Monday's eats, and a bit of chicken drama.

Today started off nicely enough... I had a late breakfast of peanut butter and banana toast and enjoyed it outside on our new hammock. (That's our puppy, Muzungu, in the foreground.) 

With a little Kenyan chai tea, it was perfect! I love our new outside spot. 

Lunch was simple- I reheated last nights creamy tomato mushroom sauce, and added some homemade linguini and parmesan cheese (or so it was labeled- we're not sure it's really parmesan.) I brewed some iced herbal tea, too. 

Dinner looked pretty awful but tasted delicious- We'd made a huge batch of gyoza a few weeks ago and stored the extras in our freezer (I LOVE having a huge freezer). I threw together a dipping sauce (soy sauce, garlic, chili flakes, lime juice, cilantro) and fried/boiled/steamed the gyoza. I didn't use a non-stick pan so they got all mangled. We ate them anyways, with a huge helping of sukuma wiki. 

We had a chicken incident today. On Saturday, we had a little adventure. 

Geemi took us to Mulat to find live chickens for Thanksgiving. On the way, he took us to the cattle and goat market. I think we were the only muzungus to visit the market in a long, long time. Apparently it's not a tourist hot-spot. It was pretty fascinating though, hundreds of Masai men wandered around with hundreds of cattle, checking out each other's cows. There were some pretty gorgeous cows there. 

Nathan climbed up a small hill to capture the extent of the market. There were SO many cows, though this picture makes it hard to see. 

We asked, and the average price for a very nice looking large cow was around $200. I don't know a lot about cows, but I think the average comparable American cow is at least 5 times that price. We didn't buy a cow. Or a goat, though the goats were pretty cute, and only about $50. 

After ogling the cows, we went a few minutes away to the chicken market. Again, I think the muzungus were quite the spectacle. Much like the time Nathan threw a tanty at the cafe, we were hounded by dozens of men shoving live chickens in our face. There was a flurry of feathers. Thankfully, we had Geemi with us, and he handled the chicken examinations and bartering. Our goal was to get three birds- two for Thanksgiving and a back-up-bird. We ended up with four, because I felt bad for one lone man who only had one small chicken to sell for about 200 shillings ($2.25). 

Geemi was a professional- he groped and prodded, at one point grabbing the chicken's heads and pulling their necks forward until it looked like they'd pop off. We asked later, and he said that "you know a chicken is sick if it pukes when you pull it's neck forward". Our non-puking chickens were selected and a fair price was agreed upon (we ended up getting the four chickens for about $14, which was probably higher than usual since we always get overcharged for being muzungus).

We put the chickens in the back of the taxi, and headed home. They had their legs tied so they look kind of sad and death-like in this picture, but they rallied nicely by the next morning.

I named them on the car ride home (though Nathan "tweaked" the names the next day). From left to right, they are: Poblano, Chipotle, Serrano, and Habanero.

We brought them home, untied their legs, and introduced them to their new home. The "old" chickens greeted them somewhat viciously with lots of pecking, but by Sunday everyone was fine.

Until today. Tragedy struck. I was reading a book, Nathan was napping (he painted the kitchen and I think the fumes got to him) and our guard, Kutingala, knocked on the door. With a blur of Kiswahili, he indicated that I should take a look at the chicken coop, and then opened the hatch.

There. Under the chicken hammock (don't ask) was a very stiff Habanero. It should be noted that Habanero was the chicken that I guilt-purchased from the guy for only 200 shillings. She was also my favorite- the underdog, the runt, and she had pretty speckled black and white feathers.

I think there was a reason that Habanero was only 200 shillings. According to Geemi, who was immediately called to help translate this new chicken drama, Habanero died of chicken typhoid. Who knew chickens could get typhoid? She had to be disposed of immediately, and luckily Nathan had bought some sort of all-purpose chicken medicine at the vet shop earlier today, so we had it on hand.

Kutingala was incredibly concerned. Masai are naturally very attached to livestock, and Kutingala is pretty devoted to his chickens. I think he was concerned that his chickens would all come down with typhoid, which is a possibility, I suppose. We brought out the medicine and immediately Kutingala turned veterinarian.  He climbed in the coop, mixed the powdered medicine with water, and began capturing the newbie chickens one by one and somehow pouring large amounts of water down their gullets. The chickens handled it pretty well, surprisingly enough. (I would not have taken kindly to someone pinning me down and pouring mediciney water down my throat.) 

At one point there were three men inside the coop treating our chickens. Nathan and I provided insightful commentary and took pictures. 

So, we shall see. Hopefully the medicine does the trick. Chicken typhoid is pretty brutal- as far as I could tell from Kutingala's Kiswahili and pointing, Habanero died an uncomfortable death of diarrhea. 

We're hoping Poblano, Serrano and Chipotle fare better. And I've learned my lesson- 200 shilling chickens are 200 shillings for a reason. 

Sunday's Meals (Photo FAIL)...

I totally failed. I made a pretty great breakfast and completely forgot about the photos. We had guests, though, and I made about 6 different dishes, so I do have a good excuse, right? Will you accept pictures of the dirty dishes that Nathan was kind enough to do after breakfast? 

I know, not good enough. Well, imagine, if you will... cumin garlic breakfast potatoes, chipotle lime beans (I used some of our precious stash of black beans from the States, as for some reason you can buy 30 different types of beans here, none of them black beans), seasoned scrambled eggs, guacamole (delish! Avocado, tomato, garlic, a hint of red onion, cilantro, and lime),  sauteed veggies (zucchini and pumpkin), and banana pecan muffins. I made ricotta cheese last night and topped the beans with homemade cheese. 

Our guests seemed to love it, and the gluten-free girl was stoked! The guacamole was a hit, and the muffins went fast... the picture below is the only breakfast picture I managed to snap! 

I found this fantastic Mark Bittman muffin recipe  a few months ago and absolutely love it. I've tried all sorts of flavor combos: banana cardamom pecan, mango almond, strawberry flaxseed, pumpkin walnut, and applesauce--and probably more that I'm forgetting! Every combination has turned out well- the muffins are really moist despite the 2.5 cups of whole wheat. Nathan loves them and requests them once or twice a week. It's a great recipe and takes only 5 minutes or so to make. (It does call for buttermilk, which I can't find here but should probably learn how to make. I use milk instead, sometimes with a squirt of lime, and it works well.)

This was my lunch: Two slices of Art Caffe bread (whole grain) with sliced banana, cinnamon, and honey. 

I'm really particular about bananas. After living in Samoa for two years and getting incredibly delicious and fresh misiluki bananas, I got spoiled. I also did some reading on the banana industry and saw a documentary (BANANAS!) and decided that I would save my banana-eating for when I was living in or traveling in a country that actually grows bananas. Luckily for me, Kenya has bananas. I've happily reincorporated them into my diet, and rather than being a commonplace snack (like they are for many people in the States), they've become a treat- even more so now that I'm eating very fresh bananas! 

Interesting fact: Most Americans hadn't eaten a banana before the 1910's, but Dole and United Fruit began campaigning to get pictures of bananas in children's books (A for Apple, B for Banana, C for Cherry, etc) in order to popularize the then-unfamiliar fruit. Along with other tactics, the banana industry was able to introduce bananas into nearly every American's diet by importing massive quantities of the fruit, while decimating large swaths of Central America's forests and treating their labor force horribly. Bananas became cheap and readily available. The land continues to be decimated and the labor force is still treated horribly. But, Americans now consider them an inexpensive staple item. 

If you, too, consider them a staple, I highly recommend at least purchasing fair trade bananas from a place like Whole Foods. 

Ok. Moving along to dinner... 

I've mentioned my deep passion for sukuma wiki (collard greens) on this blog before, and here it is. We like to buy it from our favorite Kenyan mama, who pre-shreds it and bags it. It's super convenient: empty the bag onto a frying pan with a kersplash of olive oil, a couple pressed garlic cloves, and some squeezes of lime juice. We can easily down this much sukuma in one meal (it shrinks down a lot.)

I also made a creamy tomato-mushroom-sundried tomato sauce (low-fat milk, butter, flour, mushrooms, tarragon (my new favorite herb!), diced fresh tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, and lots of garlic). I wish I'd added some caramelized onion to add more depth and smokiness to the sauce. Next time. I tossed homemade ravioli (filled with homemade ricotta, sundried tomatoes and herbs) in the sauce, and topped it with more homemade ricotta. 

Highlight of the past week? It might have been when Nathan installed our new hammock in the yard! It overlooks the city and is underneath a giant peppercorn tree. It's perfect for relaxing in and reading a book. All five of the dogs like to lay underneath or near it when I'm laying in it, which makes it a very cosy spot. (I'll try to remember to post a picture tomorrow.) 

Saturday's meals

Breakfast was super quick since we were off on an adventure today. I made smoothies with the strawberries, papaya, mango, yogurt, passionfruit juice and some flax seeds (from the States). We also had peanut butter-honey-cinnamon toast. We discovered delicious bread at "Art Caffe" in Nairobi- it's got a hint of sourdough, lots of whole grains, and is pretty awesome. When we are in Nairobi, we make a point of picking up several loaves and putting them in our freezer. 

We went to the cattle, goat, and chicken market today. We wanted to buy some live chickens to raise for the Thanksgiving that we're planning to have with the researchers at the Hyena camp in the Mara. Geemi, our assistant, took us to the town of Mulat, about 40km away to find "the very very best chickens". I had tried to find some in Narok, but only found one sad, scraggly, bedraggled, poop-covered hen. We passed on buying her. However, in Mulat, there was a plethora of chickens. We bargained and bought 4 (two for Thanksgiving, two for future feasts) and also saw the cattle and goat market. I think the Masai at the markets were completely bewildered by two wazungu showing up out of nowhere and wandering around their cattle. 

When I got back, I was starving! I had last nights pad thai, and fixed scrambled eggs and toast for Nathan and Geemi. Geemi hadn't had scrambled eggs before. I think he liked them, despite his very serious expression in the picture. 

We were pretty exhausted from the day. Usually one of us cooks a fancy dinner but we were out of energy tonight. Nathan had left-over Green Egg soup and I had the rest of the smoothie from this morning. And a glass of wine. Nathan had a Tusker beer. Apparently the soup wasn't enough, because he also fixed a bowl of ramen noodles, without the seasoning packet. Ew. I didn't get a picture, but I'm sure you can imagine it. 

I spent the evening prepping food for tomorrow's breakfast- we're having guests! Three girls from the Hyena research camp are stopping by on their way to Nairobi. One is gluten-free, one hates beans, and one is allergic to bell peppers. Quite the challenge for me! I decided to ignore the one who hates beans and make a mexican breakfast- I'll post about that tomorrow.