Global Table Adventure | Monday Meal Review

Monday Meal Review: São Tomé and Príncipe

December 24, 2012 By Sasha Martin 2 Comments

Our children grow up frittata fast. They start out little bitty eggs, get whipped up into a froth (by our mad parenting skills, no doubt), and then poured into a pan... ready for the oven (a.k.a. the world). We turn around for ten minutes, and when our gaze next falls upon them, they are a ... frittata... nothing like the little round egg we started out with. Our hearts break a little (partly because we're proud of how far they've come, and partly because we'll always miss the baby they once … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Africa, Monday Meal Review, São Tomé and Príncipe

Monday Meal Review: San Marino

December 17, 2012 By Sasha Martin 1 Comment

Neighbors. I'd already planned on talking about neighbors last week, but when the grief of Newtown, Connecticut struck, I realized how much more urgently this message needs to be said. Abe Lincoln called the people of San Marino his "Great and Good Friends," despite being separated by an entire continent. There was such tenderness in his words, but this particular weekend they struck me hard. Why? Because so few of us know anything about the people who live in our very neighborhoods, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Europe, Monday Meal Review, San Marino

Monday Meal Review: Samoa

December 10, 2012 By Sasha Martin 10 Comments

There's a Samoan proverb which reads "Ua iloa i vaʻa lelea," or we are one family. I love this proverb. I spent most of my topsy turvy childhood figuring out what love means. What family means. And then, one day, those grace-filled words dawned on me ... We are one family. The Samoans knew it all along. Blood bonds and geographic bonds are just the wonderful beginning. We can find love whenever and wherever we open our hearts. We are all one family. Sometimes it's a bit messy. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Monday Meal Review, Oceania, samoa

Monday Meal Review: Saint Vincent & the Grenadines

December 3, 2012 By Sasha Martin 4 Comments

This week we brought our Global Table to Keith's parents' house in southwest Oklahoma, where we ate with his mom, his aunt, and his uncle. His childhood home sits under the glinting autumn sun, surrounded by dusty golden grasses and emerald green wheat. There's a half mile (or more) in all directions between the house and any other structure, at least that's the way it seems to me. At night the stars act as streetlights. It's quite the retreat. Keith's mom was able to use some of her family … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Monday Meal Review, North America, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Monday Meal Review: Saint Lucia

November 26, 2012 By Sasha Martin 9 Comments

"I don't like nutmeg," a willowy, blond girl of about ten whined. Her mother looked reproachfully at her. "Have you ever tried it?" I asked with what I hoped was an encouraging smile. "No," she quietly replied, eyes downcast. She stood with one hip turned away from me, as if my slightest move would send her scampering away. "Well, here, smell it," I said as I picked up the whole nutmeg and passed it to her. "Isn't it amazing?" The nut was about one inch in diameter and was round … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Monday Meal Review, North America, Saint Lucia

Monday Meal Review: Saint Kitts and Nevis

November 19, 2012 By Sasha Martin 2 Comments

Do you ever wonder if you need to get out more? While I keep stumbling into serendipitous connections in Tulsa, like the young book salesman from Bulgaria who knocked on my door the same week I cooked his country and the Finnish mother I ran into the same day I was to cook Finland, I didn't really expect to find the same thing during our brief 4 night stay in New York City. Who was I kidding? I should have known better. It is New York City, after all. On our first bleary eyed morning … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Monday Meal Review, North America, Saint Kitts and Nevis

Monday Meal Review: Rwanda

November 12, 2012 By Sasha Martin 15 Comments

We officially have less than a year remaining in this Adventure. Unbelievable. In the very beginning (February 2010), our Global Table Adventure was about eating a better, more varied diet, especially for our then seven-month old baby, Ava. Cooking the world was also about making life in Tulsa a little more tolerable, while daydreaming about other places. I was escaping. Hard. Now? Well the name is the same, but the Adventure has evolved in ways I could have never … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Africa, Monday Meal Review, Rwanda

Monday Meal Review: Russia

November 5, 2012 By Sasha Martin 11 Comments

This week we took the Russian Potato Salad to a potluck event in downtown Tulsa called "Open Tables" where individuals of different religions and belief systems gather to share food and company. It was my first time. While the discussion would have been fascinating (we were encouraged to talk about our differences), my table - through a series of prior commitments, baby bedtimes, and no shows - had completely vacated by the time discussion started. And so it came to be that, while the room … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Europe, Monday Meal Review, Russia