My favorite recipe - Nov. 5, 2009

Meet Anna Plemons, Pullman

After she and her husband Jason adopted a child from Ethiopia, Anna Plemons felt a stronger connection and concern for people on the other side of the globe.

Now she is a consultant for the Rwanda Basket Company and is helping people in Rwanda and Ethiopia.

Much like Mary Kay or Amway products are sold, Anna sells baskets at home parties in the area for the Rwanda Basket Company.

The baskets are made by Rwandan women. While some Americans with the Rwanda Basket Company choose to keep their proceeds, Anna decided to instead give all her proceeds to people in Ethiopia.

Anna came to Pullman to study at Washington State University. After she graduated she went to Kansas where she and her husband Jason earned their graduate degrees. In 2001, they moved back to Pullman and she worked as an academic advisor for the athletic program and Jason worked as a financial advisor.

Anna continued to work after the birth of their first child, Sarah. They knew they wanted to adopt and started to look at different programs, domestic and international. They got on board with the Wide Horizons adoption agency which had a good Ethiopian program.

“Once we started to learn about Ethiopia, we were really excited,” Anna recalled.

Anna and Jason enrolled on the agency’s baby list when Sarah was two. When she turned three, they decided they wouldn’t mind adopting a toddler.

Moses was about two years old when they adopted him and brought him home, Sept. 1, 2008. They went to Ethiopia to pick him up and Anna was able to meet the people there.

After they finalized the adoption, Anna became pregnant again. Within six months of Moses coming home, they welcomed another daughter, Josephine.

Anna, who quit her job and became a full-time mom when they brought Moses home, decided to become a consultant for the Rwanda Basket Company about three months ago. The company facilitates sales of baskets made by survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The women who make the baskets lost many, if not all, members of their families during the tragedy. By making baskets they earn four times what they would at the local market without the cost and time of going to market where they wouldn’t be guaranteed sales.

Anna saw an article on the company in a Christian magazine and went on-line to order a basket.

“I really feel strongly that women who are working hard should have the means to take care of their family,” she said. While looking at the website, she saw where she could become a consultant.

“I really respect these women and just wanted to partner with them,” she said.

Consultants earn 25 percent of the sales, but Anna didn’t want the money for herself. She said when she first started praying about whether to become a consultant, her goal was to earn enough money to sponsor a child in Ethiopia for a year. She cleared that at her first basket party and sponsors a child that lives near the city where Moses came from.

“I didn’t really anticipate people would get so excited about it,” she admitted. Anna recently earned enough to purchase a cow for an Ethiopian family.

“A cow can fundamentally change the nutrition and financial stream,” she said. With that goal reached, Anna is now putting her income from the sales toward mosquito nets for Ethiopian families.

Anna likes helping people pick out baskets to give as gifts. She admits she is not very pushy as a consultant and waits for people to call her about hosting a party. She has only done a handful of parties, but they have been large enough that she has facilitated the sale of $5,000 worth of baskets.

Rwanda Basket Company is a subsidiary of Rwanda Partners. Any extra proceeds go toward Rwanda Partners.

Anna plans to continue selling the baskets as long as people are buying. And as long as she is doing it, every dollar she earns will keep going back to aid the lives of people in Ethiopia.

Bursoon (Ethiopian Lentil Salad)

2/3 c. dried lentils

water

1/3 c. minced green pepper

1/2 jalapeno, seeds removed, minced

2 T. olive oil

1/4 t. salt

2 carrots, chopped

1) Rinse lentils and put in pan. Cover with water. Cook lentils over high heat, adding water as needed, until very soft. Reserve.

2) Toss minced green pepper and jalapeno with oil and salt.

3) Add hot lentils and mix thoroughly.

4) Garnish with raw carrot. Taste, adjusting seasoning as desired, and serve.

Swedish Spiced Pecans

1 lb. pecans

1 c. sugar

salt

1 t. ground ginger

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

1/4 t. ground cloves

2 stiffly beaten egg whites

1/2 c. butter

Toast pecans at 325 degrees until lightly brown. Mix everything but pecans and butter. Fold in pecans. Return to pan and drizzle melted butter over mixture. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Chili-Cheese Omelet

1/4 c. butter

5 eggs

1/4 c. flour

1/2 t. Baking powder

sm. can chopped chilies

1/2 pt. cottage cheese

1/2 lb. Jack cheese

1/4 t. salt

Melt butter in 9x9 pan and coat sides. Beat eggs slightly. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Blend together. Add chilies, cottage cheese and Jack cheese. Mix until blended. Turn into pan. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake 35 minutes more. Cut into squares.