The first time I saw orange pekoe tea on a diner menu, in Canada, I was so excited. I hadn’t had good orange tea since The Netherlands – my favorite was Orange Jaipur tea, which soothed both palate and belly, a love for history, and a desire to visit Jaipur, India. I imagined that the...
January 2020 | Mississauga, Land of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation This post is from my 2020 journal, documenting thoughts, questions, and observations moving and settling into a new country. Water. Why is water important? Health, wellness, a means to refresh your body which impacts the rest of you. So imagine moving countries,...
Last year, skin powders and purees occupied my thoughts. Tomatoes, peaches, plum and lemons are firm favourites. Here are my notes for tomato skin powder What is it? Dried tomato skins, ground and used as seasoning. I combine mine with salt, pepper and other spices Why do you skin the tomatoes? I use tomatoes in...
An update to a 10-year old post – still valid, I hope you enjoy it too:) The prospect of S’mores fired her up intensely. From deep in her belly, she longed to stoke a fire, so its rising flames and crackling sounds could warm her and melt her ‘mallows till they softened and oozed their...
I’ve loved Nina Simone since 1994, thanks to a boyfriend who loved her. Her voice – rich, smooth; the words – full of hope, longing, loss and love. There was something about her that drew me 23 years ago and hasn’t left me since, even past the memories of that relationship and others. Her ‘Feeling...
I’ve been thinking about a way to create a non-alcoholic infusion of pepper fruit without losing flavour and fragrance and then two things happened: Ramon shared that cooking killed the flavour [baking them in scones worked well though – flavour remained] And I watched Mary Berry make an Elderflower infusion. So I knew there’d be...
After a few months of getting family members addicted to my Zobo, my friend M came round one Sunday. All excited to serve a Hausa person my version, I poured her a cup. I wanted her thoughts on my combination of zobo calyxes, ginger, cloves, and sweetener (some people add pineapple skins). She tasted and...
Well, y’all know my love for Agbalumo. And cucumbers…Which got me thinking once I’d made my Cucumber gin, that a G & T would be nice since I sometimes mix my Agbaulmo drinks with soda or tonic water to lighten them. A gin and tonic is a highball cocktail made with gin and tonic water...
Ever so often, I have this romantic interlude with cucumbers. Sometimes it’s eating, other times in a glass. I want to say cucumbers are in season and I do. I see them in wheelbarrows around the city, sometimes watered from a ‘pure water’ satchet so they stay green-skinned and fresh. I love cucumbers (even as I...