November 15, 2022
North, south, east, and west. These islands sprinkled on both sides of the equator and both sides of the 180th meridian are technically in all four hemispheres. It is easiest to find this small collection of islands on a map with time zones. When you see the line in the Pacific Ocean that juts out to encase all of its islands, you will have found Kiribati. A collection of coral atolls, this is not a highly fertile paradise. Foreign aid is vitally important, and much of the food has to be imported.
There are times in cooking when I have hoped for the best, but I have known that the result will be less than thrilling. I have an international cookbook that includes an African recipe for meal worms. (I haven’t cooked this yet, even though I know where to source the ingredients.) Putting that perspective on it, I hoped that our taste buds would be forgiving to the SPAM. I bought a vibrant pumpkin, which my life-saving food processor shredded. We’ve been enjoying cabbage. Perhaps…
No, this meal was not a hit. But that is a step in learning as well. With the children being older, we were able to talk about how life would be different without a backyard garden. How our ability to finish a plate of food might change if we had to wait on shipments. For me, the dish was confusing. It contained baking powder and powdered milk, but the dish did not seem bound together or raised. The brightness of the lemon came through, but it was at war with the spices in the SPAM. After a few bites and some gratitude for our unknown blessings, we switched to PB&J’s. Food for thought, that is what this was.
The Roberts Family’s Worldwide Adventure 