Banana Bread

The weather over the past few days has taken a complete turn and it's been freezing in nairobi. I love sweater weather and it's got me craving warm comfort food, especially after the long week I've had. I've been wanting to make banana bread for the last couple weeks but never had the time, or all the ingredients. I finally got down to it today and let's just say it's made my day. Perfect in the rainy weather with a cup of tea or coffee.

If only you could smell the cinnamon, coffee and chocolate scent throughout the house whilst this is in the oven. It's divine.

Ingredients

250g plain flour 

2 tsp baking powder 

125g softened unsalted butter

125g white sugar

125g brown sugar

3 large ripe bananas, mashed (I used 5 small ones)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsps vanilla extract

200g good quality dark or milk chocolate bar, (I used milk chocolate with nuts and white chocolate )

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 shot of espresso, cooled. (I used 1/3 cup!)

Sift the flour and baking powder first. Then mix the sugars, mashed bananas, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, butter, espresso and of course the chocolate chips separately.. Mix we'll and add in the flour. Mix until all incorporated. Line the cake pan with butter. Bake at 180 degrees for 50-60 mins. (Put in a toothpick or skewer to check). 

It's as simple as that!

We did things a little differently this time-my sister filmed me making the bread and hyper lapsed the result and we made a little video. It was quite fun for us! (Please excuse the mess in the kitchen, that's the aftermath of lunch on a saturday when everyone is home :) ).

Looking forward to having the bread with my chai.

                                                                  -risha-

                                                   

Rice cakes

I've always seen rice cakes in the supermarket near the bread section. I was intrigued because firstly they aren't expensive, and they look pretty interesting with all the different flavours. I decided to try the plain ones since it was my first time.

Pretty bland when you first bite into it, but very crunchy! I'm not very sure I could eat the rest the same way, and so decided to put some topping (a million times more delicious in my opinion).

With Nutella and banana. Highly recommend. So much better than you'd think.

With some pizza toppings. Corn, olives, tomato paste and Parmesan cheese and oregano. Delicious but making it hot for too long makes it soggy. (Rice inside is fluffed up and filled with air)-not sure what the solution for this is.

I'm thinking of trying them with some guacamole (an all time favourite of mine), maybe even hummus another time! It's a very versatile, and healthy breakfast food or snack. You can eat it any way you wish to. The Nutella and banana is definitely my favourite so far. I'm definitely trying the flavoured ones next time.

                                                            -risha-

For you restaurant

I've always loved family style restaurants. The ones where you don't have to necessarily worry about talking too loud because you'll disturb the people at the table next to you. I love the environment and the fact that you can somewhat feel at home, because you're that comfortable. It's always a plus if my little brother gets to jump on a trampoline or a jumping castle. Ever have that one place that your family absolutely loves, and is the first place they can think of whenever you want to eat out? The one where all the owners and the staff know you? There's this little Chinese restaurant called For You, that my brother talked about here. My family goes there pretty often, I'd say about 3-4 times a month, not including birthdays and anniversaries and new years eve (that's how much we love it!). With good reason, it just never fails your expectations. There was a time when it closed down for a while a couple years ago, and we all just felt so lost during that time. We could never think of places to go to then.

Recently they opened up a new branch, we all got pretty excited to try it out (same food, same staff, but still!). It was such a surprise! A big upgrade to the place we've known, fountains and waterfalls and beautiful paintings everywhere, whilst still maintaining the whole family feel to it.

Waterfall at the entrance. (Famous photo taking spot from what I witnessed whilst waiting to take this shot).

As soon as you come in you're given these crispy bitings, which are basically the outer covering of spring rolls, cut into triangles and fried with a bit of sugar on them. So delicious! I usually add a bit of chilli, sweet and sour and soy sauce, together with onions in vinegar.

 And the crispy vegetable spring rolls. A must have every single time.

A relatively new favorite- Salt and pepper vegetables. I feel like I could eat this alone for a couple of days and i'd be perfectly happy.

Chinese tea. Another favorite of mine.

Sizzling vegetables in sweet and sour sauce.I wasn't too keen on having this at first. I did try some and I was pleasantly surprised.

Tofu in black bean sauce. Always delicious and pretty much my staple order, especially since I became vegetarian. If anyone loves tofu as much as me, this is a must have!

The usual stir fried rice.

This chocolate ice-cream was so so delicious! And did I mention on the house! Just look at the quantity. Never saying no to free ice-cream! Unhealthy, I know, but you only live once, right? Ice-cream will always be an exception for me. So.Good.

The waiters came in singing happy birthday for my grandma, and the owner of the restaurant gave my nan this beautiful chinese comb and mirror set. Something totally uncalled for. It's so beautiful! I'm sure my nan will treasure this for years to come. We also got a 20% off because it was our first time at the new branch. It's worth every penny!

All in all, a must visit! I highly recommend this place. Especially good if you go early, e.g for lunch go before 1 p.m so it's not too packed and the service is even better. I already know where i'm having lunch next sunday-and i'm definitely looking forward to it!

-risha-

For you Spring rolls- {Guest post}

My little eleven year old brother has written his first food review, and he has done a stellar job in my opinion. Anything to encourage him to write a little more!- R

Oh my god, have you eaten at the new For you Chinese restaurant? It is the best. Today I ate the best chicken spring roll ever and the way the chicken spring roll was served just made my mouth water out of happiness. When I opened my spring roll a very scrumptious filling of chicken and vegetables was in it. It was a perfect ratio  of vegetable to chicken. It was crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked from the inside. I am so glad that I ordered that, and that I was planning to have it as my main course. Our waiter was the most spectacular waiter on earth, he did not delay our food and waited patiently to take our order. And this awesome Chinese restaurant also has a wonderful play area for kids with a ball pit and a maze, and did I mention that at the end you get a souvenir or a toy to take home with you. How wonderful is that! This restaurant has a very friendly environment and I would highly recommend it for a relaxed family day out.

-Vishnu-

Nani's birthday and ice-cream sundae

My sister and I have a tendency to use every opportunity available to go for a treat (who's going to say no to dessert?). It's my grandmother's birthday (77 years!), so we went to java coffee house, one of the most popular coffee sites in Nairobi. Great for a relaxing time with a cup of coffee and even better if you want a burger or a quesadilla or a heavenly breakfast to go with it (i'm drooling already!). We decided to share the chocolate chip cookie ice cream sundae, which comes with 3 scoops of ice-cream, and so we chose the chocolate chip cookie ice-cream and a scoop of the vanilla brownie. Topped off with honey coated nuts, which add just the right amount of crunch, and a warm chocolate sauce. So great for a treat! I assure you I enjoyed every bit of the chocolately goodness without a doubt. They didn't disappoint with the quantity either. It's a rare treat for me so it definitely made my day a thousand times better. A 5/5 for service today.

Look at the size of the cookie! I could barely finish it.And the amount of chocolate chips just made me happy :) (And the little sis in the back).

It's just so beautiful. *sigh*. Definitely blog worthy.

-risha-