Gabon RPCV Willow Sedore says: I think I learned the most as a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, cooking on a two-burner gas stove with limited ingredients and no refrigeration. I learned to be very creative with what I could find and not have many leftovers.
Half-baked advice and really great recipes
By Willow Sedore
Herald-Review
Grand Rapids, Minn.
May 18, 2005
Standing at the kitchen counter of my childhood home I carefully crack one egg and drop it into a coffee mug, add a splash of milk, a dash of pepper and some grated cheddar cheese, whisk it up and then pop it into the microwave for one minute.
I was 5-years-old when my mother first taught me this scrambled egg recipe. (Yes, you can make scrambled eggs in the microwave!)
Over the years my mother has, of course, shared more than just scrambled egg recipes with me, and last weekend at a kitchen-themed bridal shower my mother shared her recipe for "Wentworth Way Pancakes," a favorite of the neighborhood children she would invite over for pancakes about once a month when I was growing up.
All the shower guests were asked to share a favorite recipe for the bride-to-be so that along with kitchen utensils, baking pans and cookbooks, I received tried and true recipes for Meatball Loaves, Imperial Chicken, Wild Rice, Artichoke Dip and other delectables.
In addition to a recipe, guests were asked to share a piece of advice as well.
Delicious morsels of musings included: Trust one another; respect and admiration is key; drink lots of wine; sometimes its best to keep your mouth shut; make sure to throw out old worn out clothing; and one friend even recommended to simply "make dinner reservations."
My mother, who has often said if you can read you can cook, also offered this pinch of advice: "Make sure to clean up as you go - that way there is less cleanup afterwards and more time to kiss."
But perhaps the best bit of half-baked advice came from my grandmother, a dynamo cook, who was married to my grandfather for more than 60 years before he passed away several years ago: "Marriage may not always be bliss so always be sure to end each day with a kiss."
Much of the best advice and the best recipes I have received in my short lifetime have come from my mother and grandmother, but also my Auntie Jan, who a few years ago wrote a cookbook entitled "Family Secrets" which compiled many favorite family recipes.
Auntie Jan is the one who taught me how to make the best salad dressing from scratch, so after volunteering to bring the salad for the first family holiday with Steven's folks I e-mailed her asking for the prefect recipe and her advice on how best to handle the whole situation.
I'm not quite sure where I put the recipe today, but the advice which came with it I remember well. She told me to bring everything I needed all ready to go, even the serving bowl and utensils so as not to inconvenience Steven's mother with having to search the cupboards for an appropriate bowl when she had plenty of other things on her plate that day. It's something I think every woman should learn from her auntie.
While my mother, my Auntie Jan and my grandmother have all greatly contributed to my knowledge about cooking, sometimes I think I learned the most as a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, cooking on a two-burner gas stove with limited ingredients and no refrigeration. I learned to be very creative with what I could find and not have many leftovers.
By watching my Gabonese friends cook I learned that chicken bouillon and peanut butter are great seasonings, as is tomato paste and hot sauce. I learned how to clean fish from my friend Sacko who simply scaled them, seasoned them with lemon and fresh ginger, then grilled them whole over a fire.
Perhaps the biggest thing I have learned is that trial and error is your best bet in the kitchen, as in life.
Rebecca Field Jager, the author of "How to Make Love and Dinner at the Same Time: 200 Slow Cooker Recipes to Heat Up the Bedroom Instead of the Kitchen," said, "A good chef is like a good lover: practice makes perfect, no matter what's in his genes."
I guess I'll keep practicing.
