Chef Jason

I am a very blessed woman-my husband loves to cook.  And he is a very good cook.  Here in Tanzania we have to be creative when it comes to dinner time.  At our local market we can find tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, bell pepper, cucumbers, avocados, bananas, fruit that is in season (right now it is mango season!), corn, potatoes, wheat, rice, and every type of bean that you could ever imagine.  There are also all types of leaves that Tanzanians like to cook in oil, as well as peanuts that you roast yourself.  And spaghetti noodles (where would we be without pasta?).  So behold the creations of Chef Jason-made from scratch and mostly local.

Banana bread with black tea is our staple breakfast.  We used to have wonderful loose leaf tea from Irente Biodiversity Reserve in Lushoto, but we enjoyed it too much and it is now gone.  Now we enjoy a cup of Chai Bora with our freshly made banana bread.

One of the first meals Jason perfected was spaghetti with tomato sauce.  Good old comfort food sometimes served with a side of parachichi for me.

Jason tried another variation on pasta-peanut noodles!  We can buy peanut butter at the store on campus and it has saved our lives (not really, but we are thankful for peanut butter).  We serve our peanut noodles with grated carrots and cucumber.  So refreshing and tasty!

This meal is one of my creations.  Chef Heather serves up roasted potatoes with local vegetables and rosemary.  I plan on growing a little rosemary bush on our back balcony to have fresh rosemary available.

One day Chef Jason marched to the local butcher in search of meat.  Our butcher shop consists of a little room that is tiled with identifiable and unidentifiable parts of cows and goats and mystery meat hanging from the ceiling.  Jason brought back some mystery meat for this delightful stir fry made with tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, and soy sauce.

Tonight's meal was homemade pizza.  We made the dough and sauce and a fancy store in Mbeya provided the cheese.  Served with an ice-cold Tangawizi (a type of ginger ale soda made by Coca Cola) a bad evening can turn into a good evening.

And now I am off to go grade quizzes.  Enough procrastinating for me.  Until next time,

Peace,
Heather