Spiced Coffee

I read the recent news about two young girls being attacked by acid while on the island of Zanzibar off Tanzania and I am really saddened. It's a horrible act of ignorance and hatred, and it scares people. The article I read said the two were in Tanzania volunteering for a nonprofit and were walking in Stone Town on the main island of Zanzibar when acid was thrown on them. I have beautiful memories of strolling with my best friend through the stone roads of Stone Town, an old part of the island and maze of shops with hand-carved wooden doors, open air restaurants, friendly people, and the best fruit salad with rose water and pistachios. Now, people will think of the white sand seafood market strewn with menacing hatred and threatening acts of ignorance. 

One of the friendly, wonderful Zanzibaris I met there was a cook who gave evening lessons in cooking with spices. My friend and I made a lovely dish of Zanzibari curry and rice and vegetable soup with the island's mix of cinnamon, cardamon, clove, and ginger. He also showed us his personal mix of chai and spiced coffee.

The trick to the coffee is letting the spices settle into the coffee and waiting....living on island time for a while until the aroma jumps from the jar when you open it. This will take several months, so I found it helpful to hide it in the back of my cabinet. Every couple of months, I happened upon it and enjoyed a cup of strongly brewed coffee with hints of ginger and clove, cinnamon and cardamon. I used a bold, Tanzanian coffee but a lighter coffee would work well too.   

Showering Sweets on Baby S

Yesterday, we threw a baby shower for a very dear friend. She flew in from California this weekend for a baby-filled weeked bash! She's having two showers and lots of lovin' coming her way!

I was in charge of the punch, the favors, and the tableware.

For the favors, I got different colors of pink nail polish...because we're tickled pink about the baby! Yes, I go for the silly puns.

I also made cake pops for people to take home. I made red velvet cake, crumbled it, and added cream cheese frosting. Then I used a tablespoon to make balls. These went into melted pink chocolate and then dipped in sprinkles.

That's how it was supposed to work. In actuality, the balls fell off the sticks in the chocolate. I guess I made them too big, ahem. Putting them in the freezer helped some, but by then the chocolate had been on the stove too long and started separating. At this point, it's midnight and my mom (who had just come up that night to help and go to the shower) voted for going to bed and grabbing some pastel jelly beans on the way to the shower. Give up on the cake balls? No way. Not until ultimate defeat. I grabbed a rubber spatula and used it to brush on the chocolate. Then covered the balls in sprinkles to hide any defects. We kept them in the freezer overnight and in the morning...they were cute. And yummy.

These cupcakes are adorable! Warning: the pacifier is not edible.

I'm not a fan of punch, so I was a little nervous about making it. I went with something simple, and stayed away from the sherbet! The foamy sherbet punches remind me a 70s perfume! Yuck.

Pretty in Pink Punch

1 can frozen cranberry juice concentrate

1 can fronzen orange juice concentrate

one bottle of ginger ale

water to taste

Mix all together until the frozen juices are melted. Taste. Add water if too tart.

Add rubber duckies right before serving.

HONEYSUCKLE TEA

I brought back bag of Honeysuckle tea from China. I was enticed by memories of sucking on honeysuckle blossom stems as a child. Biting off the green end and hollowing out the buds of baby blossoms and tasting the sweet nectar that rivaled the smell of the adult blooms. The tea itself looks pretty neat, with little heads that waft on the steaming water. But the tea taste is actually not sweet at all; very earthy. I've taken multiple sips thinking...now what is that taste... Obviously it's honeysuckle, but it's a throaty taste, located somewhere on the back of my tongue. I like it a lot, and it was a nice surprise once my tongue was reconciled to the fact that it's not sweet and isn't going to be sweet, regardless of whether the sip is small or large, piping hot or room temp.

TOFU SHAKE

I've always wondered a bit about tofu shakes ever since I first heard of them, probably eight or nine years ago. This past week, I had a rare moment when the only appealing foods were all rather bland sounding. I think my body was revolting from all the food I ate the week before, first at a work conference where they sent us grazing between meetings (I think food coma to keep us quiet might have been the goal), and then on vacation in the lovely Colorado mountains (ahem, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory). I made a batch of tofu shake, which made about four glasses full. It was quite the thing I wanted, and I know it's going to be a great craving in the future.

TOFU SHAKE

one package of silken tofu

1 cup frozen blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries mixed

1 ripe banana

Blend. Drink. Thank yourself for a healthy alternative to all the other shakes. Including the masterfully created Baskin Robbins Chocolate Oreo Shake that has been dubbed by Men's Health as the #1 worst food in America. It weighs in at 2,600 calories, 135 grams of fat (59 of which are saturated), 263 grams of sugar and 1,700 milligrams of sodium. WOW.