Lemon Basil Brew

Lemon Basil

I can't remember if I have talked about this here but I don't drink. Okay! I actually do drink water and such. I guess a better way to frame this is "I don't drink alcohol." Never have, never will. For some people that is so hard to fathom. And just to avoid confusion, "No, I did not grow up in a household with an alcoholic." Some people will point out that it has something to do with being Muslim. Yes, it does but it goes beyond being a Muslim. I generally find that I don't like anything that will alter my body and mind. And no, just a little alcohol is also still going to alter your brain's processes. There is no such thing as being sober with just a little alcohol. So, alcohol for me is scary.

Pineapple Blueberry Syrup

Pineapple Blueberry Drink

Forgive the picture...there was no where else in the kitchen to take a quick picture that had enough light. This was drink was assembled in haste because I knew I had a longer recipe to execute. This is a pineapple blueberry drink. I have had a mason jar filled with pineapple syrup so I knew I had a fragrant base that could handle pretty much anything like blueberries. A quick crushing of the blueberries followed by pouring in the pineapple syrup made the flavoring for the drink that was later topped up with water.

Pineapple Blueberry Drink

1/2 Cup Blueberries

1/4 Pineapple Syrup

Water

Nigerian Hibiscus Tea

Cold-brewed Hibiscus Tea with Ginger Slices

One of the things that I know for sure is that living outside of Nigeria has made me more Nigerian. I get to appreciate the cultural heritage more because I have access to more information more. I get to appreciate the food more because I miss the distinctively Nigerian way of cooking and eating foods. I also get to discover random things escaped my consciousness while I lived in Nigeria.

A couple of months back, I was on Instagram when I saw this post on Nigerian tiger prawns. It was the first time I ever knew that seafood from Nigeria is a thing. I grew up in Lagos and one of the perks of all that water is that I have pretty much been eating fish my whole life. When I was a child, if I ever got sick or my sister got sick, my mum would make us fresh fish soup. This was considered a delicacy because it used mostly catfish that would be freshly killed. The sad part of this is that I most likely would not have the appetite to enjoy the fish.

Watermelon Lemonade

Watermelon Lemonade

One of the things that I really enjoyed when I went to Mumbai with my mom was the drink culture. Every time we went to a restaurant, they would serve us a new drink known as a 'Welcome Drink'. These drinks apparently were most from cordials but each drink was different from the last and the next. As someone who abstains from alcohol, I really appreciated the creativity that went into creating these non-alcoholic options. I also enjoyed the variety offered.