Spicy tea

This is a simple recipe for making quick tea in the morning or any other time of day.
I love the spicy taste and is  healthier compared to the normal tea.

Ingredients:  Serves Three
1. 1 tablespoon Ketepa tea leaves
2. 1 teaspoon powder Cinnamon 
3. 1 teaspoon Ginger powder
4. Sugar
5. 500ml Milk (Optional)
5. 2 glasses Water

Procedure
1. Add water in a  sufuria (sauce pan) and place on cooking stove.
2. Add cinnamon & ginger and allow to boil.
3. Add Ketepa tea leaves and boil for further two minutes.
4. Pour in the milk and let it boil again till it starts to rise.
5. Add the sugar to your taste.
6. Remove from heat and serve while hot.

The Ketepa tea leaves are also available at local supermarkets with ginger added although I prefer adding more to make it more spicy.

Pumpkins for breakfast

I had pumpkins for breakfast today. They are easy to cook since they only need to be boiled with a little salt.

Cut the full pumpkin into quarters or smaller wedges. You may peel them if you wish though I prefer cooking with the skin on.Put them in a cooking pot with water slightly above the pieces. Sprinkle a little salt, cover and put to boil.

Continue boiling until they are tender (pierce with a fork to check). Remove from the pot and set aside on a plate to cool. Serve with tea.

In our rural home, and many other regions in Kenya and Africa, the pumpkin leaves are cleaned and used to cover the boiling pumpkins, and then a lid to cover the mouth of the most commonly used earthen pot. This a pot molded from clay which is also used to cook other dishes and for storing drinking water. Believe me, the water is always cool even during the very hot seasons. It is called Jungu in Kiswahili.