CNN and our bank account agree on the rising cost of food. Fortunately my interest in cooking has perked up lately, right when I need to call up my money-saving recipes and tricks. I am working up "refrigerator surprise" dinners- you know, what you have is what you get.
Cooking with left-overs is a challenge. Unpredictable. Kind of like my art work - a little of this and a little of that.
This afternoon I looked at the bit of baked ham left over from the family dinner the other night and thought ham salad would taste good. Even though it meant hunting up the food processor. I had not used that thing in so long I was not sure just where it was. Fortunately it was a short hunt and all the pieces were together.
Ham Salad
I ground the ham and transferred it to a bowl. Then chopped the half of a red onion left from a green salad and some celery. Mixed that all together in the bowl.
Hand chopped two hard-boiled eggs I remembered were in the refrigerator and added them to the ham mixture.
Shook on salt and pepper.
Mixed it all together with "real" mayonnaise. I like the taste of mayonnaise so maybe added three tablespoons.
Cole Slaw.
Since the food processor was found and set up I decided to make slaw with half the head of cabbage I noticed in the crisper.
Then chopped a yellow onion and some celery. Mixed it all together in a blue bowl. Splashed in some apple cider vinegar, shook in salt and pepper, and then added the mayonnaise. Mixed it all together and tasted what I had. Oops, a little too much vinegar taste. So I chopped half a yellow bell pepper for some more sweetness and mixed that in. Voila - a good tasting slaw.
I served the ham salad on a bed of sliced iceberg lettuce. For side dishes I added boiled sliced red-skin potatoes (which Jim loves), and the slaw along with toasted garlic bread and Arnold Palmer's to drink- that's one-half iced tea and one half lemonade.
A good warm evening supper.
Touching Base with Africa:
Once my supper was fixed and waiting I sat down to watch the Netflix movie I ordered the other day after Elizabeth Wallace recommended it as an excellent dramatization of a folktale and a good research tool for the African story I am working on.
Masai: The Rain Warriors
This is an intriguing movie adaptation of a Kenyan folktale - filmed in Kenya with Masai tribesmen acting out the story. The hunt for a mystical lion takes place on the golden plains under the limitless African sky. Well done movie. Interesting story.
Watching the movie was very special to me.
In 1985 I went to Kenya and my memories of the trip and the experiences are still vivid. This beautiful film intensified and adds to my memories. I am grateful for the images of snow-capped Mount Kilamanjaro, golden tall grasses, and majestic Masai warriors wrapped in red cloth.
It was far, far from home.
I tell a long story, 10,000 Miles TO Home, about the mis-adventures of that three week adventure during the 1985 United Nations Conference on Women in Nairobi, Kenya. My friend Josephine called it a transformation story when I told it to her Women's Studies Class at the University of Maryland. I know being tested by being so far out of my comfort zone on so many levels did change me. And I was gifted with a spiritual awakening in the vast Genesis-like plains when we made our game drives. Everything about the trip was unforgettable.
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