Weekend Diary || A swing and a Fair (long post + photos!)

My childhood left me with lots and lots of scars and stories to tell my kids and grandkids and great grandkids. Tales of me and my brothers gallivanting around Ogunu and Rumukoroshe on bikes, sometimes roller blades and many times on foot, searching for the perfect place to unleash our after school sugar high. Our favourite spot was the Lagos close park because it had a playground. Swings, see saws, monkey bars, a merry go round and an epic slide that got really hot when the sun was out, it burnt our butts and thighs. Yet, we were addicted and whenever the Ustaz or Lesson teacher left, we would sneakily follow them out and quickly switch our route to the playground. Of course back then the world was a much kinder place and our parents would let us out by ourselves at such a young age without worrying. It also helped that the camp we lived in was probably the safest place to be in Warri.

We would play games such as "first to jump down" (only Warri kids would understand!), "upside down see-saw"(yes!) and exhaust ourselves and only when we see the infamous bats in Ogunu making their daily migrations out of snake alley do we start heading home. Any later and mum would be waiting at the door with a freshly plucked branch of hibiscus.

It makes me a little sad knowing my daughter would never have the same memories as I did. That carefree life we lived back then? Gone! Parents nowadays are so coddling and protective of their children. With good reason, of course! The world has become such a scary place it's only natural for us to want to protect our offspring. I'm sure she'll have her own memories but it'll be confined to the four walls of the house, or school or carefully monitored playgrounds and entertainment centres.

Anyhow, Mr. H and I wanted to a little more outdoorsy fun to Baby Rs routine so we got her a swing set!

Now not to brag or anything, but I am the QUEEN of FLATPACKs. I love love LOVE having to put together my own stuff. It gives me more satisfaction than having someone else do it for me or buying it already assembled (Yelp!)

I get a dopamine high when I put together something that was just a slim box or a pile of meaningless junk 30 minutes ago. It's one of the reasons why IKEA is one of my favourite places to be. It has become something we do together as a couple. He says I'm great with the instructions and figuring out what goes where and he lends a hand with the burly, muscly stuff. Lifting, screwing, tightening. We've gotten so good we sometimes assemble furniture without looking at the instructions. Hehe. Bragging over. Here's what we did.

We staked out an area beside the fence. Its cool and has some shade from the fence and the from the building.

We've always wanted to clear this area to plant a veg garden on one half and put some Astro turf to make a play area on the other half.

We've started with the planting but have been procrastinating since we moved.

Here are the pieces

Steps done

That's the floor area.

My happy helper

Fastening the swing

Almost done!

Oh, I forgot the basketball hoop.

Strung the net on and Ta da!

Testing it out on the victim baby. It was her first time on a swing. She kept looking down at her feet, watching them appear and disappear. Fascinated.

Then suddenly it was funny. She kept laughing.

Then she burst into song. See her lips! Hehehe!

By the time she got off she wasn't quite sure how to walk. Lol. And her pants were sagging. Dunno how that happened.

Spent the rest of the day prepping for the Family fun fest at Green grass resort Asokoro.

I had a food stand there

Up there is the pie filling for Steak and Cheese pie

Filling for Chicken, Potato and Leek pie

I also made 6 other dishes (phew*)

By nightfall I was exhausted.

But poor Mr. H hadn't had dinner *sigh*

So back in the kitchen to make this simple yet delicious Grilled cheese sandwich at 11pm!

He loved them! As did Baby R.

Oozing stringy smoked Gouda!

Sunday!

That's,like the only photo I had form my food stand because I had the worst head ache!

Like, It was so bad, I had mind blanks during the fair cos I just had to take a break and put my head down.

Then a customer would come and I'd whip up a fake smile and then recoil. Thankfully the lovely Jaleela was with me the whole time. I really don't know what I would've done without her.

The turn out was okay I guess. Mainly children and accompanying adults.

You see these two dishes? They help nasi goreng, chicken strips, fries and Jamaican jerk chicken.

That was the view from my stand.

By the time I got home I was so exhausted and Grumpy.

And just when i was feeling down, I got this...

And this....

And it makes it all worth it!

Finally I'm so proud of my littlest bro (19). He loves chicken Kiev and he's been bugging me to teach him, but he's all the way in Swansea and I only get to see him a few months in a year. He was able to figure it out himself and he did an amazing job!

Just look at that crunchy crust! Not bad for a first timer. He has the makings of a cook. :)

That's it for last weekend, what are you up to this week? Let me know!

Love,

Ummi.

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Steak and Veggie Puff Pie

 

So you're having guests and looking to make something relatively easy but still want to impress? Try this!

 

Hearty strips of beef steak in a spicy roux + chunks of carrots and potatoes in a puff pastry basket.

 

 

 

You can always mix it up with different veggies. I actually planned to make beef and mushroom pie but I had run out of shrooms, so carrots and potatoes had to do.

 

This super easy recipe serves 5 - 6 adults and maybe more kids. Serve with a simple garden salad for a well balanced meal.

 

 

 

 

Here's what you need

 

300g of beef steak, cut in strips

2 puff pastry sheets

5 carrots sliced

10 potatoes roughly chopped

1 medium onion, sliced

2 cloves of garlic

1 inch ginger

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp margarine

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp barbecue sauce

1 tbsp flour

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp oregano

2 seasoning cubes

Salt to taste

1 cup of water or beef stock

 

 

Here's how it goes

 

Bring out pastry from the freezer to thaw a little (30 mins).

 

Preheat oven to 200*C/medium-high.

 

Melt the margarine in a medium saucepan. Add the onions and stir until translucent.

 

Add the garlic and ginger and stir for two minutes.

 

Add the beef, salt, seasoning cubes, black pepper, oregano and stir until beef is browned.

 

Add carrots and potatoes and Stir fry for another 5 minutes.

 

Add soy sauce, barbecue sauce and sugar. Stir fry until dry.

 

Add tomato paste and water or stock. Cover to simmer for 10 minutes. Start next step immediately.

 

Meanwhile, roll out your pastry to the appropriate size and cover the base and sides of a baking dish.

 

Use a fork to dock a few holes in the pastry. Bake for 10 minutes. It should look half cooked.

 

Don't turn the oven off.

 

Add the flour to the beef in the saucepan and stir into a roux.

 

 

Empty the contents of of the saucepan into the pastry base.

 

Roll out the other pastry sheet and cut into 1 inch strips.

 

Use strips to form a basket weave like shown above.

 

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the pastry is evenly brown and crisp.

 

Serve!

 

 

 

WARNING! This recipe is extremely popular and might make people like you. Share only at your own risk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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