I arrived back to a full pantry stocked with all the essentials necessary for a prolonged time of self-sufficiency should the rivers suddenly rise and block us in (which has happened before, but is not likely before rainy season hits). I've been channeling my inner chef and trying to emulate the TV show Pantry Raid where a chef goes into someone's home and shows them how to prepare a meal using what they already have in their pantry.
I (mostly) had the day off today and got busy in the kitchen. I was having friends over for dinner and the menu was as follows:
Pumpkin Cheesecake
I also made pumpkin spice latte syrup (I think I'm going to try this recipe soon too for a stronger pumpkin flavor) and made some Chocolate Mint Chia pudding for later.
What did people do before the internet to find recipes?!
The most complicated recipe of the day turned out to be the specialized formula we needed for a child I admitted to the hospital on Friday who is severely malnourished. Not only would we never encounter a child that is this malnourished in the US, but if we did, I would usually be able to write 'nutrition consult' and the dietician and kitchen would take care of the rest. Instead, I had to find the recipe, look through the WHO 100+ page guidelines on malnutrition and refeeding with our pediatrician to find the right amount to give, convert all of the quantities in the recipe from grams to tablespoons and cups, then teach the kitchen staff how to prepare it. This included finding a drawer that contained measuring utensils (they don't usually measure ingredients here), marking which ones were needed, explaining how to use a measuring cup (filling it up all the way to the top is not a given), then walking through each step. The finished product was 1 liter of formula that I took to the nurses' station in a 1.25L Coca-Cola glass bottle to dole out to the patient in the prescribed amounts.
All my home recipes turned out well today- I'm hoping my patient will eat his 'food' too!
*Click on any of the above links for the recipes*
