You just can't beat the smiles that come with a hot egg sandwich and a bottle of bubbles. The Kumasi market was exhilarating last weekend, the soccer match was thoroughly entertaining, and our beach trip was tremendous, but the memories I'll cling to most when I leave Ghana in two weeks will likely be the little ones, like those formed around a small cooking pan and an open fire.After taking notes on how to make a quality omelet or egg sandwich from the master street vendors in Kumasi, I crunched the numbers on ingredient costs and found that I could cook omelets for myself and a dozen friends for the cost of a Big Mac meal from the McDonald's menu at home. So we - my 8-10 year old friends and I - collected the ingredients and got to work.
Once the fire gets going, the simple egg omelets with onions and toasted bread take only a few minutes to make. And as the pictures show, many hands make light work.
As each omelet comes off the fire, we split it into as many different pieces as there are mouths present, and throw another egg on the pan. The smiles, laughs, songs, and appreciation of the kids for the simple treats, all added to the great taste of the end product, are more than worth the ingredient costs.
When we're not cooking, we sing songs, kick a soccer ball around, and share the bottles of bubbles that I brought to pass around. Each one brings its share of smiles that I won't soon forget. I can get all of the ingredients to make plenty of omelets back home - but I'll miss the company the most.
