'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.

Chocolate Nut Brownie.......On A Rainy Day

       Before I get into today's post, let me remind you that this coming Monday will be the drawing for the pocketbook in my recent Giveaway. You can check HERE for details on how to enter.....
       Now, on to today's post...I've been working feverishly on my Chocolate Nut Brownie Shawl/Scarf.

         It's coming along, but it was missing something...Color! And since I have a tendency to put colors together that no one else in the world would put together...case in point, exhibit A...

      ...my FUN-tastic Wuglyee Remnant Scarf! (The campaign to sell it is still on-going!! ^_^)...I thought that maybe I'd put another color on the shawl, but a color not so..."POW"...in your face!
      And since my inspiration for the shawl is an actual chocolate nut brownie, I had to pick a color that would 'gel' with the feel of the inspiration...So, because I was crocheting this chocolate nut brownie shawl/scarf on a rainy day, say hello to the inspiration for a rainy day color to add to it....

        It's gray...for a gray rainy day! :-) ...... And Chocolate Nut Brownies on a gray rainy day, with milk (that's represented by the white ^_^), are the stuff that make rainy days worth having......and worth crocheting a shawl/scarf for! :-)
       Okay....so I know it's a 'stretch' just to have some inspiration, but hey! It was raining!!!! What did you want me to do?! Crochet a blanket inspired by 'gloominess' and 'darkness'?!!......Not this time. But hmmmm...... ^_^

        I'm still working on it, and still trying to decide whether I'm going to keep it as just a shawl, or if I'm going to add buttons or something...I was gonna put one row of maroon on the other side, next to the edge. But I thought better of it...Besides, there's no way to work that maroon into my inspiration theme....unless I shed some blood trying to make it! LOL Don't worry!...I'm not that clumsy...or that desperate for inspiration!! ^_^

       As you see, I have some more work to do with it. I'll show it to you when it's all done.....In the meantime, I've got some travel plans to make. Friday 'Date Night' is coming up pretty fast, and we've got a looooong way to travel this week!

      (melissatenpas)

          Over the last few weeks we've traveled from Paris France to Brazil. This week we'll be going all the way to Ghana....in Africa!!

           ......I think we're gonna be some happy.....but tired travelers this week!! :-)

     (thedreamygiraffe)

          I'm  looking forward to getting educated about Ghana though...and seeing, tasting, and hearing some of the country's food and music! :-] Hubby is too!

       I know it's been a rough week for a lot of people. The news has been really tough! So, come and take a 'virtual' trip with us to Ghana tomorrow. Can't hurt!! 

News

News of war and near disasters,
Lots of folks who are to blame;
A world that's ever slightly shifting,
and yet still remains the same.

You can turn off your T.V.,
Unplug your phone. No one would care.
But soon you'll need to be connected,
and the news will still be there!

We have to streamline all our focus,
no matter what we use,
and keep our minds on what's important.
Now, Baby, that's some news!

It's About Dallas, But It's Not About Dallas!

     I think I love Dallas!...The city of Dallas is the 3rd largest city in Texas and the 9th largest city in the United States.  Dallas is home to the 3rd largest concentration of 'Fortune 500' companies in the nation!
    But that's 'not' the Dallas I think I love!! This is the Dallas I think I love...

        She is the owner of the Etsy shop called designedbydallas. In her Etsy profile she says: "My name is Dallas,  and I am from Texas, but not from Dallas ;)..." Too funny! ^_^ I think with a name like Dallas, and living in Texas, maybe you 'should' be required to be from Dallas!! But that's just me! 
       And besides, she has so many other things going for her...not the least of which being that she is a 'fabulous' designer...that I think it can be forgiven that she doesn't live in the city of her name!! ^_^ I'll tell you some more about her in a minute.
      I met Dallas recently when I was putting together a post about one of my Friday 'Date Nights'. She very generously let me share a photo of her drink coasters. I was so thankful to see such beautiful coasters with little maps of places I definite want to visit on them!
     Cut to a few days ago when I got my mail!!! :-]

        I thought to myself: "WOW! Did I order something?!" And then I remembered that 2 people recently said they were sending me something!!....So exciting!!!! :-)

         "What's this?! It's got such pretty colors?!"...I flipped it over......

       "Ohhhhhhh! It's from Dallas!!!!".....Not the city of Dallas, but the other Dallas! :-)) ... She had convoed me on Etsy and asked what countries I loved best, or would like to visit. And you know 'Yakky Mama Me'!! "Well, I could talk about this all day!...I'd really like to visit---. But I also love---! Of course, one day I'm definitely gonna go-----. That's if I can.......!" ^_^
        It might have been just to shut me up,....Nahhhhhhh!....but she said she was going to make a coaster and send it to me as a thank you for sharing her coasters on the blog. I was really flattered, but I told her it wasn't necessary. In fact, I loved sharing them so much....and they were so perfect for my blog post!...that I should have been the one sending her a thank you gift!! 
      But she wasn't letting me deter her generosity!....When I opened the box I could see how wonderfully it was packed...

           With all of the Styrofoam 'packing peanuts' removed, I had bubble wrap to take off too!...And when I opened the first package with one of the stone coasters in it...which was substantially heavy..."Ahhhhhhh!" ... I was looking at a map of Ghana Africa, and thinking: "I think I love Dallas!" :-]

      In her description of her coasters she explains how she first started making them: "I designed my first set of these beautiful coasters as a travel memory gift for my boyfriend right after we returned from a long journey across the world. Wanting to keep our travels freshly imprinted on our minds, I created colorful map shots of our favorite countries, and melted the image onto stone tiles. They help stir up tons of conversation when we have guests over for drinks – it’s always fun sharing our travel experiences with our friends, and they do the same with us."

         I couldn't believe how beautiful they were in person!

         And they're not some thin thing either!

        I could hardly wait to see what country was on the other one!!! :-))

         Australia!!! :-)

        WOW! How fabulous!! :-)

          And even though they're not designed to put your drinks on the back of them.....

        ....I love the backs almost as much as the fronts!! :-) They show something about  the maker and designer of them...They show that she cares about detail and good workmanship! And, just for you blog readers, she is offering you a 2 week, (from now until August 15, 2011), 10 percent' discount on any purchases from her shop! Just enter the coupon code TENOFF4DEB in the comment box at checkout!

        Something else about her, from her Etsy profile, is that 'she loves to create. Her hobbies are photography and fashion design. She studied theatre and photography in Austin. And after spending 5 years in New York City, she traveled around much of the world taking some of the photos that you'll see listed in her shop HERE!' 

          I like her Etsy shop name too! designedbydallas....It says it all!

         What a wonderful and generous gift! I love my new coasters!!! I can hardly wait to go to these countries for 'Date Night'! In fact Ghana is our destination next Friday night. This Friday night it will be Brazil. {The coasters didn't get here in time for us to make travel plans for one of these countries! LOL ^_^} All things considered, I think Dallas might go on our Friday night 'Date Night' list too!...The city....not the other Dallas. ^_^

       Thank you Dallas!!!....And this time I mean the Etsy shop owner Dallas. Not the city of Dallas! :-)) .... Well, thank you city of Dallas too! I mean, I did find out that the city's economy is primarily based on banking, commerce, telecommunications, computer technology, energy, and transportation. Those are all things I can applaud and appreciate,......and would be nowhere without!! :-) And also there seems to be more fun you can have there than you 'shake a stick at'!!! LOL

      By the way, I did say I got 2 packages. I'll share the other one with you tomorrow!!!!....Have a good day everybody! :-)

Virtual trip

I really like to travel,
See the world, expand my mind.
But not getting on an airplane,
or hunting luggage I can't find!

I like a 'good ole' virtual trip.
Computer details. Music too.
Where you don't need a stinking passport,
or have to wear a stinking shoe!

And this is a little extra...just because!.....I saw him on 'Good Morning America' this morning'. Enjoy!! :-)