Our last 2 weeks in Ghana cont.

Okay so the work---I had dinner guests arriving in a couple of hours to pound fufu! Our friends, who bought our car, were coming over to teach me how to pound fufu so that we could taste it and then also to pick up our car that they bought. The water was still off when they arrived, something she totally understands, and we just decided that when it came time to use water for boiling, then we would just have to use the bucket water and realize that all the water would be used for cooking instead of flushing! Our friends are the Eshon family. They are the ones who have the orphanage. Gloria began peeling the cassava with a knife. Yes, I know that it looks easy in the picture and she certainly peeled them like it was easy but the cassava has a very hard outer surface and I doubt I'd be able to do it.

Thankfully, just when we were about to need the water for boiling......it came on!!! After going 3 days with no water, you can imagine how brown and dirty it was at first. Just look at the bottom of the bucket he's filling and you can see for yourself! This was after he had let it run for 5 minutes to let the brown run out. yes, this is the water we actually used for our cooking. It all cooks out right?????

So we started boiling the cassava with the water while Gloria peeled the plantain. Her little daughter, Jean, carried this pot filled with yams and water down to her mother after it was done boiling. They are already so strong at this age!

I don't think we boiled the plantain. Once everything was cooked, then the pounding began. Just look at all the plantain and cassava that were used!

This is a 2 man job. Gloria would pound and Jean would add the cassava one at a time. They pounded all the cassava together in batches and then pounded the plantain together. Once all the plantain was pounded, then they pounded the two together. This is hard work. They pound so hard that the stick hits the bottom of the bucket with a loud and very audible thud. They keep a good rhythm up, never slowing. Gloria is so strong. I begged to have a try and she would tell me, "Oh you can't do it." Finally she relented and let me. I last a few minutes before I realized that i was so super weak and that she was right. It was good for a few laughs. I finished my little thrill and then let her finish the work. While one pounds, the other constantly reaches in and turns the dough all before the sticks comes down again. They pound until it is completely smooth with no chunks. Hopefully you can see the video of it. Craig recorded it sideways but you can still get the idea. I'm almost embarrassed to show my video. To my credit, it is a lot harder than it looks. Plus, I was so worried that I would hit her that I would bring the stick down until she had completely moved her had out of the bucket!

Gloria pounding.

Kingsley is pounding and I am taking a stab at turning the dough. Ha! I laugh because I would put my hand up and not let him pound until I had taken my hands completely out of the bucket! It's seriously scary business man!

When all is said and done, it looks like a big ball of loose/elastic dough. (Banku and kenke is firmer and just like the consistency of play dough if I remember correctly.) I'm sorry I just don't know how else to describe it. It was firm, but it was like bread dough before it rises.

While Gloria did the pounding, I watched over the soup. It was light soup and fried chicken. She made it very mild for me. I'm sure they thought it was gross because they like their soups spicy hot hot hot, but I loved it. It was soo good.

Okay so you pinch off a small bite size piece of the fufu and then dip it into your soup. Once you put it into your mouth, you just swallow it immediately. You don't chew it. It's kinda hard to get down at first, but once your tongue get use to it, then it's pretty easy to eat. Weird, but still good.

So it ended on a good note! Our water came back on and we were able to enjoy our food with our friends. I made cinnamon and sugar cookies for them. I think they liked them. They were probably too sweet for them, but they still ate it to be polite. Then Craig took Kingsley on a test drive of the car since he hadn't driven a car in awhile. We watched them load up and gave them a couple of bags full of clothes and toys, books, etc. that we were leaving behind. Kingsley looked very nervous to be driving and we chuckled after they drove off. I really hope that they are doing well. We miss them.

Oh good the video of me and then the video of Gloria!