our girls love them.  We don’t allow them to eat many things from the roadside stands, but maqenyas are safe.  You can get 1 maqenya for 1 rand here in Katse, and for 1/2 a rand in the Mokhotlong region.  We have learned how to make them at home and thought we would share the recipe with you.  If you go to Zambia, it won’t do you any good to ask for a maqenya, they call them “fritas” there.

2 cups flour

2 TB sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup warm milk or water-we use milk

Mix together for about 5 minutes.  Drop into hot oil until brown.  They are especially good if your husband makes them and you sit patiently at the kitchen table.

If this doesn’t sound good, you can try this…

Dried Fish...a famous Zambian snack...Smells AWFUL!

What do you feed your family when you are stuck at the Baptist Mission in JoBurg and are sick of eating out and really can’t afford another meal at McDonalds? (There really is a McDonalds in Africa…Bekah thinks it is the best thing in the world when she gets to eat there, I think the food is horrible)

Peanut Butter and Crackers

1. Buy Salti Cracks…these are the African version of saltines, but are round and hard

2. Open the jar of Peanut Butter, crunchy is preferable…the best African brand is “Yum-Yum”.  It is sold in kg containers, so when using your peanut butter for a recipe you have to convert to the American measurement system.

3. Smear it on the cracker…I have had to use my finger when I forgot the utensils.

4.  Convince your kids that this really is enough to be considered a meal.  You don’t always have to have all of the food groups represented  at each and every meal and there is NO dessert. (this is Rebekah’s greatest concern at meal time)

5.  ALWAYS ask God to bless your meal, no matter what you are eating:

peanut butter and crackers

papa

moroho

or caterpillars.

What if you had to cook your meals like my friend Tolerance?

Peanut Butter Bars

1 c sugar, 1 c margarine, 1 c brown sugar, 2 eggs, 1 c peanut butter (we like crunchy), ½ t salt, 1 t baking soda, ½ t vanilla, 2 c flour, 2 c oats, chocolate chips

Mix it all together. Put half in 9×13 pan and press down, sprinkle with chocolate, put remainder of batter on top and finish with more chocolate chips. I buy my chocolate chips from a tiny store in JoBurg. The ones in the regular grocery stores are very expensive and taste a little strange. Even in JoBurg they are expensive, but we splurge from time to time. This recipe is a favorite of my family and all the children in the village where we are served it. The crispy edges are my favorite!

Morning Glory Muffins

Because cooking here takes up so much of my time, I have started cooking in “bulk.”  I made this recipe recently when our Cluster leader and his family came to stay with us for the weekend.  I made the muffins ahead of time and froze them.  They are great if you take them out of the freezer about an hour before you want to eat them.  The recipe makes 6 dozen muffins.

2 cups raisins, 8 cups flour, 4 cups sugar, 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons baking soda, 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 2 teaspoons salt, 12 eggs, 8 cups grated carrots, 4 cups grated apples, 2 cups almonds (toasted-I didn’t have these and they still tasted great), 2 cups of coconut (I have always had issues with coconut-I feel like I am eating hair-in Africa, the coconut is grated really fine and I can swallow it), 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons vanilla, 2 2/3 cups oil

Plump the raisins in hot water and drain.  In a large bowl, whisk eggs, the oil and vanilla.  Stir in carrots, apples, almonds, coconut, and raisins.  In another large bowl, mix dry ingredients together well.  Pour wet ingredients over dry.  Mix until just combined, not too much mixing.  Spoon into grease muffin tins.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, unless you live the mountains of Lesotho.  If you live here you have to do things a little differently….mix in SUPER large bowl (the baking soda and powder seem to REALLY work here)…check them 100 times while cooking in the oven…they are not done the first time you look and can burn before you turn around….make LOTS of everything….missionary husbands have a big appetite due to the altitude   ENJOY!

Living in Africa has been a huge learning experience.  I THOUGHT I knew how to cook, and then I moved to the mountains of Lesotho.  I have decided to share a few of my favorite recipes on our blog site.  These have all been tried and tested and are sure to please the smallest Haitian all the way up to the oldest Basotho language tutor.  Enjoy!

Bahobe (Bread)

Heavenly Dinner Rolls:  this recipe makes tons of bread.  Be sure to mix it in a super large mixing bowl.  When you allow it to rise for the two hours required, it comes alive.  Believe me you will have a BIG MESS if you don’t mix in a super large bowl.  The rolls are best if you mix the dough according to directions, let rise, and then refrigerator and use tomorrow.  You also need to store in the refrigerator in a super large container…cold temperatures make it grow too.  I use a sprayed muffin pan to bake in.  The dough keeps for several days in the refrigerator.  Rebekah asked me why I didn’t make this bread when we lived in Springfield.  I said, “Why should I have, I had Dillon’s!?”

2 packages of active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water-I have learned that if your water is too hot or too cold you have a gummy mess

4 cups of warm milk

1 cup sugar

1 cup shortening-I can’t get shortening here, I use butter

7 to 7 1/2 cups of flour-I use cake flour, because that is the best I can find in Lesotho or South Africa

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

In the SUPER large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water.  Add milk, sugar, shortening, and 4 cups of flour, beat until smooth. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours.  Add baking powder, soda, salt, and enough of the remaining flour to form a soft, slightly sticky dough.  Put in SUPER LARGE container with cover and refrigerate until ready to use.  Yummy!