Cookie Monster told us that cookies are a “sometimes food”, and if you end up serving as a Community Health Specialist in Malawi, these sweet potato cookies will probably be a nice treat, sometimes.
Sous-chef~ing Chronicles with Mama Gazdă*: Placintă. Placintă is a traditional Moldovan and Romanian pastry often filled with sheep or cow cheese (brinză). Alternatively, potatoes (cartofi), pumpkins (dovleac/bostan), apples (mere), or cherries (cireșe/vișină) have satisfied others’ gustatory cravings. Cînd vînt bate tare afară cu zapada, stăm acasă și facem placintă! (When the wind blows hard outside with snow, we stay at home and make placinta!)
It was their first time making cookies and as my student said, “They nailed it!” Soft and chewy with crisp edges. Not to mention the fact that they are red and green. 🎅🎄🎁 #hohoho #christmas #christmascookies #cookies #sugarcookies #red #green #peacecorps #peacecorpschina #volunteer #tefl #love #baking #friends #goodeats #china #gansu #proudteacher
Estuve haciendo “Johnny Queques” con el grupo de damas número uno. It’s a traditional Bocas quick bread. Made from freshly made coconut milk, and everything else you typically think of that goes in bread. I’ll buy four of these bad boys whenever someone is selling them in my community, at 25 centavos per piece I can’t help but support the woman who made them!
“I took this photo the first time people in my community taught me how to bake bread over a pot over a fire. I was so impressed that it was easy to bake with the lack of an oven. Baking bread is a common income source for people in my community. They make coconut bread using local coconuts to make coconut milk. Delicious!”
A youth development Volunteer works with children on a bakery project to help them earn money for their families as an alternative to selling candy on the street in Ecuador
Peace Corps Volunteer Teaches Students to Make Bread; Generate Income in Uganda
Peace Corps Volunteer Siong Ng recently spent two months teaching three teachers and 30 female students how to make bread to generate income for their community.
“We intend to be self-sufficient after the first school term by supporting the baking program with revenue from the sale of baked goods. Of course, we cannot bake bread without an oven. On one of the field trips to a bakery store, we saw an unused wood-fire oven and convinced the owner to donate it to our school. She did and that was the rest of the happy story,” said Ng, 62, who has been working as an education Volunteer since February 2010. Ng was previously a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mexico for three years where he worked with business owners to improve their operations.
In January, Ng started the baking program, which is held every Thursday for both teachers and students from a local primary school. Later in the year, they intend to increase the trainings to two-to three-times a week. The most recent training in early March yielded six loaves of bread and more than 100 dinner rolls. Ng taught students business skills and helped them to sell half their baked goods to the local community.
