Happy 1st Birthday My Burnt Orange!

Yes!!!! It has been a whole year since Freedes first started this blog. And it came out at a time when Freedes was going through a lot of changes in her life, some of them were not easy and threatened to bring the pure ugly out of her. But some way, some how, Freedes was able to channel all this negative energy into creating something positive, colourful and delightful. She found a place of deep gratitude for what she still had despite her situation; her hands and the ability they held to create in the kitchen with love.

Sometimes it takes going through lows in your life to open up your eyes to the real you and the simple things that you are passionate about. I, Freedes, have no doubt that I love to cook, and for once in my life, I have allowed myself to indulge in just being me and just loving my time in my burnt orange kitchen (then I moved house and got a new kitchen). And one of the best things I love about cooking is that it is never about me. It is about my hubby, my babies, my friends, my mother, my sister (who I cook a lot with, I make… she bakes!!!). So how did this burnt orange start? Well, I suddenly had more time on my hands than I had had in years and started messing about with Microsoft word art… nah… but seriously, that is how I actually made my logo and blog background.

But what was driving all this? Well, it has now been almost 2 years (gorsh…. what happened?) since I decided it was time I write a book about cooking, mostly African dishes, but with a cosmopolitan feel to it. It is also almost 2 years since I changed my lifestyle to a healthier one, especially after finding out I was a (late) twenty something year old with higher than average cholesterol. I took charge, after all, I am the kitchen boss!. Together with my mom, who completely blew me away as a few years ago, no one would have ever expected that good old Ghanaian Mama to eat half the things I made her eat, but yes, together we lost almost 40 pounds (combined) in 4 months. And we did this by eating multitudes of the right stuff. We made sure we were never hungry, but filled up on goodness. What was amazing was that the good old soul food we love in Africa was a regular feature in our diet, and contrary to misguided belief in excess oil, a lot of it is extremely healthy.

So how did I start? I had all this creative energy within me bursting to be released, and a book or two that I just did not have the time to write. But I always had time to cook. I started taking photos of my food, and photos of food markets which just brought me to life when I saw all the colourful fresh ingredients.

I posted them on facebook, with the intention of writing up the recipes as I went along for “the book”. How many of you can tell that did not happen? Finally, I just went on ahead and started this blog, because a part of me just needed to express myself “here and now” and I have enjoyed every moment ever since and shared so many wonderful cooking experiences. And my goodness, I have not even blogged half the things I have wanted to blog about. I still have Barcelona markets and food to blog about, and my other travel adventures, my hair journey, shifting over to raw natural products in my beauty regime and much much more cooking than I have shared (or am I saving that for… ahem… the book?)!!!!!!

When will the first book come out? Not sure, taking things a step at a time (yes, laugh at me all you seasoned published writers, I hold my procrastinating, juggling head up high with morale). I just have a lot to do and am doing in life right now, so much that I gave myself only 2 new years resolutions this year, read more about them here.

At the end of the day, I am being patient, smelling the flowers (and food) and enjoying the journey. That’s all.

Happy birthday My Burnt Vibrantly Coloured Citrus Fruit!!!!!!!