JUICE BOX

"i'm so sorry. it was raining heavily and i couldn't make it so i had to send Tee to come pick you up instead", said Buddy my friend. Buddy, what a name...always wonder if there is any point referring to him as a friend when his name already says it all, lol.
i was invited to an opening at ikota shopping complex, shop A67, VGC, Ajah and Buddy was apologising for failing to come pick me up. he is lucky he sent someone else 'cause he would have felt my wrath if i had missed this opening.

the opening is for a shop aptly named JUICE BOX. as i am sure you would have deduced from the name, it is a juice making shop. just juice, juice, juice...hmmmm... i got a juice extractor from my aunt a couple of months back so i really dont see why i would want to spend my money for some overly priced glass of juice when i can comfortable make some for myself at home... (of course that all depends on when i find the time to unpack the juice maker and bring myself to really use it)... but hey no judgement ok?
it is a public holiday, May 1st to be exact, and yet the traffic build up on the way to ajah is unbelievable. really dont understand why folks choose to live here, i doubt i could handle this amount of stress on a daily basis.
we arrive and of course the opening is already in progress. Buddy orders water melon, plum and red grape (can those all coexist in the same glass?). i take a sip from his glass and i am suddenly a believer. the way the different tastes assail your buds is almost magical. hmmm...maybe there is something to having someone squeeze your juice after all. i look at the menu, looking for the most ridiculous mix i can find. i order for a 'Screamy Cream', lol, really?? it is a mix of coconut, plum and yogurt and i must admit it was divine. i mean for the first time i am relaxed and it is almost as if the juice just washed away all my problems and made me a whole new man. i will surely have another before i leave, i want this feeling to last all the way into tomorrow when i have to drag myself to work.
well aside from the obvious attractions, JUICE BOX is a place where you can be sure what you are getting is fresh. the juice is freshly made right in front of you, except of course you make an order to be delivered to you. the staff all have their heads covered and you can watch as each fruit is juiced out.
the menu include
screamy creamy
banana, ginger and yogurt
banana, mango and yogurt
pineapple, pear and yogurt
pineapple, plum and yogurt
pear, apple and yogurt
water melon, plum and red grape
there are other mixes available according to your tastes.
a small cup costs 500 naira and a large cup costs 700 naira
for those of us trying to keep fit or lose some pounds you can do without the yogurt.
there is also a free delivery within ikota shopping complex.

JUICE BOX
IKOTA SHOPPING COMPLEX, SHOP A67, ROAD 1, IKOTA SHOPPING COMPLEX, VGC, AJAH

what a way to win back mama's heart from an untidy kitchen.

THIZ HAPPEN SOMETIME LAST YEAR.......

Just closed from work and visiting my cousin was the next agenda. Had a pile of dirty dishes in the untidy kitchen, I wasn’t ready to clean. My mum just came visiting, she would never touch them. She would wait till I returned to rain all the motherly insult for not “repping her” well. (I be girl? I nor dey go husband house jor).

At my cousin’s place, I had nice afang soup with pounded yam( not something I want to write about).

“Good evening mum.” “Good evening,” she murtured.

Not even a hug( my traditional signature)?

“Just go and see how untidy your kitchen looks,” and the motherly insult continued.

She is hungry and not in the mood to make eba which is easy, but I just consumed pounded yam, a blend of tomatoes, pepper and onions( not smooth), found out there was no groundnut oil. Palm oil was not a bad idea though!

Got it all hot( not to be breaching level), turned my bended tomatoes mix and vola. Smoked fish is a type of fish I crave for and I really don't enjoy the ones available in Lagos.

(If you know where I can get a good one, please let me know).

I washed my smoked fish all the way from the ancient city of Benin. Adding my vegetable and the normal maggi, salt and little bit of curry, my vegetable fish stew was ready. Serving was with yam and ripe plantain.

When did you start adding sugar to your food? And I laugh. Mum, thanks for the compliment, I learnt from the best" wink".
Thanks a way to win back a mama's heart from an untidy kitchen.

www.dolebae.blogspot.com Ohhh no

Www.dolebae.blogspot.com Ohhh no, it's been almost a year, or maybe. But it's good been back again. It took instagram to make me realize how have missed my blog. Well for my followers on instagram, adding a picture and the comments got my craving  back for good food again. Make be I was broke to visit restaurants or even to cook at home. I promise my self to continue this good work even if it's not read by anyone but this what I want to do and enjoy it.  Thanks for the inspiration @tytryone for the lovely post below, I want to write and I will.
Catch ya soon!!

AGEGE BREAD

"Its not funny joor. Why should I eat my breakfast at 3pm? I only realised this when my lunch came late."
"I admire you to be the serious, no joke food kind of person but my visit has said otherwise." Those were the words of Floyd in my head. I stood, picked my supposed breakfast and went to the office kitchen to eat. Its 6pm and I'm hungry. Thankfully, I have food. I picked my supposed lunch and headed once again to the office kitchen.
"Not again! Rice! Vegetable salad! Ahn ahn! It's even poorly made."
For the love of food, the kitchen is not a chemistry lab to experiment biochemical mixtures for your stomach. It is a haven to soothe your taste buds, satisfy your appetite and get great value for money well spent.
You know what? I am not going to eat this poison  bought with my money. Straight to the trash!
Dinner as usual was pasta and chicken sours. "Them swear for me with carbohydrate?"
So hungry, I laid my fragile stomach on my lovely chocolate duvet...
......
"That's it!!!
Agege bread with warm milk. YES! Akara (beans ball) to go with it. YES!"
Only the love of food gave me the strength to drag myself out in search of Agege bread and Akara ball.
This is evil. I always see Agege bread being hawked around and I laugh at people eating it because of its bromate content. But here I'm craving, looking for it yet can't find it. Where is an Agege bread when you need one? Sigh...
I ransacked my area for 45min, combed all the nooks and crannies before finally finding one. How ridiculous can this be? What's the difference between a 70naira and an 80naira Agege bread? Oh My Dog, how soft it feels. So succulent. Feels like I'm pressing... Never mind.
Is the bromate added to make it soft? Why is bromate a killer? Would this cure my craving after knowing am eating poison? Who cares joor... life is too short. Finally, I am home with one 70naira loaf and 80naira loaf. I really want to know the difference.
"Are there mopol's in front of Underground?", Paolo asked me. When a man craves for food, this is the outcome. I had my sadine and butter, marshed together, chopped onions into tiny bits, spread pure honey on my Agege bread and also my biochemical mixture. There was a drink of warm treated milk. Having a bit of my lovely Agege bread and sip of my warm milk
........
Trust me, I am waiting for your comment when you don't try this at home. I want to be selfish and mean, to know how it feels and taste alone.

Henry Emeka Oyekwelu Birthday

It was yet another regular Monday with all hustle,bustle and stressful working hours for peeps like me at least. But then,on this particular day, I had to close early to help my friend out with his birthday preparations as he was going to celebrate it. I dare say he was smart to involve me and paolo in the planning process and I am not even playing. The chef looked quite untidy to me. The whole kitchen was very much in a mess. Whatever happened to the precious knowledge of cooking decently in a neat kitchen?!The situation wasn't funny at all. I cleaned the place to the best of my ability and commenced the serving as the party soon kicked off.

Pizza was first served as a starter. I ordered a good deal from  Debones pizza. Their pizzas were and is always delicious. The quality of their confections make me want to rate them best in the country.
The party continued and soon it was time for the main course meal.It was Jollof rice, sweet and sour ragu with BBQ  chicken. In as much as I seemed to be the co-host and had to see that everyone was comfortable,it was party and I also needed to dig in. The first spoon I took was fantastic and so were the following spoons. The slight spicy effect was quite good too. My taste buds were having a field day. The grains of rice were all separated and soft - not marshy. The tomatoe sauce was served just in the right proportion. The divine taste emanated from the aggregation of chopped green pepper,fresh tomatoes, sausages, sheared beefs and pieces of pineapples. The  ragu was really tasty as well though I didn't get the slight sour taste I was expecting to get. The party and food was unbelievable spectacular. To me it gave me a cartoon character of dexta’s sister and I was so happy to eat her head off and have it delicious.

 AVANT-GARDE CUISINES"Art inspired catering"
PIN: 21DEED9E

SUNDAY RITUAL

Why is it a ritual for most households in Nigeria to have bread and tea for breakfast and on Sunday
mornings? The bread goes with either tea or some sort of beverage,eggs with or without tomatoes,
pepper, onions and a pinch of salt and seasoning to taste. Some others have it with baked beans or
sausages. This happens in many major hotels in Nigeria. And,Then rice is either for lunch or dinner.

'Haba! Is it every time we should have bread for breakfast? Why don't we have something else that
is light and nutritious for a change?' These were the words I told my flatmate. He is quite a good
cook and his specialty is Italian cuisine. Mention any pasta or sauce and he knows his way around it.
If pasta were fattening, I would have been a drum by now. 'Would you have pancakes instead?', He
asked. At the sound of pancakes, I was so excited.The sound of it reminded me of one of the times
he made pancakes in the past with some syrup to go with it.' Yes oh!'. It felt like Christmas day. 'But
you have to help me out in the kitchen',he said.

Different people, I guess, have their different ways of making pancakes and I really needed to learn
a few tricks. As he poured some clean white flour into a bowl, I asked if we needed to measure it.
'When you don’t have a measuring cup in your house, what do you do?' Paolo, asked me playfully.
Next,he added some sugar to the flour and then,a teaspoon of baking powde. The four whisked
eggs were added to the sweet smelling mixture. As he stirred the mixture,he sprinkled some nutmeg
and pinch of salt to taste. It got all thick and then,he added warm fresh milk to lighten it up. In case
you don’t have liquid milk, you can use powdered ones. The frying pan was heating up under th
fire with some vegetable oil. Paolo used a deep spoon to pour the mixture into the frying pan, that
were the mixture took its shape in the process of frying.The number of pancakes depended on the
number of scoop.

It looked lovely and I couldn’t wait to snack upon a piece or two,At least something different from
the regular bread and whatever.There are actually different ways of making pancakes.This is
just an archytypal method.You can add ingrdients like sardines or corned-beef.You can also be
adventourous enough to use runner beans or chopped carrots and add on top while frying. I had my
lovely breakfast with a warm cup of milk. Tell me,if that wasn't balance diet?It okay to break away
from preceived convention especially with the menu and preparation of meals and try to be creative
with our cooking and menus.

New Diet called rest of mind.

'Ijeoma, listen to me when I tell you stuff. You really don’t know much so you sit back, relax and
learn'. These were the words I told her. 'Even if I didn’t go to the university, Ola, your definition
is wrong'. I wondered what she was talking about. Could she be correct? Am I actually falling
into a trap? Oh my, she got me thinking for real. I picked up my blackberry and when straight to
the installed dictionary to look up the definition of the phrase 'Balanced Diet'. 'Balanced diet is a
diet, consisting of the proper quantities and proportions of foods needed to maintain health or
growth.These consist of carbohydrate, protein, fats and oil, water, vitamins and minerals'. 'Yes,
Ijeoma, I was so right. I told you its complete'. 'What about rest of mind?', She asked. What has
rest of mind got to do with balanced diet? 'Ola, ever since I've known you,I have observed your
dire interest in matters that concern food.You know good food and drinks when you see them and
you don't hesitate to feast upon them.I have been praying for you to respond to this propensity by
gaining some weight but you have ever remained skinny. 'Point of correction, I’m slim and thanks for the compliment.' I said with a wry of smile.

Throughout the night, Ijeoma’s words kept echoing in my head. I love food relentlessly perhaps
because it is necessary for our survival. Even the cave man in premodial times did a lot to obtain
food for himself including the act of immitation and disguise to hunt down game.Our forefathers
actually lived longer lives and this is contrary to the present statusquo. But what would be the
cause?Personally,I have come to observe that civilization has done us more harm than good. All we do is work, work, work and less time for relaxation. People who go on vacations spend more time sightseeing, shopping,visiting families and friends and have no time to rest their busy bodies. Certain groups of individuals including ballerinas, models, fashionistas, some celebrities, anorexic girls among others just don’t seem to like food at all. How can I see a slice of creamy,coconut topping,cookie cake made by Cookie Jar and say no? All in the bid to keep fit and healthy,they disassociate themselves from one of the best things of life : Food. But there are definately some healthy ways one can have his three square meals a day without the fear of getting out of shape or something.On the other hand,there abound another set of individuals in opposition to the aforementioned categories. They include the likes of me, chefs, burnouts, connoisseurs, foodies, some growing children among others.These people are interested in exploring the world of food without holdingback.They love,know good food and are not afraid of experimenting bizzare or culturally alienated dishes.


Food is very much part of our culture and it is such an inestimable one that we hardly get through
a whole day without encountering it. Breakfast is also very important meal for everyone.It will aid
in the proper functioning of the brain and the general physiology. If we force growing kids to have
breakfast, we should also learn to have some too..For those who think food is the enemy,its ok to
watch ones weigh but people should be careful not to take it over the top and constitute problems

for themselves.You can always eat light but balanced meals and perhaps a little work out. Please always have time to REST. ITS VERY IMPORTANT.