Dry cleaning and African Stew!

So, I am so mad about the dress I wore for New Year's Eve! I love it and it is ultra comfy. The problem is that it is delicate silk and has a few water spots on it and needs to be cleaned (before Friday mind you), because we have a cocktail party to go to and fatty patty here is too uncomfortable in her other two cocktail dresses that she likes (I have two others that fit fine, but don't really like either of them). Here's a pic where you get an idea of the "bedazzling" that's causing the problem (it cracks me up that you can see the reflections on Kate). The rest of the dress is this black to gray ombre silk.


Anyway, I took it to two different dry cleaners (good ones, mind you), and they were both like "Uh, yeah. We can't guarantee that that stuff at the top (embellishments, bedazzle-ing, whatever you want to call it) won't turn weird colors after it's been cleaned." What the heck?? Shouldn't the manufacturer say "Consider this a disposable dress, because you won't be able to get it cleaned." If they had done that, I wouldn't have bought it. I guess that's why they didn't. Grrrrr...

OK, so besides the dress incident yesterday, I made African Groundnut Stew last night (Hkatenkwan). It sounds totally odd, but it was really good, very filling and mucho healthy. And the next time I make it I may even leave out the chicken, I don't know. Anyway, if you are looking for something different, give this a try. It doesn't taste anything like you think it will. I was actually surprised how much I liked it. I made minor alterations here and there as it cooked and it is kind of a hybrid of several recipes that I found for it. Anyway, be brave and try it and I think that you will be pleasantly surprised!

Groundnut Stew (Hkatenkwan) ...I'm assuming the "H" is silent

• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 medium eggplant, peeled and cubed
• 1 can undiluted condensed tomato soup
• 1 can stewed tomatoes (I cut them up with kitchen shears in the can)
• 2 cups chicken broth or stock
• 1 large yam, cooked and cubed (canned - hello, they are already cooked and cubed)
• 1 cup okra (I used thawed, frozen okra)
• 1 can of black beans
• 2 tbs fresh minced ginger (you could used powdered, but ginger is so cheap if you just buy a "nub" of it and it is sooo much better fresh)
• 1 tbs. cumin
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 3/4 cup peanut butter (I used natural, so it may taste different with processed pb)
• A 2-3 pound cooked chicken, cubed or torn - skin removed and discarded (I went the easy way of rotisserie from the store)
• hot pepper flakes, cayenne pepper and salt to taste (probably about a tsp of each, but everyone is different)

Saute onions and eggplant until cooked, add liquid ingredients and spices. Bring to low boil, and add peanut butter and remaining vegetables and torn or cubed chicken, return to low boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. If the stew is too thick, just add more chicken broth until you reach the desired consistency.

• Serve over brow rice (Since it takes brown rice about 25 minutes to cook, I just started it, when I added the vegetables and chicken.)

**One of the recipes called for adding a sliced banana, which I did not do because it scared me, but in retrospect, I think that it would have been fabulous and I plan on buying one and using in the leftovers!

Give it a try!

Gina