Irio and My New Year's Resolution

Happy New Year to all! I haven't written a blog entry in quite some time now. I was bogged down with holiday frenzies and new year planning. Nonetheless, I am back to pounding the blogging pavement--and I plan to make this year better than ever! Each day on January 1st, I try and make a tradition of creating at least 10 resolutions. I write them on a large poster board and hang them above my bed (so that they are the first thing I see when I wake up and the last thing that I see before going to bed). For the most part, I generally tend to meet my expectations--but some new year's resolutions always seem to go by the waste side.

This year, one resolution that I am working my hardest to keep is the following:

Everyone knows that I absolutely love traveling (and even the idea of traveling) and I love to learn about different cultures around the world. Sometimes people get so caught up in the stresses of their lives, that they forget that there is an entire world out there to see (or at least learn about). This year, one of my many resolutions is to eat a signature dish from each country in two major continents (the other continents will come next year). The first continents are Africa and Asia.

Now, I've tried many dishes from various West African countries--but in my 27 years, I have only tried Ethiopian cuisine; but what about other East African countries? My tongue is secretly craving for some of Kenya's or Burundi's signature dishes. In my search for East African cuisine, I came across Mwanga Wangethi's blog. Thanks to Mwanga Wangethi, I have am excited about making my very first Kenyan dish--Irio.

I must admit...when I came across these recipes, I wanted to learn more about Mwanga Wangethi and his connection to Kenya. As a project editor on international child and forced labor regulations, I was familiar with his name...but I couldn't quite put my finger on who he was. Turns out that he is an Editorial director for an East African multi media group. His name actually came up in a few of my reports. Small world--literally.

P.S. Can someone teach me how to make the lamb stew and Kachumbari that goes with it? Yummy!