Friday, August 12, 2011

'Date Night'!!....Food, Music And Ghana,....In Africa!!

       I am so excited to be going to 'virtual' Ghana tonight!! :-) It's a trip hubby and I have been wanting to take for quite a while! We have very good friends who are from Africa. One couple is from Nigeria. (That's a part of the country that we'll have to visit on another trip.) And another couple is from Ghana! That's our stop tonight!!
       From 'Lonely Planet dot com' I found out that life in Ghana is public. In other words, people evacuate their homes and apartments every day to escape the stifling heat...Oh Well, I guess that rules out taking my new Chocolate Nut Brownie Shawl/Scarf with me. And it's too bad too, because it's finished!! :-) Let me show you!
       What do you think?! Does it look okay in the more muted colors?!...Anyway! It's not going with us on the trip tonight. I'm going to be listing it in the shop for sale sometime later today...before we leave.
     I'm gonna have to stick with fabric like this Ghanian fabric...
      (WomanShopsWorld)
        Something cool....that I could wear to the beach or somewhere like that.
       Although I'm sincerely not that much of a beach person, I do love the water. And Ghana has water all around the place!!

         Even the elephants love it!
       But what I'm most looking forward to in Ghana...as I do in most every other country we've ever been to!....is the food!!! ^_^ And guess what?!...I found out that I've been eating Ghanaian food for a long time and didn't know it!...And I already love it!! :-) Well, the things that I know about I mean...like...
      ...Red Red (left), {a mashed bean stew with spices that make it turn redish}, and fried plantains (right) in the above picture...Many a time has my hubby, who loves making them, fried up some plantains!
        Then he would remove them from the grease, pound on them a bit (with the bottom of a frying pan ^_^), and then re-fry them to make plantain chips, or banana chips as they call them sometimes.
       Plantains do sorta look like bananas, don't they?!...
      ...But they don't taste like em!! Not in this stage (above) especially!....But that's okay, because tastes aren't everything...{Who said that?! O_0}...When plantains are growing they produce beautiful banana flowers! This is what they look like!!
         I can find a flower anywhere, can't I?!! ^_^
       But there's more dishes with the plantains!!! :-) ....... Kelewele (which is a snack dish of fried plantains seasoned with spices)...
       In Africa, Kekewele is sold by street vendors, usually at night! 
           It's sometimes served with rice and stew, or peanuts...Isn't that interesting?!...And speaking of peanuts, the first dish our Ghanaian friends made for us when we were invited to their home one time was...what he called...Peanut Butter Soup!
          I think true Ghanian's call it Peanut soup. I remember that, after I got through 'sqinching' up my nose and saying: "What?! Peanut butter...in a soup?!...I don't know about that!"...I took a sip and.....loved it!! It was kinda spicy hot and tasty!
         In the picture above you see the peanut soup served alongside Fufu. Fufu is a staple food of West and Central Africa. It's a thick paste usually made by boiling starchy root vegetables in water and pounding with a mortar and pestle until you get it to the consistency you want it. 
        I've never tried, or heard of that. Nor have I heard of Fante Kenkey...
         It's fermented corn dough, wrapped in corn or plantain leaves and cooked into consistent solid balls....And then there's Jollof rice, called Benachin {meaning 'one pot'}...
      You can put just about any kind of meat, vegetables or spices in it...This is definitely something I have done before...many times!! Who knows, maybe I have some Ghanian roots and don't know it! :-)
       (melissatenpas)
        And then again,...seeing as all women in Ghana apparently have the ability to carry heavy loads on their heads,...maybe not!! I can carry heavy loads 'in' my head, but not on my head!! LOL
     Okay, so that's the food! What about the music?!...Well, I found a few songs I absolutely love!! YAY Youtube!! :-) I'll share a couple of the more fun ones with you tomorrow. But because I'm not on my date just yet, I'll leave you with this one for us ladies!
       If you wanna feel good about what you, as a woman, can do....no matter where you live in the world, EVEN GHANA!...you have to hear and see this video!!



Have a good weekend Everybody! I was gonna try to get all fancy and say 'goodbye' in the Ghanian language, but guess what?!...The official language of Ghana is the Colonial language of English! ^_^ So, since I know how to say 'goodbye' in that language already, I will.....Goodbye! :-) 

The Night We Have A Date

We're  married many years;
Too old to go to bed too late.
We sometimes sit and laugh about it,
on the night we have a date.

Every Friday night is ours;
Time we long anticipate;
When we eat what we've been craving,
on the night we have a date.

We let nothing interfere.
(I recommend this with your mate).
Just focus one night, every week,
as the night you have a date.

18 comments:

  1. What a wonderful trip to take this Friday morning. I think I am so much like you - I love the scenery and the people of a new place, but what really gets my attention is the FOOD!! You have made me hungry for plantains, which I just love!! Have a wonderful Friday! Hugs, Silke

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  2. I'm not much of a beach person, either, the sand annoys me. It hides everywhere and I can never seem to get it off my feet of out of my hair.

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  3. Silke, I'm so glad you came along with me! :-) And it sounds like we are definitely alike! I know some people like shopping and tours and stuff. And while I do like a little bit of sight-seeing and that, mostly you can just give me some local music and some good food and I'm good for days!!! ^_^ And plantains is definitely on the menu tonight. YUM!!...Have a good weekend Silke!

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  4. Elle, I feel the same way about the sand...and the heat! It seems so silly to me to see people laying in the sun, putting on 'grease'. What are they trying to do....fry themselves?!! LOL And then other people have huge sun hats and a big umbrella to avoid the sun. But then why go to a place where there's nothing but hot sun?!! O_0

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  5. I really love your new wrap for your shop. It turned out great! And, yes, I like the muted colors. I prefer to wear colors like that most of the time.

    Have a great weekend!

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  6. Well what a wonderful post, Thank you for sharing your virtual trip with us, Truly was a fun journey to take with you. Hugs
    P.S. I love the chocolate shawl and the accent colors are beautiful xo

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  7. Anonymous8/12/2011

    I think it is so neat that you and your hubby have a date night each and every week. We have talked about it, but it would be very hard. They have Randy working 6 days a week, from 10 to 12 hours a day. We do make it a point to spend time together.
    What a neat flower you found.
    Ghana sounds like a fun place to explore. Some of the food doesn't look real appetizing. Enjoy your visit.
    Your shawl turned out real nice.
    I am one of those people Deb. I just love the sun and warmth and love being out in it. I don't go to the beach very much. We have a pool where we are and that is where I do my sun baking. LOL We all have our niches that we enjoy. Some people go because it is just relaxing to be by the water listening to the waves. I find it very relaxing myself. Have a fabulous day and evening. HUGS. Peg

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  8. That is going to be a great trip! I love your date nights! I know that the food will be great. The video and the song was beautiful. Have fun!
    P.S. I love the scarf!

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  9. Pammy Sue, Thank you for the input. I need another person's 'thinker' besides mine. I'm all about some COLOR most of the time...You have a good weekend too! :-]

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  10. Katherines Corner, Thank you so much! It's nice having you come along. :-) And thanks for the nice words about the shawl/scarf too! Now, I just have to go and list it in the shop. I don't look forward to that part!...Have a good weekend! :-)

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  11. Peg, Oh Boy! It looks like your hubby works long hours just like mine!! He just starts his day earlier...Some Friday's he's been so tired that we plan a 'Date Night' to sleep! NO KIDDING!! ^_^ And those have been some of our more memorable 'Date Nights'. Zzzzzzzzs!!!...As to Ghana's food, I kinda grew up on fresh black-eyed peas and pinto beans, greens and biscuits and cornbread. So, it looks delicious to me. {Except for the Fante Kenkey and the Fufu. I think I could probably do without those! But I always say stuff like that until I taste something. :-) So, I'll reserve my judgement about it.}...Ha! Ha! You made me giggle, about the baking in the sun. ^_^ I must admit I hadn't factored in the listening to the waves part. I 'do' love that part! But I'd just as soon do it at sundown. ^_^ Let's not forget too...I 'am' a woman of color!! Ha! Ha! It doesn't take much sun to get me to start becoming a darker 'ME'! Melanin, don't you know! ^_^ I do love the water though. We have a pool too! I used to love swimming in the pool, but...no more of that right now...I hope you have beautiful sunny weather to enjoy where you are today...and that it stays that way for you all weekend. Enjoy it!! :-)

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  12. Shelley, I think it's gonna be a great trip too! :-) I KNOW the food will be good!!...I'm glad you enjoyed the music too!...Have a good weekend yourself Shelley. Relax and rejuvenate. Another week is just around the corner! :-) Oh yeah, and thanks for the nice words about the scarf too!

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  13. You have to keep doing these Friday date night posts! How interesting! Thanks for the Ghana history lesson.

    The shawl/scarf looks awesome, it looks so warm!
    Enjoy your date and have a great weekend!


    Lisa

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  14. Lisa, :-) Awww! Thank you for the encouragement about my traveling posts. ^_^ I enjoy all the info about the different countries anyway, but now I get to share it. It's kinda nice!...And thanks for the nice words about the shawl/scarf too! And you're right. It's warm...and soft. I made it with a double thread, and I put a edging on it so it would be nice and secure. But not for Ghana! Oh no! This is not the shawl you want for stifling African heat! LOL...Have a good weekend 'not so Grim Grete'! ^_^

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  15. Thanks so much for including my fabric in your blog. I too love this fabric. And I too hope to make it to Ghana one day! My husband has been, and we sell many beads and fabrics from Ghana....so I feel like I've been in spirit, and will make it in the flesh one day!

    Great blog, thanks again for sharing.
    Namaste~
    Carter

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  16. Carter, It was my pleasure to share your beautiful fabric! How fortunate your husband is to have traveled to the actual country! I'm sure you must have wonderful photographs!!...Thank you for the nice words about the blog too! Have a good weekend! :-)

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  17. I love the look of the scarf/shawl. Those colours go really well together.
    My goodness all that food looks delicious. I think I might have to find something yummy for tea tonight like that rice. It's making my mouth water. Yum!

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  18. Jo-anne, Thank you!! That means a lot coming from you...with your expert crocheting skills these days. :-)... And I agree about the food too! Especially the Jollof rice and the plantains...I hope you find something just as good to eat! :-)

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