There’s something about sunny days that makes me want to travel, or just go for long walks. The rain on the other hand, makes me want to stay in bed and eat breakfast all day long.
There’s been a break in our dry lovely weather, temperatures have cooled and the rain is back!

The rain when it returns is comforting at first, perhaps because it rains so much here, and that’s familiar or maybe it’s the gentle cool morning air. Mornings that has me longing for a big breakfast, the kind so filling, it makes you skip lunch.

This little French toast number is one of those breakfasts; and I love it on cool spring mornings.
Decadent French toast with blueberry sauce and apples and pears lightly caramelized by roasting them.

This French toast recipe is one that I use often, because it’s simple, doesn’t have dairy or eggs and yet tastes scrumptious, I use very thick cut bread and let the bread soak up the mixture thoroughly before ‘frying’ it.

Another great tip I learned for making French toast is to get the skillet hot before you add the bread, here are six more tips for not screwing up your French toast.

I discovered roasted apples over the winter months, and it’s been my go-to breakfast side, it makes apples fun again, I love the sweet caramelized texture and how they still retain their crunch.

The blueberry sauce is sweet and tart, the perfect condiment for a host of breakfast foods, I’ve used it in yoghurts, porridge and granola.

Technically, this is three recipes in one, but do not despair, the blueberry sauce and the roasted apples can be made in advance. The toasts are good on their own too, with a sprinkle of powdered sugar or maple syrup and fruit.

(And because the recipe is so long, it’s after the jump)
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I grew up with Rwanda in the news when it was synonymous with genocide; but I always suspected that this beautiful Eastern African country ‘adorned with hills, lakes and volcanoes’ was so much more than its horrid and unimaginably painful past.

These days Rwanda is becoming known for premium coffee grown on small hilly farms many metres above sea level.

The coffee I brew at home is from Rwanda and I get it from a lovely coffee shop, and it’s really, really good coffee.

Then there’s the millet flour I get from the little African store on Kingsway, it too is from Rwanda – it’s ground from unhulled African finger millet they call uburo.

This flour is a little grittier and the flavour is nuttier than the much popular pearl millet.

When I use this flour to make the traditional Ghanaian spiced porridge (Hausa koko), it’s darker and bolder – a little full-bodied, if you may.

I make this porridge quite often on weekends, alternating between this flour and the pearl millet variety, which is lighter with a smoother taste.

I prefer this finger millet porridge; it’s a little more complex and the spices give it a luxurious depth, I make it with lots of coconut milk and nuts and a warm bowl of this porridge on Sunday mornings is deliciously heartwarming.

The recipe for this porridge can be found here; finger millet flour is in Indian grocery stores too as Ragi flour, and there’s a similar porridge from India called Ragi Malt.

We call this the ‘tropical granola’ because it’s packed with coconut and mango, and for the glorious smell of toasted coconut that fills the entire house.

There’s ginger and nutmeg too, I put it in every batch of granola I make now – and cardamom or freshly ground black pepper, sometimes when I’m feeling daring.

The dried mango is the unsweetened and unsulfured, I cut them into nice little pieces using a scissors.
Naturally dried mangoes slices (unsweetened and unsulfured), can be found in the bulk section of some grocery stores, or Trader Joe’s.

And when it’s all put together and done, this granola tastes heavenly, smells nutty and amazing.

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And just like that it’s just two weeks to Christmas; the season’s here, rushed and I’m unprepared.
Keeping up with our new tradition, the tree went up last weekend. It’s the calm before the storm, I haven’t started on my Christmas shopping, but panic hasn’t set in yet.
I love this phase, things are slowing down as the year winds down and the air is filled with hope.

It’s a season of warm hearts and full bellies…

Breakfast this morning was thick creamy polenta cooked in coconut and almond milk sweetened with fig compote. It’s a little special, or perhaps it’s the season.

We had the polenta around the tree, I like mine with tons of almond milk – it’s excellent with the fig compote.

I like that things are quiet for now around here, we’re drinking lots of peppermint hot chocolate too, and sitting around our little tree, reading… mostly about food and what we’re having for Christmas…

*To make fig compote, bring 1 12-ounce bottle of ginger beer, 1 cup dried figs, and 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan.
Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 35 – 40 minutes until liquid is syrupy and mixture is reduced to about 1 1/2 cups. Scoop over porridge (Adapted from Bon Appetite)

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For my birthday this year, I had a little tea party.
I’ve always wanted one of those ever since I was a little girl reading about tea parties in fairy tales, although I’m not very big on tea, but that has never deterred me before.

I love really low-key birthdays, my best birthdays have always been the quiet ones; it probably has something to do to with my disastrous tenth birthday ‘party’… but that’s a story for another day.

Mine was a small tea party; tea and macarons for one or two or three…

For a great tea party for one or for fifteen people, you’d need good tea; we had mango tea; black tea with mango pieces and tart fruity spices. Lovely and luscious, it smelled divine … If I wrote tea descriptions for the tea company I’d say it’s fragrant and heady, like being in love on a tropical island.

The fine tea set was brought out, and a platter filled with macarons with delicate flavours like rose, pistachio, lavender and vanilla, and ginger spiced cookies for balance.

Everything tastes better when fancied up, and birthdays are best when spent with loved ones.
I hope this is the beginning of many beautiful themed birthday ‘parties’