C is for Cuckoo and Caakiri

The cuckoo is to English spring as the Robin is to North America. The call of the cuckoo heard over the hills and dales of the English countryside is a welcome sound each year. You can hear it here. I didn’t realise, before writing this, that the cuckoo family is spread widely turning up in many parts of the world and apparently the bird with which I am familiar is the Common Cuckoo. It is a bird parasite because it lays its eggs in the nests of other species. Here again, there are many cuckoos which do not do this, silly me I thought it was a feature of cuckoos. After all that is where the word cuckold came from. Translation: a man who’s wife produces another man’s child. These days I guess that can happen with surrogates, but cuckold is an old fashioned word. We saw a whole flock of cuckoos in our North Carolina back yard once, they devastated a plant which was full of bugs, and then we never saw them again although the bugs came back. I don't ever remember actually seeing a cuckoo in England.

Here’s an interesting sounding pudding from Food.com. It has its origins in Africa. I like couscous so will definitely try this one.
 

Caakiri (Couscous Pudding)

By Random Rachel

Photo by Annacia
 

• Servings: 4

 

"A simple couscous pudding. Makes 4 - 1 cup servings. From congocooking.com"
 

Ingredients

• 2 cups couscous
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 2 cups yogurt (plain or vanilla)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 dash nutmeg (optional)
• raisins or crushed pineapple or mint ( to garnish)

Directions

1. Prepare 2 cups of couscous according to package directions and allow to cool.
2. Combine evaporated milk, yogurt, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla. Stir yogurt mixture into couscous.
3. Add more sugar, to taste. Garnish as desired. Serve warm or chilled.

Have a great day