In the Kitchen with Victor and Dennis

Being snowed in AGAIN has given us more opportunities to have fun in the kitchen. Victor is always present and helpful at meal time (maybe because he wants to hasten the arrival of the meal to the table- he has grown 2 inches since he got here!). He sometimes cooks for his brothers at home, so he is not afraid to ask questions and try new things. Dennis is a different story. The cooks at the boarding school do not need helpers, and wouldn't have time to answer questions. So it was a big step when Dennis told me he would like to learn how to make pizza so he could surprise Rose, his sister-in-law (he stays with his brother when not at school). Men are not generally found helping in the kitchen because that is considered women's work in their culture.

For our first try, we started with a pizza crust mix and canned pizza sauce. We doubled everything for obvious reasons (what family of 4 is happy with 1 medium pizza? especially when that family includes growing boys?), used 2 pounds of prime ground beef, and a large cookie sheet for the pizza instead of two round pizza pans. This was a little confusing, though, for Dennis. After we put the finished product in the oven, he asked me if it would come out round! We had a good laugh as I explained that pizzas don't have to be round and that the oven will not change the shape of what we put in. I think Dennis enjoyed the process, though he was wondering if he would be able to take the ingredients home that he would need. Next time, we will make it from "scratch" so he can have a better idea how to do it in Tanzania. And if he wants a round pizza, he might want to add pizza pan to the list of things he wants to take home with him. Rose will be so surprised!