Omelet.

Last night, I surveyed the situation and found myself with a sick husband, two hungry kids, and an empty fridge.

After some rummaging, I found the following:

• half a can of black beans
• 1 small, forgotten green pepper
• 3 good potatoes, 1 squishy potato
• 2 limp, tiny leeks
• 1 carrot
• half of a cucumber
• 36 eggs

That's right.  36 eggs.  We eat a lot of eggs and have them delivered by the flat-full every week.  They arrive covered in feathers and muck.  It's kind of great and kind of gross.

I wanted to prove that I was totally capable of single-handedly taking care of morning and evening routines at our house...even if the main cook was sequestered miserably in the back room.  I kept thinking about this radio program I used to listen to when we lived in Seattle. People would call in and report the pathetic contents of their "empty" refrigerators and a famous chef would calmly explain to them how to make a gourmet meal out of nothing.  I wanted that number.  If I emphasized that I was calling from the Congo, I would be sure to make the cut.

Image from here.

I decided there was one solution:  french fries.  When crisped up in some oil and salt, even a squishy potato can be reborn into something delicious, right?  I followed the Martha Stewart pre-soak process and got the fries going in the oven.*  I ignored the unbelievably annoying behavior that arises from post-homework, pre-dinner children.  I tried to figure out what goes with french fries.

Which brought me to the holy omelet.  A little fancier than scrambled eggs and a perfect hiding place for some slightly old cheese (hey, I cut off the moldy bits) and those two tiny leeks.  As I've repeatedly stressed, Johan is the cook in our house.  He is the one who knows things about eggs.  So, I turned to Cup of Jo for assistance.  This article, in fact.

And, now, I'm convinced that I am some sort of omelet savant.  The recipe was that good.

I mixed up the rest of the vegetable remnants from my house into some sort of black bean salad (using Smitten Kitchen - who else? - as a guide), set everything on the table, and lit some candles.  And by "candles," I mean "iPad" - on which we all watched Barbapapa.  Sometimes, it truly is okay to watch TV while you eat.  Last night being case and point.

Eating ethereal eggs + cheese + french fries while watching bizarre French cartoons with quiet, chewing children is an experience that every mother should have when her partner deserts her for a stomach virus.  I highly recommend it.

Image from here, here, and here**.

And this morning, I know three things:

• I need to go grocery shopping.
• I'm really happy Johan has rejoined the land of the living.
• I make incredible omelets.

* I would like to note that nobody makes fries like Adam Sensamaust.  Nobody.  Even Martha Stewart.
**Read more about Barbapapa amazingness at the incredible blog, "Vintage Books My Kid Loves".

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Friday List

SARAH'S LIST:

Yesterday we had the day off in celebration of Liberation Day. Or to commemorate the day, 15 years ago, when Kabila I marched into Kinshasa to liberate the country from Mobutu. Or as our friends say, "Liberate" the country from Mobutu.

"The Leopard's Last Monument"

  by  Julien Harneis 

Meanwhile, in the 90s, while our Congolese friends were enduring their coup d'état. I was watching a lot of Will and Grace. Which for some reason comes on our South African television all the time. It's kind of amazing to watch it now. It's still so edgy! Good article on the subject.

Here's a list of countries that love their moms more than America does. Not too surprising, really.

  by  Hamed Saber 

Foreign Policy Magazine is on a roll with its Mama lists. Here's one of Dictators With Mommy Issues. Ha!

Mommy Issues.

  by  Luz Adriana Villa A. 

Here's an interesting online exhibition called Mama: Motherhood Around the Globe. It's by the International Museum of Women and looks pretty beautiful. Especially if you have non-Congo internet and can actually load the photos and videos!

Opinion piece called New Africa or New Hype. A miraculous triumph over a tragic past or politically correct and safe?

There's nothing I love more than a smartly funny, witty woman. You can't really tell from her character on The Office, but Mindy Kaling is hilarious. I laughed all the way through her book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns). She has a new show starting in the fall. I really hope it's worth the download time.

JILL'S LIST:

An amazing program.  Go nurses!

Really happy to have this newly downloaded on my computer.  I have big plans for nighttime downloads (as is a necessary courtesy in the land of low bandwidth...) of Caillou, Oui Oui, Tintin, Pingu, Barbapapa, and other little clips to keep my kiddos happy on our quickly-approaching plane trip to the USA.  Scooby Doo in French?  No problem. 

Barbapapa.

Worldwide breastfeeding stats.  DRCongo is even included on the list.

I've always been a fan of face scrubs.  But, recently, I have been using this little waterless balm to "cleanse" my face and it's magical.  I swear my skin is more tropics-ready (read: less shiny) the less scrubbing and more balm-ing that I do.  (I got a sample in my Birchbox last month.  Sarah is mad because her little pot of Skin Savior apparently got nabbed somewhere between the U.S. and Kinshasa...)

Amazing photography.  Fascinating stories.  Hell of a blog post.

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