Rice & Chicken Curry Stew - A Welcome Home Dish Part II

Welcome back!

Last week, I was so excited with my long lost friend Dorothy's visit to my house.  The excitement continued into this week when I had another set of old class mates visiting Ghana after many years abroad. There was Louisa and her husband Nat, and their two grown up daughters(whom I had not met before) visiting from the US. There was also Alftee (Atiapa Teye), accompanied by his grown up daughter too(also meeting for the first time) from the UK. It was a pleasant day and there was a lot to reminisce about!

Foodwise:

As I said last week, it's always tricky cooking for friends returning home from abroad because they are nearly always  looking to stock up on the foods they have missed most.  I wanted to cook Jollof Rice because it is one of the go-to dishes when you want to satisfy every palate at a gathering.  However, when I was planning the visit with Louisa, she mentioned that her girls had been to a few events where Jollof Rice was served.  Also, I learnt from Alftee that RSVP in Africa actually means  'Rice and Stew Very Plenty.'  With that comic insight, I decided to meet each one halfway and prepare Rice and Stew which is after all, a variation of Jollof Rice!

Drinks:  What drinks would you consider serving returnees? Palm wine always goes down well, but what if they are not alcohol drinkers?  I was not able to get palm wine so I made a Lime Coctail with Mint and Cardamom which I think went down well.

Dessert: For dessert, I wanted to keep it simple.  I served Diced Watermelon in See through glasses and garnished with mint.  Watermelon happens to be in season and so I decided to go with the flow!