I had the craziest, fun weekend. It started from going to see Feyi at her new flat on Friday evening. I love when I am associated with friends who we grow together in tangible, measurable terms. I love that we talked about this, without any back biting or jealousy or competition, I offered as much help as I could, plus support and I won’t be me if I didn’t add any pushing, plus the support of well meaning friends too and family and here it is, her dream is here and it is BEAUTIFUL. She is going to be hosting Afternoon Tea sessions next year by the way and I suggest you get in on it FAST!!!! Like seriously, the place is stunning and the food she will provide is stunning too. Anyways, we slept off on the sofa, watching another boring episode of Scandal, yes I know it was like 2am or something, but gosh, the snoozefest that Thursday’s episode was. Lol.
Anyways, part of what we talked about on Friday night, before it even got to the early hours of the morning, was of course food, this time Devilled Eggs. I showed her something from Remmy Tee on SYTYCC on Facebook where she took out the yolk and used Ewa Aganyin (mashed beans) and the sauce. Earlier in the day I asked for permission to post it on IG, which was granted by the recipe creator. Anyways, Feyi and I were talking about Bloggers and how they are the new influencers, and the amazing life seeming every day women, who became bloggers and how their lives changed forever. People like Melissa Koh and Patricia Bright. When my friends and I get together, especially those nursing start ups, it is like a business meeting, I swear. That is why my circle is tight, and I mean tight. If you are not giving, you aint taking. We are always discussing goals and plans and bouncing off ideas. Budding Entrepreneurs, who are going to be Boss Lady’s very soon, you’ll see. I ventured into imagery and food photography and that’s how Sarah of @thedelicious’s Kimchi Devilled Eggs entered into the conversation, because I saw hers a few hours after the first one. Sarah says she eats beauty, and geez that woman does. Her photography will just make you want to aspire to be better with your camera. That’s what my IG page is for, inspiration, aspiration and networking, not “parapoism”, permit me to borrow from Senator Obaihagbon.
Drive social media to your benefit, because mehn, if you are spending hours and hours on that space and it is not translating into direct, tangible, measurable, benefits for you, you are sitting on a long thing o, a spectator while the action is happening around you. There are days when I feel like I came into this blogging business 3 years too late and I am thinking hot damn, what was I thinking, burying my head in books acquiring the third degree, but The Almighty’s timing is always His Divine plan, but you see, while I know that, I still feel like I have 3 years to catch up on, so if you see me as driven and ambitious, well, I’m running a race, you can’t even begin to understand. My focus game is soooooo strong, like I aint got the brain space to sit down, hold hands and do kumbaya. The Hemsley Sisters, Deliciously Ella, the journey of these 3 women is one to watch, learn and be inspired by. Their success story is one I have followed closely and my sights are even higher, because I have something different to offer. Don’t be fooled, the path of success in any ramification, from physical to spiritual, is individual, never a collective. Think you are in a “group”, that’s the greatest disservice you will do to yourself, because you will open your eyes one day and realise, your hands are empty. No one is there anymore. They have banded together to take what they can from each other (watch especially, those who come clinging to attach) and they’ve vamoosed, while you are still thinking y’all are in the same boat. I learnt that lesson from observation and one of the best examples is through my job. I joined my company on the Graduate Scheme. We all thought we were all part of a group, oh we had similar experiences. Within 3 years, it quickly became clear, that this race is individual o. One of us is now on a higher level than the rest of all of us, 5 years down. I can’t even envy him, I swear, because that guy works pretty damn hard. He detached himself quickly enough, and I won’t be surprised if he makes Manager before he is even 35. Driven people, Alphas don’t run in packs. If you find yourself in one, guess what!!!! I’ll leave you to answer that question yourself. Yoruba people say “ki onikaluku je oruko Baba e”. Let each person bear their father’s name.
Being inspired by Sarah and Remmy Tee, I told Feyi that I was going to be trying Devilled Eggs for breakfast, especially as Sarah’s version looked from afar like Jollof rice with fried meat. Guess what we had for dinner, come on guess, guess, Bulgur Jollof. I swear down, the thing looks like jollof rice and by the fourth mouthful, your brain has managed to convince you that it tastes like jollof rice. I still wanted to stay true to using eggs in devilled eggs, because I learnt an important business lesson on IG of all places, but me, I take knowledge where I see it. Anyways, I was still going to use eggs, and keep it Nigerian, and what better way to do it than our Egg stew, which is eggs sautéed in a tomatoes and mixed peppers sauce. It would look bland without something else, especially for another dimension of colour, so I used fried Plantain – Dodo. You can use any choice of fillings that you like, play with it, go to town. Still try to keep to the egg theme though, don’t go too far out of board. It is not everything that tastes nice with boiled eggs. Let’s Cook.
- 4 - 6 Boiled Eggs
- Jollof rice - or bulgur jollof
- Fried Meat
- Dodo - Fried Plantain
- Stewed eggs - recipe HERE
- Carefully peel the shell off the eggs, taking care not to bruise the egg white.
- Lay the boiled egg on a flat surface and use a knife to cut it lengthwise, giving you two halves. You can also decide to make the egg into a cup shape, depending on if the base is steady. Rest the egg on its bottom, and slice off the top, which will be used as a cap to place back on the egg when you've filled it.
- Gently scoop out the Egg Yolk and fill with your choice of topping.
- A good one will be jollof rice and peppered meat with Dodo. Just imagine that mouthful. Heaven right!!!!!
- You can also mash the egg yolks with mayonnaise, season with paprika (dry pepper), which is commonly done to give flavour and colour contrast. You can also use peppersoup spices or Yaji (suya pepper), to add some pizazz. You can add chopped vegetables, like spring onions or even herbs, to create some texture and fill the egg white.
- Remember to garnish, to make it pretty.
Its nyc, will definitely try this out
you are very creative with food dooney.
I love your work lady. I love food too. I also love your writing. Well done.