Joy of Cooking

Who knew that quality of life could be so vastly improved by such a simple purchase? I got an electric toaster oven when I was in Nouakchott for the Girls’ Conference, and it has opened up whole new worlds of fun and happiness. The inaugural dinner was calzone followed by brownies; subsequent days saw quiche, coffee cake, and other delicacies. The possibilities are endless. I used to look through cookbooks with a certain sense of discouragement, knowing I could never hope to make anything that couldn’t be cooked in a saucepan. Now I read through my beloved Joy of Cooking (incidentally, a fabulous book – I can read it for hours) with a certain glee. I’ll probably spend most of my time at site from now on scheming about what I’ll bake when I come into Aleg for the weekend.

This opens up a whole new world of care package opportunities (wink wink, nudge nudge). Baking cocoa or unsweetened chocolate squares, brown sugar, brownie or muffin mix, chocolate or other chips, pecans, anything that can go in a casserole, pre-cooked bacon, parmesan or cheese powder.... yes, it all sounds very tasty, doesn’t it? I think so.

In other news, school supposedly starts tomorrow, so I'm headed back to Maal this afternoon. The first month will be pretty laid back because of Ramadan, when no one wants to do anything (including me). I'm fasting again this year (being hungry gives me something to do!) and therefore not inclined to work a whole lot. The sooner school starts, though, the sooner it's over... and when it's over, I'm done!