At the bus stop, the two sisters enjoyed one more childhood pastime: singing rhythm and blues; first, Tina Turner’s “I’m Just a Fool, You Know I’m in Love” and then the Marvelettes: “I saida look, look, heah comes the postman, twistin’ down the avenue . . . he’s gotta lettah in his hand, an’ I know it’s gotta be from you-who ooooooooo.” And Cypress announced plans for a whoop-la get-down after the show at her house, with lots of good wine, and good, good food. Like maybe . . .

Three C’s: Cypress’ Curried Crabmeat

Heat vegetable oil and fry the onion until soft. Add chili pepper and ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom, and fry for 3 minutes, sprinkling with water to avoid burning. Add crabmeat and salt to taste. Stir and cook for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with lemon juice and chopped parsley. (serves 4)

My Mama & Her Mama ’Fore Her: Codfish Cakes (Accra)

Put yeast and sugar in bowl with ½ cup water, and set aside. Soak fish for ½ hour, remove skin and bone. Pound fish, chives, onion, and pepper until very fine. Sift flour with yeast mixture and add rest of water; stir until a soft batter is formed. Let stand in a warm place. Add fish mixture and beat for 2–3 minutes. Spoon fish into smoking oil. Drain, and serve with hot floats.

De Floats Be-fore de Fish

Mix yeast, sugar, and a little water in bowl and set aside for a few minutes. Sift flour and salt together; add shortening, yeast mixture, and enough water to make a soft dough. Knead until smooth. Put to rise in a warm place for 2 hours or until dough has doubled. Punch down. Knead again, cut dough into small pieces, and roll pieces into balls. Put to rise again for 20 minutes. Flatten balls out to -inch thickness and fry in smoking hot oil. Drain and serve hot.

Cypress’ Sweetbread: The Goodness

Use any kind of cornmeal, add cooked beans and mashed sweet potatoes, baking soda, salt, a dash of cinnamon, and ¼ cup honey. Cook in pan as ordinary cornbread. Eat hot or cold.