Random Thoughts of a Girl in Nairobi

   I first stumbled upon this recipe in high school, and I've loved it ever since. One can choose to either bake or deep fry the fish cakes. I went with baking because it's healthier and it gives the food a unique flavour. So here goes: Ingredients 2 pieces of Tilapia fillet 1 lemon 6 medium-sized potatoes 1 egg, beaten Parsley  Salt Cayenne pepper Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C / gas mark 4 Method 1.   Marinate the fish for an hour in turmeric, salt and cayenne pepper 2.   Peel, slice and boil the potatoes at high heat for 10 minutes. Drain. 3.   Boil the fillet separately for the same duration of time. Drain. Fillet, marinated and ready for boiling 4.   Mash the fillet and potatoes and mix them together well. Mashed potatoes and fillet 5.   Season accordingly if need be ( Remember that the fish had been marinated in salt and pepper ). Add parsely and egg and mix well. 6.   Take a palm-sized amoun...

   A lot of creatives may claim to love all their work equally. Yeah, right! I'm going to be human and admit that that's not true in my case. 2014 was an interesting year for me. A lot of changes were made and I did a lot of growing. I discovered new things about myself and I let my writing take me where-ever. Therefore, as we countdown to the new year I feel it would be appropriate to make this post. These are my favourite blog-post of 2014....from this blog: 1.  Trust me, I'm no expert  ( I was just in that place ) 2. Things to do while stuck in Nairobi traffic  ( Rant of the year ) 3. That falling in love feeling  ( Poetic-much! ) 4. My first Foodie Fridays 5. The documentation of my hair journey: Naturalista experiment part 1 and part 2 6.   Book reviews  ( Something I've always wanted to do ) 7.   I tried to be a football fan and failed  ( World-Cup fever ) So totally feel...

   We have just a few days left in 2014 and it has just dawned on me that I don't really believe in making new year's resolutions. In the evening of the 31st my mom and I will have a conversation where she'll ask me what my resolutions for 2015 are. Then I'll probably wrack my brain for a minute and say the first thing I think of. Something probably involving being less messy in my room (S he calls it a mess, I call it organised chaos ). I'll also probably mention something outrageous like getting a neck tattoo. But that's beside the point.    See if I really wanted to change my habits or behaviour I wouldn't wait for a sometimes over-hyped holiday to do it. I'd do it the moment I realised there was a problem. Or the moment someone held an intervention for me. But I wouldn't wait for the mass positivity of a made-up event such as 'New years resolutions' to spur me on. Let's be honest, it simply doesn't provide enough motivation...

   For the past two days I’ve been thinking of trying this recipe again. Maybe it’s Jamhuri day nostalgia ( Hello doughnut-fest! ). Or maybe it’s the fact that I’ve just finished a 12-day fast. But the point is that I finally gave in and made them for breakfast. So kindly note that sausage roll-making is a two step process. First of all you need to make the puff pastry...that cake-like thing that covers sausage rolls and meat pies. Then you make the rolls. You could always buy a pre-made puff pastry from your local supermarket, but I was feeling so ninja, that I made my own from scratch! So here goes:                                                                         Ingredients · 225g/8oz plain flour · ½ tsp fine salt · 250g/9oz unsalted butter/margarine, c...

   Growing-up I watched my parents and their friends buy each other cards for birthdays, Christmas, success and we even got congratulations cards when my brother was born. I managed to fish out the cards that have survived in the house. I bought some of them myself and wrote Merry Christmas in my child-like squiggly hand-writing. So why don’t we do that anymore? Because I know from experience that card-buying is an art. You first look for one that passes on the message you want. Then you separate the gaudy from the tasteful. Finally, you pick the one the person you’re buying for would likely like the most. You see, it’s an art! Even the bank used to send me a card for my Birthday! Birthday cards Success cards...mostly mum's Congratulations cards My favourite: Christmas cards    For all the good that technology has done for us, it’s taken away that authenticity in our declarations of affection. Admit it, every time someone sends you an e-...

   I don’t know about your high school experience. But from what I heard mine was better than most. I find that being in the Kenyan public school system there are some things that are commonly done across the board. Therefore let me present a list of things I think most high-school leavers would never admit to having done. 1.        Barter trade Somewhere, somebody came-up with the logic that one small tin of crisps is equal to 10 medium-sized biscuits. And 20 medium-sized biscuits are equal to a 250 ml packet of plain UHT milk. Of course if the milk was flavoured the price automatically went-up!  I don’t know what the current exchange rate is, but this came in handy when you were running low on supplies and had too much of one thing. 2.        School-made chocolate Aka: Mkorogo*. Ingredients: Blue band, sugar and drinking chocolate. All blended together into a nice thick paste. Yuck! What w...

Rating: 5 stars Target audience: Young adult and Adolescent    First off, let me begin by admitting that I first took an interest in this book because of its cover. I know that’s breaking a cardinal rule but come on, just look at it. Advertising experts somewhere should really take notes! Finishing this book was sad, because it was a really awesome ride that...well ended. The main character is Marguerite who is the very artsy daughter of two very scientifically-inclined physicists. Her parents have invented a device that allows inter-dimensional travel: The Firebird. But it looks as if their assistant, Paul has murdered her father, destroyed their research and escaped into a parallel universe to escape justice, or whatever it is that criminals do when they run away. So she does what any devoted revenge-seeking daughter would do. She uses one of the devices ( which by the way have never actually been tested ) to go right after him. Oh and did I mention that thi...