Happy National Strawberry Day! On this day, you have the perfect excuse to savour a generous amount of our favorite red juicy and sweet berry. Strawberries are among the most popular berries, if not the most popular. They taste delicious and are superfood. In fact, the health benefits offered by strawberries, no doubt, made a big contribution to their popularity. Nutrient-rich and packed with antioxidants, strawberries are good in smoothies, salads and of course desserts. Continue reading
As you could have noticed, I haven’t posted as many blog posts as I intended to do over the past two months. Because I started a new job with busy schedules, I didn’t have the time on my agenda to focus on my blog. But hopefully, with the holiday season coming up, I will be able to share with you some of my favorite recipes for the holidays.
If I was asked what dessert was my favorite, ice cream would certainly be on top of that list. I mean, it’s sweet and cold; it melts in your mouth with delightfulness. It’s one of the best desserts perfect during summer time as far as I’m concerned.
There is a category of foods that you know is bad for your health but you can’t deny yourself the pleasure of eating and enjoying them. And condensed milk is among those ingredients. Be honest, haven’t you ever had a spoon of condensed milk straight from the can? I know I have. And on numerous occasions because condensed milk is one of my many guilty pleasures.
I have a confession to make. I hate bananas! In fact banana is probably one of my least favorite fruits. I just have a complex relationship with bananas; I hate eating them but I’m also aware of their positive benefits on people’s health. I think the only time I could find myself willingly eating bananas is when I’m working out because bananas are a great energy supplier. Most of the time, I hate bananas in fruit salads (too mushy to look appealing for me), drinks, smoothies, ice creams or yogurts. Without even trying to taste it, I was categorically opposed to the idea of eating banana bread. And it wasn’t as if my sister, who loves everything bananas, hadn’t tried to convert me.
The Lingala word for donut is Mokaté (in plural the right word is Mikaté). Mikaté are commonly served for breakfast and for snack time. In Brazzaville (Congo), Mikaté are a street food favorite that you can find on the stand of almost every street vendor in popular neighbourhoods. It’s also the case in Brazzaville’s twin city across the Congo River, Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo). In fact, Mikaté are without a doubt among the most liked and eaten dishes in both Congos.
This recipe was inspired by a recipe shared with me by a friend of mine who is from Chinese descent. When my friend made me taste her cookies years ago, I instantly loved them. I probably ate a good bunch of them within minutes. It was simply addictive, especially with a cup of tea. After years of eating them, I finally decided to try to make them myself. This recipe basically is a twisted version of my friend’s Chinese Almond Cookies. For example, my friend’s cookies didn’t have almond meal; however, since I wanted the almond flavor to be more present in the cookie dough, I added almond meal in my recipe. And I quite liked the result of it.
Who doesn’t love Nutella? I haven’t met a lot of people who disliked Nutella. I’m among the group of people who would put Nutella on almost everything from bread slices to crêpes, not to mention using it as a dipping for fresh fruits like pear, apple and banana.
If I was asked to name one of my favorite spices, I would without a doubt choose ginger. It’s an aromatic root that adds additional flavor to basically everything from stir fries to smoothies. Maybe that’s why this ginger cake recipe is one of my favorite desserts. It’s a very simple cake with a lot of flavor thanks to the combination of spices used in the batter. Disclaimer, if you aren’t not an adept of spices or spicy food; you would certainly not enjoy this recipe as much as someone who tolerates spices would. However, give it a try and you will not be disappointed. It’s a perfect cake that goes well with a cup of coffee as well with a cup of tea. But I enjoy it better with coffee.
Rita's Notebook 