Here in Liberia, Ice cream is definitely a luxury...or at least this brand is! (Click for a closer look!)
That's right folks, it's $25 twenty-five dollars, United States Dollars!!!
Credit to finding-joy.blogspot.com for the picture
Friday, May 30, 2008
Ice Cream in Liberia (Häagen-Dazs)
Here in Liberia, Ice cream is definitely a luxury...or at least this brand is! (Click for a closer look!)
That's right folks, it's $25 twenty-five dollars, United States Dollars!!!
Credit to finding-joy.blogspot.com for the picture
Banku and Kenkey (West African Foods)
As a follow-up or continuation of a previous post (Sea Monkey & Fufu), we will discuss Banku & Kenkey.
Banku and Kenkey are two more Fufu-like staples from Western Africa, served with a soup, stew, or sauce. They are particularly popular in Ghana. Both are usually made from ground corn (maize), although most of the Ghanaian people I have met say that only Banku is made from a mixture of maize and grated Cassava tuber. Kenkey is usually just the corn (maize).
Making Banku or Kenkey involves letting the maize (or maize and cassava tuber) ferment before cooking. Banku is cooked in a pot using hot water to make a smooth whitish consistent paste; Kenkey is partially cooked, then wrapped in banana leaves, maize or corn husks, or foil, and steamed.
Personally, I prefer the Banku. A few times now we have gone to a local ‘Ghanaian Restaurant’ here in Liberia where I have enjoyed the Banku several times (along with goat and chicken, okra stew, and ground pea soup (a soup made from ground peanuts, like unsweetened peanut butter), the Fufu is good, but I have had way more Fufu over the years than I have had Banku or Kenkey.
Notice the water basin and liquid soap in the picture? (curtesy of Atidekate)- food is eaten with the hands, Ghanaians are usually meticulous about carefully washing their hands before and after a meal. There’s a bar of soap or bottle of liquid soap on every table at the Ghanaian Restaurants I have been in.
Want to try out some Banku, Fufu, or other products? Scout around on the internet. Back home we had a large (more than one) Asian food store that had a West African aisle with a lot of products I am covering in these posts. May not be quite the same, but it will get you close, and sometimes just the memories of eating a particular food bring you back to that time and place.
Next addition we will cover the importance of RED PALM OIL and not trying to substitute it with other oils when making West African recipes. ITS NOT THE SAME!
Which will help bring me around to the Sanka Sauce and all its derivatives: Ground Pea Soup, Okra Stew, and other sauces…(like Palava).
* I am not an authority by any means on West African food or cooking, these are my personal views and experiences as they have happened to me and many of my friends who are from these regions of the world AND as I have worked with them and learned from them…*
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Sea Monkey and FuFu (West African Foods)
While reading another blog by a nurse whose post was about kids on the ward, she goes on to explain about a little boy, Alfred, shared his Fufu and Sea Monkey with her…(it *Sea Monkey* was not the focus of the blog, the kids were). But I (being the food person I am) zeroed in on the Sea Monkey.
I thought it would be interesting to some of you out there because in all reality you have probably already ate Sea Monkey and never knew it!
Oh! You say what about Fufu? I often forget about all these things as I have had a couple of ‘right hand man’ in the kitchen usually from West Africa since I started with Mercy Ships in 2001 on the Caribbean Mercy…Ok, let me delve into a small lecture on that one.
Fufu, or fu fu, is a staple food of West and Central Africa. It is a thick paste or porridge usually made by boiling starchy root vegetables in water and pounding with a large mortar and pestle until the desired consistency is reached. [this is basically true and was derived from wikipedia online...now let me deviate to what I personally have found is true in my experience]
In Western Africa, Fufu is usually made from cassava not yams (or at least parts I know something about, like Liberia, Ghana, Benin, Sierra Leone…although the one mixed with plantain seems to be a one of choice among my friends too) sometimes combined with cocoyam, plantains, or maize. In a later post we will get into Banku and Kenkey which are usually fermented before cooking (these are made from the corn maize). The Liberian Dumboy is made from cassava flour.
Often, the dish is still made by traditional methods: pounding and beating the base substance in a mortar with a wooden spoon. Places where poverty is not an issue, or where modern appliances are readily available, a food processor may also be used. Although be ready for scorn because as you may find out, purist do not believe in real Fufu love made in the processor. But if you make it without the processor It will quickly where your arm out making it for more than 4 people!
In Western and Central Africa, the more common method is to serve a mound of Fufu along with a sauce made from okra, fish, tomato, etc…(which we, Reuben & I renamed it Sanka Sauce years ago ~ more about that in another post) because the sauce has variations and can go by so many names. You pinch off a small ball of Fufu and make an indentation with the thumb. This “bowl” indentation is then filled with sauce, and the ball is eaten. In Ghana and Nigeria, the ball is often not chewed but swallowed whole. In fact, among the older generation, chewing Fufu is frowned upon/not accepted.
So for now ~ “to be continued…” as we cover the upcoming topics of Banku, Kenkey, & Sanka Sauce.
* I am not an authority by any means on West African food or cooking, these are my personal views and experiences as they have happened to me and many of my friends who are from these regions of the world*
*Sea Monkey* according to my Monrovia friends is a large fish (closely related to tuna or dolphin/or may even be tuna or dolphin - this is speculative) That is very dark in color and bloody.
And just to confirm it I asked our ward cook Ophelia who said, and I quote: “A very dark meat, from a big fish…like dolphin…”.
I thought it would be interesting to some of you out there because in all reality you have probably already ate Sea Monkey and never knew it!
Oh! You say what about Fufu? I often forget about all these things as I have had a couple of ‘right hand man’ in the kitchen usually from West Africa since I started with Mercy Ships in 2001 on the Caribbean Mercy…Ok, let me delve into a small lecture on that one.
Fufu, or fu fu, is a staple food of West and Central Africa. It is a thick paste or porridge usually made by boiling starchy root vegetables in water and pounding with a large mortar and pestle until the desired consistency is reached. [this is basically true and was derived from wikipedia online...now let me deviate to what I personally have found is true in my experience]
In Western Africa, Fufu is usually made from cassava not yams (or at least parts I know something about, like Liberia, Ghana, Benin, Sierra Leone…although the one mixed with plantain seems to be a one of choice among my friends too) sometimes combined with cocoyam, plantains, or maize. In a later post we will get into Banku and Kenkey which are usually fermented before cooking (these are made from the corn maize). The Liberian Dumboy is made from cassava flour.
Often, the dish is still made by traditional methods: pounding and beating the base substance in a mortar with a wooden spoon. Places where poverty is not an issue, or where modern appliances are readily available, a food processor may also be used. Although be ready for scorn because as you may find out, purist do not believe in real Fufu love made in the processor. But if you make it without the processor It will quickly where your arm out making it for more than 4 people!
In Western and Central Africa, the more common method is to serve a mound of Fufu along with a sauce made from okra, fish, tomato, etc…(which we, Reuben & I renamed it Sanka Sauce years ago ~ more about that in another post) because the sauce has variations and can go by so many names. You pinch off a small ball of Fufu and make an indentation with the thumb. This “bowl” indentation is then filled with sauce, and the ball is eaten. In Ghana and Nigeria, the ball is often not chewed but swallowed whole. In fact, among the older generation, chewing Fufu is frowned upon/not accepted.
So for now ~ “to be continued…” as we cover the upcoming topics of Banku, Kenkey, & Sanka Sauce.
* I am not an authority by any means on West African food or cooking, these are my personal views and experiences as they have happened to me and many of my friends who are from these regions of the world*
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Galley work increases, Staffing Fluctuates
I suppose you could call me a 'guest blogger' since it seems that its so long between posts of my wifes more exciting life in the Ward or ICU.
On my end, the days started getting long last week when we found out the crane for lifting our trash out of the kitchen (because we use big metal bins, you have to imagine a lot more trash from dining room and galley than those few bags you have at home) would be out of service till it could be fixed (and no one was available to do it over the weekend apparently). Hopefully they say it will be done by tomorrow.
We now have our vision trips starting to come to the ship. We also had 2 days of Pastors Conferences on board (Liberian pastors just in case there is some confusion). Both of these combined made plenty of extra work in the form of small lunches and dinners and planned meals for the pastors conference, special meetings, and vision trip people along with the feeding of the regular crew. AND to top it all off actual galley crew staffing is low.
[What is a Vision Trip? Simple answer: Mercy Ships vision trips are one week (maybe longer?) trips intended to give a small number of people a very detailed first hand view (on location, on the ship) of the ministry.]
But I do need to mention (for all the Tyler folks, but not to upset our Grace Community Church friends in Young Marrieds...) that we have had the pleasure of 5 hard workers from Green Acres Baptist Church working in our dining room and galley this past week, so that has DEFINITELY helped us out! Thank You! (here is a post from the Green Acres Pastor's blog - Pastor David Dykes)
I am now sitting at a small table in the 'cafe' area finally getting a little time off to relax and post this blog...while sipping on my chocolate mint latte. Stephanie is off for Bible study with the girls at a local orphanage (she's blogged about it in earlier posts).
Friday it will be the one year celebration of the 'Passing of the Torch' last year when I was recruited for the Maiden Voyage of the Africa Mercy when the retired Anastasis "transferred" over to the Africa Mercy - ..."Passing of the Torch" ceremony on board when the torch was passed from crew member to crew member starting from the top of the gangway of the Anastasis to the top of the gangway of the Africa Mercy.
We will have activities and dinner on the dock for all of this on Friday evening...so hopefully if all goes well BBQ Ribs, Chips/Fries, Baked Beans...coleslaw? rolls, etc...
Monday will bring another small luncheon for guests, separate from the rest of the crew and then, well, it just keeps going. Functions, special events, special meals, the daily feeding of the crew as usual.
Stephanie and I are doing great! But then again she is back on nights so there may be a 'grump' throw down (or fight for those of you who may not know this term) later this week to see who has the right to be grumpier and complain more from all the work we are doing...and whose working the hardest, and why we should be more sensitive to each other because we both tend to start feeling selfish. (this is a usual skirmish at the end of spells of night shift or hard working schedules, but nothing to be alarmed about) But Stephanie does tend to get mad when I laugh about it because I can almost predict it coming!
Well, just as a funny side note we are almost out of cheese and ice cream (for the whole ship)...but hey, I'd rather sacrifice that than my coffee!
[I know, I know, you are probably saying "YOU GOT ICE CREAM?!?!?"]
On my end, the days started getting long last week when we found out the crane for lifting our trash out of the kitchen (because we use big metal bins, you have to imagine a lot more trash from dining room and galley than those few bags you have at home) would be out of service till it could be fixed (and no one was available to do it over the weekend apparently). Hopefully they say it will be done by tomorrow.
We now have our vision trips starting to come to the ship. We also had 2 days of Pastors Conferences on board (Liberian pastors just in case there is some confusion). Both of these combined made plenty of extra work in the form of small lunches and dinners and planned meals for the pastors conference, special meetings, and vision trip people along with the feeding of the regular crew. AND to top it all off actual galley crew staffing is low.
[What is a Vision Trip? Simple answer: Mercy Ships vision trips are one week (maybe longer?) trips intended to give a small number of people a very detailed first hand view (on location, on the ship) of the ministry.]
But I do need to mention (for all the Tyler folks, but not to upset our Grace Community Church friends in Young Marrieds...) that we have had the pleasure of 5 hard workers from Green Acres Baptist Church working in our dining room and galley this past week, so that has DEFINITELY helped us out! Thank You! (here is a post from the Green Acres Pastor's blog - Pastor David Dykes)
I am now sitting at a small table in the 'cafe' area finally getting a little time off to relax and post this blog...while sipping on my chocolate mint latte. Stephanie is off for Bible study with the girls at a local orphanage (she's blogged about it in earlier posts).
Friday it will be the one year celebration of the 'Passing of the Torch' last year when I was recruited for the Maiden Voyage of the Africa Mercy when the retired Anastasis "transferred" over to the Africa Mercy - ..."Passing of the Torch" ceremony on board when the torch was passed from crew member to crew member starting from the top of the gangway of the Anastasis to the top of the gangway of the Africa Mercy.
We will have activities and dinner on the dock for all of this on Friday evening...so hopefully if all goes well BBQ Ribs, Chips/Fries, Baked Beans...coleslaw? rolls, etc...
Monday will bring another small luncheon for guests, separate from the rest of the crew and then, well, it just keeps going. Functions, special events, special meals, the daily feeding of the crew as usual.
Stephanie and I are doing great! But then again she is back on nights so there may be a 'grump' throw down (or fight for those of you who may not know this term) later this week to see who has the right to be grumpier and complain more from all the work we are doing...and whose working the hardest, and why we should be more sensitive to each other because we both tend to start feeling selfish. (this is a usual skirmish at the end of spells of night shift or hard working schedules, but nothing to be alarmed about) But Stephanie does tend to get mad when I laugh about it because I can almost predict it coming!
Well, just as a funny side note we are almost out of cheese and ice cream (for the whole ship)...but hey, I'd rather sacrifice that than my coffee!
[I know, I know, you are probably saying "YOU GOT ICE CREAM?!?!?"]
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Busy Body
Its been a busy time here since Friday and we are still waiting on the crane to be fixed before we can haul all the trash out in bulk instead of run it all up 2 or 3 decks to the empty bins on deck 8.
We have acquired a galley person in the salads section, and a 'loaner' from crew services...and from time to time I can talk my old (she's young) friend Tatyana from Brazil into doing a little galley work if she can get a babysitter! She used to work with me on another ship years ago, but has since become a mother and has more important priorities (no, not her husband, her other child!)
We have come to an end of the pastors conference, and soon to be finished vision trips (although its just temporary till the next one comes)...as the whole crew eats African food for African Night. And later after the dining room is cleaned quickly we refill for another 60 to 75 dinner guests with a church group that came to 'check us out'. They also are have the African Dinner.
What have all these 'African Dinners' consisted of? Besides West African style foods here is a more specific list:
Spicy baked/roasted chicken, with one of the following: peanut sauce, red sauce, palava sauce...
Rice / Jollof Rice
Spicy Black Eye Beans (black eyed peas, red palm oil, local peppers...)
Eggplant (skin, cube, saute with onion, garlic...later add tomato product like sauce, stewed, or past continue to cook)
Fried Plantains
Cassava/Potato Greens
The ward cook had a tasty looking dinner cooked for the patients yesterday made out of diced chicken, pumpkin, and of course a spicy tomato and red palm oil base.
This food is definitely high starch and not low fat...at least by Western standards.
We have acquired a galley person in the salads section, and a 'loaner' from crew services...and from time to time I can talk my old (she's young) friend Tatyana from Brazil into doing a little galley work if she can get a babysitter! She used to work with me on another ship years ago, but has since become a mother and has more important priorities (no, not her husband, her other child!)
We have come to an end of the pastors conference, and soon to be finished vision trips (although its just temporary till the next one comes)...as the whole crew eats African food for African Night. And later after the dining room is cleaned quickly we refill for another 60 to 75 dinner guests with a church group that came to 'check us out'. They also are have the African Dinner.
What have all these 'African Dinners' consisted of? Besides West African style foods here is a more specific list:
Spicy baked/roasted chicken, with one of the following: peanut sauce, red sauce, palava sauce...
Rice / Jollof Rice
Spicy Black Eye Beans (black eyed peas, red palm oil, local peppers...)
Eggplant (skin, cube, saute with onion, garlic...later add tomato product like sauce, stewed, or past continue to cook)
Fried Plantains
Cassava/Potato Greens
The ward cook had a tasty looking dinner cooked for the patients yesterday made out of diced chicken, pumpkin, and of course a spicy tomato and red palm oil base.
This food is definitely high starch and not low fat...at least by Western standards.
Alison
My friend Alison is leaving tomorrow. I will miss her. We have had many adventures together. We often went to the Royal Hotel for breakfast on our days off. It made me feel like my life was more normal than it really is since I live on a ship in Africa.
Alison has been at the center of fashion at the tailor and has inspired us to have him make us different things. We share a love of Anthropologie and have brought him many torn-out pages of the catalog and have been pleasantly surprised when it turns out exactly like we thought.
We have had many great talks and I will really miss her.
Alison has been at the center of fashion at the tailor and has inspired us to have him make us different things. We share a love of Anthropologie and have brought him many torn-out pages of the catalog and have been pleasantly surprised when it turns out exactly like we thought.
We have had many great talks and I will really miss her.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Seriously?
My friends Becky, Meghan, and I often sing the Switchfoot song "This is your life. Are you who you wanna be?" when some things happen that you just feel are completely ridiculous. On Grey's Anatomy, they say Seriously? Like, no way, this is not happening to me. The last 24 hours have been full of these moments.
Yesterday I helped carried a little 5-year-old girl, her name is Best, to the bathroom so she could use the potty. Well, Best does not have the best aim and my flip-flops (they flip and they flop, they are nothing as the Captain would say) and my toes quickly went from dry to saturated.
Today I went to ward nurse devotions on the dock. The topic was spiritual warfare. Not my favorite topic. I know it is real, but I feel like way too often we blame far too many things on spiritual warfare and do not take responsibility for our own actions and sin. I was only half listening, actually, I was looking up at the sky at some birds. I don't think I have ever seen a bird here in Liberia. As I was watching the birds fly above the 20 nurses out on the dock I thought I betcha that bird is going to ....... oh crap he pooped on me. Maybe I should give spiritual warfare more thought.
When I first came on to my night shift tonight, I went around to visit all my patients. Mary said that her IV site was hurting. As I placed a new IV, the tubing was not clamped blood came spurting out all over the bed and my pants.
There seems to be a theme. Should I walk around with an umbrella to shield away the next bodily fluid that is going to attack me? I am thinking that wearing a garbage bag over my clothes and an emesis basin on my head could be the obvious solution.
I have really been complaining a lot lately. Mostly about other people complaining. Today I spent most of the day really searching out how to find joy even in the irritations of life.
Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my anxious thoughts
I read this over and over again. What I took from it was that it is about what my thoughts are. I do not need to be concerned about others. It is only creating my own sin to complain about complainers. It sounds so simple as a write this, but it really was a revelation for me.
It is quite funny to me that I feel like God was trying to get my attention through bodily fluids, but it worked.
Yesterday I helped carried a little 5-year-old girl, her name is Best, to the bathroom so she could use the potty. Well, Best does not have the best aim and my flip-flops (they flip and they flop, they are nothing as the Captain would say) and my toes quickly went from dry to saturated.
Today I went to ward nurse devotions on the dock. The topic was spiritual warfare. Not my favorite topic. I know it is real, but I feel like way too often we blame far too many things on spiritual warfare and do not take responsibility for our own actions and sin. I was only half listening, actually, I was looking up at the sky at some birds. I don't think I have ever seen a bird here in Liberia. As I was watching the birds fly above the 20 nurses out on the dock I thought I betcha that bird is going to ....... oh crap he pooped on me. Maybe I should give spiritual warfare more thought.
When I first came on to my night shift tonight, I went around to visit all my patients. Mary said that her IV site was hurting. As I placed a new IV, the tubing was not clamped blood came spurting out all over the bed and my pants.
There seems to be a theme. Should I walk around with an umbrella to shield away the next bodily fluid that is going to attack me? I am thinking that wearing a garbage bag over my clothes and an emesis basin on my head could be the obvious solution.
I have really been complaining a lot lately. Mostly about other people complaining. Today I spent most of the day really searching out how to find joy even in the irritations of life.
Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my anxious thoughts
I read this over and over again. What I took from it was that it is about what my thoughts are. I do not need to be concerned about others. It is only creating my own sin to complain about complainers. It sounds so simple as a write this, but it really was a revelation for me.
It is quite funny to me that I feel like God was trying to get my attention through bodily fluids, but it worked.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Salmon, a good basic recipe
Its been pretty busy here on the ship. Especially in food services. We are catering a pastors conference on Monday and Tuesday (lunch only) and then an African Dinner (with West African style food, hence the name) on Tuesday night along with doing the African food for the regular crew that night also...and a lot of other little things going on...the founders of the Organization coming, a group from a church that has wanted to get involved, etc...
In the galley we have several holes in the floor past the tile and into the concrete trying to pinpoint a water leak in the floor itself, several food coolers going down at the same time, the crane (which lifts two big size rolling bins out of the ship with our massive trash in it) has broken down, a lull in staffing in food service right now (although said church is helping out tremendously when they can in the galley)...
Oh, thats right, Salmon! This basic brine or marinade is great especially for Salmon, but I have not really tried it with white fish, because I don't think it would look appealing when it changed the color of the white fish...but oh well, you can always try and see.
Only soak the fish in this mixture for 1 hour, and definitely not longer than 2 (for those of you who don't follow instructions good). Fish will take on flavors quick.
1/3 part sugar
2/3 part soy sauce
add fresh garlic as much as you want or powder till taste is strong
add fresh ginger as much as you want or powder till taste is strong
But use equal parts of garlic and ginger.
I don't really use a whole lot of measurements, I like ratios so it can be scaled up or down. The taste is supposed to be strong because the fish will push out some water AND because this taste will get diluted separated between the fish. This works great on baked, grilled, pan seared, and/or fried Salmon Fillets.
A good example of this recipe would be like this:
1 gallon soy sauce
1/2 gallon sugar
1/4 cup powdered ginger (or half cup fresh!)
1/4 cup powdered garlic (or half cup fresh!)
On the ship, the fish sometimes looks terrible baked in mass quantity with congealed Grey blood and such...so a mass quantity trick (or if its hard to bake flat that many pieces of fish like it is for us) is to flash fry or maybe more technically correct par-fry the fish in the deep fryer till they look good, or golden brown and crusty (but not till there done) and then fill up the hotel pans/chafing dishes and cover and finish cooking all the fish in the oven. Comes out wonderful, looks great, great texture and color on the outside, and tender & moist on the inside. That is, if you don't cook it too long and dry it out!
Thats it! Leave a comment if you have further questions on some of my techniques or recipes found here.
In the galley we have several holes in the floor past the tile and into the concrete trying to pinpoint a water leak in the floor itself, several food coolers going down at the same time, the crane (which lifts two big size rolling bins out of the ship with our massive trash in it) has broken down, a lull in staffing in food service right now (although said church is helping out tremendously when they can in the galley)...
Oh, thats right, Salmon! This basic brine or marinade is great especially for Salmon, but I have not really tried it with white fish, because I don't think it would look appealing when it changed the color of the white fish...but oh well, you can always try and see.
Only soak the fish in this mixture for 1 hour, and definitely not longer than 2 (for those of you who don't follow instructions good). Fish will take on flavors quick.
1/3 part sugar
2/3 part soy sauce
add fresh garlic as much as you want or powder till taste is strong
add fresh ginger as much as you want or powder till taste is strong
But use equal parts of garlic and ginger.
I don't really use a whole lot of measurements, I like ratios so it can be scaled up or down. The taste is supposed to be strong because the fish will push out some water AND because this taste will get diluted separated between the fish. This works great on baked, grilled, pan seared, and/or fried Salmon Fillets.
A good example of this recipe would be like this:
1 gallon soy sauce
1/2 gallon sugar
1/4 cup powdered ginger (or half cup fresh!)
1/4 cup powdered garlic (or half cup fresh!)
On the ship, the fish sometimes looks terrible baked in mass quantity with congealed Grey blood and such...so a mass quantity trick (or if its hard to bake flat that many pieces of fish like it is for us) is to flash fry or maybe more technically correct par-fry the fish in the deep fryer till they look good, or golden brown and crusty (but not till there done) and then fill up the hotel pans/chafing dishes and cover and finish cooking all the fish in the oven. Comes out wonderful, looks great, great texture and color on the outside, and tender & moist on the inside. That is, if you don't cook it too long and dry it out!
Thats it! Leave a comment if you have further questions on some of my techniques or recipes found here.
Alimou
A couple weeks ago a group from the ship went to Guinea to screen people for surgeries. And they hit the mother load. They found a total of 21 patients that all had problems that are the specialties of Mercy Ships. Alimou was one of them.
If you have ever been to the Mercy Ships website you would have seen many pictures of people with very large tumors, Alimou will be added to that list, I am sure. Alimou was flown to the ship with a couple other patients and the man that brought them from Guinea said that the stench from his tumor was so bad that the other passengers were gagging and as soon as the plane landed they ran off the plane.
On Thursday Alimou had his surgery and it was very popular. Everyone wanted to be in the OR as they took his 6.6 pound tumor off. After they completed the surgery they extubated (took out his breathing tube) and Alimou did not tolerate it. They had to emergently re-intubate him. Alimou was taken to the ICU and placed on a ventilator (breathing machine) and sedation drugs and was continuously monitored.
I came in on Friday morning, not really thinking about the fact that I would be with him in the ICU. That was probably a good thing, I don't think I would have slept as well as I did in my ignorant bliss. I walked in received report and started doing the things that make my brain happy: labeling every tube and line, attaching the BMV (bag valve mask) to the oxygen, mixing up more drugs "just in case", re taping my ET tube (endotracheal tube) repositioning Alimou, etc....
Friday was a very long and very short day. It was long because it has been a while since I have had a real ICU patient and short because he was very sick and there was a lot to do.
Saturday morning I went down to see Alimou and he now had a tracheostomy but was still on the ventilator and was starting to wake up, thus he was thrashing all over the bed.
Sunday, my friend Jenn (a NICU nurse) was the chosen one to take care of Alimou. Jenn did a wonderful job despite a very large difference in her patient population that she is used to working with. Alimou was definitly awake and very ticked off/ confused. He did a lot of fighting and everything was much more difficult for Jenn than it needed to be due to the constant moving target. I went in to see if Jenn and Alimou were doing ok. Alimou woke up looked at me and made his first attempt to smile, despite the large dressing on his entire head.
Monday morning Alimou and I were reunited. I spent the whole day shift trying to problem solve. He hates his NG feeding (the tube that is in his nose that we put ensure down so he can have proper nutrition so he can heal). I feel like in nursing it is so easy to just be busy and not really get to know your patient. I have really connected with Alimou, I am not sure if it was the stressful experience we had on the previous Friday or just me actually taking the time to get to know him, even though he only speaks French. But who cares, we don't need words. We play a never ending game of charades.
When I did his dressing change, I gave Alimou a mirror and as I unwrapped his many layers of gauze he awaited anxiously for his first glimpse of his new tumor free face. After the last layer of gauze came off his eyes started to fill with tears and he threw his hands up in the air in praise to the Lord. After that experience I put my the thoughts of "why in the world am I living on a ship in Africa?" on a high up shelf. I am sure that they may drift back down to my thoughts but for now Alimou's disproportionate smile is what is filling that void.
The rest of the week as been a roller coaster for Alimou. Sometimes he looks much better and other times he looks like he is spiraling down. He is not making enough urine and is becoming more swollen, but despite all this he has this huge smile that lights up his eyes. He has such a sweet and gentle spirit that is obvious when he reaches out for my hand any time I walk into D ward.
Please be praying for Alimou. Please pray that his kidneys start to work more efficiently and that he regains his strengtha and does not loose his joy in the battle of his recovery.
If you have ever been to the Mercy Ships website you would have seen many pictures of people with very large tumors, Alimou will be added to that list, I am sure. Alimou was flown to the ship with a couple other patients and the man that brought them from Guinea said that the stench from his tumor was so bad that the other passengers were gagging and as soon as the plane landed they ran off the plane.
On Thursday Alimou had his surgery and it was very popular. Everyone wanted to be in the OR as they took his 6.6 pound tumor off. After they completed the surgery they extubated (took out his breathing tube) and Alimou did not tolerate it. They had to emergently re-intubate him. Alimou was taken to the ICU and placed on a ventilator (breathing machine) and sedation drugs and was continuously monitored.
I came in on Friday morning, not really thinking about the fact that I would be with him in the ICU. That was probably a good thing, I don't think I would have slept as well as I did in my ignorant bliss. I walked in received report and started doing the things that make my brain happy: labeling every tube and line, attaching the BMV (bag valve mask) to the oxygen, mixing up more drugs "just in case", re taping my ET tube (endotracheal tube) repositioning Alimou, etc....
Friday was a very long and very short day. It was long because it has been a while since I have had a real ICU patient and short because he was very sick and there was a lot to do.
Saturday morning I went down to see Alimou and he now had a tracheostomy but was still on the ventilator and was starting to wake up, thus he was thrashing all over the bed.
Sunday, my friend Jenn (a NICU nurse) was the chosen one to take care of Alimou. Jenn did a wonderful job despite a very large difference in her patient population that she is used to working with. Alimou was definitly awake and very ticked off/ confused. He did a lot of fighting and everything was much more difficult for Jenn than it needed to be due to the constant moving target. I went in to see if Jenn and Alimou were doing ok. Alimou woke up looked at me and made his first attempt to smile, despite the large dressing on his entire head.
Monday morning Alimou and I were reunited. I spent the whole day shift trying to problem solve. He hates his NG feeding (the tube that is in his nose that we put ensure down so he can have proper nutrition so he can heal). I feel like in nursing it is so easy to just be busy and not really get to know your patient. I have really connected with Alimou, I am not sure if it was the stressful experience we had on the previous Friday or just me actually taking the time to get to know him, even though he only speaks French. But who cares, we don't need words. We play a never ending game of charades.
When I did his dressing change, I gave Alimou a mirror and as I unwrapped his many layers of gauze he awaited anxiously for his first glimpse of his new tumor free face. After the last layer of gauze came off his eyes started to fill with tears and he threw his hands up in the air in praise to the Lord. After that experience I put my the thoughts of "why in the world am I living on a ship in Africa?" on a high up shelf. I am sure that they may drift back down to my thoughts but for now Alimou's disproportionate smile is what is filling that void.
The rest of the week as been a roller coaster for Alimou. Sometimes he looks much better and other times he looks like he is spiraling down. He is not making enough urine and is becoming more swollen, but despite all this he has this huge smile that lights up his eyes. He has such a sweet and gentle spirit that is obvious when he reaches out for my hand any time I walk into D ward.
Please be praying for Alimou. Please pray that his kidneys start to work more efficiently and that he regains his strengtha and does not loose his joy in the battle of his recovery.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Green Bean Casserole
Simple as it gets, this recipe will make 1 full-size 4-inch steam table pan, chafing dish, or hotel pan(whatever you call it where you are from).
Put in a bowl and mix:
2 #10 Cans of Green Beans (drain water)
2 #5 Cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Liter/Quart of Milk
2 Bags of French's Fried Onions (usually come in the case of 6/24oz)
1 Bag for topping the casserole, I use more onion than this but I am sure you will change it to your own taste, plus we usually make our own fried onions which we think are just as tasty...but this recipe is for convenience and speed!
Then fill in a pan and bake in the oven at 350F/177C for 45 minutes to an hour...
10 Minutes before finishing take the last bag of French Fried Onions and top the casserole and heat the remaining time.
That's it!
Put in a bowl and mix:
2 #10 Cans of Green Beans (drain water)
2 #5 Cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Liter/Quart of Milk
2 Bags of French's Fried Onions (usually come in the case of 6/24oz)
1 Bag for topping the casserole, I use more onion than this but I am sure you will change it to your own taste, plus we usually make our own fried onions which we think are just as tasty...but this recipe is for convenience and speed!
Then fill in a pan and bake in the oven at 350F/177C for 45 minutes to an hour...
10 Minutes before finishing take the last bag of French Fried Onions and top the casserole and heat the remaining time.
That's it!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Interesting Food Bites (Monrovia Liberia)
My storeman, Freddie (from Ghana), goes to town weekly (in Monrovia, Liberia) and also arranges food purchases from the Chandler (its like a 'buy everything you want' contact man for ships in port). And Freddie has turned up some interesting things about the 'fresh' produce and eggs we get and I thought you might be interested in them:
1. Eggs are from India
2. What looks like Roma Tomatoes are reported to be from the Ivory Coast
3. Potatoes are from Holland (and are supposedly the ones Holland won't keep)
4. Still trying to figure out where my carrots come from but I don't get enough of them at one time, and when I do its a month apart. The ones we get locally are almost black on the outside (so theres no question as to whether you are going to peel them). And when we get the 'once a month' carrots they come in plastic looking real nice like they were hijacked on the way to someones grocery store where they pay a lot of money for them.
5. Occasionally we can 'acquire' some sweet or bell peppers (like once since January) at a very expensive rate even compared to U.S. or European standards. But we buy them when available, the crew (our people) are worth it.
SO, how fresh do you think my 'fresh' produce really is? Hmmm, and the potatoes are old (believe me, I think I can tell by now) and you loose about a third or more of the content after peeling and cutting out green, black, and/or rotten spots. And that takes A LOT OF TIME FOR 400+ people, but we can save that for another post that way I can introduce you to my industrial strength potato peeler!
Where I get my fresh produce, and where we are...are sometimes worlds apart.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sardines in a can
On Friday night Sarah, Becky, and I got into a Land Rover with our sleeping mats, sleeping bags, and mosquito nets. Our friend Carlos drove us out to New Matati for our sleepover with our Bible Study girls (9 high school and college-age girls that we have a Bible study with every Wednesday). When we drove up to the orphanage most of our girls were waiting for us. They carried our bags into the room we would be staying in, which was way nicer than we thought.
Once we settled in we walked to the local market and bought some food to cook for dinner. Sarah did most of the cooking with the girls while Becky and I got our hair plaited. They crushed up some peppers and added them to the potato greens and was added to the deep-fried fish. This was put over rice and we ate it communal style. I have to admit I was definitely praying that I would not get sick and I didn't, Praise the Lord.
The whole time we were out there we just laughed and laughed. They are so dramatic but very deep. I was talking to Mary and I asked her what her dreams are for the future. She looked at me with such confidence and said "I want to be a medical Dr. I pray every night that the Lord will give me the chance." I just can't wrap my head around that concept. In most Western Countries education is about effort and abilities. It has little to do with opportunity. What I mean is that if anyone really wants a certain education if they work hard enough and put enough effort to get scholarships, grants, or loans it is actually possible to obtain your goals no matter how lofty they may be or what your financial status is. But here, it is different. It is actually not feasible to go to medical school, especially if you are an orphan. Here there is no government support. There are no grants, scholarships, or loans to apply for. So what then? Just what Mary is doing, her best in school and a whole lot of praying.
Our girls are just so funny. They are so easily amused and entertained. I guess you have to be right? Annie, the oldest, decided she was going to be the MC for the evening and then whipped out her imaginary program and announced we were all listed to do solos. None of us are hugely vocally enclined, but we all had to do it. When they sing, they are so confident. Most of the songs they sing are gospel songs, with the occasional Akon song.
When we were ready to go to bed the girls followed us into the room that we were staying in and sat down. We started to get ready for bed and they just watched every move we made. I am sure they think we are so weird. I have these face washing towels that are disposable and they all wanted to try one. After a little time passed the girls started to settle in on the floor, we asked them where they were going to sleep and they kinda looked at us weird and said "here", like duh it is a sleepover. Becky, Sarah, and I slept on the double bed with this purple mosquito net over it. They tucked edges of the net under the mattress and we felt like we were sleeping in a cage.
All of the girls slept on the floor like sardines in a tin can. At 5am they all got up neatly folded their blankets and were off to morning devos and then started their chores.
Saturdays are washing day and plait day, hence all the little ones with afros. Saturdays are also for playing. We played a game called lappa. It is kind of like dodge ball meets shoe organizing. We played that for a while and Josh (Sarah's husband came to pick us up) came to pick us up. Overall it was so fun. I love those girls.
10 Elements of Basic Kitchen Knowledge
Originally Posted by Columbia University Press in Science, Food
Herve This’s 10 Elements of Basic Kitchen Knowledge
Here is his list for 10 basic elements of kitchen knowledge:
1. Salt dissolves in water.
2. Salt does not dissolve in oil.
3. Oil does not dissolve in water.
4. Water boils at 100 C (212 F).
5. Generally foods contain mostly water (or another fluid).
6. Foods without water or fluid are tough.
7. Some proteins (in eggs, meat, fish) coagulate.
8. Collagen dissolves in water at temperatures higher than 55 C (131 F).
9. Dishes are dispersed systems (combinations of gas, liquid or solid ingredients transformed by cooking).
Herve This was the author of a book I read about food science:
Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Can Sizes and Equivalents
For those of us who cook in bulk, commercial, food service for schools, restaurants, ships (laughing), camps, etc...anything that takes large amounts of canned foods, this will be 'old hat' or 'old news' to some of you!
I want to list some can sizes and equivalents that will help you understand a little bit about recipes in bulk, and the sizing in general. And later this might help you if I post a few BULK recipes.
#10 can. The number ten can, most prominently recognized by most of us in the business is labeled below as being 12 cups but I am almost certain I have had up to 1 to 1 1/2 cups difference in product with a #10 can...so I would say the below equivalents may not be definitive but a good guide to go by...
Can Sizes and Equivalents
I want to give credit where its due and thank About.com for having such a beautiful chart that I could 'borrow' for this post. (I was about to make it myself in excel, but this is less painful)
Coming up this week a green bean casserole recipe made with #10 & #5 can products...tested several times by my own 400+ International volunteer taste testers.
I want to list some can sizes and equivalents that will help you understand a little bit about recipes in bulk, and the sizing in general. And later this might help you if I post a few BULK recipes.
#10 can. The number ten can, most prominently recognized by most of us in the business is labeled below as being 12 cups but I am almost certain I have had up to 1 to 1 1/2 cups difference in product with a #10 can...so I would say the below equivalents may not be definitive but a good guide to go by...
Can Sizes and Equivalents
Many recipes specify a can size rather than a volume amount. This chart will also come in handy to determine how much to buy.
| Can Sizes | ||
| 8 ounces | 8 ounces | 1 cup |
| Picnic | 10-1/2 to 12 ounces | 1-1/4 cups |
| 12 ounces vacuum | 12 ounces | 1-1/2 cups |
| #1 | 11 ounces | 1-1/3 cup |
| #1 tall | 16 ounces | 2 cups |
| #1 square | 16 ounces | 2 cups |
| #2 | 1 pound 4 ounces or 1 pint 2 fluid ounces | 2-1/2 cups |
| #2-1/2 | 1 pound 13 ounces | 3-1/2 cups |
| #2-1/2 square | 31 ounces | scant 4 cups |
| #3 | 4 cups | |
| #3 squat | 2-3/4 cups | |
| #5 | 7-1/3 cups | |
| #10 | 12 cups | |
| #300 | 14 to 16 ounces | 1-3/4 cups |
| #303 | 16 to 17 ounces | 2 cups |
| Baby food jar | 3-1/2 to 8 ounces | depends on size |
| Condensed milk | 15 ounces | 1-1/3 cups |
| Evaporated milk | 6 ounces | 2/3 cup |
| Evaporated milk | 14-1/2 ounces | 1-2/3 cups |
| Frozen juice concentrate | 6 ounces | 3/4 cup |
I want to give credit where its due and thank About.com for having such a beautiful chart that I could 'borrow' for this post. (I was about to make it myself in excel, but this is less painful)
Coming up this week a green bean casserole recipe made with #10 & #5 can products...tested several times by my own 400+ International volunteer taste testers.
Friday, May 16, 2008
The workers are few!
From time to time the kitchen thins out, and I mean thin like stretching.
We have some important guests coming from the states, a pastors conference, and a few other events that will be happening on board in the coming weeks. And during this time the galley will need to do its daily job feeding the crew and keep up with visitors, special requests, functions, and a few other meals.
This is not so bad, except that right now we have two rotating cooking teams (and thats normal) with only 2 cooks on each one (thats not normal).
This is what the cooking teams 'look' like right now: 1 Team Leader (cook), 1 Cook (or assistant cook), 2 salad prep, 1 baker, and 1 dishwasher...and yes, we are still feeding 400+ (approximately). And of course I cook and help out where needed.
As Chief Cook (my title right now, it changes to Galley Manager) its my job to run the kitchen and to work with both cooking teams as they are on a rotation (2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off - thats a 2 week schedule) working long days, 10 1/2 to 12 hours and maybe more if there are special events or functions. These days are long physically and mentally draining and most of our workers are new to food service(and some are new to working this hard).
The most amazing thing is that these people are volunteers, people who have given their time (crew fees & insurance) to come help the less fortunate. You know what else? They will probably never get direct credit for helping out the people we try to serve in these countries and medical situations. Why not? Because we are behind the scenes, and thats where some of us are happy to stay...and because we support and build the framework for keeping the body (organizationally and physically) fed!
I don't really know why people would come to do this specifically in food service...dedication, passion, compassion, sympathy, because they can, etc...??? Or maybe their just willing to do it wherever they are placed and can be of help/service to keep the body strong and support in whatever way possible.
Its easier to realize why I do it, this is my background, my passion. And who wouldn't want to really feel and/or be able to make a difference?
But really its because I'm crazy. There I said it. I feel better.
We have some important guests coming from the states, a pastors conference, and a few other events that will be happening on board in the coming weeks. And during this time the galley will need to do its daily job feeding the crew and keep up with visitors, special requests, functions, and a few other meals.
This is not so bad, except that right now we have two rotating cooking teams (and thats normal) with only 2 cooks on each one (thats not normal).
This is what the cooking teams 'look' like right now: 1 Team Leader (cook), 1 Cook (or assistant cook), 2 salad prep, 1 baker, and 1 dishwasher...and yes, we are still feeding 400+ (approximately). And of course I cook and help out where needed.
As Chief Cook (my title right now, it changes to Galley Manager) its my job to run the kitchen and to work with both cooking teams as they are on a rotation (2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off - thats a 2 week schedule) working long days, 10 1/2 to 12 hours and maybe more if there are special events or functions. These days are long physically and mentally draining and most of our workers are new to food service(and some are new to working this hard).
The most amazing thing is that these people are volunteers, people who have given their time (crew fees & insurance) to come help the less fortunate. You know what else? They will probably never get direct credit for helping out the people we try to serve in these countries and medical situations. Why not? Because we are behind the scenes, and thats where some of us are happy to stay...and because we support and build the framework for keeping the body (organizationally and physically) fed!
I don't really know why people would come to do this specifically in food service...dedication, passion, compassion, sympathy, because they can, etc...??? Or maybe their just willing to do it wherever they are placed and can be of help/service to keep the body strong and support in whatever way possible.
Its easier to realize why I do it, this is my background, my passion. And who wouldn't want to really feel and/or be able to make a difference?
But really its because I'm crazy. There I said it. I feel better.
Winner Update
Food Services News
2008 Culinary Challenge Winner (AFM)
*Congratulations to Tatyana, winner of the Culinary Challenge. Tatyana directed the cooking team in preparing Curry Chicken with rice, vegetables, and a cabbage & pasta salad. Thanks to all of the contestants; Tatyana, Mark and Peggy, and the team of Peter and Josh for their hard work and creativity. Thanks are also due to the crew for taking the time to vote (and eat) and to the cooking teams for all of their work in helping the contestants prepare their meals. You all helped to make the Culinary Challenge a smashing success. We hope to hold another one in the future, perhaps with a bit of a twist.
[*Edited from an internal article announcing the winner, and many thanks for all involved...just in case you missed it]
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Adventures in Date Night
It is so funny to me when I look at pictures of us when we were in Tenerife (the Spanish island that the ship was at when we first boarded the ship back in Jan.) and now in Liberia. The first picture is of us at this cute little restaurant that we would go to often. We usually ate outside and enjoyed the peaceful downtown setting, sometimes with nice live music. We either walked there or we got a ride from friends. In Tenerife, we both wore sweaters to keep us warm. My hair was straight and nicely done and I have makeup on. We went out often and always had a lovely time.
The second picture was taken at the Bamboo Bar which is on the 4th floor of one of the only buildings in downtown Monrovia that is not just a bombed-out shell of an old high rise. The restaurant provides a great view of the city. While enjoying a meal, which is always some sort of a surprise, the background noise is taxis honking, people screaming at each other, and music blaring Akon from a wheelbarrow selling music CDs.
Getting there is always an adventure. It is about 3-4 miles away from the ship. I called a guy that has a private car and he usually takes us where we need to go for a reasonable price, unlike the rest of the taxis that love to rip off the "white people". Well, our guy had gotten wind of the great money he could earn by ripping us off. He wanted $17 American dollars to take us and pick us up. For goodness sake, it is only 3-4 miles. SO after arguing with him the whole way there he wouldn't back down so I gave him a small amount of money and told him not to come back and that I will never call him again.
After finally getting to the Bamboo bar my hair is not straight or nicely done (due to the humidity and wind rushing through the open windows of the car), I certainly do not have makeup on ( the idea of mascara running down my face, is not very attractive), but I do have a cute new shirt on (thanks to online Anthro).
Going out in Monrovia can be such a hassle, but going out on a date with my husband (even with all the obstacles and "adventures" that Liberia offers) is so worth it.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Liberia Bans Food Exports To Tackle Food Crisis
[Just to give you a little idea of how bad things are getting here because of the food crisis (worldwide rise in prices), here is an article from RTT News, and there are similar ones all over the Internet for Liberia and other countries as well...]
(RTTNews) - In the latest attempt by Africa's poorest countries to fight a food crisis sparked by a worldwide rise in prices, Liberia banned all food exports Monday, to prevent profiteers from taking advantage of its relatively cheap rice prices by selling the grain to neighboring countries with higher prices.
Rice is a staple food in many countries in West Africa, where the high cost has hit the poor people hard as they have to resort to importing. In Liberia, which is recovering from war, the price increase has put yet another obstacle in the way of economic recovery, as rice is already in short supply in Liberia.
The ban on export applies to commercial foodstuffs also, Commerce Minister Frances Johnson Morris said. Liberia also dropped all import duties on farming tools to promote production.
The government said it is launching a campaign to urge Liberians to eat alternative food products such as yams, cassava, and plantains to reduce consumption of rice.
Although Liberia heavily depends on imported rice, dealers from neighboring countries have been buying up sacks of rice on Liberia's market to resell in countries like Guinea, where it is more expensive. RTTNews
Here is what others have to say:
Apple Corer used for Pineapple?
I want to give credit where credit is due. One of my Team Leaders (cooking teams) Ernest, from Ghana, showed me how he likes to use an apple corer (is corer a word? guess so, spell check didn't catch it).
The handled apple corer which only 'drills' out the core (but doesn't slice) has many application so it has been deemed a multi-tasker and thus gets respect among my kitchen tools. But one of those 'fancy' handled corers that helps pre-slice the actual fruit? Seemed like a waste of time and space considering my knife skills. And even some of you may feel you can slice pineapple rings faster than using a fancy apple corer...but it still doesn't take away from the fact it was a pretty ingenious idea!
From slices to tidbits...turn this one into Cooks Illustrated tips and techniques!
The handled apple corer which only 'drills' out the core (but doesn't slice) has many application so it has been deemed a multi-tasker and thus gets respect among my kitchen tools. But one of those 'fancy' handled corers that helps pre-slice the actual fruit? Seemed like a waste of time and space considering my knife skills. And even some of you may feel you can slice pineapple rings faster than using a fancy apple corer...but it still doesn't take away from the fact it was a pretty ingenious idea!
From slices to tidbits...turn this one into Cooks Illustrated tips and techniques!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Culinary Challenge pt 2 (extended w/pics)
If you are trying to catch up with exactly whats going on you can click here Culinary Challenge pt 1 , Culinary Challenge pt 2 is a poll so you can vote for the contestants after they prepared their 'Big Meal' for the crew...
Tatyana (without sidekick this time) came in and made sure the cooking team knew what she wanted so when I showed up the team didn't really need me that much (and she took the advice of the judges and toasted and cooked her Almonds into the rice) Tatyana was also able to get her pasta and cabbage dish done in addition the the regular meal she planned.
Mark and Peggy got their yogurt done ahead of time for the sauce (which made Peggy happy because Mark [ahem] had a little accident with the yogurt in pt1) and they managed to make the Pita bread for the humus...so I mostly helped get some salads ready while the cooking team helped them execute the rest of the meal.
Our cooking team (which was the same one for both contestants) helped get their meat prepped ahead of time which saved a lot of extra time and work when creating the dinners on Saturday and Sunday.
Here are some pictures from Saturday & Sunday & please remember to cast your vote!
[gallery=9]
Tatyana (without sidekick this time) came in and made sure the cooking team knew what she wanted so when I showed up the team didn't really need me that much (and she took the advice of the judges and toasted and cooked her Almonds into the rice) Tatyana was also able to get her pasta and cabbage dish done in addition the the regular meal she planned.
Mark and Peggy got their yogurt done ahead of time for the sauce (which made Peggy happy because Mark [ahem] had a little accident with the yogurt in pt1) and they managed to make the Pita bread for the humus...so I mostly helped get some salads ready while the cooking team helped them execute the rest of the meal.
Our cooking team (which was the same one for both contestants) helped get their meat prepped ahead of time which saved a lot of extra time and work when creating the dinners on Saturday and Sunday.
Here are some pictures from Saturday & Sunday & please remember to cast your vote!
[gallery=9]
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Men's Club
A-Ward is full of men. Sometimes that can be a little overwhelming but not this time. these guys are considerate and funny and they all are friends. They all have been here a long time and have grown very close to each other and the nurses. We have had to create boundaries with one of them to eliminate the marriage proposals and Liberian catcalls, but now they are set and followed by all.
They all have their own story, some of whom want to share it and some don't. One day they started talking about the war. They got very upset and started yelling at one man saying he was a Sergeant in the rebel army, it was very intense.
In the wee hours of the morning, you will hear praying. "The Reverand" prays for everyone on the ward and all of the nurses. What a blessing!!!!
They all have their own story, some of whom want to share it and some don't. One day they started talking about the war. They got very upset and started yelling at one man saying he was a Sergeant in the rebel army, it was very intense.
In the wee hours of the morning, you will hear praying. "The Reverand" prays for everyone on the ward and all of the nurses. What a blessing!!!!
Friday, May 9, 2008
The Mama's
This week I have the pleasure of working night shift. And I will try my hardest not to turn into dragon lady. It is not natural to stay up all night and sleep during the day... therefore I get a bit cranky. Sorry-o Tyrone.
On my night shifts I have 10 patients, alot of them under the age of 3. I have 2 kids that had their palate repaired and are just miserable. Their poor mama's. These babies are totally inconsolable and refuse to be put down. My friends Jennifer (in Tyler) would have to sleep in a rocking chair when her baby was sick. These mamas have their babies strapped to their backs in a lapa (a piece of fabric tied around the waste to hold the baby to the mam's back). When the baby finally falls asleep the mama will lay down on her stomach with the baby still strapped to her back. When the baby wakes up, which they are bound to do (very frequently and very loudly) the mama gets up and bounces them back to sleep.
These babies also hate to eat. Their mama's force feed them the Pediasure and cereal while they scream. I am always afraid the food will go down the wrong pipe and they will aspirate, but it is impossible to get them to eat otherwise, and these mama's are VERY insistent that the force feeding should happen through out the night. Of course this causes the rest of the babies to join in on the screaming and it becomes the cool thing to do.
At 5 am the mama's wake up their peacefully sleeping child to bathe them, not sure why 5am is the chosen hour, but it is very popular. All of the babies and children are bathed and lots of screaming fills the ward.
The parenting is very different here. Sometimes we are shocked by what the parents do and often we have to tell them "You can not beat your child here." But most of the mama's we have on the ward now are from Sierra Leone and are very attentive and loving to their children. I am not saying the Liberian Mama's don't love their kids they just show it differently.
On my night shifts I have 10 patients, alot of them under the age of 3. I have 2 kids that had their palate repaired and are just miserable. Their poor mama's. These babies are totally inconsolable and refuse to be put down. My friends Jennifer (in Tyler) would have to sleep in a rocking chair when her baby was sick. These mamas have their babies strapped to their backs in a lapa (a piece of fabric tied around the waste to hold the baby to the mam's back). When the baby finally falls asleep the mama will lay down on her stomach with the baby still strapped to her back. When the baby wakes up, which they are bound to do (very frequently and very loudly) the mama gets up and bounces them back to sleep.
These babies also hate to eat. Their mama's force feed them the Pediasure and cereal while they scream. I am always afraid the food will go down the wrong pipe and they will aspirate, but it is impossible to get them to eat otherwise, and these mama's are VERY insistent that the force feeding should happen through out the night. Of course this causes the rest of the babies to join in on the screaming and it becomes the cool thing to do.
At 5 am the mama's wake up their peacefully sleeping child to bathe them, not sure why 5am is the chosen hour, but it is very popular. All of the babies and children are bathed and lots of screaming fills the ward.
The parenting is very different here. Sometimes we are shocked by what the parents do and often we have to tell them "You can not beat your child here." But most of the mama's we have on the ward now are from Sierra Leone and are very attentive and loving to their children. I am not saying the Liberian Mama's don't love their kids they just show it differently.
Cooking Frozen Green Peas
Yep, I thought so...
Seriously, if you want to cook a great frozen pea add plenty of salt to the water and boil it for 1 1/2 to 2 Hours. They don't really start taking on good flavor from the salt or plumping up from the water properly cooking them until after the first hour.
Not true you say? Well I guess you may just have a better frozen pea than me...but I need to make what I have work. Just ask the English what it takes to cook peas for a good 'mushy pea' side dish. Then you will better understand the time it takes to make a good or semi-good product into a delicious dish.
And its not like boiling peas takes up a lot of your other time in the kitchen when you really don't need to watch them much, unless you like to watch them swirl around and around in the water. I like to do that occasionally, kind of like a de-stressing or relaxing exercise of the mind. Not unlike daydreaming. (but you can call it work!)
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
The DON
As a bit of a 'leftover' from things gone past we still have over a hundred or so bottles of sherry that we cook with. And not that salted down cooking sherry, noooo, the good stuff. The stuff from Jerez Spain where Sherry comes from!
History of Sherry (by Wikipedia, edited even further by me)
Sherry is a fortified wine, made in and around the town of Jerez, Spain, and hence in Spanish it is called "Vino de Jerez". According to Spanish law, [1] Sherry must come from the triangular area of the province of Cádiz between Jerez, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and El Puerto de Santa María.
Sherry differs from other wines because of how it is treated after fermentation. After fermentation is complete, it is fortified with brandy. Because the fortification takes place after fermentation, all natural sherries are dry; any sweetness is applied later. In contrast, port wine is fortified halfway through fermentation, stopping fermentation so not all the sugars are allowed to turn into alcohol and so leaving a sweet wine.
So I guess it would appear that we have 'the good stuff' as good as THAT can be at room temperature!
AND as stated in Beer Batter and Fish & Chips it makes a pretty darned good substitute for the beer in beer batter!
History of Sherry (by Wikipedia, edited even further by me)
Sherry is a fortified wine, made in and around the town of Jerez, Spain, and hence in Spanish it is called "Vino de Jerez". According to Spanish law, [1] Sherry must come from the triangular area of the province of Cádiz between Jerez, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and El Puerto de Santa María.Sherry differs from other wines because of how it is treated after fermentation. After fermentation is complete, it is fortified with brandy. Because the fortification takes place after fermentation, all natural sherries are dry; any sweetness is applied later. In contrast, port wine is fortified halfway through fermentation, stopping fermentation so not all the sugars are allowed to turn into alcohol and so leaving a sweet wine.
So I guess it would appear that we have 'the good stuff' as good as THAT can be at room temperature!
AND as stated in Beer Batter and Fish & Chips it makes a pretty darned good substitute for the beer in beer batter!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Beer Batter and Fish & Chips
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We like to think we know how to do Fish & Chips right...and I think we do! (we do it for 400+ in one meal) We have gotten many compliments from the UK crowd (and surrounding area experts) that it was great, and the mushy peas weren't to shabby either. We did, however, run out early this last time...apologies everyone.
You would probably be surprised to know that we use a fairly easy Beer Batter recipe which I will gladly disclose to you ~ Beer Batter ~ Credit to Allrecipes.com. This recipe basically has 5 ingredients that most people have in their home at the basic level.
Possible exceptions you can make to the recipe that we have tried with great success, and some are kind of 'Duh!' moments...
Add hot sauce, cayenne, and/or other spices
We actually successfully replaced the beer with Don 1 Sherry when we were hard pressed and running out of time to acquire beer...worked wonderfully! The hard sherry taste cooked out and left us with beautifully battered and tasty fried fish (no one knew the difference)
Add a splash or two of white vinegar to the batter, can't really explain it to you but it adds kind of a clean, clear, crisp taste to the finished product (best way I can describe it)
Use quality ingredients for batter & beer or beer substitute (and of course if at all possible, *TASTE to make sure!)
Don't forget to do some onion rings for yourself!
Some people have even been beer battering fries/chips for a while now, thats right, beer battered potato fries/chips!!!
Thin the batter down (or not) to do a mock tempura fried vegetables or meats
Beer batter actually does taste nasty before using it to batter and fry something (most of the time) - just in case you were wondering...after it fries properly its wonderful
It was made for frying, please DO NOT TRY to be healthy and bake some items that you beer battered, that is disrespectful!
And most importantly, have fun! (watch the slideshow in case you have trouble doing that)
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* No actual beer was consumed during the preparation of the beer batter. (some people would say unfortunately)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Remember Maggi?
At another time and place I was using a general Maggi sauce (maybe it's the soy or stir fry seasoning one? Which didn’t actually have any soy sauce in it according to the company). We were going thru 5-gallon jugs of it! That was the way it came commercially to us.
If you miss that Maggi sauce taste and just can’t seem to acquire it in your hometown no matter where in the world you may be…I developed a recipe for it when we ran out and we needed a replacement. It goes as follows:
Maggi Sauce Replacement -
50% Soy Sauce
25% Worcestershire Sauce
25% Water
That's it. Of course,
the taste may vary for you if the brands of these items go from good to bad but if you can’t obtain the actual Maggi sauce these items are usually readily available worldwide.
If you miss that Maggi sauce taste and just can’t seem to acquire it in your hometown no matter where in the world you may be…I developed a recipe for it when we ran out and we needed a replacement. It goes as follows:
Maggi Sauce Replacement -
50% Soy Sauce
25% Worcestershire Sauce
25% Water
That's it. Of course,
the taste may vary for you if the brands of these items go from good to bad but if you can’t obtain the actual Maggi sauce these items are usually readily available worldwide.
Jennifer
This is Jennifer. She is 13 and came in for an operation on her upper thigh. She has this amazing smile that makes my heart melt every time.
This week I have had her on the days that her bandage needed to be changed. We gathered all our supplies and went to the ICU. We would go there so we could have more privacy, not for her bandage change, but for her concert that was about to start. As I would start to peel off the layers that are stuck to her thigh, she would choose the first song and belt it out. The first time she sang a myriad of Liberian gospel songs but yesterday she decided that it was Christmas Carol Day. So we sang Jingle Bells, We wish you a Merry Christmas, and many others all while I was changing her quite painful dressing.
Jennifer went home right before lunch and when she left she asked me "When I come back to get my plaster (bandage) changed, you come to sing with me?". I said I would try, and she gave me a huge smile and was on her way.
This week I have had her on the days that her bandage needed to be changed. We gathered all our supplies and went to the ICU. We would go there so we could have more privacy, not for her bandage change, but for her concert that was about to start. As I would start to peel off the layers that are stuck to her thigh, she would choose the first song and belt it out. The first time she sang a myriad of Liberian gospel songs but yesterday she decided that it was Christmas Carol Day. So we sang Jingle Bells, We wish you a Merry Christmas, and many others all while I was changing her quite painful dressing.
Jennifer went home right before lunch and when she left she asked me "When I come back to get my plaster (bandage) changed, you come to sing with me?". I said I would try, and she gave me a huge smile and was on her way.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Soup Extract
- add equal amounts of water to soup extract and it can be used for soy sauce (or at least this brand taste really similar to soy sauce when we water it down)
- excellent taste & color enhancer for Cajun style Dirty Rice
- use for vegetarian French Onion Soup (use in place of flavoring from beef broth) it will be up to you to determine how much to use, this helps with the flavor and color but adds a lot of salt, so experiment for the right balance for you
- great in gravies and sauces
What exactly is soup extract? My bottle says ‘water, vegetable extracts, salt’ in that order AND from the Internet, we find that most vegetable or soup extracts are used in a medical context for benefits physically.
Extracts from fruits and vegetables that contain fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other natural substances with antioxidant, lipid-lowering, and antiproliferative properties. Used in chemoprevention therapy, these extracts may prevent the development or recurrence of cancer ~ National Cancer Institute
…Just one of the many I have found, but there doesn’t really seem to be much info on soup extract in cooking terms.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Talking at the speed of light
Yesterday after a very busy day shift, me and 3 other women from the ship walked down the road to the outside of the gate and a taxi was waiting for us. We had called Alfred to come and pick us up in his taxi and take us to an orphanage. Before we even got into the car we had talked about our strategy for not getting ripped off. Last week Alfred said one price for the cab ride then suddenly changed his mind once the ride was over. So once we were almost to the taxi the sky opened up and rainy season began.
We got into the car and said we would pay $6 to take us to the orphanage. He counters with "It is raining, you need to pay me more, I want $7." Of course the 4 of us roar at his ridiculousness. And Jenn brings out her secret weapon... "the ditz card". She says in her very best ditzy voice, "Well, it's not my fault it is raining." Alfred agrees at her captain obvious moment and then says once again $7. Then I say that we are working in his country on his people for free and that is not right to rip us off. Then Sarah says "Didn't I see you on the dock at the eye tent getting your eyes checked?" Then it was over, we all started yelling and he then gave us a fair rate and we then focused on the fact we were suffocating in a hot taxi with all the windows rolled up.
Once we got to the orphanage we walked down a mud path and opened the gate to the court yard and I had a major "This is Africa" moment. There were about 8 little boys butt naked playing soccer in the rain and puddles. We shut the gate and let the boys collect their clothes.
The reason we went to the orphanage is because we are doing a Bible study with 9 of the teenage girls. Once choir practice was over the girls came in and we started our way around the circle. Each person was to read Saint John chapter 2 and say what they liked and we were all supposed to bring one question. These girls are amazing. They really read their assigned chapter and deeply thought about what it means and came with great question. As I was sitting there, I could feel my eyes starting to sting. There is no other place I would have rather been. I have always loved high school girls and to be apart of this study is just incredible.
When something would come up that is a bit controversial they would all start talking at the speed of light with a lot of drama, it was very entertaining. These girls are like sisters, most of them have lived together in the same house since they were little babies.
Please be praying for our group. Please pray that Jenn, Becky, Sarah, and I all get the time off from work each week so we can be consistent. Also pray for all of us that we would be sensitive to God's leading.
We got into the car and said we would pay $6 to take us to the orphanage. He counters with "It is raining, you need to pay me more, I want $7." Of course the 4 of us roar at his ridiculousness. And Jenn brings out her secret weapon... "the ditz card". She says in her very best ditzy voice, "Well, it's not my fault it is raining." Alfred agrees at her captain obvious moment and then says once again $7. Then I say that we are working in his country on his people for free and that is not right to rip us off. Then Sarah says "Didn't I see you on the dock at the eye tent getting your eyes checked?" Then it was over, we all started yelling and he then gave us a fair rate and we then focused on the fact we were suffocating in a hot taxi with all the windows rolled up.
Once we got to the orphanage we walked down a mud path and opened the gate to the court yard and I had a major "This is Africa" moment. There were about 8 little boys butt naked playing soccer in the rain and puddles. We shut the gate and let the boys collect their clothes.
The reason we went to the orphanage is because we are doing a Bible study with 9 of the teenage girls. Once choir practice was over the girls came in and we started our way around the circle. Each person was to read Saint John chapter 2 and say what they liked and we were all supposed to bring one question. These girls are amazing. They really read their assigned chapter and deeply thought about what it means and came with great question. As I was sitting there, I could feel my eyes starting to sting. There is no other place I would have rather been. I have always loved high school girls and to be apart of this study is just incredible.
When something would come up that is a bit controversial they would all start talking at the speed of light with a lot of drama, it was very entertaining. These girls are like sisters, most of them have lived together in the same house since they were little babies.
Please be praying for our group. Please pray that Jenn, Becky, Sarah, and I all get the time off from work each week so we can be consistent. Also pray for all of us that we would be sensitive to God's leading.
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