I hope your holidays were peace-filled and safe. I now know more people who have had breakthrough COVID than anyone who got it last year and the year before. As a communal eating experience provider, it scares me more now to be operating in this, however I plan to keep my mask on at all times. I hope this year brings us some reprieve. Let us know how you are out there.

Happy Holidays! In my mother tongue (Fante) we say: "Afihyia pa!" People respond: "Afi nko nbo to hen." Sometimes they add: "Afi sisei dem na..." The three dots are a fill in the blank situation. The sentence basically says "next year by this time..." (fill in the blank).

Thank you for following us the past three years in our CNY home. As we come to the end of yet another year, especially a COVID one, I am especially thankful for each and everyone of you who has come through for us: ordered a meal or booked us for catering, written a review, passed the word along, and or attended a class. It is a true pleasure to reach out to you again and let you know how you can access us this holiday season.

Kelewele (spiced plantains) with roasted Spanish peanuts

I started this ministry of feeding people because of this. Because people are walking around just waiting for someone to talk to them and food always opens the way. We are from two separate parts of the continent however none of that mattered when we started talking about life in the West and missing home.

I’ve decided to introduce the series I’m calling: What’s in a Name? My advisor said if with each picture I posted, I zoomed in and explained the ingredients, perhaps people would not be so apprehensive. When people can connect the ingredients to the ones they can find on their grocery store shelves, then they can bridge the gap.

We’ve been busy on and off, but pretty steady working on our brand, meeting people, and learning to be more efficient. The latter has proven to be the most challenging of all because mom and I like to feed people and whereas before, we could usually do this without much thought about numbers, now we have to be more attentive.

I begin with about 15 fresh scotch bonnets from one of the Mexican stores on Hamilton, although most grocery stores also carry them. They are seasonal so I make sure to stock up when I do find them. The red ones tend not to be as hot.