I have always admired my maternal grandmother because she is a very resourceful person. The few times I spent with her were fun filled with no dull moment because grandma always knew what to do.
I still remember vividly a holiday visit to the village around July. Schools usually take their long vacation break during this period and the holiday lasts till September when schools would be commencing a fresh session.
When my mum told me that I would be spending the holidays in the village, I was elated. I knew that I would have a great time with my grandma.
Just like I hoped, grandma was very happy to see me and my mum. She already had lots of events lined up for us. All of it involved going to the farm to harvest some of her crops and help her store them for later use. I enjoyed going to the farm not for the work but for the food. Grandma would roast some yams for lunch which would be dipped in Palm oil. I enjoyed eating that meal a lot.
“Grandma, why did you tie the yams that way?” I asked out of curiosity one day at the farm.
Grandma looked at me and smiled. “The yams need to be tied that way to aid in the storage process. This is especially needed when the barns are full”.
I looked at her in awe. I had just learnt something new and a surge of pride filled my heart.
I kept assisting her to tie up the yams and when we were through with it, grandma gave me permission to go play with some kids around the village but with a warning to return before dinner.
I returned back as promised so that grandma would not be upset. I washed my legs and went inside the living room. As I walked carefreely, I overheard my mum and grandma discussing something in low voices . I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I couldn't resist not knowing what was up.
“Nne, there is no kerosene and the woods are all wet. What are we going to prepare dinner with?” My mum was asking worriedly.
Grandma didn't even panic when she replied “Trust me, I'll handle it”.
“What will you use to cook? Is it palm fronds again? Let me remind you that they are also wet. The heavy rains two days ago soaked everything in the kitchen. You know I managed to get a little kerosene to cook last night but today, I am a little low on cash and besides we came back from the farm quite late. I don't know what to do at the moment” my mum responded to grandma.
Grandma only reiterated her earlier statement and my mum reluctantly agreed.
My curiosity meter was piqued and I wanted to see how grandma would create magic. This made me follow her to her room. Grandma noticed me but she paid me no heed and went about doing what she was doing.
I watched my grandma take a bowl and pour hot water from her personal water flask into the bowl. Then she went to the kitchen to get dry grounded pepper and some seasoning cubes with one big piece of dried fish.
She sent me to bring some salt which I hurriedly did so as not to miss grandma's magic. I watched as she mixed the pepper, two seasoning cubes, salt and the dried fishes broken into many pieces inside the bowl. She used a table spoon to mix the contents in her bowl and when she was satisfied, she sent me to call my mum.
I left to call my mum to come see grandma's magic. Mum was skeptical at first but being that I was an eye-witness, she believed what I had told her.
Coming into grandma's room, she saw that a stainless tray was set on the table and a dark concoction in a soup bowl was there with some pieces of foofoo.
My mouth watered immediately when I saw the tray of food. Mum was skeptical about eating but after seeing grandma settling down happily to eat, she dug in. I watched for any signs of irritation on my mum's face before I joined in but nothing of the sort occurred. Rather my mum was licking her lips, a clear sign that the food was tasty.
I didn't wait for any other invite as I joined in and began to eat. The concoction soup was delicious, especially with the pieces of dry fish in it. After we were done eating, I asked grandma how she came up with the concoction soup.
“My dear child, I had to learn to make ends meet especially in times when my cash is low or I run out of firewood or kerosene late at night. This is a trick that has helped me multiple times”.
“ You city people might not understand this technique but never forget it because it might come in handy one day in the city” she responded to me.
I smiled and nodded my head in understanding. As a teenager then, I thought I truly understood. It wasn't until my University days in school that grandma's trick became very useful. Those times when I was broke in school, it was grandma's magic concoction soup that saved the day.
Thank you all for reading.
Images were imagined with Meta Ai.