HOW TO MAKE PEANUT BUTTER STEW FOR THE THIRD TIME
1. Try making peanut butter stew, based largely on guessing what might be in it.
2. Try again, but this time with chicken.
3. Your family comes! Zoom around MaxMart with Ruth, but be sure to pick up some chicken while you're there. If they ask if you want it cut up, you do. Unless you have one of these at home. Awww yeeeah.
4. Reflect upon how rubbery the chicken skin got last time you made it.
5. Granted, that chicken had probably sat out in the heat for a few hours. The MaxMart chicken is air-cooled for sale to obruni.
6. Get down to business, if only so you won't feel like you're eating out so much when your Mom is here, or that you'll go from being charming regulars to "really, you again?" at the Nigerian place.
7. Crap. Out of fuel. Call Mr. Larteh.
8. Cover your cookie sheet with super-thin Ghanaian tinfoil. It's like rice paper made of metal. How do they get it so thin?
9. Pre-heat the oven. Not to any particular temperature, just "pretty hot."
10. Spread the chicken out on the cookie sheet and dab some butter on top. Put in oven.
11. Bake the chicken until it seems almost done, about 45 minutes or so. Leave a couple of pieces in there for Ruth to eat plain, since she's not going to eat the peanut butter stew.
12. Meanwhile, put some palm oil in a skillet. Heat it up until it stops looking like glop and starts smelling kind of good.
13. Slice up a largeish red onion. If it's not red, enh. Put in the oil.
14. Chop up some garlic, throw it in.
15. Peel a hunk of ginger, and chop it up. If you're using Ghanaian ginger, it's not that strong, so put in more than you think you'll need.
16. Sprinkle the whole mess with some salt, but not too too much.
17. Oh, wait! Ruth will never eat this anyway. Slit a hot pepper or two and throw it in.
18. Saute for a while. You've got time, while the chicken bakes (this will massively improve the skin - I don't know if it's what Ghanaians do, but it seemed to work). When the onions are translucent and soft, you're probably in business. Don't wait for them to caramelize; they probably won't, in palm oil.
19. Add a whole mess of tomatoes, chopped up. If you don't live near Night Market, it's probably fine to use canned diced tomatoes. How many? A whole mess. If you've added almost all your tomatoes, come on, throw in those last two. What are you going to do with two tomatoes?
20. Cook until the tomatoes start to break down, probably until it's time to take the chicken out of the oven.
21. Put the chicken in a large pot, and then mix in the veggies. Add water until the melange is just about covered - Ghanaian peanut butter stew/groundnut soup is not very thick. You want it to be just north of watery, not watery, but not peanut buttery.
22. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to the most gentle simmer you can get away with. Stir in some mix'py (if you are a yank, maybe try Goya Sazon, or a boullion cube?).
23. Add some more palm oil to your skillet. When it's hot, dump in some peanut butter - all-natural stuff, I can't say what will happen if you try this with Jif or some crap. You want enough to thicken your stew a bit, but again, not to overwhelm. I start with 2/3c and eyeball it from there, but I like peanut butter. Fry the peanut butter in the oil for a bit. I don't know if this accomplishes anything, but my Ghanaian grad student suggested that I do it, so hey, can't hurt.
24. Add the peanut butter to the stew. Throw in some honey. If you don't have Ghanaian honey, try molasses. This is probably optional, but I thought it added a nice flavor dimension.
25. Simmer. Don't rush this! Keep the heat pretty low, and simmer until the meat is starting to pull away from the bones. Take the time to make some rice and nurse a Star.
26. Are you drinking a Club? Get out of my kitchen.
27. Serve the whole thing over rice. Enjoy that your family likes it (well, Ruth will eat the reserved chicken and some plain rice). Hope that Melissa makes it at home and thinks of you.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Ghana, Day 61 - Crisis on Infinite Blogs!
Hi all!
I'm still in Ghana, but now so is Ruth. So this blog will be having a very special, die-cut, foil-cover, limited edition crossover event! For updates on Ghana until Nov. 8, when Ruth leaves, please head on over to the blog we will use to embarrass Ruth in front of her first boyfriend or girlfriend:
21st Century Digital Kid
I'm still in Ghana, but now so is Ruth. So this blog will be having a very special, die-cut, foil-cover, limited edition crossover event! For updates on Ghana until Nov. 8, when Ruth leaves, please head on over to the blog we will use to embarrass Ruth in front of her first boyfriend or girlfriend:
21st Century Digital Kid
Monday, October 3, 2011
Ghana, Day 52 - Achievement Unlocked: Research Authorization
Hi Ruth!
I'm still in Ghana. I know you're not going to be able to read this before you get here, and frankly I'm a little distracted by how excited I am that you're coming! But I wanted to write about today so that you'd know that your Dad does some work here in Ghana, actually.
So far, I've mostly been teaching my classes and writing about some research I did before, because I've been waiting for the people in charge of the soldiers here to say it was OK to talk to them. I know it may seem silly to have to ask permission just to talk to someone, but in a lot of places soldiers know things that they aren't supposed to tell anyone else, and so they wanted to make sure that I wouldn't ask any questions that they might not want me to know the answers to.
But, finally, last week, when I called to ask, "is it OK for me to talk to the soldiers now?" Commander W told me that, yes, they'd decided it was OK (whew!) and that I should come to meet the person who would help me arrange my research on Monday, which is today.
So today I took the tro-tro down to Burma Camp again, and met with General A, who is in charge of a lot of the work the soldiers do with peacekeeping. We had a nice chat, and he wanted to know some more things about my research, and then we set a way to go forward.
One thing he told me, that was interesting, was that the soldiers were extra-nervous right now about anyone - like me - who might write things about what they thought because recently a lot of things came out that people in the government of Ghana said that they didn't want other people to know about.
This is a little bit complicated to explain! [Adults: Wikileaks.] When people in governments talk to each other, they sometimes do it in secret. And sometimes, when people think that what they are saying is a secret, they will say things that they wouldn't if they knew people were listening.
Sometimes, it is OK to have secrets. Sometimes you need to be able to say what you really think, or be angry, or upset with someone, and say things that you wouldn't want everyone to hear. And sometimes the things that people in government say could get people hurt if everyone knew it - like if someone is talking about bad things going on in their country, and they might get in trouble for telling someone about it, even though it's usually good to say when something wrong is going on.
But a little while ago, some people found a whole bunch of things that people in our government, the USA, told people from other governments, or were told by people from other governments, in secret. And then they told everyone those things that were supposed to be secret! Some people think this was a wrong thing to do. I think it was mostly a right thing to do, because a lot of the secrets that our government was keeping - sorry to say, kiddo - were about things that we shouldn't be doing. And maybe now that more people know about it, some of it will stop.
But part of the secrets that got told were about lots of people in the Ghana government mostly not really talking about things that were wrong, but just saying things that were mean and embarrassing - like that they thought someone else in the government was stupid. So it made a lot of people angry, and even though I say I won't tell who told me what when I write things about what I learn here, people are very nervous that something more embarrassing might get out. So they just want to make sure they know what kinds of questions I'm asking. And, I do promise people that I won't say who told me what, so if there is something wrong that shouldn't be kept secret, they can tell me, without being afraid. But mostly this time I'm not asking the kind of questions that ask about things that might be secret - but you never know!
Anyway, since Burma Camp is near the US Embassy, afterwards, I walked over - and I had more mail! I got mail from you, and Grammy, and Aunt Connie and Sharon this time! With cool art!
And then I came home, and cleaned a little, and ate dinner, because you have to eat dinner, and talked to Mommy a little, and now I'm just waiting waiting waiting for you to get here!
!!!
I'm still in Ghana. I know you're not going to be able to read this before you get here, and frankly I'm a little distracted by how excited I am that you're coming! But I wanted to write about today so that you'd know that your Dad does some work here in Ghana, actually.
So far, I've mostly been teaching my classes and writing about some research I did before, because I've been waiting for the people in charge of the soldiers here to say it was OK to talk to them. I know it may seem silly to have to ask permission just to talk to someone, but in a lot of places soldiers know things that they aren't supposed to tell anyone else, and so they wanted to make sure that I wouldn't ask any questions that they might not want me to know the answers to.
But, finally, last week, when I called to ask, "is it OK for me to talk to the soldiers now?" Commander W told me that, yes, they'd decided it was OK (whew!) and that I should come to meet the person who would help me arrange my research on Monday, which is today.
So today I took the tro-tro down to Burma Camp again, and met with General A, who is in charge of a lot of the work the soldiers do with peacekeeping. We had a nice chat, and he wanted to know some more things about my research, and then we set a way to go forward.
 |
| From Where in the World is Dad? |
One thing he told me, that was interesting, was that the soldiers were extra-nervous right now about anyone - like me - who might write things about what they thought because recently a lot of things came out that people in the government of Ghana said that they didn't want other people to know about.
This is a little bit complicated to explain! [Adults: Wikileaks.] When people in governments talk to each other, they sometimes do it in secret. And sometimes, when people think that what they are saying is a secret, they will say things that they wouldn't if they knew people were listening.
Sometimes, it is OK to have secrets. Sometimes you need to be able to say what you really think, or be angry, or upset with someone, and say things that you wouldn't want everyone to hear. And sometimes the things that people in government say could get people hurt if everyone knew it - like if someone is talking about bad things going on in their country, and they might get in trouble for telling someone about it, even though it's usually good to say when something wrong is going on.
But a little while ago, some people found a whole bunch of things that people in our government, the USA, told people from other governments, or were told by people from other governments, in secret. And then they told everyone those things that were supposed to be secret! Some people think this was a wrong thing to do. I think it was mostly a right thing to do, because a lot of the secrets that our government was keeping - sorry to say, kiddo - were about things that we shouldn't be doing. And maybe now that more people know about it, some of it will stop.
But part of the secrets that got told were about lots of people in the Ghana government mostly not really talking about things that were wrong, but just saying things that were mean and embarrassing - like that they thought someone else in the government was stupid. So it made a lot of people angry, and even though I say I won't tell who told me what when I write things about what I learn here, people are very nervous that something more embarrassing might get out. So they just want to make sure they know what kinds of questions I'm asking. And, I do promise people that I won't say who told me what, so if there is something wrong that shouldn't be kept secret, they can tell me, without being afraid. But mostly this time I'm not asking the kind of questions that ask about things that might be secret - but you never know!
Anyway, since Burma Camp is near the US Embassy, afterwards, I walked over - and I had more mail! I got mail from you, and Grammy, and Aunt Connie and Sharon this time! With cool art!
 |
| From Where in the World is Dad? |
And then I came home, and cleaned a little, and ate dinner, because you have to eat dinner, and talked to Mommy a little, and now I'm just waiting waiting waiting for you to get here!
!!!
Ghana, Day 52 - Mommy Prep!
Hi Ruth!
I'm still in Ghana, getting ready for you and Mommy to come.
Additional Ruth prep:
X Get paper, watercolor paints, and crayons
X Get extra sheet for Ruth's bed (I know you're a big girl who has said goodbye to diapers, but just in case)
Mommy prep:
X Clean, scrub, and mop bathroom (even behind the sink pedestal and the toilet)
X Get Mr. Sowah's number so I can call for water
Replace shower head (need a different wrench, but hopefully Dr. Carl's friend Dr. Ralf can lend me one)
X Chill wine
X Get fresh papaya and avocado
Get fresh pineapple
X Sweep bedroom, living room, and hallway
X Scrub kitchen counters
X Do all the dishes
X Arrange pick-up with Mr. Lartey
X Get phone with my number and Grammy and Grampy's number in it
Mop kitchen floor
I'm still in Ghana, getting ready for you and Mommy to come.
Additional Ruth prep:
X Get paper, watercolor paints, and crayons
X Get extra sheet for Ruth's bed (I know you're a big girl who has said goodbye to diapers, but just in case)
Mommy prep:
X Clean, scrub, and mop bathroom (even behind the sink pedestal and the toilet)
X Get Mr. Sowah's number so I can call for water
Replace shower head (need a different wrench, but hopefully Dr. Carl's friend Dr. Ralf can lend me one)
X Chill wine
X Get fresh papaya and avocado
Get fresh pineapple
X Sweep bedroom, living room, and hallway
X Scrub kitchen counters
X Do all the dishes
X Arrange pick-up with Mr. Lartey
X Get phone with my number and Grammy and Grampy's number in it
Mop kitchen floor
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Ghana, Day 50 - Ruth Prep!
Hi Ruth!
I'm still in Ghana, and going to see you VERY SOON! Today I worked, but I also did some preparations for when you get here.
First, I put together the bed that I borrowed for you from Dr. Bill and Ms. Theresa.
Then, I made some granola for you.
Next, I'll make some bread, and tomorrow I'll give the whole flat a thorough cleaning. Probably not good enough for Mommy, but I'll try!
I'm still in Ghana, and going to see you VERY SOON! Today I worked, but I also did some preparations for when you get here.
First, I put together the bed that I borrowed for you from Dr. Bill and Ms. Theresa.
 |
| From Where in the World is Dad? |
Then, I made some granola for you.
 |
| From Where in the World is Dad? |
Next, I'll make some bread, and tomorrow I'll give the whole flat a thorough cleaning. Probably not good enough for Mommy, but I'll try!
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