We Heart Leonard

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Many of our number were under the impression that we would be losing weight during our stay in Africa. Our impression was wrong. We receive three very full meals every day. Enter Leonard, chef extraordinaire and our hero. Laura told us that he came with the house” when the Namwianga property was first purchased and the only thing he knew how to make at that time was bread. Among the delightful treats concocted by said head chef are hamburgers with French fries, chicken spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, fajitas, tacos, potato salad, fried chicken with mashed potatoes and peas (apparently he’s even made this particular meal in the middle of nowhere during the medical mission), western casserole, meatloaf, rolls, pizza, pancakes, French toast, eggs, oatmeal, and the traditional Zambian nshima with relish. Nshima is made of a cornmeal substance that is moistened and cooked in a pot until it’s of a thick paste consistency. The relish can be almost anything. We’ve had baked chicken in a red sauce (you have to put the sauce on the nshima-yum! Otherwise it’s very bland.), greens, and an assortment of vegetables. We always have a hand washing “ceremony” before this meal because the Zambians eat it with their hands. We westerners usually keep our forks (after handling babies all day you never feel quite clean enough around here), but it’s fun to go through the whole traditional routine. This is the meal we have every Thursday and we actually look forward to it as much as anything else. Did I mention that we also have dessert at most every meal? Each time we eat I ask myself, “Do I really need this dessert?” I can usually answer, “No, not really.” But do I eat it? Absolutely I do. These sweet treats consist of some sort of cookies (snicker doodle, shortbread, peanut butter, spice cake cookies, or sugar) or cake (chocolate with chocolate icing, chocolate with white icing, yellow with chocolate icing, yellow with white icing, spice, or apple). The cakes are always so pretty too. My favorite was the night he decorated one with frilly icing around the edges and in the middle were the words “Yellow Cake”. Yes, Leonard even labels his cakes with style. Candice already mentioned my fabulous birthday cake, but I must say something about it myself. It was quite perfect. I must mention as well that Leonard doesn't do his work alone. He has an amazing crew that's also a big part of the team here. We all know he couldn't do it without them. We heart them too. :) So forget it if you think coming here is a great new weight loss plan-most of us are pretty sure we will have GAINED weight by the time we get home. I think there’s something wrong with this picture.

-Meredith Pietzman