Creamy Balsamic Vinegarette

Salad is a tough thing to come by here in Uganda. It grows here, really well actually. But it's not something the Ugandans eat. I can sometimes get it from my garden or from a generous friend willing to share.

Since you can't get salad, you also can't get salad dressing. I often make ranch by mixing 1 packet of ranch (I have stocked up on those) with 1 c of milk and 1 c of mayonnaise. I didn't even know you could do that before I moved here!

But recently I have found my favorite homemade salad dressing. I was lucky enough to find a bottle of balsamic vinegar in Kampala ($10 - totally worth it) and this delicious recipe that I can get all the ingredients for. Try it, you'll love it! To me it's just as good as eating in a restaurant...well almost. 

The recipe comes from this website. 

Creamy Balsamic Greek Yogurt Vinegarette

Ingredients:

1/4 c plain greek yogurt (I just used regular plain yogurt)

1/4 c balsamic vinegar

2 T olive oil

1 t dijon mustard (I used regular yellow mustard)

1 T honey

salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl or jar and shake or whisk until combined and smooth. 

Appreciation Lunch

Around this time last year we hosted a lunch to show our workers how much we love and appreciate them. We decided to make it an annual event. This year everyone came! 11 adults and 15 children, not including us. Betty and my new worker Justine arrived early to prepare lunch. We ate matoke (similar to bananas, but not sweet, they are cooked and mashed), rice, beef, chicken, pork, and chapati (fried flatbread), sodas, and cake. Lunch was ready and served at 3:00, pretty typical lunch time here. The kids all had a ball playing in our yard. The only two downsides were that it was really rainy and that Molly got sick with the stomach bug Graham had a few days ago.

We love and trust our workers so much. We have three guards, one housekeeper, and I recently hired Justine to help Betty out twice a week since I've been leaving my kids with Betty more. 

Here is what matoke looks like before it's cooked:

The spread:

The kids' table:

Here is what I chose. I can eat Ugandan food but I certainly don't prefer it. I do love chapati though.

*sidenote: Molly loves it all!

The adults table (and me with my mouth full):

Is this little girl not precious? Her name was Jacinda.

Our guard Isaac and his family:

Justine and her family:

Steven and his family:

Betty and her niece she is raising:

Martin and his family:

Graham had a blast playing with all the kids.

I am always looking to show our workers how much we appreciate them and I look forward to next year.