A Thing of Beauty

I love handmade things. I've always loved crafts of all kinds. Anything made by the hand, that takes time to render, is special and holds deep attraction for me.

When I travel, my eye is always drawn to different textiles, pottery, jewellery and other hand crafted items.  Kenya is a wonderful place for seeing and buying hand crafts. I wrote about some of it here.

Kenyan beadwork is connected to the cultures of the various tribes doing the beadwork and is a somewhat new addition to their culture.  Much like it was to the Native American Indians who traded in beads with the foreign settlers, Kenyan beadwork dates back to the late 19th century when beads from what is known today as the Czech Republic, became available to them. 

Beadwork has a special attraction for me because when I was a teenager, I made things out of seed beads.  Mostly I made earrings and necklaces for the women in my community.  They loved to adorn themselves with one of a kind pieces. I haven't done any of that kind of work since then.

In Kenya, bead work is often used, along with hairstyle and other types of adornment, as a way of identifying someone's status and identity.  I'm not sure if this is still the case today, but certainly it probably is where the tribal traditions are thriving.  Westerners tend to know more about Maasai beadwork.  For example, a mother may place a string of beads around a baby's wrist, ankle and waist and thereby be able to track the baby's growth. In addition, a girl or boy's eligibility for marriage can be observed by the shape, pattern and colour of their beadwork.

A beaded bowl caught my eye the last time I was in Nakuru.  The beautiful colours caught my eye and also the fact that I'd never seen a beaded bowl before.  I brought one home.  It now sits in my bathroom holding small items like my hair clips. I would love to have several more of them in different colours; at least one gold, and one in different shades of blue.  I'm sorry I didn't buy more but I have learned not to overdo it with the tourist purchases. Whenever I get back to Kenya, I can buy a few more bowls.

I added the last photo jut because I like the wavy lines of colour that occurred when I moved my camera too quickly.

In writing my post I was fortunate to come across a book devoted to the culture and customs of Kenya, called Culture and Customs of Kenya by N. W. Sobania.  It looks like a wonderful book for your library if you're at all interested in the culture of Kenya; a fascinating country with many different cultural traditions.

Enjoy your weekend!

Dragons Fly Overhead

It's the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. I wrote about it here if you would like to read more.

Imagine my surprise, when earlier this week, I looked up at the sky and saw a cloud in the form of a dragon!   

 

I quickly snapped these photos before the dragon flew away!

I'd love to hear what kind of interesting cloud formations you've seen lately.

Enjoy more sky watching by clicking on the badge below.

Beans, Beans, Beans

Today on my walk I managed to find a brand of lentils and beans that I haven't tried before. The price also seems a little cheaper than the usual offering at the other stores I frequent.  So I picked up a few bags of several types of beans and green lentils.

Right now I'm soaking garbanzo beans and pinto beans and thinking of what to make with them.

These new to me garbanzo recipes look like something I would like to try.   

Garbanzo Bean Medley

1 tsp. olive oil
1 green pepper, chopped
1 onion, sliced thin
1 clove garlic, chopped (optional)
1 can garbanzo beans (I'll use "from scratch" beans as they have no preservatives)
1/8 tsp. fresh pepper
Salt to taste

Heat oil in a skillet  and saute green pepper for 2 minutes, add onions and garlic; saute until soft. Add beans, pepper and salt; saute until well blended and heated through. Serves 4.

Notes:  I will use red peppers instead of green ones because I prefer the taste and colour.

Garbanzo Bean Soup

 

1 lb. garbanzo beans (the recipe calls for dried but I'm using "made from scratch" beans)
8 c. water
1/2 c. olive oil
1 lg. onion, diced
1/2 clove garlic, diced
4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. oregano
2 bay leaves
1/2 (6 oz.) can tomato sauce
1/2 (6 oz.) can stewed tomatoes
4 med. size potatoes, peeled

Saute onions in olive oil and when tender add all other ingredients with the exception of stewed tomatoes and pepper. Saute for 2 more minutes. Bring garbanzo to a boil and add all ingredients. Lower heat to low and boil until tender. More water or salt may be added to taste. Cook until potatoes are done. If you would like a thicker consistency.mash some of the beans and potatoes.

I'll probably use the pinto beans for some make ahead chili, as in this recipe but I'll use pinto beans instead of kidney beans. 

The health benefits of beans are many:  they lower cholesterol and promote digestive health, promote  heart health, stabilizes blood sugar levels. The beans also have antioxidants in them and can help manage your weight by giving a feeling of fullness (satiety).  Garbanzo beans contain molybdenum, manganese, folate, fiber, tryptophan, protein, calcium, phosphorous and iron. 

I was surprised to learn that garbanzo beans may be one of the world's oldest, cultivated bean.  I was also surprised to read that India supplies the vast majority of the world's garbanzo beans; something like 80-90%! Other producers of garbanzo beans are Pakistan, Turkey, Ethiopia and Mexico.

This chart is a bit old but I don't think that the bean production levels haven't changed too dramatically.

Recently I learned two tips for cutting down on the gas in cooked beans. The first tip is not to cook the beans in the same water in which you soak them. The second tip, is to change the water part way through the bean cooking process. I tried the latter tip last time I made beans and it really worked.

What about you dear reader?

Do you have tips you use to cut down on gas from cooked beans?

Moon Beaming Bright

(These photos are better viewed by clicking on them.) 

Thank you for visiting.

Mama's Bread Pudding

Some of my fondest childhood memories revolve around mama's baking.  Among other things, she made delicious bread pudding. It was so creamy and soft. Actually she was an excellent cook overall. Self-taught and a largely intuitive cook. I was not a natural cook and I took little interest in the kitchen except to make baked goods.

My lack of interest in cooking continued after I was grown.  My jobs always required me to put in long hours and arriving home late at night left little energy or time to shop for a wide range of ingredients or slave over a stove.  While mom was still able to get around, she would often visit and I so appreciated her visits.  I loved to come home from work and have well made and good smelling food hit my nostrils as I walked in the door.  I also just appreciated being able to spend time lots of time with her and though I worked long hours my weekends were free so we would spend time together going around the city and being tourists.

In later years, I had to cook for my mother and my cooking skills improved though most times my cooking was not to her liking. Who can blame her after having been such a great cook all of her life? Others of her generation looked to her to teach them.  So it was hard for her to be able to enjoy much of what I'd cook.  Later, when I retired, I began to experiment more in the kitchen. A few of my recipes and experiments are on this blog.  However, I admit to still having little patience in the kitchen.  I need simple recipes that don't require too much fussing over, especially since I'm prone to multi-tasking.  I am a simple girl at heart and I love simple food.

Recently I've been thinking of recipes that mom made when my siblings and I were growing up.  Things like rice pudding, bread pudding, dream bars, hamburger soup, home made bread, and bannock bread. Of course she made much more than these dishes, but these are the comfort foods that stick out in my mind, and which I crave from time to time. I've posted my experiments with each of the above dishes on my blog.  Even though I had no intention of posting anything about cooking on my blog, it actually became something I did rather frequently and cooking has become something I enjoy from time to time.

If you are interested in any of my cooking experiments you can search for them on my blog by typing "recipes" or the type of recipe you are looking for like "baked beans".  The repertoire on the blog is not extensive, but it is growing.  I would say that my dream bars still need work to be truly "dreamy", lol.  But other than that my other cooking experiments have turned out well enough. I call them experiments because I didn't inherit any recipes as such from mother (except for the dream bars) and I experiment by changing up recipes a fair bit to suit what I have on hand or to capture the essence of how mama made something.


Today's cooking experiment is bread pudding. I remember that mom's bread pudding was not like most people's bread pudding.  Hers was very soft, melt in your mouth, and delicious like real custard pudding.

I took the following recipe and made it my own with a measure of success. I can see those areas where I can improve things.

I used left over 2 left over French baguettes, one was white and one was whole wheat,.  Rather than homogenized milk I used 1 1/2 cans of evaporated milk with equal amounts of water and I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar (a slightly reduced amount).  I made sure to use lots of liquid to try and achieve the creamy consistency and also because the French baguette was very hard.  I can also use stale white bread if I want bread pudding more like mama used to make.

Some recipes call for the milk and eff mixture to be heated first which is what I did. If you do this with evaporated milk you need not boil the milk otherwise it will curdle with the added water.  I used mine when it was just before the boiling point.

I added the raisins to the bread before pouring in the milk mixture.

Ingredients

• 3 cups milk
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 loaf day old bread, cut into cubes and toasted
• 1 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together milk, eggs, brown sugar, spices and vanilla. Toss in bread and raisins. Pour into a 9” by 9” ovenproof casserole dish, sprinkle with coarse sugar and bake for 30-45 minutes, until eggs are set, and the top is golden brown.

Ready for the oven.

In my house we never ate bread pudding with a sauce. We ate it with cream so I have not put a recipe here for bread pudding sauce.

Finished product.

 After the pudding was cooked I noticed that some of the bread pieces were still a bit hard. I left the pot in the oven after turning the heat off and kept it in there for another 15 minutes or so. When I took it out again, it looked like the pudding in the photo above (Finished product).  It softened up much of the bread that was chewier.

If I make this pudding again with hard French baguette, I will first soak the bread crumbs to soften the crusts a bit. In the end though, the pudding tasted a lot like that of my childhood.

What about you my dear reader? What childhood recipes do you recall and perhaps make?

Enjoy!

Missions of Hope: Visiting the Samburu People

Hi friends, I'd like to share this post with you from my friend Jonah who has just returned from a trip to Northern Kenya's Maralal District. I think you will find it interesting. Just click on the link below (underlined). Please do leave him a message at his blog site. I know he'd love to hear from you. Thank you for visiting.


Missions of Hope: Visiting the Samburu People: Hello,  I had a short visit to the Samburu people in the Maralal region of Kenya. Near Marsabit, Kenya. Another ph...

Marsabit, Kenya

Calm Before the Storm

These photos were taken over a week ago.  The weather had been very cold all week.  When it is cold here we don't get our usual winter rains.

These photos were taken the day of the night we were expecting our usual winter rains, and warmer temperatures. In fact, they said a storm was on the way. Hence the title of my post.  It didn't rain or storm that night after all. In fact it took another few days before the storm arrived.  When it did arrive, it knocked out many power lines, shut down traffic on the mountain highway, closed schools in some places, and shut down many ferry runs between the mainland and Vancouver Island.  Fortunately my household was not affected.

The sky didn't have a lot of variation in it but the birds and mountains give it a bit of interest.

If you look closely to the right of the photo you will see four birds in flight.

This photo capture two birds in flight but they look like black specks.

To join in and see more beautiful skies from around the world, please click on the badge below. Enjoy! 

Gung Hay Fat Choy

It's been a busy few days since I posted last.

I've been trying out some different knitting patterns. Hopefully soon I will unveil a few of the finished projects.

Here is a sneak peek at one of my "works in progress".

  It is a little baby cap.

I've also been busy making and cancelling appointments. Don't you hate it when you wait for an event and the hosts/organizers cancel?  This has happened twice this past weekend for two events I was looking forward to later in the month.  On the other hand, that is probably just what I needed right now so I can catch up on things around the house and all the budgetary matters (bill payments and tax issues).

On Thursday night, I did get together with 3 people I know and 23 more that I didn't.  My friend who is an acupuncture doctor organized a dinner for the Chinese New Year; which this year, is called, the Year of the Dragon.  Chinese New Year actually started on Monday but we had our dinner on Thursday night to avoid the crowds.

Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. In China, it is known as "Spring Festival," the literal translation of the Chinese name 春節 (Pinyin: Chūnjié), since the spring season in Chinese calendar starts with lichun, the first solar term in a Chinese calendar year. It marks the end of the winter season, analogous to the Western Carnival. The festival begins on the first day of the first month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: Zhēngyuè) in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day. Chinese New Year's Eve, a day where Chinese families gather for their annual reunion dinner, is known as Chúxī (除夕) or "Eve of the Passing Year." Because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, the Chinese New Year is often referred to as the "Lunar New Year"....

According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Year started with the fight against a mythical beast called the Nian (Chinese: 年; pinyin: Nián). Nian would come on the first day of New Year to eat livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nian ate the food they prepared, it wouldn’t attack any more people. One time, people saw that the Nian was scared away by a little child wearing red. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the color red. Hence, every time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. From then on, Nian never came to the village again. The Nian was eventually captured by Hongjun Laozu, an ancient Taoist monk. The Nian became Hongjun Laozu's mount. (Source: Wikipedia)

With such a large group of diners, we ended up sitting at 4 different tables. There were 9 at my table. On my left were Madeline and her husband Alfred, an elderly couple. Alfred is blind so I helped him by explaining the various dishes that we were being served and by making sure he had enough to eat. On the right of me were two women, Freida and Suzette, who are now Canadian citizens but  originate from Texas.  Freida hosts a radio program on international women's issues and Suzette is a gardener.  Across from me sat a man whose name escapes me though I've met him before and his wife, Victoria. The  man is originally from Tehran, Iran and his wife is Canadian. They recently closed down their restaurant business which is too bad since their food was very good.  It is very difficult to make a go of a restaurant in this city and so many of them close every year. Fortunately the couple each has other work.  Rounding out the table were two women, Bernadette, who works at one of the larger local grocery stores and Trudy,who I think lives in my acupuncture doctor's building.  The entire group was friendly.  There was not a quiet moment or lull in the conversation.

It was my first time at this particular restaurant and besides very tasty food, it was also very good value for money.  Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the food until we were almost finished.

This photo was taken near the end of our meal. The green beans to the left and the chicken cashew to the right, were two of my favourite dishes.

The restaurant, Szechuan Chili Restaurant, is a humble restaurant tucked away in a corner of a small strip mall on a busy street. It is not a place, I would normally pass on my way to anywhere so I was happy to try it. I'm always open to new places to eat especially when I'm with such a large group of people.

Our menu consisted of:  spring rolls, deep fried wonton, Szechuan Chili Dry Ginger Beef, Breaded Lemon Chicken, Mixed Four Kind of Vegetables, Deluxe Orange Peel Chicken, Fried Green Been Szechuan Style, Sweet and Sour Pork, Chicken Chow Mein and BBQ Pork & Shrimp Fried Rice. To top it off it was suggested that we order two more dishes to make sure we had enough to eat. So a few of the ladies ordered for the rest of us and decided upon Diced Chicken with Cashew Nut and a prawn dish which was loaded with vegetables.  I would say that every dish was great but I especially loved the vegetable dishes and the green bean dish. Lemon Chicken seems to be extremely popular because by the time it got to Freida and I there was not much left. Nonetheless, I did not go hungry. In fact, I could not partake of the Dry Ginger Beef or the Orange Peel Chicken which are the two dishes that arrived last.

It turns out that Alfred's favourite dish is Chili Dry Ginger Beef.  So we gladly had it wrapped up along with the remaining rice and vegetables for he and Madeline to eat later.

I would like to end with another quote from a well known, Canadian financial expert

... Chinese Dragons, unlike western dragons, are benevolent creatures. They offer you the chance to reach for the brass ring, to dream, and to make your dreams come true. Spring is particularly important to the Dragon, so what you put in motion in this spring will carry you through the year.

Lest you think Lucky is all in the mind, let me point you to a stody done by a Professor Richard Wiseman at Britain’s University of Hertfordshire who studied lucky people for ten years. He found that folks who feel lucky do differ from those who do not, but not because of some outside force. It turns out that “lucky” people pay more attention to their surroundings, are more extroverted and open-minded and are optimist. Since the soul of “luck” is opportunity, the more opportunity you encounter, and the more willing you are to see that opportunity, the luckier you will be. (Source Gail Vaz-Oxlade)

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

(Best Wishes and Congratulations. Have a prosperous and good year!)

P.S. If you missed my post on the appeal for Jeremiah, please read here.

Urgent Appeal

Dear Friends,

We have an urgent appeal for a young student, named Jeremiah Lokol who lives on the border between Turkana and Pokot areas; one of the poorest parts of Kenya. I met him in September when I was on a food relief mission to the people in that area.

Turkana people waiting for food relief

Jeremiah

Jeremiah has just been accepted to the top school in the country and this has made my day with this news.  But he needs tuition and school uniform costs in a matter of days (by the end of this month) so I am making an URGENT appeal to everyone.

Sadly, everything that Jeremiah's family had was stolen by their neighbours just around the time the parents were planning to sell some cows and goats to pay for his education. Some of you will know that in this area the people are pastoralists and they suffer from cattle raiding.

Standing with some Turkana women holding their water cans.

As the boy comes from a family of  9, it looks like his dream of attending the school which is located in Kikuyu town near Nairobi, might not become a reality. He might lose the chance of joining this great school and achieving his dream of becoming a pilot after finishing high school.

What we need to do is gather everyone's support to ensure he can go to school. He needs everyone's support to make this possible.

The fees and costs for term one are 24,943 Kenyan shillings ( $304 Canadian, $275 Australian, $292 US, 222 Euros, 187 GBP) There are additional costs of 6695 Kenyan shillings for school uniforms ( $81 Canadian, $74 Australian, $78 US, 60 Euros, 50 GBP and some modest amount for travelling to the school and making sure he has the other clothing and bedding he needs.

I am praying to God for someone to come forward and answer the prayers for this family and this boy.

Please pray with us and help to raise awareness of the Missions of Hope by using the share buttons at the bottom of this post. If you can do more than pray, please donate now at the donate button on the upper right of this website.

If you have any problem with the Pay Pal button you can send the donation to kerichojoy[at]gmail.com Thank you and may God bless you.

Jonah

What's Happening in My World?

We had another major storm pass through on the weekend. The winds were howling for two nights. I saw on the news that ferries serving the islands off of Vancouver were shut down due to the bad weather and power was knocked out in many places.  I was snug inside and safe from the storms. I was blessed that my power didn't go out at all.

The small amount of snow we had was washed away by the rains and the temperature has warmed up considerably.  I spent the blustery day yesterday making progress on  my goals.

One goal is to finish the baby afghan. I had started out making dishcloth squares in a new-to-me pattern.  One of the ladies in my knitting group suggested I sew them altogether into a baby afghan and I thought that was a great idea. I made about half of the squares last Fall and finished the other squares today. I just have to decide on which colour to use to crochet all these squares together with and I'm leaning toward a cream colour. I also like the blue in the yarn.

I am still a newbie knitter and have only made dishcloths and slippers. I needed to make enough of these squares to practice the stitches but I see I still need more practice*smile.

I also started my second paper book over the weekend (I have a few electronic ones on the go) entitled, Paris, 1919 by Margaret MacMillan.   This one I've had in my library for awhile now and thought I'd better get at it.

Margaret MacMillan's Paris 1919 is a colourful, epic history of the momentous days after World War I that saw U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and the other Allied leaders reshape the world. Wilson arrived in France to referee the Paris Peace Conference only a month after the war's end, sailing into a French port past an avenue of British, U.S., and French battleships. The world, horrified by the millions of war deaths, was desperate for peace and embraced Wilson's call for a League of Nations and self-determination for all peoples. Enthusiastic European crowds greeted the U.S. president and posters bearing his face lined the streets.

It was a conference unlike any other in history: attendees redrew borders, rewrote international relations, and tried--unsuccessfully--to contain German militarism. It unfolded in the midst of massive social upheaval as Europeans awoke to widespread hunger and the inequalities of their age. In the pressure cooker of Paris, this bubbling stew of social and political forces boiled over, and many of Wilson's dreams were dashed. The world lives with the legacy of these few months. Not only did the conference produce a new map of Europe and the Middle East, it led to the infamous Versailles Treaty, often blamed for provoking World War II. MacMillan, a University of Toronto history professor, argues that the Allied leaders did their best, and to blame World War II on them is to absolve Hitler and his appeasers. MacMillan could perhaps be accused of bias: her great-grandfather was British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, one of the main political players in 1919. However, her book has been acclaimed by historians and has won Britain's richest nonfiction award. Complete with backroom intrigue, personal drama, and vivid characters, Paris 1919 is a vital contribution to our understanding of the last century and the current one. (Source: Amazon).

I picked this book up several years ago because I was fascinated to learn that political leaders of the day redrew borders. I didn't learn this in history class. I'm not sure why I waited so long to begin reading it other than I have so many books in my library that I have yet to read and this is just another one. I'm sure I will learn a lot from it.

It's great to feel like I'm making progress on my goals for the year.

Having goals helps keep me focussed on the things I want to do and gives structure to my time.

How about you dear reader? Are you making progress on your goals for 2012?

Click on the badge and join in to see what others are doing around the world.

Basic White Bread

I'm still looking for my favourite bread recipe. One day, I will try making artisan bread because I love crunchy, chewy bread.  For now I am still making the traditional bread loaves and experimenting with different recipes. I often substitute whole wheat or multi-grain flour for some of the white flour in the recipes because of my diabetes.  But in this batch, I only used unbleached white flour. The recipe is from the Robin Hood (maker of flour) website.

Ingredients:

1 tsp (5 mL) sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) water, warm
1 envelope (8 g) active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp/11 mL)
1 cup (250 mL) milk
2 tbsp (30 mL) butter or margarine
2 tbsp (30 mL) sugar
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) salt
1/2 cup (125 mL) water, warm
5 1/2 cups (1375 mL) white flour

Directions:

1. DISSOLVE 1 teaspoon (5 mL) sugar in 1/2 cup (125 mL) warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle in yeast. Let stand 10 minutes, then stir well.
2. HEAT milk to lukewarm. Stir in butter, 2 tablespoons (30 mL) sugar, salt and 1/2 cup (125 mL) warm water. Add milk mixture and 2 cups (500 mL) white flour to dissolved yeast mixture. Beat with wooden spoon or electric mixer until smooth and elastic.
3. STIR IN 2 1/2 cups (625 mL) of remaining flour gradually. If necessary, add more flour to make a soft dough which leaves sides of bowl. Turn out on floured board. Round up into a ball.
4. KNEAD dough, adding more flour as necessary, until dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticky (about 10 minutes).
5. PLACE in lightly greased bowl. Turn dough to greased top. Cover with greased waxed paper and tea towel.
6. LET RISE in warm place (75°-85°F/24°-29°C) until doubled (45-60 minutes).
7. PUNCH DOWN. Turn out onto lightly floured board and divide into 2 equal portions. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
8. SHAPE each portion into a loaf. Place seam side down in 2 greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 2 3/4" (1.5 L) loaf pans. Cover with tea towel.

The bread dough is ready for it's second rise.  I guess I could have made the loves nice and neat and smoother but I think these will taste the same *wink.

9. LET RISE in warm place until dough rises 1 1/2" (3 cm) above top of pan in centre and corners are filled (45 to 60 minutes).
10. BAKE at 400°F (200°C) on lower oven rack for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from pans immediately. Brush top crust with butter if a soft crust is desired. Cool on wire racks.
11. QUICK NOTE: This recipe makes 2 loaves. You can double the recipe to make 4 loaves.

Cooling the bread. I think it turned out nicely. I gave it a taste test after cooling.
The bread was delicious. It was also soft and moist without being full of air.

Nutritional Information
Servings Per Recipe	8
Per 2 slices (85 g)
Calories	214
Protein	6.9 g
Fat	3.4 g
Saturated Fat	1.9 gm
Carbohydrate	38.9 g
Fibre	1.1 g
Sodium	451 mg
Cholesterol	8 mg
Vitamin A	3 %DV
Vitamin C	0 %DV
Calcium	0 %DV
Iron	12 %DV

 
These did not last very long because the loaves were small. I also made two larger, multi-grain loaves later in the week. Those will last a little longer.

How about you dear reader?
Do you have an easy bread recipe that you believe is tried and true?
I'd love to hear about it.