Sister Share

So, Rosie and I have spent the last week doing a home stay with the parents of Gocke, one of my Dad's friends. They are wonderful, loving people whose hospitality goes above and beyond anything we could hope for. Staying with them has been a blessing and privilage. However, sometimes their generosity can be gastronomically overwhelming. For example, we sat down to lunch today with a lovely bowl of chicken broth, risotto and chickpeas. Having finished our soups, we were given slices of stuffed eggplant. It was filled with spiced ground beef and fresh sauteed veggies. At this point we thought we were done. However, we had not even seen the home-made pizza or the spinach stuffed boerrik. Following this we were given a lovely dessert of syrup soaked pumpkin slices. For this part of the meal, we engaged in what we call, 'Sister Share.'
Ulku, the mother, has never had daughters and loves the idea of children sharing equally. So, when she wants to feed us, she calls it 'Sister Share.' We use sister share to refer to the practice of helping each other clean our plates. At lunch, Rosie took a third of my pumpkin, as I could not possibly finish. In return, I ate half of her beef in the 6 course dinner we were served only four hours after lunch. Sometimes 'Sister Share' presents challenges such as the steathy transfer of food.
We hope, that with the arrival of my mom, we will be able to redirect Ulku's affections away from ourselves.