Cooking in Impfondo- 3

"Cooking in Impfondo" is a series with recipes and cooking tips for our town.  It will give you a picture of a little slice of our life here, and who knows, maybe a few ideas! 

Ingredients look a little
different in Impfondo
than the US grocery stores!

Brenda's Brownies
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix dry ingredients, then add wet and mix well.
Place in a 9x9 pan.
Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Anna’s note: I usually double this recipe, and cook it in a 9x13 pan. If you want to deepen the chocolate flavor, add a teaspoon of instant coffee with the dry ingredients. You can substitute Matinel for the unsweetened cocoa. When doing this, I usually decrease the sugar, and increase the amount of Matinel.

It's nice to have help
and advice with those.

Banana Muffins (from Sarah Speer)

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3-1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 Tablespoons water or milk
3 bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon baking soda (add with bananas)
1/2 cup oil

Mix flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Set aside.
Mix water, banana/baking soda, and oil. Add to dry ingredients.
Place in muffin pan. Bake at 350 degrees, 10-12 minutes.

On it's way to being
Chicken Noodle Soup.

Tip #3 for Cooking in Impfondo:

Remember you're not on your own.  Ask for recipes or how-to from those around you.  You can ask another ex-pat the best way to make familiar recipes from home, like brownies, banana muffins or pancakes.

You can ask someone Congolese what to do with the ingredients you find here.  Some of them look a bit different, and some of them ARE different.  Don't be afraid to try something new!