FATHER'S DAY/ ANNIVERSARY

This weekend my parents celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary, how AMAZING!!!, they have come a long way and there are many more great years ahead. I declare Gods abundant blessings in their life and that they are continually aglow in all their endeavors. AMEN!!!

How time flys, 26 years ago my dad had a party for my mums 24th birthday, awwwww, how cute. :), and almost 26 years later they are still going strong.
What a blessing that today is fathers day as well, its a double packaged blessing for me. Every dad is the best dad in the world, but mine is not just the bestest, he is a hero! and i mean that literally, like hero that fought wars and won...yes, not world war 1 or 2 but fought through the battles of life and he came out the VICTOR! This mans life sometimes sounds like fiction to me, but even more it just shows me that God has a great  plan and purpose for every persons life no matter the challenges, being able to find yourself in the middle of that plan and sticking to the plan with a positive foresight is the key! It is an amazing life story, i will tell you more about it in a different post.

Mr King and his girls :)

If i know nothing else about my dad, i know he LOVES soccer, i call it his first wife hahaha, imagine! He had a novelty soccer match on his wedding, just part of the celebration, how much more can you describe the love...lol. I am so looking forward to the times when he will play soccer on his 5-aside soccer pitch with his grand kids like he always says! I have tears in my eyes as I type this. I miss my family, everyone! Thank you Lord for such a special family! I Love YOU DADDY, you are the greatest.

AFRICAN COOKING: Egusi Soup

Egusi Soup and Iyan (Pounded Yam)

My love for cooking did not spring out from the blues, its considered inborn. Actually, the very first time I made Egusi soup was more than a decade ago, I was only 8 years old.

I was born and bred in Northern Nigeria, Zaria to be precise but my parents often travelled to the west (Lagos). This time, it was Mum and my  little sister that took the trip, leaving myself, Daddy,  little Jayjay (my bro.) and our Hausa help Hajara. Yes! this was my opportunity to display action and experiment in Mrs King's kitchen... whoop whoop, one of those days, I made dinner after school, and guess what? I made my debut Egusi soup. I was SUPER DUPER excited, OMG you should have seen how serious I was...hahaha, I even climbed on a stool  just to see the pot and watch how my supposed delicacy was coming out. Really, its so funny now when I think about the episode. Of course it wasn't the best Egusi you had ever tasted but my daddy gave me a HIGH FIVE whoohu! I even saved some in the freezer for Mum.

Anyway, now I am fully grown and have mastered the art and can confidently tell you how... below is my recipe

P.S, I know different tribes have their methods, like the South/South people and my Igbo brethren from the East prefer the fried method, but I am obviously Yoruba so.... you will get my style :)

This recipe will feed 2

2 cups of blended tomatoes, pepper and onion

2 cooking spoon of Egusi powder- African store

2 cooking spoons of palm oil

1/2 pound of beef (already steamed)

1 smoked/stock fish or fresh prawns, already cleaned (African store)

Pomo (cow skin already steamed)- African store

Ugwu, washed and sliced thinly- African store

Fresh or dried bitter leaf (washed)-African store

2 stock cubes

1 tea spoon of salt

Any other preferred seasoning

P.S, if you cannot find any of the veggies, you can use collard greens or regular spinach, I personally use collard greens and a little dried bitter leaf for its extra flavor.

Process

1. In a clean dry pot, pour in the palm oil and allow for it to bleach for about 1min

2. Add the blended tomatoes, pepper and onion paste and allow it to cook till it is almost dry for about 10mins

3. While that is cooking, prep your Egusi by putting it into a bowl and sprinkling some water to make it damp. At this time also, if you are using any of the dried leaves you can soak them now.

4. Pour in beef, pomo, fish or/and prawn 1 cup of meat stock and let it cook for 3mins, now taste and add any other seasoning you want. Allow to cook for another 10 mins

5. Now add the Egusi by making little balls and the bitter leaf, let this cook for about 10mins

6. Finally add Ugwu/collard greens or spinach and simmer on low heat for 3mins

7. Serve with your favorite 'swallow' (yam powder meal, eba e.t.c.)

You can definitely tweak this recipe to suit your preference and ENJOY!!!

MY FIRST POST

Hiiiiiiiiiii
I am so excited to be doing this right now, its 2:45am, June 2nd. i wanted my first post to be on the 1st of June, anyway, let me sharply give you guys a quick intro.
So as my title implies food, life and loves! that"s exactly what you will be getting. i love to cook, try out new recipes...  am generally very adventurous about food, more of the cooking though. Life of course means stories of my exciting life (i hope you think it is though) #cantwatch... hehe and other pips that have inspired me and then basically the things i love from God, to family, to fashion...#nijababenocarrylast
i cant wait to settle down and start to post pictures and construct better post.... anyway i am very happy to do this, even though it was basically born from a marketing class assignment i have had it in mind for a very long time. By the way i am in grad school and will be graduating in less than 3 months WHOOP WHOOP #dancingazonto. okay guyz more jist later, let me sleep church in about 5 hours.... #yawning!
ps. i know my thoughts are kind of all over the place, abeg no vex.
#pilzout!!!