Ethiopian collards

This one turned out quite good. Even Dawit was stuffing his mouth. (He had gas later.)

1 bunch collard greens roughly chopped
1 medium onion chopped
1 heaping tablespoon niter kebbeh
1 small glove garlic minced
1 small hot green pepper sliced (I removed the seeds)
1 cup vegetable stock
salt to taste

Wash and chop greens. Be sure to remove the woody stems. Melt niter kebbeh in a heavy bottomed pot. Add onions and sauté on medium heat for a few minutes. Add garlic and stir the garlic and onion constantly so your garlic doesn’t burn. Cook until onion is translucent. Add pepper and greens. Stir around well so greens are covered in niter, then add a cup of broth. Let the greens simmer on low heat until the liquid cooks off.

Pretty easy.

I'm gonna hold off on the shiro recipe. I got it from Birtukan while we were cooking in Ethiopia but it just didn't turn out great. I need to tweak the recipe.

Niter Kebbeh

Last week I finally tried my hand at Misr Wat (red lentils). The recipe called for either niter kebbeh (a spiced butter) or simply unsalted butter. Which do you think is better? Right! But I didn't have any niter kebbeh, so I made the lentils with unsalted butter. They started out pretty watery but were surprisingly good -- after I finally got them reduced to the right consistency. (I really just like to use the word "reduced" because it shows I can cook something that requires more than boiling water. I know how to reduce!)

Anyway, now that I've dipped my toe into Ethiopian lentils (Hmmm?), I'm ready to dive into some other stuff: lentils again, shiro (I bought the spice in Ethiopia) and Ethiopian collard greens.

To get started, I needed to make some niter kebbeh, which has about 90 ingredients including a couple I'd never heard of and had no idea where to find. Fenugreek, for one. I found it at a health food store in seed form and ground it in my coffee grinder. Then I toasted all the spices. Then I read the rest of the recipe and panicked for a minute when I saw the word "cheesecloth." My friend Cindy told me not to freak out -- I know how to reduce! -- use a coffee filter. So....


I always save the asparagus rubber bands. They have so many uses in the kitchen.



These are the yucky milk solids and spices. They dropped to the bottom just like they were supposed to.



And into an air-tight jar, where it will keep for 3 months in the frig.



Part 2 coming soon...

Taste of Ethiopia: June 10

Wednesday was a very full day. We visited Yezelalem Minch, Nesibu and Birtukan's amazing ministry that includes an orphanage, a child sponsorship program, a women's income-generating program, community meals and so much more. YM's dedicated staff truly touched our hearts. Later that morning we visited some of the women in the YM income-generating program. Through personal loans, YM makes it possible for women to start businesses of their own to support their families. This group of women sorts, roasts and packages coffee beans for sale. We bought 15 kilos of coffee to take home! They also make a variety of Ethiopia spices. We also bought some berbere, shiro and lentils for when I get ambitious enough to make some Ethiopian dishes at home. (If you've wondered how you could help Ethiopian women and children but don't feel ready to make the ongoing commitment of sponsoring a child, you can make a one-time donation of $100 to YM's IGA program and help one woman start her own business. Let me know if you'd like me to send you a brochure with more information.) The women held a coffee ceremony for us in their chapel. We've been home for two months and we're truly enjoying the Ethiopian coffee, but it's not even close to being as wonderful as it was there. There is obviously something in the preparation that we're missing.

Later we visited Gelgela, one of the larger orphanages that Bethany works with. The children were sweet and curious, and we took about 300 pictures. They enjoyed seeing the pictures of themselves, and Spence kept them entertained for about an hour.

In the afternoon, Birtukan gave the girls a cooking lesson. We made lentils and shiro and something else I forget. Somewhere I wrote down the recipes, and I will share them here when I remember where I put them.

Later in the evening we went to an Ethiopian restaurant for dinner and traditional dance. Dawit was not happy about us leaving and I felt guilty, but Birtukan insisted that he would be just fine in 5 minutes. Later, she said he did just fine and fell asleep easily, but I had lingering guilt over leaving him. The music and dancing was amazing and the food was to die for, but Spence and I were sharing with three guys who didn't mess around: Mekonnen, Milkiyas and Tendaye, so we had to dig in to get our share. Oh, how I miss the food!

We got back to the guest house pretty late, and Dawit was snoozing on his tummy. Birtukan said most Ethiopian babies sleep on their tummies, so hey, who are we to change traditions?

Here are the pictures in a bit of random order. Can I just say that putting pics in Blogger is a pain, and resorting them is even worse.


Hanging out at Gelgela:

Ladies at Gelgela making injera:

Roasting coffee beans:

Emane and Lindsay in deep conversation in the chapel:

Yezelalem Minch staff:

Getting a cooking lesson:

Nesibu helping:

Does this look hot or what?

Milkiyas, Tendaye and Mekonnen:

Saturday in Nashville

I attended the Vanderbilt International Adoption Clinic's workshop today. It was very informative and I feel good about using their services in the future, especially for a post-adoption assessment. But the highlight was meeting and visiting with other future adoptive parents. I finally met Kim, one of my Bethany forum friends from Memphis, and Kimberly from right here in Nashville who is adopting through another agency. I also got to see referral pictures of a precious little girl who will soon be joining a Nashville family. This little girl was good friends at the orphanage with Rusie, who was adopted by the Mize's in Knoxville, so these little girls will soon be Tennessee neighbors. How cool is that!

Later, Spence and I met up with some friends at Climb Nashville. I think he enjoyed his inaugural climb up a fake wall with color-coded hand holds. One more trip and he'll be hooked like me.

We topped off the evening at Gojo. For you middle Tenneseeans, Gojo is the best Ethiopian food ever, well at least in Tennessee. I highly recommend a visit. My mom and Caroline joined us mid-way through our dinner and C insisted on dancing to the music before getting in her high chair. She ate a nickel's worth of injera, then proceeded to knock over a whole stool of spices.

Musings before debate

Oh boy, getting back in to blogging mode is hard. Having spent most of my waking hours these last few weeks working or chasing a two-year-old has left me editorially challenged. A lot has happened, though. Here are a few tidbits:

Spence had a good show at the Cookeville Fun Fest and is gearing up for the Nillie Bipper show in Cleveland, TN. He's building some beautiful new lamps out of walnut and exploring some new shade designs as well as night lights. This is my porch swing -- for sale, of course.

We took a crew of friends down Roaring River one Sunday and everyone emerged alive and well.

I made some new friends in Knoxville at an Ethiopian New Year party of families who have brought home children from Ethiopia and who are in the process of doing so. I didn't get many pictures; I was too busy gabbing with everyone and warming up the injera I brought from Nashville's Gojo. Everyone was super nice and it was so heartwarming to meet their children and hear their stories about Ethiopia. Caroline developed a crush on a young man who was there with his mother and siblings. She followed him everywhere and downright embarrassed me. See her google eyes below.

In a moment of impulse and bravery, I cut off my hair. Kim, this picture is for you. It's a horrible self-portrait in the bathroom of my office today. This is so you can find me at the workshop tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I'm attending the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital International Adoption Clinic workshop. A number of clinicians and psychologists will speak on issues related to adopting internationally (medical, bonding, etc.). Afterward, I'm taking Spence climbing at the indoor climbing gym in Nashville (his maiden climb), then we're going to eat at Gojo. I'm seriously addicted to Ethiopian food and need it at least every other week. I can't wait!!

Now, it's 5 minutes 'til the Mississippi debate, so I gotta go.

Ethiopian cuisine in the neighborhood

Yesterday, Caroline and I rediscovered a neighborhood treasure within walking distance of our little Nashville house: Gojo Ethiopian Restaurant. I knew it was there, I'd even been there once when it was a scary hole-in-the-wall. But it always looked so deserted I wasn't sure it was even in business anymore. A few months ago someone painted it a bright orange and changed the name from Lalibela to Gojo. Well, last night we decided to give it a go, and it was an absolute delight.

The little girl who waited on us was from Addis Ababa and had lived in the States for many years. She was still in high school and said she came here for the education opportunities. She was helping out her aunt in the restaurant for the summer. She said a family had come in that same day saying they were adopting from Ethiopia. I wish I knew who? I ordered the vegetarian combo. My favorite was the shiro wet (ground chickpeas) and Caroline liked the ye atkilt wet (green beans). She was not a fan of injera, but she kept trying it thinking it would be more like bread. We'll have to work on that one. I'm eager to take Spence and try some new dishes. I think they will do a coffee ceremony too.

In other news...three Bethany families passed court on Friday and are officially parents of their little ones. They will travel to Ethiopia in the next couple months to pick them up. Yippee!