Dinner Guests (by Amanda)

I have never been one for cooking and having a lot of people over. It always makes me nervous. Will the house be clean enough? Will I have enough food fixed? Will it be any good? Will I burn the vegetables, under cook the meat, dry out the cake and the list goes on… Africa, though, has made me reevaluate what is important. Yes I still have all those questions when anyone is coming but now I am willing to risk it.
So today I took a trip over to our friends Jeannee and Pastor Christophe’s house. I was intent on speaking to Jeannee about Bible camp. You see, Pastor Christophe has asked me to find a craft for the 6 and 7 year olds to work on during the week of camp so I wanted to talk to Jeanne who will actually be doing the craft with them while I help. While I was there I finally did the daring thing that I have been struggling with for the past year by inviting them over for dinner. Now it may not seem like much, but for some reason I am daunted by the task of having them over. This time it is just an introductory course as I only invited them and not their (five) kids. So this coming Tuesday we will be having them over. I am excited and still trying to figure out a menu. You see Jeanee is a great cook who makes these wonderful Malian dishes I just love, but for now the important thing is I am overcoming my fears.
So if you have any great food ideas and recipes (make sure they do not have a lot of meat as Malians get sick if they eat too much) let me know - I am always open to suggestions.