Rae's Kitchen Life Hacks; You Won't See Pumpkins The Same Way After This Easy Recipe

Yes. That's right. I picked up cooking since my last post. Well that's if 'picking up cooking' means watching the food channel and barely seeing the inside of the kitchen.

Now, now. I can't be the only one with this lifestyle. Truth is, whether or not cooking is a favorite 'to-do' thing of yours, we all love to eat. It's the one act synonymous to every human. Well that and breathing. Okay and pooping. Fine, so it's not the ONLY thing we all have in common but it is true that we love food.

This means that given the chance to, we would all eat our favorite meals about err... two maybe TEN times a day. Only problem is, I'm not about to bake myself a chocolate fudge cake every damn day and no you're not making pizza every night!

It therefore goes without saying that an easy, fun and still acceptably healthy recipe is also something we'd all love.

Can't say I'll give you more than one but as soon as I try something that takes preferably under 20 minutes to make; something that may (or may not) be so familiar to you and most importantly, something that won't involve a fire extinguisher at some point, I'll be sharing it.

In fact, starting now, with my fun and 15 minute recipe of 'Baked Butternut Pumpkins'.

Trust me. I hated pumpkins growing up so believe me when I say that the results are ... whatever the fanciest word for delicious is.

INGREDIENTS

Okay first you will need;

An oven

Two hands

Two eyes

....okay, okay, for real now.

1 Butternut pumpkin.

Some olive oil.

Whatever spice you like to use when making pancakes (my favorite is cinnamon).

A bowl.

A knife/peeler.

A chopping board.

Me... so I can help you eat when you're done. Hehe

STEPS

1 Pre-heat the oven (about 200 degrees will be sufficient but then don't take too long with the rest of the instructions).

2 Gather all of the ingredients.

3 Peel the butternut.

4 Cut it up first into four portions (laterally) and be sure to scoop out ALL of the seeds.

5 Chop into smaller manageable portions (feel free to put your artistic minds to work and cut into interesting shapes and sizes)

6 With the olive oil pored into the bowl, deep each butternut piece into the oil and thereafter sprinkle them with the spices of your choice.

7. Arrange the oiled butternut pieces onto your baking tray and leave inside oven for 15 minutes.









Please note that the pieces should turn brown- gold and a bit crispy at the top.

After 15 minutes, remove and serve with a chilled accompaniment. Perfect as a midday snack.

A Kenyan Writer You Need To Check Out

Granted that even I don’t know what my blog is essentially about, I do want to say a huge thank you for taking the time to check it out even though you never leave comments. (Yes. I’m talking to you.) I appreciate you none-the-less.

As an 11 year old who had only just transferred to a different school for her first time, I found it really difficult to fit in and make new friends. Maybe it was because that was my first transfer which meant that I was leaving all that had been familiar to me for 11 years or, maybe because this new school was nothing like my old school. In fact it was light years away from what I was leaving behind. 

When the switch happened, afraid to leave my tiny shell, I made my first friend at the school library where I’d found and fallen in love with my first novel –Harry Potter.

I quicky found that novels have a way of sucking you in. Comforting you in a world where you are merely an observer, free of any worldly requirements to act a certain way. Reading a novel is a bit like taking a break from the real world and if you read a lot of fiction or make-believe, (like Harry Potter) then reading a novel for you is taking a break from the real world and being catapulted a gazillion miles from it.

Well, in Kenya, seems to me we celebrate the singers, the actors and even the socialites but not much is said about writers and now, I’m not about to claim to be the ground-breaking blogger who discovered and talked about Kenyan authors (although I wouldn’t mind if I turned out to be… this blog could certainly use some kind of direction), I will highlight one.

His, a work of ingenious tale crafting, everything he writes could easily be mistaken (and yes I dare say,) for a James Patterson read. Mind gripping and easy to read, written with amazing diction, he is Wilson Kageni and just so you can get a taste of his work, here is a tiny excerpt from his soon to be out sequel, ‘The Douche Bag Chronicles’. 

A billionaire walks into a bar. It’s 3:00 pm on an uncomfortably warm Friday afternoon and a wave of heat wafts in with him. The thick Plexiglas door rings a small bell above him as it slowly swings shut.
“We’re not yet open,” shouts a weary voice. “Come back in an hour.”

His eyes take a moment to adjust to the dim light. Despite the smell of freshly mopped floors the malty scent of stale beer lingers. The room's appearance strikes a delicate balance between dingy and homely. It seems like the kind of place he might have frequented in his youth. To one end sits a wall-size shelf holding what must be at least sixty different bottles of liquor. He walks towards it through wooden tables with their chairs still on them. He doesn’t see the shouter until he reaches the counter. There he finds a man –presumably the bartender- cleaning up in preparation for a busy night.
“I’m not here to drink.” He replies. “I’m actually looking for someone.”
After another thirty seconds or so of conversation he extracts a small revolver from his jacket pocket and fires six rounds into the bartender.
This is where our story begins. 

Doing big things at a young age, get to interact with Wilson on twitter as @TheKageniMind to find out more about both him and his work, plus, if you loved that excerpt then like me, pre-order his book online via this link. 

Warning! This Might Make You Cry; Saddest Poem Ever

This all began when while switching across TV Channels on a boring afternoon, I landed on what seemed to be a massive protest of some sort in the US. I didn’t even check to see what channel I was on, just turned up the volume out of curiosity, unaware that the next few moments would move me to tears. Maybe it’s cause I’m a mom. I don’t know.

January; the month that for too many of us always seems four weeks too long and we normally spend most of it lamenting at our ‘broke-ness’, wishing we could fast forward to February already.

Well for a couple million Catholics around the world, it is the month they have dedicated to being pro-life. Being pro-life is essentially exactly that, -Being in support of life. The pro life movement speaks mainly about abortions and euthanasia, both widely practiced and in some states very legal practices.

No worries, I’m not about to get preachy in this post but while watching the pro-life movement in the US stage a massive rally, there were quite a  few stories and poetic pieces that threatened to move me to tears. 

The rally I was watching featured pro-lifers (what they refer to themselves as) marching across states preaching the sanctity of human life. At the end of the march was going to be various moving testimonies  and poetic pieces out of which, was this one written presumably in the words of an unborn child that really tagged at my heart.

(You might need a tissue)

Nine months are slowly getting close,
I am surrounded by the blanket of yours;
Slowly I am growing in your womb,
Please don't send me to the tomb;
Oh mother, can't you hear my voice?
Don't you have another choice?

Aren't you happy? You can see me soon,
I am excited to see the world of sun and moon;
In your womb, I am counting days,
To show you mother, my little gaze;
Oh mother, can't you hear my voice?
Don't you have another choice?

 
Mother, I am excited for my first toy,
I promise I will become your joy;
Please don't feel me as a burden,
Whatever you decide cannot be undone;
Oh mother, can't you hear my voice?
Don't you have another choice?

I know you are waiting to see me play,
More than you I am excited to see that day;
Oh mother, won't you start my life story,
Please don't make my life a history;
Oh mother, can't you hear my voice?
Don't you have another choice?

I am excited to play in your lap,
With my deeds, I will make you clap;
Oh mother, give me a chance to live,
Even if you don't, I will forgive;
Oh mother, my life is now a question,
Please don't give it name of abortion.

Yeah, did you grab your tissue yet? 

Sensitizing people about the sanctity of human life is a task these pro-lifers take so seriously that this particular march has been on going since the legalization of abortion in the 70s.

Poem Credit: familyfriendpoems.com

Forget New Year Resolutions … Here’s My Bucket List!

How about we start a new thing this new year where instead of pledging to never drink again (which usually lasts until the January salary checks in), we instead write out epic things we’d want to do before we die. That’s my new thing. Because life’s too short. And also cause I clearly have way too much time on my hands.

Now a bucket list, needless to say, has to have some pretty extra-ordinary stuff. I mean it is after all a list of things you would think of doing if someone told you this was the only day, week, month or year left to live. Well I have my epic list… but then I’ve also got my shorter more achievable list. Why? Because I hate heights so no skydiving or bungee jumping for me; Don’t like being in water so I won’t be wanting to whimsically swim with dolphins; there basically wouldn’t be much to amaze you with. Or would there be? Read on to find out.

(no judging!)

Rae’s Mini Bucket List for 2015

1. Knit an entire scarf.

I read somewhere (code for I’m about to make something up), that learning a new skill, regardless of how mundane it is, is one way of measuring true growth! So for this year's Christmas, I plan on wearing a scarf knitted solely by me. Yup. It’ll probably not be proportional and I won’t want to be seen in it but it’ll be my scarf and yes, I shall show it to you then.

 

2. Capture most of Alexis’ ‘Firsts' on camera.

Alexis (my couple months old daughter) laughs in her sleep and I am dying to get that on video. Too funny! That and all the other amazing ‘firsts’ that she’ll have this year. First tooth, first birthday, first taste of food *happy sigh* I’ll probably get bored of that at some point though. I can already hear other parents agreeing to that. Well in the meantime I’ll have a ball with it.

3. Post Up To 50 Times on My Blog.

I didn’t do much on this site last year. Or the year before but this year, I’m making it a goal of mine to have at least a post each week. Granted that I’m not living the world’s most exciting life, I promise to make it as enjoyable as I can.

4. Support a good cause.

Cause the world could do with a little more good and also cause I don’t remember doing this when it wasn’t a school requirement. Think I’ll start by delving into my wardrobe and giving away my Martin Luthers. You know, the clothes you look at and think ‘I have a dream’… since you don’t fit into any of them anymore. Yup. Those ones. I should be able to build up from there.

5. Plant a tree.

Planting several trees would be a more memorable and amazing bucket list item but I said ‘a tree' because I’d like to look at it many years later and wonder happily at it when it’ll be over ten feet tall, thinking about how I knew it when it was barely a seedling.

Like I said, no judging!

There. Way better than the New Year resolutions we make each year. That’s my mini bucket list but for your reading pleasure, if I really was to have an actual bucket list, then it would for sure look a little like this…

Get my picture taken at platform 9 and ¾.

Harry Potter fans get this one.

Visit an Eskimo.

Just so I can say I did

Buy a plane ticket to some place random or better yet, throw a dart at a map and travel wherever it lands

Yeah assuming I’ll be married to Richard Brandson’s son. 

Get my Masters Degree and PHD.

I’ve always wanted to be a lecturer in my future life. I’d be a kick ass lecturer but no I have no idea what it is that I’d lecture.

Go see the Northern Lights.

Visit all 7 continents.

Which is great cause I can already knock off Africa from that list. Six more to go!!

Attend Tomorrowland.

Only the most massive EDM concert on this planet!! 

Meet Idris Elba

What woman wouldn’t.

…

Wouldn’t it be great if we could all do such things? Imagine the stories we’d have by the end of the year. In fact imagine the stories we’d have when we’re in our forties and fifties. *sigh* this calls for the perfect song *queue John Mayer’s – ‘Say What You Need To Say’. Lol.

Agreed then? No more resolutions that we all know will be forgotten as soon as we hit February. Let’s start crossing out items on our bucket lists! 

Cheers!

Crazy Awesome Rae