Our ‘dining room voyages’ begin with mint tea – thanks to Morocco and its famous tea culture. We drink our Nigerian version, out of a rather English teapot from Turkish tulip glasses – evidence of our global identity. We love it. Mint is somewhat vital to our family’s happiness. For months, our garden blooms with its bright green leaves. Then we drink and eat the leaves and when our growing season is past, the D-Line street market, known as Port Harcourt’s ‘Fruit Garden’ serves us well. It wasn’t always so – I grew up on good ole English tea.
Banga Soup: Love in a Claypot
Tales by Oritsegbemi Emmanuel Jakpa With the spliced rhythm of tribal Africa, with the pulse, and raw hide cloak of riddles, with the drizzling monsoon on lemon grass, with the serene river songs of the canaries, with the dim light of the oil lamps, I reflect on the times when under the tropical moon fierce with shine like the sun, elders poured into the open palms of my mind, the stories of tortoise, and of birds; stories that are wise, never fading off the memory, older than wine, taste like starch and banga soup that’s eaten in a clay pot,...
Edinburgh, by Instagram
I’ve been away in Edinburgh, where love has taken me by surprise. For love has a way of doing that, doesn’t it? Be it love for man, child, and even city. All my life, I’ve dreamt of loving only a handful of cities –Tokyo in the spring when the cherry blossoms perfume the air and carpet the ground in white and pink and Paris all year round, from rue to café – surely my destiny is French. So I wasn’t prepared to fall head over hills in love with Edinburgh.
35 things to do with Meyer Lemons
Consider this the sequel to the LA Times’s Lemon List ‘100 things to do with a Meyer Lemon’, essential reading for Meyer Lemon buffs. Like me. Indeed one can find a multitude of ways to worship the Meyer. #17: Give a Lemon Lesson. Watch children chomp on it with excitement Below are 34 35 of my absolute favourite ways. Live with Meyer Lemons, in your fridge. Deep freezer. Pantry. Admire them, embrace them, share them too. Make your husband use them as aftershave (thanks Lara :-))
Lemon & Lemon Bars
Do you sense it as well? This grasping at straws. The Meyers are leaving me be. And I sit here, moaning the end of a season, a friendship….a love affair even, …..with Meyers, my Meyers. The strawberries are no better. They’ve turned an insipid colour that I won’t dignify by calling red. For these bear no resemblance to the vivid red fruit I am used to. My Meyers are deserting me but somehow I know its not forever.
Meyer Lemon Brown Butter
There’s only one thing better than home-made butter and that one thing would be beurre noisette. Otherwise known as brown butter. When it becomes beurre noisette et citron, brown butter with lemon, then you know you’re on to a good thing. I say that with supreme confidence for this bright, citrusy liquid is perfect for many things. Like to fry pancakes in. And to create some buttery, lemony popcorn.
Guest Post on Meyers: Living with Lemons
I’d like to welcome my dear friend Deepa of Paticheri who is a dedicated follower of Meyers, like some people I know! Deepa has done so much to bring my love of Meyers to life, showing me how to grow Meyers from seed and providing the sprouted seeds for my planting. In addition, I absolutely adore her illustrations. I first met Deepa ‘virtually’ in 2011, when she commented on my ‘Spiced Pumpkin Churros‘ post. It turns out she spent many years of her childhood in my very same home country of Nigeria. I was totally bowled over, because not only did she...
Chunky Meyer Lemon Caramel Sauce
We all are replicas of other people, living in some other place. With similar thoughts. And wonders….and even actions. Take Janet and I – twins in our desire for Meyer Lemon Caramel. One afternoon, I sat at my office desk. I’m not sure what prompted me, but thoughts of golden, citrus-flavoured caramel were swirling around in my head. I headed to the world wide web to have a look – I was sure great saints of the Meyer had gone before me. And sure, they had. What made me laugh though was that they too had peered out, and with telescopic...
How to Grow Meyer Lemons from Seed
I think of how I first came to Meyer Lemons and it was the memory of a recipe I read. A recipe with 6 ingredients (including a tart shell) and only 3 steps to make. It is called ‘Lazy Mary’s Lemon Tart’. It took me 15 months to get my hands on Meyers but I did. Last June, I made Lazy Mary’s Tart, and we had it all before dinner. The only way I can describe how good it was, is that my very particular 2nd daughter, requested seconds. I guess that says it all. I made 2 tarts in...