A Day in the Sun at Richmond Beach

Home Cooking - How I make Puff-Puff or Buns

Quick-rise Yeast

I try not to eat a lot of fried foods or pastry but sometimes I get nostalgic for Nigerian snacks and buns and puff-puff are some of the easiest to prepare. Puff Puff is a deep fried snack made from plain flour, yeast, sugar, and water. The main difference between puff-puff and buns is that you add eggs and/or milk to the buns. They are both simple to make and can keep in the fridge for up to a week. My recipe is a cross between buns and puff-puff as I add just milk and it comes out not too soft and very chewy.

Ingredients: My apologies for no measurements, I usually go by sight and feel. There's some trial and error too :)

Plain Flour
Yeast
Mixed Spices
Granulated Sugar
Salt
Milk
Water
Frying Oil

Time Out - My Memorial Day Weekend in Pictures

With Monday being a work-free day for Memorial Day, it was a proper TGIF and a long weekend for us and we used it to unwind.

- On Saturday, we went to a friend's for a small get-together with great food, drinks, and very interesting company.

My Big Fat Nigerian Wedding - Creativity or Extravagance?

I was reading a blog the other day by an expat who attended their first Nigerian wedding in Nigeria and was amazed that there were over 10 priests. The blogger joked that it was as if the planners of the wedding wanted there to be as many ministers as possible witnessing the marriage so that no one can deny it took place after the fact. I smiled as I remembered my own wedding. There were two bishops, 3 Archdeacons and about 7 other priests.

In any typical Nigerian wedding, there are at least 2 or 3 priests and then you have to talk about the 200 - 1000 other guests that attend, and the masses of money paid for photography and video for the big day. Of course, it is not about witnesses, but about the Nigerian way of inviting as many friends and family as you can to celebrate with you.  This ties back a bit to my post on destination weddings and the recent CNN article on the wedding boom in Nigeria.

How I Take care of My Skin

I'm talking about my skin today because I was reminded by the last meme I took part in - 11 Question Tag - where I answered questions about my beauty regime and my favorite beauty product. While I'm not a cosmetic junkie by any means, I try to use a small number of good quality skin care products to take care of my skin, especially my face. While it's not susceptible to acne, the sun is a different matter altogether and I have noticed that generally, my face tends to be darker than the rest of my body.

You see, when you do not use products with sun protection in a tropical country like Nigeria, the possibility of sun damage is very high. A few years ago, I began to notice the uneven skin tone down the sides of my face. Funnily enough, I never realized how susceptible I was to sunburn until I moved to the United States.

I had gone to the beach with Atala wearing a halter-neck bathing suit and without sunscreen. It was my first summer here after a very dreary spring and I was lapping up the sun like a dog starved of water. However, I had to beg for us to leave after some hours. My back was on fire. You guessed it, I had sunburn on my face and my back. It was so serious that I had to use medication for almost a week after that.

Choose - Happiness, Money, Love, Health or Fame

So I saw this picture on Facebook and decided to share here. It asks, how would you rank happiness, money, love, health and fame in your life? Seems pretty simple, right?

I chose health, happiness, love, money, fame. But it wasn't an easy choice, and I'm still not sure I shouldn't re-arrange. I thought to put love first, but I am a fan of happy ever afters, and that's not possible without health. And surely that also means happiness must be present to feed the love?

Anyway, the picture got as many different itirations as the number of comments I got on the status update. Most people put fame last, except one friend who put fame before money. Another peace first.

What about you? How do you choose, and do you think something is missing?

How I almost fell for a GTBank Email Scam

If anyone had asked me about my vulnerability to bank email scams two weeks ago when I received and trashed a GTBank Scam Alert email, I would have scored it zero. When it comes to phishing scams where you are supposed to go somewhere and fill in your details, I considered myself sophisticated and above all that. I used to think, I've been doing this internet thing for ten years now, they can't get me.

Well last weekend, they almost did. I had recently opened a GTBank Non-Resident account which I could use from here through internet banking and had little complaints. Funny enough, I had mentioned to Atala that I felt they were too security conscious. Logging into my account online was like going down to the bank vault, there were so many locks and bolts, pincodes, passwords, secret questions, tokens, etc...it took almost 5mins and compared to the one-minute transaction on my account here, I was chaffing.

Going Down Memory Lane - TV Throwback

First of all, thank you all so much to those who read and commented on the last post. With such love from you guys, I'll be doing more personal posts like that. :)

For today, I want to take you back to those good old days of naija in the eighties. Yeah, I know, my age is showing now, I'll pull it up soon, lol... I saw this picture of Rita Dominic on a movie set and it took me down memory lane, straight into the parlour of our Enugu flat.

That TV in the left corner, I can almost swear that was the exact same model we had back then. Ours was a Sanyo, I think, and you could draw the front together and lock. And lock it my parents did sometimes. But I think we figured out a way around that, don't quote me please.

He is Risen! Happy Easter to Everyone

I want to wish all of you my wonderful friends and blog readers a Happy Easter! I wish everyone a day filled with enjoyment, friends and family. For me, it is more than the bunnies, eggs or chocolate, but the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ which has ushered in a hope for life eternal.

 In the midst of all the celebrations and happiness this Easter Sunday and Monday, I want us to remember the true meaning of Easter. I wish you all a blessed and purposeful new month of April. I know that great things will surely happen and keep happening to all of us.

April First Jokes and Visit to the Snoqualmie Falls

OK, you guys got me. I didn't win any Mega Millions. I should have said, I wish I had won some mega millions jackpot. Imagine what I would do with that money! But hey, life continues. Happy April 1st everyone. I hope this month comes with many goodies for us all. :)

Anyway, some weeks ago, we took a drive to the Waterfalls that had been part of our Helicopter Tour. It was one thing to see it from 10,000ft in the air, but the pilot noted we could also see it up close and personal if we wanted as it was just off a regular road. So off we went one weekend. Enjoy...

Bringing out your inner extrovert

I used to be very introverted. Still am, sometimes. But only when I want to be. Most people who meet me in company these days would be surprised to hear Myne and introvert in one sentence. I can laugh and make conversation like the next person, even dance and get some PDA going where it is possible. Starting this blog wasn't such a big deal, and I only thought about it for a few days before I opened up my Facebook page and my Twitter account to the public. Now I tell my readers what I put in my meatpie, and chat with complete strangers on Facebook on a daily basis. On twitter, someone even caught me whispering about Atala's beard. So what happened? The following are some of the ways I have learnt to bring out my inner extrovert;

Birthday in pictures - A Surprise Helicopter Ride

Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes on my last post. I was blown away by those who actually called, and everyone that sent text messages or email, I appreciate you all.

To be honest, my head is still buzzing from the events of the past two days and I can't coordinate my thoughts. Below are the pictures from the surprise that Atala gave me on Tuesday - a helicopter ride! It was an amazing experience and one I'll treasure for a long time. Enjoy...

On-camera audience: Extreme Makeover - Weight Loss Edition

Some weeks ago, I got an email invitation from on-camera audiences to be at the Tacoma filming of a local resident's big reveal for Extreme Makeover - Weight Loss Edition, and I clicked delete. If you remember, I had enjoyed being part of the Seattle X-Factor taping which was like a concert, with the added sugar of seeing Simon Cowell and his gang. But though we had followed the first season of this new ABC show and liked the idea and the presenter, Tacoma was over an hour away from us, and I thought the drive would be too much hassle. A week later, another email came saying The Harlem Globetrotters would be playing a live game for the audience. I was like, really!?

Picture Weekend - Revenge, my tiny Afro

I learned a new phrase last night, double infinity.

It's from the new ABC show, Revenge, which I watched on the Friday showing. We missed the premiere on Wednesday cos we went out but now the show has definitely found its place on my must-watch list. Growing up, I struggled with the revenge side of my scorpio, and it's a theme that still holds a fascination for me (see A Heart to Mend). Anyway, I went on wiki and found that the TV show is an adaptation of "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alex Dumas, and I'm a huge fan of that book. There's been a lot of changes obviously, but I'm already liking that the two main characters are strong females, terrifically acted by Emily VanCamp, and Madeleine Stowe, and I look forward to how the writers will pull it off.

On to my hair, I cut my it in late March and the second picture was taken in the second week of April. The first was taken just this Wednesday, and if I do say so myself, I think the hair is growing. As you can see, the front grows faster than the back, giving me a punk look, lol...

Picture weekend - Mountain Climbing

Hi people, hope your weekend has started well? Mine will be fairly laid back, we're going to see Contagion later today, and I'll probably try to do some writing. On the latter, my work in progress (A Fiery Love) has some mountain climbing scenes in it and I've been doing some research online to get the setting in order. But I also have to describe how the characters feel, you know, how they're out of breath, the feeling of satisfaction when they get to the top, that sort of thing.

Friendship - Can we not agree to disagree?

A topic has been flying around blogsville for the past couple of days and  with posts, counter-posts and comments, the battle lines were drawn. I am a strong proponent for social rights and while in Edinburgh, I worked to promote gay health and rights, but that doesn't mean I'm blind to the feelings of those who feel uncomfortable with homosexuality. I don't think it's right to demonize them as stupid, sad, ignorant, close-minded, judgmental, archaic, etc; which was what it seemed most of the counter-posts were about, or they were providing platforms for others to throw the insults.

See, I can be very sociable most times but I find it difficult to make friends. This is because I can hold different opinions from most people on various topics. Also, I find cliques very confining because it seems that once a group has agreed on one thing, the members are expected to agree on everything. And this is so difficult for me because my mind sometimes works in seemingly illogical and sometimes contradictory ways. So, when I see people I think understand difference, it gladdens my heart, be it in real life or online.

Picture Weekend - SADE Tour in Seattle

How is everyone? Hope the weekend is going well? I'm still sticking with my plan of taking it easy today, but I think in addition to reading, I'll be doing some writing as well. Atala is going for a long bus hike and street discovery in another part of town and wants my company, but naa...it's good for couples to spend some time apart, or so I hear sha. :)

How I broke my hand

Did anyone try to guess how I broke my hand? One person on Facebook said something that made me go, huh? Ehmmm...no, nobody beat me up. I might be an author but my life is not that exciting yet, :) So what really went down? I'm sure some of you put two and two together from the pictures I used for the Confession Time post, helmet = biking = fall?

Confession Time

Yes, I've been keeping something from you all along, two things actually.

1. I have started on my third book *big grin* and I'm over 20,000 words after a month. It's a bit slow going for my liking but my next secret will reveal why. Anyway, I've decided to start sharing some bits of the first draft here with you guys starting this Monday. I hope you like it. This also means that I'll be cutting back my posts to maybe just twice a week cos the story is really calling me to finish it. What are the particulars? Below is a pitch I made to an agent recently.

Picture Weekend - On the trails of the Grand Canyon

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend? Thanks for all the comments on my 400th post, answers to the questions will be up next week. Today, I'm going to break my rule of adding commentary to pictures today, after all, rules are meant to be broken, right? Like when you clearly see the Danger Sign and decide to go one step beyond it and then dangle off the edge of a cliff. Yeah, that's me. Please do not try this at home, LOL...