An Addicts Recipe

My name is Britney, and I have an addiction to peanut butter. Admitting it is the first step right?? Peanut butter has always been an issue for me. Back in high school I was interviewed by the local newspaper and one of the questions they asked me was “what is one thing you can’t go a day without?” I panicked and said brushing my hair or something else equally lame. When I got home and talked to my mom about it, she immediately said “you should have said peanut butter! You eat it by the spoonful!” In hindsight, it would have been the perfect answer. 

Worried about not having access to peanut butter when moving to Africa, I had it as the number one thing on my list of things to pack. Of course, being me, it was the one thing I forgot and I had to make my dad stop at the gas station by the airport at 4am before boarding my plane so I could have my last jar (or so I thought). Malawi has actually made it worse…during pre-service training we were provided a small jar of peanut butter every single week! The first week I brought it home with a proud grin on my face to my host family only to watch in horror as the jar was shared with every single member of the family and their friends. It was gone in a day… As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I wanted to come here and help those in need and learn to be selfless and all that, but apparently I’m just not that good of a person. That jar was the only one my family saw. I kept the weekly jars stashed in my bag or room throughout the rest of training. No, I’m not proud of it, but do you see the impact addictions can have on a person’s life!?

Since moving to site things have gotten a little better. I stress ‘little.’ Every time I am in the Chitipa Boma I say I’m not going to buy another jar, that I need a detox, but somehow that magic jar of happiness ends up in my bag again. I have decided to try to follow my site mate’s lead and limit the amount that I BUY. Instead I have been making it from scratch. The logic is that if I work for it, I deserve it (right?!). You can decide, here is the process of making peanut butter in my village:

1. Bike 35km to Chitipa Boma. It’s sandy, windy and usually hot (pity might work, right?)
2. Visit the local market to buy about a half pound of ground nuts (costs about 200 Kwacha, 50 cents)
3. After checking the mail, enjoying beers on the airstrip (closest thing to a park), eating some chips mayai and stopping by the bank, head back to Kameme. Don’t forget its 35km back too!!
4. Start a fire in my baula
5. Roast the peanuts until they start to pop
6. Toss them in the mortar and lightly pound them until they are broken up
7. Throw the nuts into the sefa (sifter) and toss them around a bit to get the skins off and out of the mix
8. Put them back in the mortar and pound until your hands are shaking and blistered, and your arms are numb
9. Hopefully this is the same amount of time it takes for the peanuts to have turned into ooey gooey goodness.
10. Add salt, or if you want to get crazy- experiment with adding cinnamon, sugar, vanilla, chili powder, honey, cocoa, Cajun seasoning, or anything you can find in your kitchen.
11. Enjoy and hope it will last until tomorrow…