Mashada Blogs » June 18, 2008

Kikuyumoja's realm: Daifuku Mochi

jke — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:00:02 -0400

What you see here is my more or less successful attempt at making Daifuku-Mochi - “a Japanese confection consisting of a small round mochi (glutinous rice cake) stuffed with sweet filling, most commonly anko, sweetened red bean paste made from azuki beans.”

You know I’d found Mochi from Taiwan on sale at an Asia Shop in Seville, Spain the other day and was wondering why it isn’t sold in Germany as well (the red bean paste is sold though).

I used to make Mochi myself as a child - don’t ask me what kind of mochi that was (Japanese name for it?), but basically I would just mix glutinous rice flour with water, literally pound it until it becomes a homogeneous mixture and then form small balls which would then be thrown into boiling water. Once they’ve changed their colour from white to semi-transparent and floating on top, they’re ready. Just leave them to cool off and then dip them into a mixture of soja bean flour & sugar.

Note to myself: this is one of those recipes where Mr and Mrs Calories will come during the night and pull out their sewing kit to work on your clothes. Bad.

Anyways, this time I tried a Daifuku recipe I’d found on the net and mixed 150ml of glutinous rice (flour) with 150ml of water, stirr it in a heated pot until it changes its colour and then let it cool down. After cooling, form little balls (~ hush puppies) and fill them with red bean paste. Didn’t work out that well. I will stick to my old method in future and mix everything once it’s still cold, then boil it et voilá. There’s nothing more sticky than glutinous rice…

(Talking about calories, the current schedule is 2x/week running and 1x/week swimming - how plausible is this disclaimer btw? :-).

Kikuyumoja's realm: the FF3 map

jke — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:52:58 -0400

There are those maps out there which are based on statistical data - assumed, accumulated and unproven figures that may indicate a certain trend and/or just show what the situation has been when the data was collected.

When we look at today’s map of Firefox 3 downloads worldwide in just 24 hours (for a world record):

…I really wonder what ppl will say about this in future, and also how many organizations will take THIS as a basis for their future planing on the availability of internet access, the spread of alternative internet browsers (such as the Firefox 3 suite) and what kind of internet-saturation (?) it takes to actively participate in such a call for a world record (read: the request to download FF3 on this particular day was imho promoted through the blogosphere? If so, it could be a nice indicator for the blogosphere).

However - 8,9 million downloads in just one day are just impressive!

You Missed This: Kenyans Must Emulate 'Civilized' Zimbabweans

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:13:00 -0400

Zimbabweans go back to the polls next week to either apologize and re-elect one Robert Bob Mugabe after a first round THRASHING or confirm Morgan Tsvangirai as their new leader. But comrade Bob together with the army have both vowed never to concede the presidency to anybody no matter the election outcome. That sounds quite familiar, doesn't it? Yes, Africa is still populated by DINOSAURS who think of their countries as personal property with their names gracing the title deed.

Mugabe grossly underestimated the power of a fatigued and battered citizenry. They showed him dust by voting Tsvangirai in the first round of voting and no amount of historic vote rigging for a whole historic month would turn the tables. That has left Mugabe to perfect what he knows best. Zimbabwe is suffocating under INTIMIDATION and brutality meted out to any perceived and real opposition sympathizers. Grandmothers are paying with their head and limbs should their grandchildren be suspected not to be ZANU-PF compliant.

Industrious Kenyans envy Zimbabweans for their civility. In fact Kenya would have registered the magical 10+% growth rate this year if they didn’t protest last year’s FLAWED POLLS. You only need to conveniently forget the Zimbabwe analogue of where we would have been were we to give room for a re-run. We had our home bred Simba Makoni wiping and salivating for the spoils. But again Mugabe is just learning the ropes albeit devoid of our style and sophistication in delivering FRAUD and DECEPTION. Why employ Moi's terror tactics when you can top up with zeroes? Bob only needed the creative mind to add the zeroes truncated from the Zimbabwean dollar to the vote's tally and he would be home and dry without the pain of spewing threats.

Tested, proven Kenyan script
So Zimbabweans may be going through HELL on earth with inflation figures that bust computer’s memory BUT we better learn CIVILITY from them. What is more, better have peace with nothing to eat rather than bloodying your hands to reclaim a country from the grasp of her owners. We leave in interesting times where selective application of logic reigns supreme with eyes singularly trained on feathering our nests.

Well, Robert Mugabe is many things to many people. We have Kenyans who will selectively praise him for standing for the colonialists oblivious of the pre-historic battering he is visiting on his his country and her people. The Kenyan version of patriotism is truly unique. Zimbabwe may have been the last African state to get independence but Mugabe is doing very well in accelerating the speed to MISRULE like his local comrade.

Revolutions the world over germinate from the seed of readiness to die for what you believe in. Deciding whether Zimbabweans are cowards or civilized is to trivialize a grave matter. I only pray that Mugabe doesn’t live to sink Zimbabwe after June 27. But with Kenyan tested and proven script before him that prayer is akin to selling ice cream to an Eskimo. May God save us from our tormentors for leaders?

Sneak preview of the last week's raw notes:
"Indeed it is quite likely that it was the subject of puzzled gossip within the August house where most burly politicians prefer sexual encounters with underage girls picked up mostly along Nairobi's notorious red light district of Koinange street. Most would have wondered what Kones was doing smitten by this over 40 Kalenjin woman when there were so many young and willing girls hanging around daily at the legislators' favourite street of sin in Nairobi..."
- Get your Kumekucha raw notes.

The Displaced African: The First Ever Displaced African Survey

Mwangi — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:04:47 -0400

Three Part Article

This weekend I will be taking a trip and will have some time to think and reflect, so I thought I would ask y’all to help me reflect.

Part one: What Do You Want to Read?

As I approach article number 150, and readership continues to slowly climb, I thought I would take some time out to ask you all what you want to read. So, leave a comment or email me privately by clicking on the “email the author” link at the bottom of the article and let me know what articles you would like to read?

Don’t let the limits of logic impede you, if you can imagine it and you want to read it, let me know about it. It might be something that I have wanted to do all along

Part two: What Have Been Your Favorite Articles So Far?

Again, leave a comment or email me, but please let me know which one or two or three or 7 articles have you liked from this blog so far?

Part three: Ways I Can Improve this Blog?

Even a sentence answering any of these 3 questions would be great but ideally, a paragraph or two or seven. Remember, I started this blog with the intent of doing some good, so help me serve you better.

Be blessed and bless others,

Mwangi

bankelele: Kutwa Tuesday - June 18

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:04:00 -0400

Kutwa Tuesday - June 18

Black Looks: switching race and other pessimisms

Sokari — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:15:15 -0400

The Chinese in South Africa have won their case to be designated “Black” showing us how arbitrary racial categories are. Lucky them, under apartheid they were able to take advantage of not being “Black” (they were coloured” - slightly up in the racial chain) and now they can take advantage of being “Black” and go [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "switching race and other pessimisms", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/06/switching_race_and_other_pessimisms.html" });

Kenya Imagine: kenyaimagine relaunched: kenya imagine 101

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:04:00 -0400

We have been very busy over the last couple of months working on changes on kenya imagine. The new site is now up and ready for you.

Apart from regular articles from wananchi like you, there are several new features. These include:

Separate Magazines with great articles written by you: Politics, Economics, Money (personal finance), Technology and Science, Culture, and Society. Please continue submitting articles, and if you haven't already go ahead and do so. We have something for everyone!
Art Gallery-- We would like to develop this into a fully fledged online art gallery where artists can display their paintings, drawings, etc.
Patrick Gathara-- in-house cartoonist.
Kwangu-- this is your space to network and create relationships with other kI users.
- Personal Blogs/Diaries that are not edited. Create your own! The best blog will be featured everyday on the homepage increasing your readership.
- Groups-These will be created by you, and you can join any existing ones that you please. A group can be private or public.
- Traveler-- a diary with reviews on places in Kenya and around the world.
- Classifieds: This section will also be user-generated. Are you offering services? Know of a job opening? Register with us and share the information with our readers.
- What we are reading: This is the editors' del.icio.us page.
- Papers and Documents: You can upload resumes, long papers and pdfs here to share with others

Once again, thanks to everyone for visiting us-- for articles, and comments.

Karibu. Please drop me a line if you have any questions. nekessa@kenyaimagine.com

Nekessa
for kenyaImagine

bankelele: Safaricom @ NSE Day 8

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:16:00 -0400

Safaricom @ NSE Day 8

Marian's Blog: Juneteenth, and Eunice K. Waymon (Nina Simone)

Marian — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:00:00 -0400

Time for our annual Black American commemoration of Juneteenth. June 19, 1865 is celebrated by Black Americans as the date when our ancestors in the deep South and West (Texas) finally got word of the Emancipation Proclamation. On paper it...

The Benin Epilogue Part I: Africa-Ready for Business: The Mediocrity of African Leadership

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:23:00 -0400

The rising cost of food, Africa's energy deficiency and its projected failure to meet the Millennium Development Goals has forced a deeper conclusion that Africa has a serious leadership deficiency.
Only 4% of national budgets are currently spent on agriculture, and investment is hampered by precolonial land rights that still prevail in most of sub-Saharan Africa. Meanwhile the cost of fertilizer has risen even more dramatically than the cost of fuel, leaving farmers facing a triple whammy: oil- and food-price rises.. Read More