ME, MY CAMERA & THE FLASH

 ……….A ship inside a bottle cannot sink or collect dust; it is nice to look at and floats on glass. No one is small enough to board it. It doesn’t know where it’s heading. The wind outside won’t blow its sails. It has no sails, only a slip, and a dress. So are photos, they stay the same as time goes by. I felt like having fun so I grabbed my camera and flashed away. These are some of the dishes that we do and I am not the best photographer you have ever met but I tried.

                                                    

                                                         Our soups :)

.......I have never liked the thought of having the same thing over and over so as a rule in our kitchen, we change things almost daily. There are many reasons as to why i choose this method, one of them being to keep things interesting in the cafe, for costumers who come there daily. There is so much available everyday from farmers, fresh vegetables and it would be a shame not to take advantage of this lovely goodies. Another reason that i cannot ignore is the fact that i have trainee chefs/staff and i have to constantly keep pushing the bar daily for motivation, awareness and pass on knowledge. learning something everyday is awesome and it leaves you with a feeling of achievement and in turn very empowering. Most of my staff are young and full of energy, they demand and absolve what they learn quickly. So we soak beans, roast bones to make stocks for our soups or slow roast vegetables, either pan roasted or oven. Blend them or leave them whole. Fuse new with tradition to create something different. Which ever way i totally encourage it daily "to be creative". If you happen to stop by, be adventurous and go healthy for a moment, try a soup for a change. Soups that we make include,,,,, Tomato and rosemary, butternut squash with coconut and lime, bean soup with coriander, nduma soup,  roast carrot and ginger, potato and spinach or sometimes we will do it with managu when there is plenty going around. Chicken soup or vegetable soup and more all served with toasted bread and you can always butter your toast just ask (at no extra cost).

                                                     Our Sandwiches :)

......We have a standard way that we do our sunnies, toasted bread three layers, buttered. Our selection include, B.L.T Sandwiches(bacon, lettuce, tomato with mayonnaise sauce) chicken and guacamole Sandwiches, organic egg salad Sandwiches, club Sandwiches. We sometime do on request veggie Sandwiches if you if meat is not your thing.

                      other thing we do......

                   
                               lamb stew with lionise potato

                                 Githeri with seasonal vegetables and fried gizzards

                              Roast chicken with fries and salad

Quesadillas 

                                          Happy Cooking !!!!!

Words And Me Thinking Out Loud!!

…….I thought love was supposed to be a golden rose, and the heart its vase. I thought it was to grow and the heart to beat faster in anticipation. It is at first, but then the thorns begin to pierce the heart and the flower’s golden hue fades into non-existence as it passes slowly away. The heart left pierced slowly cracks as the flower dies, and then there exists a void where once that flower bloomed. You only get that golden rose once in a lifetime. The void never ceases to exist no matter how you try to replace it. You will find a tulip here, a carnation there. You may even chance upon the rarest of orchids, but you will never be able to fill the void left by the passing of that one true love, that golden rose. You may not admit it, but it is seen in the argument you have with your new flower, or maybe the faults you find within it—A broken stem, a drooping leaf, a faded color. Whatever it may be, it will cause that void in your heart to grow and grow as the crack widens. If you ever find your golden rose, cherish it for what it is and nurture its growth for your growth depends on it as well. Then again, I am nothing more than a raving lunatic.

When I was young, I believed that love in its purest form was simply loving someone and not expecting anything in return. Simply loving a person because of who they were and how they affected your life. Loving them for the sake of loving them. That can be a painful kind of love, for at some point you start to want the object of your affection to see you, and then to love you as well.

I miss that pure love that heart that once beat for someone even when they didn't know you existed.

When I was young I believed in so much. I believed that the person you first love to was the person that you would spend your whole life with. That's what I knew in my heart. I found out all too quickly that was not the case. That knowledge damaged my whole belief system, and yet to this day I still yearn for that dream. That the person I lie beside will be beside me until I pass from this earth.

As a child I saw beauty in almost everything, even the grotesque. My favorite flower is the orchid for encompassing the beautifully grotesque unique look that reminds me of love. So many colors, so many shapes, so horrifically beautiful, as if a mad man created it from some hallucinogenic dream where he thrashed about with brush and canvas and created chaos from nature.

I am neither man, nor child, for I feel the years that have passed and yet I pass through time believing in the same fantasies that I held true as a child. I yearn for dragons, and count change to pay the bills. I write my heart out in a dream and awake to cold realities of broken windows and freezing winds.

Through all, I believe in that pure love, but I realize it is tainted, and yet I yearn for the dream of it every waking hour.......

100 Thing I have Cooked With........

I was just thinking today after having a chat about food, with a good friend. And i wonderer if i could randomly name a few thing. I have to say, i feel very privileged to have known a wide variety of ingredients and used them on a daily basis. I mean this list could have gone on and on and never stop. But Its also shocking!!


1-lard
2-butter
3-olive oil
4-grape oil
5-salt,pepper,
6-white sugar, brown sugar, cane sugar, icing sugar
7-pistachio paste
8-food coloring
9-herbs-basil, chives, chervil, dill, sorrel, parsley(flat and curly) mint, tarragon, lavender, rosemary, Thai basil, galangal, thyme, lemon thyme, bay leaves
10-garlic
11-honey
12-truffles-both white & black
13-vanillar
14-stocks I have made-( chicken, fish , vegetable, beefveal, shell fish, lamb, duck stock)
15-meat-(veal, venison, partridge, guinefowl, quail, wood pigeons, goose, lamb(all cuts), beef (all cuts), pork all (cuts), oxtail, duck, wild boar, goat, baby chicken , rabbit, kangaroo, organic chicken)
16-foi gras

17-black caviar
18-salmon eggs
19-fish-(salmon, sole, dove sole, turbot, halibut, sea bass, John Dory, mackerel, monk fish, cod, fresh haddock, smoked haddock , wild salmon, trout, herring, dogfish, tuna(blue fin) butter fish, catfish, red and black bream, hake, king fish, mullet, mahi mahi, anchovies, perch, place, sardines, tilapia, zander, swordfish , snapper )
20-plain flour
21-self-rise flour
22-00 pasta flour
23-wholemeal, white ground, bread flours
24-saffron
25-eggs-(chicken,duck and quail eggs)
26-corn
27-corn syrup
28-polenta
29-gnocchii
30-fresh pasta (all sort)
31-fresh tortellini,
32-fresh ravioli
35-mushrooms- (morels, flat, Portobello, oyster, shiitaki, shimeji, st.georges, trumpet royal, chanterelle, winecap, yellow foot, black trumpet , blewit, chestnut, cinnamon cap, clampshell, enoki and gamboni mushrooms )
36-raisins
37-baking powder
38-ginger
39-water(a must)
40-tamarine
41-chilli(most types)
42-milk( most type including UHT)
43-cream
44-cous cous
45-lentals (Most type)
46-kidney beans
47-chick peas
48-gungo peas
49-green peas
50-black beans
51-bean sprouts
52-crab (most type)
53-Scotish langoustines( very divine)
54-tiger prawns (and most prawns)
55-mussels-(all type)
56-clams-(all type)
57-scallops( divers are the best)
58-frog legs
59-snals
60-chicken livers
62-bi-carbonte soda
63-lobsters
64-puple potatoes (and all types of potatoes )
65-most fruits exotic and rear
66-panchetta
67-parma ham
68-cream cheese
69-chocolate (most types and flavoured)
70-berries- (all type common and wild)
71-rocket (and most types of salads name it)
72-parmesan( and most cheese that you may know)
73-avocado
74l-eeks, butternuts quash, aubergines (and really a vast vegetable selection)
76-maple syrup
77-golden syrup
78-corn floor
79-tomato paste
80-tined tomatoes
81-bone marrow( not widely use but really good)
82-fresh pestos
83-olives
84-olive tapenade
85-Aubergines pesto
86-risotto rice
87-long grain rice
88-wild rice
89-lemon grass
90-rose water
91-coconut
92-coconut milk
93-fennel seeds
94-cumin ground and seeds
95-tumiric
96-orange blossom water
97-shrimps
98-cherries
99-lime leaves
100- love !!

Teachable Moments!!!

……………It funny how time and distance change you. The choices you make may not always bare fruits. The road you take, don’t always lead you home. You could start something with good intentions and a good heart, you look up and it’s all gone. Sometimes people say your lucky, everything is going well, but for you its not luck but grace. Having said that, we learn as we go and this are the teachable moment. An unplanned opportunity that arise, an ideal chance to offer insight, a fleeting opportunity that must be sensed and seized. So what have i learnt so far beside pots and pans in my tinny kitchen???

                                           

                                         

“I’ve learned that no, matter what happens, or how bad it may seem today, life goes on and it will be better tomorrow. I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles, being lost and a long twisted day. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you will miss them when they’re gone from your life. I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life”.  I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance"yes it does". I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with fear but with courage, you need to be able to throw something back. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I’ve learned that even when I have pain, I don’t have to be alone. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I’ve learnt that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

.......am still learning :):)

About perfection!!!

About perfection!! 

Today I got late to work, and hence not much done. The milk is late too so which mean we may not open up on time. I have to deal with loads of issues everyday some that just don't add up. The builders next door are on it again and almost feel like there going to come through the wall and to make things worse, the sewage is blocked due to the heavy renovation. I can not take another bad comment (although its important) because I spent time on this and sometimes one 

needs to appreciate ones effort regardless. What am I getting at? Crave Kitchen I guess has  its flaws and its not perfect, not meant to be and probably will never be, just trying its best from day to day. Just like everyone else,  my life is filled with flaws, mistakes and imperfections✌

 I have no fear of perfection - I'll never reach it.

 I am not the "perfect" that I would like to be. I would like to adhere to my beliefs more. I would like to be consistent in my attitude during the day. I would like to not have to struggle with some of the things I struggle with.In no way am I but I keep working none the less maybe when I am 85 I will get it right...Ain't easy to get to 85; you have to be impeccable.Perfection is boring and unachievable. Flaws are what makes someone who they are; it is more appealing.

I am far from perfect, who is? But at least I realise that and try to compensate in the areas that I know I am not perfect in. Anyone out there who thinks they are perfect is seriously long way away from perfection! You were born to be real... Not perfect

I am a bundle of flaws and imperfections sewn together with love and good intentions. :>Well no one is perfect and everyone one has flaws that makes us who were are. But we all have good features too,

Indeed!!!!

"All kind of kinds"

 It so happens, that I have discovered the use of my phone and that excuse like I can't blog have to end. I have been blaming it all on my laptop and going mad since the day I poured soda on it, hence the key board does not work and the charger has its own mind. But first I would like to say, I appreciate all of the comments made here and I should make it a point to come here and say something about Crave Kitchen. Moving on.........I have all sort, all kind to report but may I start with  more about Crave and where we are. So two months on and couple of weeks, still getting stronger and craving to expand but hope to maintain the standards that we are know for. We love the team of staff that we have now and have been lucky to have an additional member, a young lady who has joined us this week. I care about them, there welfare and involve myself with problems that they may have but seriously hope all the best. Some have now completed school or courses that they where attending, like in the case of trouble the young girl that has a way with everyone. Am still waiting to see her pass slip and boy she better have passed!!! Also we have a young guy who just not long ago finish school and awaiting to join utali for his peruse on baking. He comes in at night, and trains with me. He is at the best age, young that is and passion like I never seen. So it's only right that Crave Kitchen gets involve, guide him before he moves on to become an great baker. Baking is hard people don't know this, especially when your starting out. The late hour, measuring, waiting probably the hardest thing could break or make you. Any how soon, very soon he will have to man up, bite the bullet and find it in him deep inside that thing that will certain him day to day - bless him. With a helping hand we should be able to do more and should I say the company at night is very welcome. So what else.....the food has changed. I guess to what people want and demand. We decided to do the blackboard menu as opposed to the tradition table menu because it restricted us from taking advantage of new products available, and people never seemed to understand it. It also helps us create something that is ever changing and so not boring. Its always the case with cafes and restaurants to keep it alive and exciting. So every once in a while maybe weekly, I get everyone involved- staff who always know what people want or just an idea that they have. Our customers have change, well not really but just a wider variety from when we started and clearly would expect that as time goes and as we grow. Besides all that, I have changed, not majorly but for what I love most. Baking or cooking?? Am torn between this two but love both dearly. I know there is no on or off button to the things u love. Sure I love many things in life, some more than others. Am confused though!! New love verses old love had torn at my heart and I don't know if I have room for both. I spend days at times thinking about both ( cooking or baking) more and am wondering what my future will look like. Am happy but am also torn some days on what is best. If it was my choice I would do both but baking is more at  home. Nevertheless it's good to remember love never dies a natural death but because we don't know how to replenish its source. My love for coking will always be there but for now baking is the new love. And I have to embrace it wholey becouse there is no remedy for love but to love more!!!!!
       
                                          "Happy baking to all"

HAPPY EASTER!!

Am a firm believer of being immaculate with whatsoever your doing and this is not a weakness rather than pride of what you do. Sometimes you can get pressure from people who may not understand but I would rather take steps that am comfortable with than rushing. Having said that, it’s frustrating to have to put things forward as in the case of the coffee shop, that is four days late of its opening day. It’s Easter now, just like that and little time to put one, two, and three together. I am drained, wasted from all the work of renovation and honestly feel like a cabbage. Why would someone in the right mind put himself or herself through such hassle? For the love of it am guessing. Yes for the love of it “labor of love” or it would not be worth. I also feel I have brought a lot of memories to the shop without realizing it, but glad with the end results. There are still a few things here and there to do but like my friend says, Rome was not build in one day so I take comfort in that. Officially, Crave Kitchen is now open, two days on and slowly getting there with loads of support from people all over. It’s amazing how comforting that is and to feel part of this community that is so alive and vibrant. As promised, I have shared some photos of the shop and I hope I can keep this up. Even though am open over the festive season, I hope to indulge as much as I can, if I can. So this long holiday weekend I can only wish for this few things

I wish that….

·      I can hung out with friends and forget about the early mornings, sleep late, and laugh as much

·      I could get away or go on a road trip far away and sleep outside under the stars

·      Spend time alone, energize and listen to music like cold play, Tabu Ley or anything on that line

·      Ride my bike, sweat it out, because my body craves some serious cardio workout

·      Work on a coffee table idea that I have been planning to get started with, for my house

I wish you all a very happy Easter break and stay safe. Till next time I blog….HAPPY EASTER!!!!