Archive for July, 2010

Galia Melon Marmalade

Progress…at last, she says smiling at her ability to walk up the stairs to her third floor office without total collapse and shortage of breath.

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Bruléed French Toast, with ancho strawberry preserve

I wasn’t sitting under a tree when this idea came to me
No apple dropped on my head
Stunning me to discovery
But then I’m no Newton
It is my good friend, L I have to thank for this
Albeit it in a roundabout way
See, once upon a time three years ago
I needed flaked almonds and she offered to get me some
And she did – she got me a whole kilo
Because the store was out of the smaller packs
And thus began my almond experimenting
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—–♥♥♥——

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Ancho Strawberry Preserve, for Week 4

True confession, and I think we better get it said and out of the way. I would hate for you to hear it from someone else, after all this time we’ve spent together. So,….

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Daring Cooks go nuts in July: Nigerian Suya & nut butters

When my 7 year old daughter talks about Nigeria and going back, one of the things on the top of her list is Suya. My 4 year old doesn’t remember the absolutely delicious bits of spiced beef on sticks, cooked over hot coals by specialists – men from the northern part of Nigeria, where this is their trademark. Suya is one of those things which Nigerians in diaspora miss, just like the Dutch yearn for dropjes and stroopwaffels! And if you dig further, you’ll find most people have jars of suya spice in their pantries. I got my mum to bring me a small sack of the stuff which is stashed in the deep freezer!

IMG_8180Though the experts are from the North you’ll find them all over the country. Usually every area in a town will have a ‘suya spot’, with its ‘Malam’, a name for the owner or controller of the joint. All day, every day, you’ll see the suya spots rife with activity from early morning till dusk, when orange trails blaze the skies with the setting of the sun.

NIGERIA-VOTE-SUYAPhoto credit: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images

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Cooking with fruit: Peaches

Every summer I’m infatuated with one stone fruit or the other: last summer it was plums, encouraged by a killer bargain I explored their use in various ways; this year its peaches. Next year just might be Apricots, who knows!

IMG_7924Surprisingly however I didn’t know the difference between a peach and a nectarine, confusing the two until a few days ago.  I thought the downy skinned fruit were nectarines and the smooth-skinned ones were peaches. Not so I discovered. Peaches have fuzzy,  skin and nectarines don’t. Read more…

Week 3: What we ate

Fresh Corn SalsaSo life is back to normal, since I have my camera back.

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The Ackee Tree Restaurant, Barbados

We journey to a place
Bringing pieces of our heart with us
And as we make our way through
We discover yet another new place
We wish to journey to.
When we leave
We take a piece of the land
And plan our next journeys
To a distant land
So it was that I discovered Trinidad in Barbados
And now long to travel there
—–♥♥♥—–

Welcome to the Ackee Tree, the home of the 1 pound roti. Finally, after months of promising this review, here it is! Vex not dearies, I say better late than never. Actually, looking at the photos, I can’t believe it was so long ago we went! I want to go back now!

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Week 2: What we ate

My guide to messy eating

The first time I wrote this piece, years ago it was a guide on how to eat huge profiteroles without covering your face in cream.This weekend, past, it translated into ‘How to eat a hamburger with all the trimmings….and no burger buns’. Don’t get me wrong, I love bread but the soft, sesame-studded buns are not on the menu just yet. And though I could very well have left the burgers alone, I wasn’t going to let my first ever celebration of Canada’s Independence pass by unmarked.
Lime-pickled onions on my hamburger
So, loving success, celebrations and the perfunctory food that must follow, here is my advice on how to eat anything especially messy things, charmingly: Read more…

Better Late than Never, Fennel & More

Just got a bike. As in a bicycle, three years after living in the Netherlands.
Flat country and all, I’ve never been motivated to ride.
This is a third stage in my life, cycling
The first was as a child when our Choppers brought so much joy
Then I had a bike at University and rode it once when I was in Donegal, in the west of Ireland.
Once and that was it – 10 years ago.
When we moved to the Netherlands, everyone expected us to get bikes.
This flat country where a hill is a mountain, to a Dutchman.
Well, we didn’t then.
I was super comfy walking, driving or hopping on the bus
But something changed this week past
And we – husband and I got bikes.
It fits perfectly with our drive to get healthier
And to lose weight
And so I’m glad
In any respect, I consider it an investment
Even with my aching bum and legs
An investment in our future
And our health
So I’m glad I got my bike
I say better late than never!

Fennel—–♥♥♥—–

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