Even though life is hard, money is coming. Don’t sleep..
Sweet Potato Biscuits Recipe below ↓
I’m tired.
I think about it all the time, how life changes so quickly. One week you could be so down in the dumps and hopeless, the next week you’re living your best life and the happiest you’ve ever been. I’m in a “things are going well and I’m trying to cherish the moment as best as I can before everything goes to shit” phase. A phase that I think I’m coming out of is Isolation… but not really?
October went by like THAT, but let’s all pretend today is October 28th still. This newsletter was meant to reach your inbox last week but the spirit of procrastination my loves, is a strong one. It was either I slept a little longer or I got up and added a few more lines. It was either I made myself some dinner over ordering out or I finished writing up the newsletter. It was either I cleaned my kitchen floors or I made time to edit with Shila. As you can tell, everything else took precedent. One thing I’m trying to outgrow is the freedom I give myself when it comes to procrastinating. I’ll get started on something then slowly lose momentum till something else distracts me completely. Then it takes so much to get back into the groove of what I was doing. One thing I’ve realised however, is that there’s always something to do. It’s all about priorities though. If I made getting this newsletter out by the end of October a priority, it would’ve surely been released on October 28th.
Here I am though, a person that chooses to live without regret and learn from my actions. Please note that I didn’t say mistakes. If I thought those were mistakes, then I would have regrets. I am choosing to work on bad habits and to forgive myself for my shortcomings. Enjoying my time alone. My solitude. Embracing the calm. Giving myself grace. Finding peace.
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Waves of nostalgia immersed my being…
I have a soft spot for waffle cones. Last week at work, my favorite co-worker had a milkshake from the cafe nearby and she shared it with me. It came with this ice cream waffle cone and instantly, just from looking at it, I had this feeling. As soon as I put the cone to my mouth, waves of nostalgia immersed my being. The setting is Tastee Fried Chicken (TFC) off Ijaiye Road in Ogba, Lagos, Nigeria. TFC was a fast food chain restaurant in Lagos I used to go to all the time when I was in high school (Chrisland High School Ikeja, 2011-2014). Tastee was better than Mr. Biggs in my opinion but Tantalizers was really that girl. Tastee’s food was really good, like that jollof spaghetti? COME on. If you know, you know. I always rode the school bus home, but on very rare occasions my mom would pick me up from school. Those days were like jackpot for me because I would beg her to stop at Tastee so I could get some Ice cream. She was a part of the problem cause I knew she would most likely say yes. One thing about her, she loved her some sweets or pastries. At all of their locations they had a booth at the entrance where they sold sweet treats and baked goods. I attribute my love for sweet things to my mother. I would run up to the window and order two scoops of vanilla ice cream on their Ice cream waffle cone. Tastee had the best Ice cream waffle cones. They were always fresh, with the perfect thickness, and buttery flavour cooked to perfection. I wasn’t a simple girl but Vanilla ice cream just never had any competition in my eyes. Vanilla ice cream was hard to mess up, it was consistent and never disappointed me. That was the type of mindset I had as a child, I stuck to what I knew and never really took risks. I tell this story to highlight how food is tied to memories and how memories give us an appreciation for how far we’ve come in our lives. This is one of the many little memories in my life that I will always cherish. I would love to go back to Nigeria some day just so I could get one of those vanilla ice cream waffle cones from TFC again. That would be a delight!
Do you ever get vivid memories when you eat specific foods?
I always leave music recommendations at the end… by the way ↓
Friends turned Sisters
I want more passionate relationships with my friends. I realized that people don’t treat their friends as good as their partners. I want to understand the logic behind why it comes so naturally to treat a significant other to so many things, but when it comes to our friends we’re not as willing. I understand if it’s for someone that showers us with care and gifts. But why can’t we apply that same energy to friendships?
Not particularly eager to admit, but sometimes I envy friendships where people go to lengths for their friends. When I hear people around me say things like “couldn’t be me” to situations that literally could be me. I think about the secret list of people I’d go to bat for. And I cross my fingers every time hoping they’re not someone on that list. That type of behaviour almost always leaves an impression on my thoughts. It makes me think deeper about why I have this list… When it comes down to it, I ask myself “is this something I genuinely want to or am cable of doing?” I decided to do because I want to, not because I want it reciprocated. Things come naturally to me that way. I’m focused on giving to others as my hearts desires and those deeds sow bountiful returns. My friends are my family, they mean everything to me because they play a big part in why I am the person I am today.
You don’t know how much impact YOU have.
And now for what we all came here for *drumroll* please. These beautiful Sweet Potato Buttermilk Biscuits. I stumbled upon this recipe a few months ago and I was so intrigued. The recipe just screamed FALL to me. More than anything, I knew I had to try the recipe out and put my own spin on it. Who knew biscuits were so easy to make?
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: ~ 20 minutes
Total Time: ~ 1 hour
Servings: 12
Ingredients
3 cups flour (self rising)
2 tbsps brown sugar
2 tbsps white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
2 roasted sweet potatoes, mashed
1 stick unsalted butter, chilled
1 cup buttermilk, chilled
1 tsp vanilla
Orange food coloring
Directions
Pre-heat your oven to 400°F.
Poke several holes with a fork in your sweet potatoes and rub oil over them.
Place your potatoes on a baking sheet and roast your sweet potatoes for ~30 minutes or until fork tender.
Combine your self-rising flour, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk to combine.
Self rising flour can be substituted by combining all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
The recipe is as follows:
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
Grate your frozen stick of butter into the flour. Using a fork, cut the butter into the flour until fully incorporated.
Make sure your butter is chilled, frozen and NOT room temp. You want to move fast to avoid warming up your butter.
Allow the sweet potatoes to cool to room temp then chill. Once cooled, mash to break them down to a smooth consistency.
To the mashed potatoes, add buttermilk, vanilla, and orange food colouring. Mix with a spatula until fully combined.
Stir the sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture till incorporated.
Flour a clean surface, pour your mixture on to this surface and knead for ~5 minutes until it forms a dough ball. Folding over multiple times to give the biscuit its flaky layers.
Flour your rolling pin. Then roll the dough to about a 1 inch thickness.
Butter your cookie cutter and cut your dough into 12 equal rounds.
You’re not going to get 12 biscuits in the first cut through. Roll the dough and cut until no dough is left.
Freeze dough for 15 minutes while your oven preheats to 450°F.
Grease a cast iron skillet then place your chilled dough into the skillet.
Bake your biscuits for 15 minutes.
Glaze your biscuits with butter. Serve fresh out of the oven.
You can pair your biscuits with any of the following:
Brown Sugar Honey butter
Blueberry Honey Butter
Cinnamon Butter
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Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts, O dabọ!
Coming up NEXT:
Holiday season is upon us and I don’t know what to make… help me by leaving a suggestion in the comment section.
Song of the week Money & Love by Wizkid
Album of the week Young Preacher by Blaqbonez
Enjoy this playlist my oat milk frosted flakes by toke2.0