fried chicken

HOW TO MAKE FRIED CHICKEN

900g chicken (i got drumsticks)

250ml/1 cup of lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

115g/1 cup plain flour

475ml/2 cups vegetable oil

all the veg

I love eating vegetables but here in Lagos, I've always felt like my options are very limited. Most local vegetable vendors stock carrots, cabbage, bell peppers, string beans and not much else. Broccoli and cauliflower are also available but quite pricy. When i went through this recipe, I knew that finding all the ingredients would be challenging. There is one vegetable vendor i know of in Victoria Island that stocks a wider range of fruits and vegetables so i went straight there with my shopping list, hopeful. 

too much

This Chocolate Fudge is not what i expected. I was really looking forward to a rich chocolatey treat i could reach for at the end of every day over the next week or two for a sweet end to my day. I had no idea how sweet it would actually be! It was way too sugar packed and i knew the minute i started making it.

Fake

I'm not a huge fan of flavourings. I try to use the real thing every time. We usually make decisions about things based on past experiences so maybe i decided i didn't like flavouring based on a past experience perhaps with cheap flavouring. Maybe there are great quality products out there that taste like the real thing but i just don't like the idea of artificial flavouring. This recipe called for coconut flavouring so I got this Foster Clarks coconut essence from a local supermarket. The main ingredient in this is ‘Nature Identical Coconut Flavouring’. After doing a little research I found that: ‘Due to the high cost or unavailability of natural flavor extracts, most commercial flavorants are "nature-identical", which means that they are the chemical equivalent of natural flavors, but chemically synthesized rather than being extracted from source materials‘. Because certain fruits and vegetables are not available to everyone everywhere, I understand why flavorings are helpful but where possible, I say use the real thing. It smelt just like Malibu rum so naturally i felt like making a cocktail but i unfortunately had neither malibu nor pineapples so that was just a daydream. A little bit went a long way and it really did taste like coconut(duh) BUT after a few days, the flavour was virtually gone. If e no be coconut, e no fit be coconut. 

The Slap

Have you ever been in a situation where your child was hit by a stranger? In this part of the world, in some schools, teachers are allowed to beat children if they are out of line(in their opinion). That's how it was when i was growing up, i'm sure things might have changed a bit now. When i say stranger, i'm not referring just to teachers, it could also be a nanny, friend or even a family member. I feel like everyone has a different meter for discipline. The way i choose to raise my child is different from anyone else's way so ultimately, discipline should be left to the parents of the child.