In the kitchen with Elise

As I have mentioned time and time again. Creativity, Color and Presentation (let's call it the CCP's of cooking) are 3 major things to remember when cooking or serving anything. Pay attention to detail. For instance look at this fruit salad. This person took the time to cut each fruit into unique pieces. Got a butterfly shaped tray and lined it with different colored, uniquely cut fruit pieces. It looks almost too good to eat. They could have just done the entire thing with grapes for instance and it would have looked nice as well. Imagine all purple. But they took it a step further. Mixed and matched a bit. Tried different shapes, sizes and color to create this fruit work of art. It even inspired me enough to share with you all. So next time you do a fruit salad don't just take the entire fruit to eat, cut it into microscopic pieces or chop it into huge unedible chunks. Instead serve it in style. Be creative. Every act of creativity works in the kitche...

I am here in Botswana, Africa. A well developed Country, contrary to what I thought before coming here. Botswana is really modern, I would have never thought it to be as modern as it actually is. The people are really polite, caring and friendly. One thing that I noticed as I am blogging about the foods of each culture is the detail and attention to this food that I ate. All the food that I ate here in Botswana was really yummy... But as I mentioned to you all before.Before you eat any type of food regardless of what it is. You first eat and enjoy a food  with your eyes. It could be your favorite dish but if it is badly presented you won't want it. It is a proven fact. Test it out for yourself the next time you choose to eat or serve a dish. I had to try many dishes here in Botswana that I have never heard of before. One of the things I tried was a traditional dish called Seswaa (pounded beef). But I tasted them all and ended up enjoying it because of the a...

I had the pleasure of tasting this hot chocolate here in Africa, it is called                     'DIY (Do It Yourself) Hot Chocolate'. How about the next time you serve hot chocolate to someone serve it fresh and well presented. This hot chocolate looks so good and is really fun creating. It was served with hot milk in a nice glass mug, then in a separate tiny bowl as you see in the picture above. One had chocolate and the other, large marshmallows. Then you mix it all in together and create this marshmallow overload. Anyone can do this at home. So the next time that you serve Hot Chocolate  instead of just using powder chocolate 'serve it in style'    :  ) God Bless

For this 'Shoulda Been Dead' tour we are going all over Africa.  An amazing Country from what I have seen so far. Yesterday we held  an event in Mozambique and then we traveled today to  Botswana to hold an event here, I will tell more about that tomorrow. Mozambique from what I ate there are foods similar to Portuguese food (From Portugal). Someone please correct me if I am wrong but it seems that the typical Mozambican food is seafood. There is the ocean nearby so everyone eats all type of seafood. There are even people who stand by the ocean toward the evening with a fresh catch of fish and just sell it, out in the open. So Unique. Here is also a picture of one of the means of transport here in Mozambique. The back of a pick up truck... Take a look. As we were driving around the City today I saw a bunch of people hitching a ride in the back of this truck. I was told that that is a quick way for people to get around. Since there is too many pe...

This is a Namibian side dish that is so delicious. It is like a sweet potato pattie like thing. I ate it along with rice stew chicken. Really enjoyable. It added a nice sweet touch to the entire meal. Really different, Here is how you make it. Ingredients 5 Sweet Potato 2 tablespoons Flour a pinch cinnamon 1 tablespoon butter Take a pot and fill it up with water. While the water is boiling, take your sweet potatoes peel them and cut them into small chunks in order for it to boil quickly. Put your sweet potato chunks into the boiling water and allow to boil for about 20 minutes or until your sweet potatoes are completely soft. Once soft drain your water and mash the potatoes with a wooden spoon, to look like mashed potatoes. Once it is completely mashed, add in your butter, cinnamon, and flour to the potatoes and mix with a wooden spoon. You want your mixture to be at the point of no longer being sticky but instead a movable consistency, yet you do not want it to be too ha...

Namibia....  This was my view from the ride straight from the airport. Amazingly. Most of namibia looks like this, with bushes everywhere and the dry grass makes it look like dessert. A really different look than what I am used to in the U.S.A Wow, I never thought I would ever come here. As I have mentioned I have had the honor of accompanying my husband on his 'Shoulda Been Dead' Book Tours worldwide. What a privilege indeed. A true privilege, with this I get to meet absolutely amazing people as are those from Namibia. If I could, I would stay with them forever. They are so wonderful and made our welcome her to Africa absolutely amazing. Namibia is really beautiful in its own way. I can't really compare it with any other place I have been to. It is really different. There is a lot of open land which are filled with bushes, a lot of what they call shacks (houses that the person makes themselves out of Zinc; one thing is for sure these people are really ...