Prisca Nal

I was still in nursery school. Two weeks before she died, she told my mum to bring all her children. I am not the first. I carry her name. I was her favourite. She asked me to bring the calabash of water. She poured some on the ground. She prayed for me, for my brothers and sisters, and for my mum. Then she sprinkled the water on me, my mother and on my siblings. I was small. I still remember the pot. She cooked ogbono like it was a house. That is why I eat swallow. That is why pounded yam has a place in my mouth. She was wealthy. That was not the greatness. She brought up many children, including those who were not hers. A mother of mothers. A mother to all children. My mum did the same. I did not understand the water then. I understand the work now. — Prisca Nal

Prayer does not put salt in the pot. Somebody still has to have done the work.

In your happy new month, can you skip the shop a few days without panic? If not, in November, the work is still storage and what already lasts. 🌱

The goal is not to post the perfect basket. The goal is a week where the shop being closed would have been inconvenient, not an emergency.

You do not need a new system. You need to stop washing the whole bag, stop cutting everything at once, and stop leaving wet food in a closed container. Most weeks improve from those three.

My pawpaw from farm to mouth.

He calls it provision. The fridge is empty by Wednesday and nobody asked what was supposed to last.

Three things cover more missed shops than people admit: oil, a dry grain, and something salted or smoked. Everything else is extra.

Ordinary food that is already in the house does not photograph well. That is why most “food security” posts show baskets, not Tuesday dinner.

They called her wasteful. Nobody mentioned that everything she was given was already dying.

The price hurt once. Buying the same item again because the first one died is the part that keeps hurting.

I lost a bowl because I handled it late. The batch I handled the same day is still good. Same food. Different clock.

The shop sells speed. A house needs something that can sit until you are ready. Those are different products.

A neighbor buys fresh every day and calls it normal. I buy less often and call it calm. We are both spending. Only one of us can skip a day.

Storage is not for people with big kitchens. One crate and two jars is enough if the food has a second day on purpose.

A full shop is not the same as a full week. One can close. The other is already in the house.

Groundnuts in a cloth bag, off the floor, out of direct sun, last longer than the same nuts in plastic on the counter. Old method. Still works.

Cooked extra soup used to feel like waste. Now it is tomorrow already handled. That is a different kind of quiet.

Rice left wet overnight is how mold starts. Rinse it and cook it, or dry it. The bowl is not a waiting room.