Aluu Killings

In the many years of this my young life, I didn't realize that this world could be so wicked! At least I didn't believe that this type of wickedness was so close to the place I call home. For the past couple of years, if it's not a bomb blast every week, it's something else. Is it that people just got used to hearing about boko haram killings that they think they can kill and go scot free? Or have we just been desensitized and no longer have any value for another human life? And then Nigerians will talk about how the country is the best in Africa. So the video circulating on the internet shows how four young boys were stripped naked, beaten to a pulp, and then burned to death! All while a group of people just stood around watching, like it's another street show. Hmm, let me not even get on the case of the justice system in Nigeria. For people to have the guts to do this to other humans just tells you about the justice system in the country. The earlier Nigerian police and the whole security force step up their game, the better. Let justice be served for every innocent soul. May the souls of all those departed rest in peace. I know God is alive, all killers should reap what they sow.

End of exam Baking

So this is what I was up to this Sunday:

Donut dough before and 7 hours later.

1 hour later!

 Oatmeal raisin cookies.

 And first wheat bread.

Cooking energy

So, first set of exams are over and another week of classes is starting next week. You already know what I'm doing this weekend, making some food! I made a large pot of fried rice and a big pot of beans. Yeah, I like beans. 3/4 of all this food will go to the freezer, and I'll be free for a while. Anyway, I'm thinking of making doughnuts this weekend, and some cookies too. Oh, and bread. I'll be posting some pics of the outcome of all of this. Have a great weekend, cheers!

Guess who made donuts!!! (How to make donuts/doughnuts)

So I just figured out there were no instructions for this. To make these (about 30 medium sized) doughnuts here's what you'll need:
-1 cup of lukewarm milk
-1 cup of sugar
-1 sachet of dry yeast
-2 eggs
-1 stick of unsalted butter (melted but not hot)
-4 cups of flour
-A quarter teaspoon of salt

The doughnuts I made here are glazed and here's what you'll need for that:
-A quarter cup of cold milk or water (If it's too thick, make it as you want. You can add coloring as well.)
-Half teaspoon of vanilla (not mandatory)
-3 cups of powdered sugar

What to do

-Pour the milk and sugar mixture into the yeast, stir and leave.

-Pour milk/sugar/yeast mixture into the whisked eggs/butter mixture.

-Gradually add flour and mix well.

-Oil a bowl and place mixture in it

-Cover 

-Leave in fridge overnight/ 7 hours. It would have tripled in size

-Roll out to about the height of a plastic coke cover (on a floured surface).

-Cut with a round cutter or any suitable round thing. I used the purple cover in the picture above.

-Place them on floured baking sheets and leave to rise for a couple of minutes in a warm oven.

Fry

and glaze. (This process is kind of messy, make sure to have a large space for this)

Not bad at all for the first time. By the time they had gone halfway, I was thinking of making more.

Mmm.

Short Hand or social network language?

Honestly, I don't even know where to start from. I'm not an English teacher, but for some reason it just bothers me. The fact that half of the sentences I see in conversations or posts on facebook, blackberry messenger, twitter, etc, are just written the way the person would pronounce them, with no thought about the spelling whatsoever. The one I saw today didn't even seem to make sense. Since when is "makes" spelled "mex"??? The other one I saw the other day was "litu". You can guess that it stands for the word, little. I understand that typographical errors occur, but this is an entirely different thing going on here. The one I just don't understand is that even when the original word is only three letters long, it'll still be changed to something else. I know I've seen "wu" before, instead of who.

Okay, I'm going to chill, it's not like I can really do anything about it. I just wish people will at least type a full "Happy birthday" to a friend instead of hbd. I think they deserve more than three letters for a wish.

How To Make Pizza At Home

So this is pretty easy to make and will make 2 medium-sized pizzas. Alright, here we go!

What you need:

-Two teaspoons of dry yeast

-One and a half cups of warm water

-Four cups of flour (plus extra for kneading and to get the right consistency)

-One and a half teaspoon of salt

-Two tablespoons of vegetable oil

-One tablespoon of sugar

-Mozzarella cheese, and whatever you wish for the toppings.

-Tomatoes, onions, garlic(if you like), and vegetable oil to prepare the sauce. And pepper, if you like it hot.

-Pizza pans, and an oven

What to do: 

-Dissolve sugar in warm water

-Add the yeast and dissolve completely (I use a whisk)

-Add oil

-Add the flour and whisk, then smooth dough into a mass

-knead the dough, roll and place in the pizza pan(s)

SAUCE: blend the tomatoes, onions and garlic, fry in about 1 cooking spoon of veg. oil, and add spices and salt to taste.

-Spread the sauce over the dough, spread the shredded cheese over the sauce and place whatever toppings you wish.

-Preheat oven to about 450degrees and bake pizza for 10 minutes (if you can look through the oven glass, just check to see if more time is needed or not).

And voila! 

How to bake bread

Simple Way To Bake Bread At Home

What you need: 

-3 cups of warm water

-3 Tablespoons of yeast

-3 teaspoons of salt

-4 Tablespoons of vegetable oil

-1/2 a cup of white sugar (more or less depending on how sweet you want it)

-8 cups of flour (plus some extra for kneading)

-A table-top and an oven ;) (some people really don't have ovens, like my friends in the dorm).

What to do:

-Put the water in a mixing bowl

-Dissolve the yeast in the water, add the sugar, salt and vegetable oil

-:Mix 4 cups of the flour in the mixture, cover with a cloth, and leave to rise in a warm place (I just put it in the oven or cupboard)

-Leave for about two hours and mix in the rest of the flour

-Knead and shape the dough how you like it (here's a link of dough I braided)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG77IUCjKTY

-Preheat oven to about 300 degrees

-I brushed milk on the dough before putting in the oven to give it the shiny appearance.

Here's another link: http://vimeo.com/35993746

How to make chinchin (West African snack)

So I tried doing this for the first time on my own and it came out very good. This recipe is enough to fill two small zip locks.


What you'll need: 
-two and a half cups of flour
-two-thirds of a cup of sugar
-half a teaspoon of salt
-a quarter teaspoon of baking powder
-two eggs
-five tablespoons of butter
-2 tablespoons of milk
-enough vegetable oil to deep fry.

What to do: 
-First, you mix the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a mixing bowl.
-Next, you add the butter and mix in with the contents in the bowl.
-You then mix the eggs and milk, and add to the center of the bowl
-Knead, cut and fry.

Enjoy :)

Words for today

So I'm putting up two words because I missed that of yesterday.

Anthelmintic = An agent that destroys or expels intestinal worms. Synonym = Helminthagogue.

Esophagocele = A protrusion of the mucous membrane of the esophagus through a tear in the muscular coat.

From my Stedman's Medical Dictionary.

Word for today~Haemoptysis

Haemoptysis = the spitting of blood derived from the lungs or bronchial tubes as a result of pulmonary or bronchial hemorrhage.

From my Stedman's Medical Dictionary.

Definition for today~Biofeedback

Biofeedback = A training technique that enables a person to gain some element of voluntary control over an autonomic body function; based on the learning principle that a desired response is learned when received information such as a recorded increase in skin temperature (feedback) indicates that a specific thought complex or action has produced the desired physiologic response.

From my Stedman's Medical Dictionary.

Medical definition for today~ Enema

Enema= a rectal injection to clear out the bowel or to administer drugs or food.

From my Stedman's Medical Dictionary.

Starting a one-word-a-day journey

Okay, so at the end of everyday I want to post one medical term on this site. God help me. The first is going to be:
Edema: an accumulation of an excessive amount of watery fluid in cells, tissues, or serous cavities.
Synonym = Oedema.
From my Stedman's Medical Dictionary.

Whitney Houston

Who would have thought of Whitney passing away on this fine Saturday, the eleventh of February. With thoughts of my incomplete assignment, all the stuff I have to cover before my exam on Friday, and hanging out with my friends tomorrow, this was one rude interruption. Honestly, the world has lost a most precious gem. Whitney's songs form some of my earliest memories of knowing anything about music, as well as Billy Ocean, Michael Jackson, and so many more. All we have now is the beautiful music she's left with us. With the singers we have in this generation, and I'm not saying that they aren't good, I just can't imagine how it will be in the next fifty years or so.

Even though Whitney struggled with drug-abuse, and seemed to lose control of her life at one point, I still see her as a great woman. At least,  she did try to make a comeback and I commend her for that. She didn't give up on herself, and that's what I love about that, and to think that she was in the process of shooting the movie "Sparkle" with Jordin Sparks, makes it even more painful. I pray her soul rests in perfect peace, and I wish her entire family, and especially her daughter, Bobbi Kristina, the strength to bear her loss. 

Rest in peace Whitney <3.

Oliver Twist Video

Okay, I just saw this on youtube and had to share. If you need to laugh a little, then this is for you.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhYBaZs6bnM&feature=related
There's also the part 1 of this video, so check it out.

First Fish Friday in Grenada!!!

I and a few of my friends.

So, I finally got to go to the Fish Friday that they hold here in Grenada, and I picked the best time to go too. Fish Friday happens every Friday, of course, and it's just like a food fair where different people have various types of food and drinks for sale. This event was bigger than usual because they were also celebrating Grenada's 38th year of independence. From what I've heard, everything was much nicer last night because of the independence celebration. They had decorations, performers, great music, and the food was just awesome. But the best of the night for me was that I got this beautiful wooden carving for free!!! Am I not blessed? Yes, I am. 
Have a swell weekend guys :)


ps: Oh, and the wooden carving came with a phone number signed under it as well (from the guy who bought it for me).

How to make meat pies (West African style)

Hi all, I hope things are going just well with everyone. This is something I started doing last summer, and I've been making them ever since (learning a lot along the way too). Okay, without much ado, here's what you do.

Ingredients for the dough (depends on the quantity you want to make)
-1kg of flour (could be plain or wheat)
-2 teaspoons of baking powder
-about 500g of margarine or shortening
-a pinch of salt
-cold water (about half a cup)

Ingredients for the filling (could vary depending on your preference)
-minced meat
-1 or 2 onions (and garlic if desired)
-diced potatoes and carrots (or prepacked mixed vegetables)
-spices
-vegetable oil (1 cooking spoon)
-salt

1 egg for the finishing


Directions for the filling
I prefer to do this first, so that it cools down while I make the dough.

1. Heat the oil and stir-fry the chopped onions (and garlic).
2. Stir in the minced meat.
3. Add your spices (I always add pepper to mine).
4. I usually parboil the diced potatoes for less than 5 minutes, and add it to the mixture last, so that it doesn't get mashed in the mixture. 
5. I also add the diced carrots/mixed vegetables at the same time as the potatoes, because the vegetables don't need to cook for too long.
6. Mix about 2 table spoons of flour in a quarter-filled cup of water and add to the mixture when it's almost done. This should be the last thing you add and it helps to keep the moisture in the filling during baking, and also holds the filling together.

Directions for the dough

1. Put the flour into a large mixing bowl and add your baking powder and salt.
2. Cut the margarine into tiny pieces in the flour, and then use your fingers to rub in the margarine until the lumps are gone (the mixture will now have the appearance of bread crumbs).
3. Add water, a little at a time and mix in to form the dough.
4. Divide into 3 or 4 pieces  and roll out with a rolling pin.
5. Depending on the size you want, cut the rolled out dough with an upturned bowl, or anything round that can get the job done. 

Almost there

1. Preheat the oven at 300 degrees Celsius (maybe I'm just being rebellious, but I don't understand why it always has to be 350). Okay, let's conform to the usual 350 degrees.
2. You can now put the filling on the cut out dough and fold the dough over.
3. Use a fork to close the open edges and place on the oven tray.
4. Use a fork to puncture the top of each meat pie at least once. This let's the steam out during baking, and prevents the pies from opening too while baking. Because that steam just has to get out some how.
5. Brush the whisked egg onto the surfaces of each meatpie and place in the oven for about 40-45 minutes. But make sure to check them in between that time to prevent any catastrophe. 
6. When it's ready, take them out and leave to cool (you can use this time to admire them too)
7. Grab one, sit back, and enjoy the delicious work of your hands.

These above, are meat pies made from regular flour. While the picture below shows meat pies made from wheat flour that my friend and I made about a week ago.

Good luck!!!

Finally in Grenada!

So after my first year of medicine in the UK, I'm in Grenada for the next dose of med school. I'm a student of St.George's University, Grenada, but did my first of four years in Newcastle. Being in the UK was great, and Newcastle was definitely fun (It's true that you don't know what you have until you lose it). I miss that place like crazy! BUT, Grenada is so beautiful that it has become easy to not miss the UK so much. 


I don't even have to leave school to get distracted. The view from different parts of school shows the magnificence of the place. Oh, and did I mention that Grenada is one of the Caribbean islands? You know what that means!!! I get to go to the beach any time I want (even though I don't know how to swim). Okay, I went to the beach yesterday with my lovely girlfriends, and for the first time in my life, got neck-deep in the water. I swam a little. Okay, floated. Alright, I stood in the water. But that was a great improvement, and thanks to my friends I think my fear of the sea has disappeared. We even played volleyball in the ocean. I just think that's really cool, that I played volleyball in the Atlantic ocean, wow! It was so much fun, and I believe that in the next few weeks, I'll be able to go scuba diving (although my friends think that it's VERY unlikely, lol). 


So what else did I do yesterday??? I finally cooked after being here for a week, yay! I love cooking, and I actually baked my first loaves of bread. Ah, the bread tasted so good. And to think that this was the first time I tried it. I just googled a recipe and followed that. The kneading wasn't easy though, I thought my right arm would turn out popeye-like by the end of the night. But it was worth the pain. Now I can bake bread and meatpies. I still wonder how I can do these and each time I try puffpuff, it turns out like akara (puffpuff is like a little ball of doughnut, and akara is fried blended beans). They are very nice indeed, if you have any Nigerian friends, ask them about it, and maybe you could get to taste it too. 


I'm off to bed now. It's 4:32am and I have a long day today. But I have to put this down before I go: "The difference between dreaming and winning: dreaming needs effortless sleep; winning needs sleepless effort" Brotips.com. Have a great day people!