Tag: life

Creative Blogger Award

~ Sophie ~ 9 Comments

CBAA few weeks ago, I was nominated for the Creative Blogger Award by sweet blogger pal Erin of Erin Eats Everything. I am so honored to be nominated especially since last Thursday, the second, marked three solid years of writing here, sharing my love for cooking, being in the kitchen and a part of my life experiences. This blog would not be what it is without my Heavenly Father and you loyal readers and for that I am grateful.So, to keep the chain going, I will be following the instructions and hope you do the same if nominated.
Rules/instructions:
1. Thank and link back to the person who nominated you (mention your nominator in your own award post with a link back to their original award post, which would be this one).
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Nominate other bloggers and comment on their blogs (usually on their about page or contact directly if necessary) to let them know.

Here are 7 things to know about me:
1. I prefer savory salty food over sweets and more than often, you will find me eating, and preparing the former more than the latter.
2. I am an introvert.
3. After high school, I was torn among taking music, literature and going to culinary school. Funny thing is I never took any of them.
4. I love reading books as equally as I love writing. These two keep me sane. Plus cooking.
5. Speaking of cooking, I love cooking and coming up with random combinations thus celebrating fusion cuisine here on the blog.
6. I love the energy and brightness that comes with sunrises
7. Now that I food blog, I love the fact that our food culture is so varied and rich with history, art and flavor.

Nominations!
I would like to nominate some other blogs that I enjoy reading in no particular order.
Onyait Odeke has a way with words that motivate and keep you reading till the end.
All Tim Ate is a wonderful visual of mouth-watering foods.
Its Maya Bee is so beautiful and has great fashion sense
Let It Come From Your Heart is an inspiration to all with dreamy images and quotes.
Chocolaty Prints is a delight to read and Karen always has something interesting to tell plus great images.

Sareta’s Kitchen that is full of wonderful recipes I would love to try.

🙂

Sophie

A Harvest Story + Fresh Bean Soup

~ Sophie ~ 3 Comments

I was somewhere around 9 years and we had a garden…gardens. If you are Ugandan, you know that almost all homes have two (…or more) gardens. The backyard garden which is mainly used to grow simple foods like vegetables, herbs, and some two or four maize plants thrown in. One or two overgrown pumpkin vines snaking their way around a handful of scattered bean plants. They are small but enough.

Then there is the large garden or farm or a shamba if you may. One that is used to grow plants at a larger scale where there is almost a half to an acre (or more) of beautiful maize plants basking in the sunshine and fully radiant. Under the shade of those maize plants will be different kinds of beans growing and thriving at that. A farm so large that either the whole family(from parents to toddlers) spends endless days weeding then harvesting when it is time or where extra hands in addition to the whole family are hired to help out.

It is times like these that are still vivid in my mind. The harvest. Where we woke early, took heavy breakfast and got down to harvesting beans among many other foods. It was (and still is) hard work, but what makes it all worth it is the final aroma of boiling fresh beans. After they have been uprooted, picked from their branches and shelled, we would put a large pot of these beans on fire. There is something magical about eating food straight from the garden and when my cousin shared her first harvest with us, we were so excited beyond words.

Although it is not officially harvest season, people have started harvesting and it is wonderful. One thing with fresh food is that it does not require a ton of condiments. By simply boiling fresh beans with onions, tomatoes and some salt, you will have the most fragrant, delicious and healthy soup in no time.

What you will need:

3 C. Fresh beans

1 Large tomato, chopped

3 Small red onions, chopped

½ Tbsp. Ginger grated

Salt and pepper to taste

½ Tbsp. Oil

Observations:

If you want your dish soupy, add more water. While the beans boil, the water may reduce. Keep replacing the water to retain the aromatic soup

Method

Wash fresh beans and place them in a saucepan. Add enough water to cover the beans by about 2-3 inches.  Place pan on high heat. Let the beans boil. When the beans start turning a grey color, add ginger, onions, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and oil. Cover the pan and let the beans continue cooking. Once the beans start releasing an aroma and have softened, reduce the fire and let the stew simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes. Remove from fire and serve hot.

🙂

Sophie

Tea Masala Mango-Pear Pie

~ Sophie ~ 6 Comments

Its mango season y’all. You wont believe how exciting this time is for almost everyone. It is where kids damage things because the  stoning of the mangoes gets out of hand, where tree owners become protective of their mangoes stating that all children should wait till the mangoes are ripe. But what is the fun in that really? I personally have equal excitement when eating both raw and ripe mangoes except that the former is more fun(salt and piripiri anyone?).  So as the season slowly climaxes, generous neighbors are giving away mangoes because, well, if they don’t, they will rot and nobody wants that.

I have been searching far and wide(A.K.A Google) the meaning of ‘from scratch’. because I have always questioned the concept behind it.  Based on what I gathered and understood, cooking from scratch means cooking and  using  items or rather ingredients within your reach, your house or garden(and neighbors?!?).  In a  way this pie was made from scratch and you don’t need a lot of fancy ingredients really. Let me show you how.

What you’ll need:

Pie dough
2 C. Baking flour
½ C. Margarine (blue band)/ Butter
1/2 C. Cold water
2 Tsp. Sugar
½ Tsp. Salt

For the filling

2 Ripe mangoes

1/2 Pear

1/2 Tsp. Tea masala

1 Tbsp. Sugar

1/2 Tsp. Lemon Juice

Method

Sift flour in a bowl. Add salt and sugar. Mix well. Add margarine and using your hands mix it in the flour until the mixture becomes coarse. Next add the water, a tablespoon at a time, while mixing. Keep adding little water until a firm dough is formed. It should not be very wet and should not stick to your hands so much (you may need more or less water). After you have formed the dough, put it back in the bowl and keep it refrigerated for 15 minutes.

Peel and thinly slice the mangoes. Put in a bowl and set aside. Thinly slice the pear and add in bowl. Add the tea masala, sugar and lemon juice and mix well.

After 15 minutes, remove from the refrigerator and, on a floured surface, cut the dough into two equal parts. Using a floured rolling-pin or a glass bottle, roll the dough out till it is large enough (think chapatti size). Roll the second part of the dough too. Arrange the mango and pear slices on top center of the pie dough. Make sure you leave enough space for folding the dough. Fold the dough on top of the filling.

Bake in an oven until the crust starts to brown a little. This can take an approximation of 15 to 20 minutes depending on the oven you are using. I use an oven toaster(!).
Remove from the oven and let the pie cool and then serve.

Do you prefer raw or ripe mangoes?

Apart from juicing,  what do you plan on doing with the excess ripe mangoes?

Have a great week.

🙂

Sophie

PS: If you don’t fancy tea masala, you can substitute it for anything else like cinnamon.