Delicacies in the Rough, Episode 1: Escarole and Olive Pie

My Mom sent me this awesome cook book for my birthday, Williams-Sonoma Vegetable of the Day. She knew that I avoided buying meat in the market place (who knows how long that's been dead, in the sun, and buzzing with flies? It sure doesn't smell appetizing). So she sent me great vegetarian recipes with a side of mouth-watering photographs. 

Of course, availability of ingredients is not the same here as it is in the U.S. Produce actually has seasons, and those seasons are completely unrelated to American seasons. I mean, I can't even say "summer vacation" here without getting blank stares, because there is no summer. Besides which, super markets here are not comparable to supermarkets chez moi aux États-Unis. If I'm lucky, I can find things like raisins (many Lebanese immigrants) and soy sauce (many Chinese immigrants). Sometimes I can even find French-style cream cheese called Kiri or Gruyère, and for a small fortune it can be mine! But I definitely cannot find bacon or chicken broth or coriander or frozen puff pastry. Or anything frozen, for that matter. 

To make matters worse, my kitchen is actually a corner of the biggest room in my house. It includes: a long table with four cabinets, a water filtration system, a gas canister, a gas stove with 2 spots, and one lightbulb. Not exactly the dream kitchen… 

But that's what makes it such an adventure! So this feature of my blog, Cooking in the Rough, is all about my favorite obsession, food, and learning to make it with what I've got. It will feature some recipes from this cookbook, from the semi-official PC cookbook Chop Fayner, from my family cookbook, and from Cameroonian neighbors. 

Recipe 1: Escarole & Olive Pie

From: Williams-Sonoma Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

A Day in the #PCVLife

I don't think that people were really meant to live by themselves, though to be fair some people love it. And in Cameroon at least, all Peace Corps Volunteers live alone in their own (rented) houses or apartments or compounds. Rumor has it we live alone because otherwise we would kill each other after coming home from high stress days to highly stressed roommates. Whatever the reason, we do live alone and we all deal with it differently. Some PCVs listen to music constantly, others watch seemingly infinite TV shows, others are addicted to podcasts, still others wander around talking to themselves. And me - I read and write. I write in my journal, I write blog posts, I write letters and emails and Facebook message (some of which I never send). As I approach the 8 month mark of this adventure (May 11), I have filled up my second journal and started on my third and the need to get all these thoughts out of my head and onto the page seems infinite.

Murals are for Men?

I just had the satisfaction of my first COMPLETED project: a mural at a local elementary school, including a map of world and simplified children's rights. The teachers are thrilled: there are virtually no maps in the school, except a map of Cameroon and a map of Africa in the geography books used by the oldest students, so they're excited about it as a teaching tool. The students seemed pretty happy too. 

I'm excited about it too, for a variety of reasons. First, I think it's important for everyone to understand geography and the world. Here, some kids can't distinguish between South America and Africa and Cameroon. I hope this makes a small difference.