When I was in primary school, my older brother and I always looked forward to our afternoon cup of hot cocoa. We’d make it with four cubes of sugar (without our mother’s knowledge) and loved to have it with buttered baguette, which we took great pleasure in dunking into our hot drink. (CM, if you are reading this post, I particularly mention dunking the buttered baguette because you always seemed so shocked to see us do this). Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for the ‘How-to’ Category
How to Make a Perfect Cup of Hot Cocoa (or The Importance of Following Instructions)
In Beverages, How-to on February 3, 2009 at 19:49“African Tea”
In Beverages, How-to on August 28, 2008 at 19:03
I come from a people who are truly committed to their tea drinking. On my mother’s side of the family, every time really is tea time (I am sure some of you, my readers, can relate to your mothers being like this too. 
) When I say tea, I do not mean the wimpy mixture of tea and water that is served to you at most establishments, where you get to mix the water and tea in your cup as you serve the tea. By tea, I mean the potent, fierce stuff that is cooked on a stove and served in flasks that’s to be drunk at scalding hot temperatures. Do you now know what I am talking about? Sometimes, it’s more commonly referred to as “African Tea”. Read the rest of this entry »
Nail Buffing
In Beauty, How-to on August 19, 2008 at 15:45
Wow! I don’t know what’s going on with my nails, but they are longer, stronger, and prettier than they’ve ever been. I lie. I do know what’s going on with my nails. Like many other things on my body (understand: my hair), I’ve decided to do away with all the fuss and artificiality with which we normally deal with parts of our body that we consider portrayers of beauty. For me, natural is easier and so is the way I chose to go.
Honestly, I never intended this to be a statement of any sort, at first. The truth is: I can’t keep a manicure intact for more than two days. When I finally came to this realization, I decided to stop struggling with manicures and instead treat my nails more in accordance to what they were by nature. A quick scan of my mental recesses reminded me of a conversation I had with a dear friend back when I was 18. Read the rest of this entry »
Lost your Nakumatt Smartcard?
In How-to, Kenya, Services, Shopping on November 8, 2007 at 19:49
I first signed up for Nakumatt’s customer reward scheme in 2003, when it first came out. I was making a big purchase at Nakumatt Mega, when the cashier asked me whether or not I had a Nakumatt Smartcard. Having no clue as to what he was talking about, he told me that a Nakumatt Smartcard was a card that allowed customers to accumulate points with every purchase made at Nakumatt. These points would then one day be redeemable for awards – sort of the way it’s done in a frequent flyer’s program.
At the time, I was not much of a Nakumatt shopper. In those days, Uchumi was my preferred supermarket chain. Still, I knew I would be making a number of big household purchases at Nakumatt in the near future because I was moving into a new home and so decided to sign up. Read the rest of this entry »
Tips for Selecting a Good White Wine
In How-to, Wines on October 27, 2007 at 16:54
A while back, a friend and I were being lazy about dinner. Instead of cooking, we decided we’d buy gourmet pizza (from Mediterraneo in Westlands), along with a bottle of wine from On the Run, and head back home to relax and hang out.
We were set on having white wine with our pizza, but weren’t familiar with any of the wines that we found at On the Run. Still, we selected a wine based on the description printed on its label and were convinced that we were walking away with a semi-sweet light wine. Boy, were we wrong! Read the rest of this entry »
How to Eat Crab (in Public)
In Food, How-to on August 13, 2007 at 19:35
A while back, I went for dinner with a friend to Peppers Restaurant in Westlands. In the mood for something light, I ordered some crab. The menu listed two crab dishes – one where the crab meat had already been removed from its shell and another where the crab was served whole, still in its shell. I debated long and hard about which of these two dishes to order because the whole crab dish seemed more interesting. I wondered, though, if I would be able to eat whole crab elegantly enough for a formal dining environment.
Not one to be easily dissuaded, despite the waiter’s strong recommendation to order the crab-meat dish, I decided to go ahead and order the whole crab. I had eaten crab in its shell many, many years ago as a teenager (and remember it to be an extremely fun and delicious experience) but had never attempted to do so since then.
As my friend and I waited for our meal, the waiter began to prepare my setting for the dish I had ordered. First, he brought me two implements which I have since come to find out are known as a cracker and pick. Then, he brought me an apron to protect my clothing. If ever I doubted my choice of meals that night, seeing the apron almost made me change my order. Read the rest of this entry »
