Mimi hupika

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17

Mimi hupika (Kiswahili) — I cook.

Our friends Ace and Jean Barnes come to Kijabe for 3 months every year. They are an inspirational pair. He is a busy pathologist and celebrated his 77^th birthday here in January. Jean leads our prayer group on Thursday mornings. They entertain folks in their home often – Kenyans, visiting staff and missionaries.

One day when I popped in to say “hello” I found Jean working on their prayer letter. She was writing about some of the fascinating pathology that Ace sees in the lab at the hospital and, of course, about some of their many dear friends that they get to see year after year at Kijabe.

Then just for fun, I said, “Jean, when people at home ask you what YOU do here, what do you say?” She laughed and said, “I cook.”

Boy, that’s true for me as well. I spend hours a week shopping, washing produce, preparing food, and cooking. Nothing is simple. No fast food. No prepared food. Everything is from scratch.

It begins with shopping. Most of the time I can get a ride to Nairobi once a month with another missionary where I buy staples and the heavy things— sugar, flour, canned foods, oil, boxed milk and paper products. There is a butcher from Nakuru that delivers meat to Kijabe every 4 weeks. It comes in large quantities so it must be weighed and zip locked into meal-sized portions and frozen.

Produce is sold locally. So, 2 or 3 times a week I take my backpack and hike 15 minutes up the hill to the vendor’s market where about 10 ladies compete for my shillings. They sell a variety of vegetables and fresh fruits — pineapples, bananas, mangoes, carrots, avocados, tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes, onions and a few other seasonal things. Sometimes the tortilla lady is there eager to sell me her wares. I always have a heavy backpack coming home but thankfully it’s all downhill!

Next is food preparation. Everything is organic (no one can afford garden chemicals) and spoils quickly. All produce must be scrubbed and rinsed in tap water. Anything that is eaten raw has to be soaked in bleach water. The kilo of carrots is scrubbed and peeled and rinsed again then stored in filtered water in the refrigerator. Any veges that I need for meals that week are parboiled and frozen. Tomato sauce is a basic so I dip 10-15 tomatoes in boiling water, peel, core, and mash them, then simmer to make sauce which I will use later for spaghetti and pizza.

Baking has been my greatest challenge. I have seen more than my share of “banana bricks” come out of the oven. We live at about 7000 feet above sea level — half way up Mount Rainier. So altitude alone causes me to alter the amounts of certain ingredients, the oven temperature and cooking time. Ingredients vary here from home -- sugar is coarser and has a different taste, salt and vanilla are not as strong. On top of all that, we have a gas oven with a mind of its own often choosing a baking temperature that I didn’t set on the dial. Everything has to be constantly monitored.

But in a moment of daring and “bad hair”desperation last week I agreed with a missionary mom to exchange a haircut for cinnamon rolls. It was my first attempt at them. (The back-up plan was snickerdoodles ...) And voila! They were perfect. I even called Doug into the kitchen to savor the moment of success.

- Kathy