The Short-cut Queen is dead!! by Judi

In years gone by I have been known to take the odd shortcut or two with regard to hospitality.

It all began over 20 yrs ago when we were invited to the house of our chic french friends for dinner. Dinner, though served late, was impressive. I still remember the beautiful white china tureen of delicious tomato soup. It had just a hint of herbs and spices, a subtle infusion of orange zest and delicate swirl of cream sprinkled with cracked pepper. Divine!
After the meal I begged for the recipe only to be told it was a secret. After many days of pressure, however, my french host relented and gave me the recipe.
Here it is: A can of tomato soup (follow the directions on the can) add a pinch of your favourite herb (cilantro or basil) the zest of orange, some sauted onion and finish off by serving in an elegant tureen top with a swirl of cream and grind fresh black pepper....
Presentation was 90% of a meal he explained and thus I was initiated into the world of shortcuts... How could a meal that tasted so good be so easy to prepare? And so my conversion began... Later, I was known to tie freshly bought BBQ chickens onto my rotisserie in my oven and disguise the white string I'd used with soy sauce. Life became so much simpler in my busy busy world and for those of you wondering, I never did lie but just replied when asked for a recipe, as my french friend had before me, "it is a secret".

For those of you who have ever had dinner at my house please feel free to steal my ideas and know that this was borne out of being a busy busy mother who wanted to bless people but in a way that didnt consume many hours. Please know that because of this strategy I really ENJOYED having you. I was not half dead by the time you arrived from hours of preparation.
I share all of this because, alas, the short cut queen is dead....

Here in Tanzania, I can't get any of my short cut items (pre-made sauces, soups, even bread) except at great expense and the bread though inexpensive is not always available... I have been forced to make bread, pasta sauce, pizza bases, pizza sauce, muesli, sundried tomatoes (actually oven dried) juice and cakes from scratch.

This is an unbelieveable feat for a woman who found the quick way to do everything.( I am looking forward to making my own pesto shortly). ... However, it is time consuming, especially when you take into consideration all the time needed for shopping at the market and a dozen other stores. There are not many all in one supermarkets.... There are advantages of course.. Passionfruit is one of my favourites and in Canada a passionfruit would cost $2:50. Hence, they became a luxury item that I craved. Here you can buy 1 kg for 2,000 Tz shillings which is around $2. So we make fresh passion juice which is like nectar from heaven....

Recently, we ate a pizza where we had baked the base, sauce and toppings from scratch.. Amazing!
Thankfully, I have both Justine and Ednecki (a masaai woman who helps me) to assist me.
So I am sure this is a lot healthier way to go but part of me is sad that the short cut queen is dead..