The first time I had authentic African food wasn’t in Africa at all, which isn’t all too surprising as my first trip on African soil was this past January. There was the dearest elderly couple from our church, we called them Grandma and Grandpa McNutt, who had lived in Africa as missionaries and invited me over to join them for dinner and tea, on a few occasions. They were wonderful!
During the meal, they explained to me how in Africa you often pile ingredient upon ingredient, often beginning with rice, adding meat, raisins, even peanuts and pineapple, tomatoes and more. Initially, it seemed very odd and I didn’t expect it to taste all that great, but it was delicious!
Tonight, as we said goodbye to Zimbabwe and ultimately FINISHED our journey around the globe through the alphabet, we enjoyed a few unique flavors ourselves, not exactly like my meal with the McNutts, but African, through and through.
Zimbabwe Final Dinner Menu:
Peanut Butter Stew
I mentioned the other day the new blog, or maybe it’s not so new, that I happened upon that has recipes and information on several countries around the world. As it was quite a challenge to find recipes for Zimbabwe, all of tonight’s dishes were “borrowed” from this great site and they do seem very authentic indeed.
In Zimbabwe, they often eat on the floor with a bowl of water used to clean hands before eating. Of course we couldn’t resist the opportunity to try something new, especially as it was our last “official” country dinner.
Sadza
Sadza is as much of a staple to the people of Zimbabwe as rice is to the people in Vietnam. It’s basically a mixture of cornmeal (which is more abundant in Zimbabwe than rice) and water. Hands are used to scoop it out and form it into a ball, which is then dipped into a relish, or, in our case, peanut butter stew.
And for dessert:
Cornmeal Cake Topped with Sour Cream
This was more like a cornbread, as far as sweetness goes, than a “cake” but we enjoyed it, especially when topped with delicious sour cream.
Tonight’s results: Happy Tummies
Once again, tonight’s dinner was shared with our favorite Crissy.
Before we enjoyed our farewell dinner, Tallinn and I worked on a little Zimbabwe Zulu Code. Using different colored beads to represent various letters, he wrote a “note” to his sweet friend Cadence.
What a journey this has been! And I can’t believe we’re finished. Honestly, toward the end, it got so much harder to stay on task and for me to keep up with posting. Thanks for bearing with us.
Now, where do we go from here? Well, for starters we’re not in a hurry to get packing again quite yet 
, but we are planning (if we can make everything work out) an “Open House” for friends and family to come and experience first hand what we have learned (I’ll be posting on that). We’re putting together lists of some of our favorite things from each different country and brainstorming ideas (40 countries seems like SO many when you try to put it into a party).
When the school year starts again next year, the plan is to take another big journey, this time going around the US….in 26 weeks. 26 weeks seems so much more doable to me and perhaps it won’t take a year and a half like this journey did.
Regardless, we will continue learning and enjoying life and the diversity that surrounds us. We will remember unique things we learned about some countries…like the other day when Tallinn asked a man at a local restaurant if he was Filipino because he raised his eyebrows when Tal asked him a question. Priceless….The kids often still sing the song they danced to in our ever-famous Bollywood ensemble (I honestly need to watch it again as it always brings lots of laughs) and often “fight” with the Viking swords and shields made at the wonderful Viking Festival. All over our home are signs of our journey! And yes, they are still quite sad that we had to disassemble the rickshaw, however now we’re in the makings of a chicken coop (crazy family adventures never stop in this house). Yes, that’s right, we’re gonna “attempt” to raise some chickens, which we’ve actually been hatching over the past few weeks.
Here’s a sneak peek:
We call this one "goldie"
I’ll continue to post the funness around our home as time permits. For those of you who stayed with us through to the end, Thank you! I hope you have enough resources to re-create our journey, adding your own flair, of course. Feel free to contact me at anytime if something isn’t clear or you need extra ideas. That’s why this blog was made.
And now, a final thank you! To Zimbabwe first….thank you for the gift of learning about your amazing land. We have lots more to discover and hopefully we’ll head your way someday to take an exciting safari or just visit with the locals.
And to the others:
Australia
Austria
Bangladesh
Brazil
Canada
China
Denmark
Estonia
Ethiopia
Fiji
France
Germany
Greece
Haiti
India
Israel
Italy
Japan
Korea
Lebanon
Mexico
Morocco
New Zealand
Norway
Oman
Peru
Philippines
Qatar
Russia
South Africa
Spain
Thailand
Turkey
Uganda
UK
Venezuela
Vietnam
Wales
Yemen
Zimbabwe
THANK YOU!!!!!! We have loved, laughed, learned and lived vicariously through the pictures, crafts, etc. of your nations as if we were actually there.
Cheers, Danke, Obrigada, Tse tse, Merci, Arigato, Kamsa Hamnida Gratzi, Gracias, ….
