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Friday, January 9, 2015

DIVA IN THE KITCHEN: EXPERIMENTS FOR THE WEEK

Hey guys, let me tell you a big secret about myself. It is a very big one. I hate cooking. Actually that is not technically right. I actually hate cooking the same thing over and over again. Tell me to cook plain rice or spaghetti and I would suddenly feel tired. But tell me that we are going to jazz up the rice, maybe throw in some slices of small green pepper, yellow and red pepper and maybe add a dash of curry to the rice. Or that we should try cooking spaghetti bologna (i don't know if i got that right) or the italian way of cooking spaghetti and I would be buzzing like an energizer battery (never say die... Is it Duracell or energizer battery that has the pink bunny...hmmmm?).

Anyway you get my point. I would always watch Maggi Kitchen when i was younger and write down all the recipes. Did I ever make any of the dishes? Nope, I didn't have any money and when I did I couldn't find my book again. I actually got my love of baking from the program and remembering my mum baking when I was younger.

I don't know if they still do maggi kitchen but I love watch cooking channels on dstv whenever I can. I also follow a lot of food blogs because it seems I can follow instructions well. So while they have decided that I should not go to work (we are still on strike) and there is an oven that no one has used for years I decided to put my baking skills to good use.

So this week I made meat pies using the recipe I got from http://www.dobbyssignature.com/2014/11/nigerian-meat-pie-recipe.html?m=1. I had to reduce the amount of ingredients because I didn't have enough meat and I also didn't mince it. I boiled the meat and cut it into very tiny pieces (I hope that when I try it again I would have a blender in the house).

Here are my attempts:
Before baking...
After baking, ready for my tummy....
Then I was browsing on Instagram and I stumbled on crepe pancakes on  http://www.dooneyskitchen.com/2013/07/05/crepes-pancakes-extra-thin-fun-fun-breakfast-moments/ and I decided to give it a try. I thought I knew how to make pancakes but doing this made me know that I can do more.

I didn't have any zest of lemon or mixed spice. I used cinnamon powder instead of mixed spice, here is my attempt at crêpe pancakes...
Crepe Pancakes
It is really thin.....
Then I bought brown sugar to use for my experiment with homemade popcorn which I can't do for now because I can't find popcorn kernel anywhere in my area (i am so pissed right now).

Anyway on the pack of the sugar (I used the baker's choice brand), there was a recipe for exotic fruit cake written and I decided to try it. I didn't have a lot of dried fruits, treacle or plain chocolate so I used the amount of dried fruits that I have, browning and cocoa powder mixed with milk.

I didn't use as much browning as I should have to get the cake to be darker (I was afraid of the cake tasting bitter because I had forgotten what made cake bitter...cocoa powder or browning). The cake came out fine, moist and tasty. A fellow baker told me to add more browning if I want it to be darker.

Here is my attempt at the cake (you have already seen it)..
Cake batter....
Fruit cake.....

So that was all the experiments I did this week.. If we are still on strike next week, I plan (by God's grace) on making doughnuts, coconut cake, Shortbread cookies, Ginger beer and Pop corn (if I can ever find the kernel anywhere) if I have the strength or if my mother allows me to touch her gas (she keeps telling me to leave her gas).

Hope you liked today's post. Thanks for stopping by...

Luv ya,
Petite Diva

9 comments:

  1. Divaaaaaaaaa *drools all over your blog* I want oooooo
    How are you Maami
    I hope you remember you7're owing me a post o

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    1. I am good. I know o, I have been thinking of what to write. I would send you the post this week....

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  2. Babes we are officially bestfriends. Next step....I am moving into your house. Send me address. I love having friends that can bake and cook well cos I am not not a fan of baking and I only cook the regular. Nice one mami. You did a good job...

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    1. Hahaha but you said you wanted to lose weight na....

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  3. I'm constantly on food network too! Meanwhile, your address biko. I want to eat

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    Replies
    1. Lol.... Don't worry I would email it to you. Food network rocks but I wish we had more of the ingredients in Nigeria....

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