A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Last week, we had a guest pastor visiting from Nigeria, Africa. Our friends Dodi and Bob hosted a meet and greet BBQ for Obed. They provided the meats and everyone else was asked to bring a side dish. I decided to pull out some of my African cookbooks, in honor of our special guest, and make something from Africa. I made spiced-up jollof rice for him and everyone else to enjoy. He said it was very authentic and he really liked it a lot. Mission accomplished. 🙂

What is jollof rice? It is a dish from mainly Western Africa, made up of rice, tomatoes, onions, spices and vegetables, and can be made either with or without meat. It dates back to the 12th-13th centuries when the Senegambian region was ruled by the Wolof or Jolof Empire. It is believed to have originated in the fishing communities of Saint-Louis island, Senegal.

Jollof rice is a common staple dish loved by many different cultures in Western/Sub-Saharan Africa. It is most commonly considered a Nigerian or Ghanaian recipe but is also common in Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Liberia, and many other countries in the region. It is a popular dish at weddings and other social events and can be served as the main dish or as a side. The dish likely became popularized in Nigeria during the colonial period due to its popularity amongst British colonists. Jollof rice quickly became one of the most popular dishes in Nigeria due to its versatility and hearty flavor.

Jollof rice is similar to Mexican or Spanish rice, Caribbean rice and Jambalaya, or any place that has been influenced by African cooking.

Spiced-Up Jollof Rice

Start off my making a Malawi Curry, which is a blend of dry spices. Traditionally this is a VERY hot spice mixture. There are roughly 200 spices and herbs available for the North African housewife to choose from when suppling her spice pantry. The spices are purchased at a spice stall in the souks or shops found in the medinas or native quarters. The most popular and used spices in North Africa are usually cumin, caraway, garlic, coriander, saffron, wild ginger, white pepper, cinnamon, and red peppers, that range from hot, to HOTTER, to HOTTEST. This recipe will make a lot, so you can use it for plenty of other dishes too. DON’T use it all at once.

Malawi Curry

2 TBSP red pepper flakes

3 TBSP coriander

1 TBSP black peppercorns or ground pepper

3 TBSP poppy seeds

2 tsp mustard seed or ground mustard

1 TBSP cumin

1 TBSP turmeric

1 tsp cloves or 10 whole cloves

2 tsp cinnamon

You can use either whole or ground versions of these spices. If you are using ground versions, just blend them all together and set aside until you are ready to use them. If you are using them whole, place them in either a food processor or use a mortar and pestle to grind them up and then mix them together.

Spiced-Up Jollof Rice

1 1/2 cups uncooked rice

1 can red kidney beans or black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 eggplant, salted and diced

1 tsp salt

butter and olive oil for cooking

4 jalapenos, diced and seeded

2 TBSP garlic

2 TBSP ginger

2 green bell pepper, diced and seeded

4 cups chopped tomatoes

1 cup chopped green beans

2 TBSP tomato paste

3 cups chicken or vegetable broth

2 TBSP cayenne pepper

1 tsp Malawi Curry

2 tsp hot pepper sauce or to taste

Dice the eggplant and generously salt, then let it set for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, rinse all the salt off and pat dry with a paper towel.

Get a large pot very hot and add the olive oil and butter. Saute the green beans, peppers, and onions for about 2 minutes.

Then add the tomatoes, eggplant, garlic, ginger and seasonings. Cook for about 8 minutes.

Add the rice and saute for about 1-2 minutes, making sure it is completely coated with oil and butter. Then add the kidney beans and mix thoroughly.

Add the broth, bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Continue to cook for about 20-30 minutes, or until most of the water has evaporated, making sure to stir occasionally.

This is supposed to be a spicy dish, but make it to your comfort level for the heat. Add a little butter and/or sour cream right before serving if you like too. This will help cut down the heat as well. You can add meat too if you like. We ate it both ways, with and without meat. Both ways were delicious. It was more like a jambalaya with meat.

This dish was a big hit with everyone, but Obed really raved about it and said it was very authentic.

Spice up your days and make them fun. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Today is day #3 of our 2023 Wild Life VBS adventures. I did not take any pictures today. We had another photographer on site who was able to float around from station to station.

I have not yet shared the last of the snacks I made for this week. My last set of VBS snacks was the Tiger Tails. All that was needed for these was the long pretzel rods, white chocolate, red and yellow food coloring and either milk or semi-sweet chocolate.

These are my favorites, and I think they might be the kids’ favorite too, but they also took the most amount of time to make.

Part of the challenge in making these was that my white chocolate was not melting properly. I melted it over a double boiler. I melted it in the microwave. But neither of those was working. My chocolate was like one big globulous lump, and all the oils were separating. Finally I just decided to add heavy whipping cream to the mix, making it like a white chocolate ganache, and all turned out just fine.

Once I had the chocolate melted to the right consistency, I added red and yellow food coloring to make it orange.

My next challenge came when I started dipping the pretzel rods into the chocolate. The chocolate kept sliding off. But once again, I just kept working with it, figuring it out as I went along. I tried a few different tactics, but I found what worked the best was to dip them and then to spread the chocolate on the pretzels with a butter knife. FINALLY, I got them all done. I made roughly 200 Tiger tails in all.

Once the pretzels were dipped, I laid them on layers of wax paper to dry. Then I melted the milk chocolate and drizzled them all by dipping a fork into the melted chocolate.

Once again the Tiger Tails were layered between sheets of wax paper until they were all done.

These are tomorrow’s snacks. I know the kids are going to love them. I know a lot of the volunteers who are looking forward to them too.

Here is a recap of all the different snacks for this week’s Wild Life Adventures, in the order they were served to the kids:

96 Mud & Worm Cups

103 Noah’s Ark Bags

106 Circus Treat Bags

200 Tiger Tails

There are no treats for Friday since we will be having a big BBQ instead, inviting the kids and their parents. But I made ALL these treats for the week, all by myself, with no help from anyone. It was a lot of fun treats, and they all took a lot of time, but it was definitely worth it and was a labor of love. 🙂

All the treats for the kids may be done, but now it is time to start making all the goodies for this week’s coffee cart, for both the adults and the kids to enjoy. This is a busy week, for sure. But I don’t get into nearly as much trouble when I am busy as I do when I am not busy. 🙂 What is the saying – Idol hands are the devil’s playground, or something like that?!

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Today was day #2 of our 2023 VBS season. So far so good. It has been going along swimmingly, with no hitches or glitches. All the kids are having fun and are thoroughly enjoying their snacks.

Their snacks today were the Noah’ Ark bags. More VBS Snacks – Noah’s Ark Snack Bags Yet again, they were a big hit.

Pastor Matthew tied the snacks into the game they played today very well. He had a box of all different kinds of animals and he would pull one out and describe it. The kids had to guess what animal he was holding.

There is so much more than just the snacks’ area, and the activities going on there, but that is my station too. I don’t get a chance to venture out to the other stations, so I am limited to only taking pictures of the activities that take place in my station. But it’s all good and everyone seems to be having a great time. 🙂

Today we had the boys in each group pass out the snack bags to all the girls in the group first before they could enjoy them too. Today, there was another lesson going on besides just learning about God. It was teaching about boys being gentlemen and the art of chivalry.

It was another very fun and successful day. Two down, three to go.

There is always something new to learn. Learn something new everyday. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Our church started its VBS today. We had about 90 kids. The whole church was converted and transformed into different ecosystems and zones.

We had a jungle zone.

Playing in the waterfall.

We had mountain zones, which is not all that much of a stretch for Colorado.

We had a bear cave. Again, we have those right here at home too.

We had the Sahara Desert.

We had an Arctic region.

And we had the desert.

We started the day off with a puppet show.

There were crafts, stories and fun and games in every section. Today the kids all made binoculars, to help them with their explorations.

One of the games played was when Pastor Matthew called out an animal all the kids had to run to it.

Today’s snacks were the mud & worm pots. Su and Lindy are helping me get them ready. More VBS Snacks – #2 – Mud & Worm Pots

All the kids had a lot of fun, and I even heard a few of them say “it’s time to go home already?” But there will be more fun and games again tomorrow. And plenty more snacks too.

Walk on the wild side, and have some fun. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe, especially when playing with wild animals, and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Our VBS 2023 starts tomorrow. The church has been transformed into a bunch of different wilderness ecosystems. We have the jungle, the arctic, the mountains and the dessert all contained within and on the walls of the church. We have tigers, monkeys, bears, sloths, snakes, turtles, penquins and oh so much more. The artists and volunteers all did an amazing job. I don’t have any pictures yet, but will try to get some for tomorrow. We are expecting about 100 kids. Not only has the church been completely transformed, but FINALLY all the snacks are done too. They took awhile to make, but they were a labor of love.

Our Day #3 snacks are mud & worm pots. We have about 200 of these all ready to go. It helps that we started off with individual pudding pots, so I didn’t have to make them all.

These are just individual chocolate puddings, crushed Oreo cookies and gummy worms. That’s it.

To crush the Oreos, I placed them all in a big bag, and crushed them with my meat tenderizer ON TOP OF MY CUTTING BOARD. I have granite counter tops, so I saved them by crushing them on top of the cutting board. Crush the Oreos completely until they resemble mud and dirt.

Once the Oreos are crushed, pack a heaping TBSP or so on top of the pudding, then add the gummy worms on top. I only did one for the picture, but will do them all al minute, when we serve them to the kids this week. This will keep them fresher, less messy and will be easier to work with.

These are super easy to do and are always a big hit with kids. And what kid doesn’t like smashing things up and playing with ooey-gooey stuff, and then eating it, right?! This is yet another fun thing to make with/for your kids and grandkids. And the kids will love them.

As I love to say, play with your food and have fun. It keeps you young, even if only young at heart. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I have been seeing a lot of Ravens lately. Much more so than usual. We really saw a lot on our trip too.

Ravens have a lot of symbolic and spiritual meaning. Sometimes, Ravens are associated with loss and ill omens. But they are also a sign of prophecy, insight, transformation and intelligence . They also represent long-term success in love and finding devoted, faithful partners. In some parts of the world, the raven is a sign of death or misfortune; to others its presence indicates good fortune. They connect the material world with the spiritual world.

Some fun facts about the Raven, just in case you were curious.

1. They are highly intelligent birds.
2. They are excellent hunters
3. They can mimic human voices
4. They gesture with their beaks to communicate.
5. They remember faces.
6. They can live anywhere.
7. They have both friends and enemies
8. A group of Ravens is call an “unkindness”, “treachery” or a “conspiracy”.
9. They travel in gangs before pairing off.
10. Because Ravens terrified famous Poet, Edgar Allen Poe, he was inspired to write his famous poem dedicated to the terrors they bought to him.
11. They have been powerful symbols in folklore throughoput the ages.
12. They are not all black. They also come in white. These light-feathered birds are actually ravens with a rare pigment condition called leucism, which gives them their fair feathers and, oftentimes, blue eyes.
13. Over the past decade, there has been a steady and dramatic increase of ravens in North America. Of particular note is the Mojave Desert, which has reported a staggering 700 percent increase of the black birds over the past 40 years! While this is good news in the midst of a “bird crisis” in North America and Canada, which have collectively lost nearly three billion birds since 1970, this raven boom could spell trouble for the US population of desert tortoises, which are a favorite raven delicacy.

Have a great day and make everyday great. ‘Til next time.

I have been busy making more VBS snacks. My kitchen has been a snack processing plant all week. I was trying not to post two similar items back-to-back, but then I am still working on the others, so I have no choice. Besides, the kids will be eating them back-to-back, so it’s all good. 🙂 I should be finished with the other two snacks today. One was a lot more time consuming that I anticipated, and those are the ones I am still working on right now. Soon though. Just have a little more patience and you will see more of my creative snacks for the kids. 🙂

I call these Noah’s Ark snack bags because they are a wide variety of “animals” combined together and bagged like the Circus Treats. Lacy, our Early Childhood Director, gets all of these ideas from an early childhood ministry website and then she passes them along tome to make. I don’t really have any say so in what’s being made, or how to make them , or when they will be served. I am just in the productions department.

Another big batch of 103 bags filled with all kinds of animal goodies.

Again, these are fun snacks to make with and for your kids and grandkids. They had Goldfish, Animal Crackers and Gummy Bears all combined together Each mouthful will be a combination of salty, savory and sweet, with some crunch and some soft chewies.

My next two batches of VBS snacks will be totally different than these two, adding some variety. I hope the kids enjoy everything. A lot of work has gone into making and preparing all of these. :

Add some fun into you life. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

The blooming cacti are the last of my mountain flowers. They came in bright yellow, bright pink and deep red, and everything in between. They are beautiful but dangerous at the same time. You can look, but definitely don’t touch.

Every rose has its thorn, or in this case, every cactus has its thorn. Everything has both a soft and beautiful side as well as a prickly side.

Have a great day and make everyday great. ‘Til next time.

Summer time is the time for lots of fruit, and particularly citrus fruits. I am not a big grapefruit fan, so I don’t make a lot of things with grapefruit, but I LOVE oranges, lemons and limes and make a lot of thing with all of them. I love bold lemon, lime and orange flavors in just about everything. This time I added my oranges to cookies, both in the cookies and in the frosting. They are perfect for picnics. I am calling them orange frost bites, because there are frosted cookies and there are bits of orange in every bite. 🙂

Orange Frost Bites

2 medium navel oranges

1/2 cup softened butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 TBSP melted butter

orange sprinkles, optional

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 190* C.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Peel the oranges then remove all the white pith from both the oranges and the peel.

Place both the orange slices and the peel into the food processor and process until everything is smooth. You should have about 3/4 cup of orange puree.

Combine all the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Mix the butter and sugar together until creamy. Add the milk and 6 TBSP of orange mixture, then mix and add the flour mixture and mix again until everything is blended together.

Drop about 2 tsp of dough onto the parchment paper, about 2 inches apart. I like to roll my cookies into a ball, then slightly press them to make them flatter. This is a very soft dough, so you may need to add a little flour to your hands before rolling and pressing, if you choose to do this.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges are set and are lightly browned. These are meant to be soft cookies, but if you like them a little crunchier, just bake them a little longer. I prefer my cookies a bit crunchier, so I baked mine a bit longer.

Let the cookies cool completely before adding the frosting.

For the frosting, just mix both the powdered sugar and melted butter together until creamy then add about 2 TBSP of the orange puree and mix together well, then spread on the cookies with a knife. If you like, you can add some orange sprinkles on top for more color and pizzazz.

Your taste buds will be in for a citrusy surprise with every bite, and you will be getting hints of orange and Vitamin C in every bite too. It’s a win/win for everyone. They are sweet and tangy cookies to enjoy and are healthier because of the added oranges. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

WHOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!! I got some very lucky shots today. I got some good shots of a hummingbird. He was way up high at the top of the tree, but I zoomed in and got some good shots. This is a rare thing, at least for me, so I am very excited about getting these shots. 🙂

We have a few types of hummingbirds in our area. This is a Broad-Tailed Hummingbird.

You just never know what you’re going to see. And sometimes you just get lucky. See as much as you can and take it all in. Have a great day and make everyday great. 🙂