Food passion...my shopping #1

I have to aknowledge, Italians are food addicted. It's not by chance that the last Universal Expo that took place in my hometown (Milan) was about food! So many people are always concerned about what we eat in Kenya. Sometimes they are really worried because its true there is nothing better than Italian food (sorry for all the others) and lacking some ingridients makes life more difficult. But you can survive with small tricks, a lot of homemade food and the openess to try new tastes.

So I decided to dedicate this post to my shopping. Usually during the month (yes we try to shop only once in the month) we shop from two different sources. The first is the supermarket, where you can find everything from food, stationeries, utensils, clothes...anything, and the second is the market. Why the market? Yes you guessed it! Because it is cheaper and you can find seasonal fresh vegetables and fruits. Of course the funny vegetables (as my husband calls them) like eggplants and courgettes I buy from supermarket but for the rest the market is the place. The nearest market is called Githurai (meaning unknown) and I don't go personaly to this place. My Saint husband goes with our long list because he knows the places where to get the best foods.

So here a photo of our last shopping (take in consideration it was for Christmas period, when we had many guests so the ammount of food is huge).

So few tips and trcks about fruits and veges:

- Butternut: it's a kind of pumpkin (these dont't exist in Italy), sweet and soft. I tried to make gnocchi with it and come out well. Fantastic with rice and vegetable stew.

- Passion Bananas: I love these small fruits. They are like passion fruits inside (very orange) but they look like bananas. I want to write a story for children about them...imagine a passion dressed like a banana..so funny!

- Mangoes: sweetest fruit ever. Its season should be now but I didn't find yet sweet and yummy ones. Giovanni loves them and we like to make homemade juice.

-Fresh Maize and Peas. They need to be boiled imediately after purchcase.Usually I boil and freeze to use when I need.

So next time I'll give you some recepies and ways of cooking with these ingredients....

see yah!