Papaya-Banana Muffins & a BBQ Party (I also part ways with Jalal, the turkey)

This last week just flew by… and I have eaten turkey leftovers and pumpkin pie like a maniac. With the last bit of the leftovers, this weekend I made a scrumptious turkey soup with potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions. I got quite a bit of meat off of the bones so it’s a hearty soup. The 11 kg turkey, Jalal, has had his last day. Rest in peace in our bellies.

Friday evening I made some tasty little muffins out of some super ripe papaya and bananas. I found this recipe online and figure I should share it with you because they turned out really nice and are actually fairly healthy (for a muffin). They were really easy and fast to make as well. I didn’t make the icing that is included in the recipe but I thought I would here in case anyone was feeling adventurous or decadent. But I haven’t seen any cream cheese here so I thought I would save myself a headache and just use butter :P

Papaya-Banana Muffins

by Ann Vanderhoof for “An Embarrassment of Mangoes”

(Makes 12) Actually made 9 for me ;-)
1 2/3 cups flour (I used light spelt flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (+ I added 1/4 tsp cinnamon)
1 egg
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar (I reduced to 1/2 cup organic sugar)
1 cup mashed ripe papaya
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (1 large banana)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 F. and grease a medium-sized muffin pan or line it with muffin papers.Combine dry ingredients and

set aside. Beat egg with oil, sugar, and mashed papaya and banana in a large bowl. Mix in dry ingredients and walnuts (if using). Scoop mixture into prepared muffin pan. Bake in preheated oven for 18-23 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Ann’s Tips:

If the papaya is quite ripe, it will yield a lot of liquid when mashed. Drain off this excess liquid before adding the fruit.
You can make the muffins entirely with papaya if you like; just increase the quantity to 1 1/2 cups. The muffins will have a slightly moister texture and a flatter top.

Pineapple Cream Cheese
“A Taste of the Caribbean Cookbook” by Angela Spenceley
(Makes about 1 1/4 cups)
1/2 cup fresh-diced pineapple
just of 1 lime
1/2 tsp lime zest (I used the zest of the entire lime)
6 oz cream cheese (I used vegan cream cheese)

Fold the pineapple, lime juice and zest into the cream cheese with a pastry cutter or fork.

Notes/Results: Wonderful, moist and flavorful muffins–like a more complex banana muffin, and lightly flecked with the orange papaya. They are excellent on their own and topped with the Pineapple Cream Cheese they are amazing. I used up some light spelt flour that I had on hand in these and reduced the sugar since my papaya and banana (I used two smaller apple bananas) were very ripe and sweet. I left out the nuts and added some cinnamon because I like it with my nutmeg.

Recipe from: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/

After I pulled my muffins out of the over, the power went out again. This time for the whole evening! I found out Monday morning that Nairobi is practicing rolling blackouts to conserve energy. Many places have generators, but of course, ours does not. Jessica and I had planned to do some yoga and then go out for some dinner and drinks, but once the power went out we lost all ambition to leave the house. Thankfully, there were a couple of beer in the fridge to aid us in finding our Zen place. Strange pictures ensued…

On Saturday night, us girls were invited to a BBQ at our friend Fahim’s. It was so great, but probably not good for my heart. Fahim later told me that 400 grams of butter was used in meal preparation! Fahim made his famous chicken wings and corn on the cob with sweet chili sauce. His sauce is a secret recipe that is soooooo yummy! The featured dessert was grilled mini banana’s with Dairy Milk chocolate melted on top. Decadent! Here are a few pictures from the night: