YAY - Soup's my favorite!

Sergio is working in London this week and so I'm all laid back with myself here and decided to make some soup that will last me all week so I don't have to cook...Plus I overindulged a bit this weekend and I feel like I need to detox and take myself off solid foods for a while.

Oh wait - I need to digress - funny true story about soup that I want to tell - So, I was at this picnic thing with a bunch of random people after we did white water rafting one day.  There were a few Americans in the mix that I had not met before and I usually love meeting fellow Americans. It's fun to talk about stuff you have in common, etc.  But one girl especially was one of those chicks - we all know her, she was the kind that talks without articulating the last consonant of words and makes all sentences sound like questions (I bought a sandwich yesterdayyyyyyy???? and then I ate iiit???), You know, the kind that says the unenthusiastic "YAY" as a response to everything  from birthday cake being served to Kadafi being killed.  Yes, it was that girl.  I'm sure she has many redeeming qualities but that new way of talking all sweet and fuzzy like everything is made of marshmellows makes me nuts!
Anyways, so this place was serving soup, and this chick and I had a super awkward moment that I will never forget. I went up to get my soup as she was coming back from getting hers...and as we passed each other, there was a moment where we didn't know what to say in passing..and so she took care of it for us by saying..in that sweet cutesy voice: "mmm, soup's my favorite".  WTH?! Who says that?!  WHO SAYS SOUP IS THEIR FAVORITE?? Favorite is a superlative - favorite means favorite. It would make sense if she was saying a certain type of soup is her favorite..but no, she was saying that soup is her favorite thing PERIOD. And it wasn't even soup..it was BROTH! But I didn't leave it there - I had to awkwardly respond with something so I instinctively sort of smiled all excited and fake and said, "yep, love soup!" - WTH?!!! Somehow she found a way to drag me into her happy little soup world! Sounds like a conversation that two 80 year old women could be having easily.  But they have a reason that soup is their favorite..they don't have teeth! at least there is a reason for the soup enthusiasm.....is it just me?!

Anyways, back to my soup.  I made MY FAVORITE SOUP ;-) - Chicken Tortilla Soup.  Mine didn't have tortillas but I cannot call it Chicken soup because that's not what it was. It was like Mexican chicken soup..how bout that?
I just ate it and honestly I have to give my full compliments to the chef....good stuff.
Ingredients:

1 can of crushed tomatos
1 can of white beans
3 cloves of garlic
1 onion chopped
olive oil
1 can of corn
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
3 limes
1 can of chicken stock
bunch of cilantro
2 cups of water
taco seasoning
2 cooked chicken breasts chopped (I coated mine in the taco seasoning and baked them in the oven)

Saute the onions and garlic together in a big pot with a bit of olive oil. Then add the chicken stock, tomatoes, lime juice, oregano, chili powder, water - Let it boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Then add the corn, white beans, chopped chicken and cilantro and bring to a boil again and then let simmer for another 10-15 minutes.VOILA! You got soup!

Monday - Friday baby!

I added a bit of sour cream and some mozz cheese to my bowl and served it up!

You like those dishes huh? Those are still alive from the college days - I figured I'd bring my crappy stuff to Kenya and leave it here. But the truth is I'm attached to them and will still probably bring them back with me

And, I feel that it's my social responsibility to not just talk about the good, but to also discuss topics that are sad or uncomfortable on here. So, I should tell you that while I was cooking up my soup, I was also broiling some chicken marinaded in some weird thai sauce - Well I ended up getting on the phone and forgetting all about the thai chicken under the broiler until I saw thick smoke rising out of the oven (which is not so rare in my house). And I'm only showing you this as a public service message.  This is your public service message:  DO NOT LEAVE SH!T UNDER THE BROILER TOO LONG!  

They're like little burnt end chicken nuggets.  Not edible..believe me I tried.

Bathroom Code of Ethics

Some of you might be uncomfortable with the topic of this post, but I feel strongly that it needs to be discussed and awareness needs to be raised. I might even come out with a line of those rubber bracelet bands and have them say BCE (bathroom code of ethics) because I feel that the word needs to get out.

Many of you will remember a previous post about the management notice that I found in my Nairobi office bathroom - some of what I'm about to say below will build on that post because I think the building management may have been on to something. Long story short, I walked into the ladies room at work and saw this notice on the wall:

Mayfair Suites Office  

LADIES WASHROOM ETIQUETTE

1) Do not take reading material into the public toilet
2) Don’t Peek under the doors. Knock if you need to know if it is unattended
3) Stand close enough to the pan or urinal so you don’t dribble on the floor
4) Concentrate when you pee so you don’t wet the seat, walls or floor
5) Sit on the pan if you are unsteady on your feet
6) Ladies; sitting is compulsory
7) Squat only on squatting toilets, pedestal toilets are for sitting on only
8) Avoid messing the toilet seat. If you do, clean up after yourself properly.

My favorites are  #3, #4, #5, #6. But I do find that #6 contradicts greatly with 3,4,5 and I guess it bothers me.

Anyways, I was thinking that in my house we could really benefit from having something like this in our bathroom since many things that seem to be common sense apparently aren't. And I strongly feel that it's my right to enjoy a pleasant bathroom experience, every time - I think you'd agree.
So, I'm going to print something up for my bathroom wall and here's what I think it would say:

 Home Bathroom Code of Ethics (aka Oh No you didn't)

1) Flush

2) Put the toilet seat down when you are done or I will likely stumble into the bathroom in the middle of the night and sit on the urine covered rim.

3) If you use the last of the toilet paper, go get another roll so that no one has to get creative with Q-tips and cotton balls.

4) Please, PLEASE, do not do number 2 or pass gas for that matter while someone else is taking a shower.  No one needs to shower in your poo sauna. (It needed to be said)

5) If you flush the toilet while someone is taking a shower, you should be prepared to hear a sling of obscenities, which could include negative statements about your mother, your weight, your brain, or private parts.

6) Unless there really is a train running through your bathroom, do not leave tracks in the toilet.

7) Dirty unmentionables should be placed in the dirty clothes, not put on display in the middle of the floor.

Okay so uh, that's it.  Feel free to print this out and hang it in your own bathroom because I know that you want to...because after all, it's your right to enjoy a pleasant bathroom experience...every time.

And drop me a line or leave a comment if you have any to add to this list, I'd appreciate it.

XOXO
Lenna

My 15 minutes of international fame

I walked into my office on Monday after the race and found this post it on my chair:

I were on Kenyan TV!

So, I went to seek out who this mysterious note was from and why I was on tv on Saturday ..since the race was on Sunday.  I found the masked post-it note leaver - my co-worker Jennifer. She said she meant Sunday and that she was watching Kenyan Television Network and they were airing the marathon and she saw me cross the finish line in all my glory. I forced her to describe what I was wearing because often times Kenyans think that us wazungu look all the same. But she was spot on. It was me!!!! At first  I was a bit annoyed that the camera man didn't get me at the starting line since I'm sure I looked a TON better than at the finish line...even as ugly as I looked at the starting line that statement still holds true.
And I kept replaying my finish line crossing in my head hoping that I hadn't been too dramatic about it.  But for the life of me, I could not remember what I did when I crossed the line! Like, what if I threw my hands up in exaltation and then fell to the ground and sobbed...or what if I went around hugging all the random people standing around there and telling them what great support they had been...I'll never know...but Jennifer, she knows. She knows...

The truth is, this is not the first time I have experienced celebrity status in a foreign country.  Let me beckon back a few years to my time in Guatemala when I walked into my gym one day, got on the treadmill and was interrupted by one of the trainers telling me that I was in an advertisement in Tennis Guatemala magazine. I ran down to the lobby to see what the fuss was about thinking that I just misunderstood his spanish.  The receptionist was sitting there with the magazine spread out and was circling my sweat marks and giggling...I WAS FRONT AND CENTER. I ripped the magazine out of her hands and told her to stop circling my parts. After I went through a period of mortification (word? yes/no?) I decided I sort of liked being famous in Guatemala and I embrace my celebrity.  I worried that I would be bombarded with paparazzi when I left the gym..but the only person out there was the guy wanting money for washing my car...I figured it would take time for the word to get out.  Apparently it takes a VERY long time - it's been 5 years and the paparazzi still hasn't found me!  Here's my spread:

Apparently this piece is also called "Circle Lenna's sweat marks"

I can arrange autographed version of the above photo. Please send who you want the autograph made to and your address...and $10 for the international postage ;-) This is serious. I'm not kidding.

;-))))))) XOXO
Lenna