Tag: baking

Making Space for the Magic: International Day and AI

I didn’t expect to spend the day after International Day back in the kitchen, but there I was, making scones for the second time in one weekend.

Not because we ran out on International.
Not because guests were coming.
But because not a single person in our family actually ate one on International Day itself.

They were baked, displayed, admired, and then completely ignored by the people who made them. So the next day, I made another batch. And honestly, I forgot how easy scones are to make.

I’ve incorporated some simple, reliable tips for making good scones into the recipe I’ve shared later in this post. Nothing fancy, just gentle handling and not overthinking it.

While the scones baked, I found myself reflecting on International Day as a whole, especially how much AI quietly supported the planning and preparation behind the scenes.

International Day Passports

One of the unexpected highlights of International Day was the passports and passport stamp stickers. They were loved by everyone, including students, parents, teachers, and adults who absolutely did not need a sticker but wanted one anyway.

AI helped me in three main ways.
First, it allowed me to generate country themed concepts quickly.
Second, it made it easy to iterate designs without starting from scratch.
Third, it helped keep visuals playful, inclusive, and consistent.

The final designs felt cohesive and joyful, and ultimately very collectible.

The Sticker Prompt I Used

If you are curious or planning something similar, this is the kind of prompt that worked well.

AI Sticker Prompt (Passport-Style)

Create a colorful passport-style sticker for [COUNTRY NAME].
Use bold, friendly shapes and simple iconic imagery (landmarks, animals, cultural symbols).
Style should be playful, inclusive, and child-friendly, with thick outlines and bright but balanced colors.
Circular or stamp-shaped design, suitable for printing as a small sticker.
Include the country name in clear, friendly lettering.
Clean background, high contrast, joyful tone.

From there, I refined everything in Canva so the stickers, passports, and visuals all felt cohesive and print-ready.

Playlists: A Win, With Notes for Future Organizers

Music always matters on International Day. This year, I used AI to help generate a playlist that reflected our diverse community. The music was clean, upbeat, and suitable for little ears.

It worked well, but for future organizers, I would gently suggest two things.
Invite community members to share song ideas earlier in the planning process.
Consider using a YouTube playlist instead of Spotify, as it often makes culturally diverse music easier to find and share.

AI is excellent for getting started quickly. Community input is what gives it heart.

Keeping Everything in One Place

Behind the scenes, Canva was my organizational anchor. I kept everything in one place, including a shared planning spreadsheet, a working spreadsheet to track country tables and their needs, passport and sticker templates, and social media posts.

This made updates faster and collaboration easier. Most importantly to me, it created an institutional memory where everything is ready to be passed on. When events change hands, clear and accessible materials matter.

AI in the Kitchen Too

With AI saving me time on tasks that would normally take an enormous amount of energy, I felt able to host a table for the first time in four years, despite fighting off all the winter illnesses flying around.

AI supported me in the kitchen through Afternoon Tea inspired menu planning, recipe generation and comparison, recipe scaling, and shopping lists.

The feedback told a great story.

Cucumber sandwiches were a surprise hit. One parent came back for more because they were the only thing their children would eat all day. With food from twenty two countries, this was a delightful surprise.

Marmalade sandwiches sparked a lot of love for Paddington Bear.

Lemon drizzle cake was not everyone’s first choice, but those who tried it came back again and again. One person came back five times.

Coronation chicken was the most labor intensive dish. I had never made it from scratch before, and I am glad I did. The flavour was a delicate balance of warm spices with a subtle sweetness from a surprise ingredient, apricot jam. We made plenty of sandwiches and still had filling left over, but like any good curry, the flavour only improved with time.

Scones sparked a lot of nostalgia, especially among adults who had lived in or visited the UK. They also became a discussion point about how to eat them for those encountering scones for the first time.

AI did not replace judgment. It helped me refine my ideas quickly and plan more realistically, saving me a lot of time.

The Recipes

Scones

Ingredients

  • 2 cups self raising flour ( or 2 cups all purpose flour plus two and a half teaspoons baking powder)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4teaspoon salt
  • 1/4cup cold butter, cubed
  • 1 egg
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons apricot jam
  • 2/3 cup milk, using most in the dough and keeping a little back for glazing.

Method

Heat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius or 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and salt.

Rub the cold butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In a jug, whisk together the egg, apricot jam, and milk.

Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients, keeping a small amount aside for glazing, and gently bring together into a soft, slightly scrappy dough.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Press down gently, cut into quarters, stack the layers, then press down again.

Cut with a straight sided cutter, a glass, or in my case a spice tin.

Brush the tops with the reserved milk mixture.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until well risen and golden.

Handle gently and avoid overworking the dough. These freeze beautifully, so doubling the recipe is worth it.

Lemon Drizzle Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 oil or softened butter, I used butter for a richer flavour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • Zest of 2 lemons

Drizzle

  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 /4 quarter cup sugar

Method

Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs.

Fold in the flour and lemon zest.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

While warm, pour over the lemon drizzle.

Not flashy, but clearly worth a second slice.

What AI Really Gave Me

AI did not make International Day magical.
People did.

But it gave me time, clarity, and breathing room to focus on the details that mattered, respond thoughtfully to feedback, and leave behind resources that future organizers can build on.

And it gave me enough headspace to make another batch of scones the next day, this time just for us.

That feels like a pretty good place to end.

Between Borders and Bites: Embracing Identity Through Food

International Day is one of my favorite events at school. It’s a vibrant celebration of diversity, where the hallways come alive with national dress, languages, and—of course—unforgettable food from around the world. But for those of us who identify as “third culture kids” or global nomads, it can stir up deeper questions. Where do I belong? Do I represent my Pakistani heritage, though I’ve never lived there? Kenya, the land of my birth and childhood, but not my citizenship? Britain, my passport country, which I haven’t called home in over a decade? Or the countries that have shaped my adult life—Mozambique, where my children’s memories are rooted, or Tajikistan, where we now live?

This year, I’ve decided to embrace Africa—a continent that still holds a piece of my heart. And I’m sharing two recipes that have become part of my own global story: mandazis from Kenya and a fiery peri-peri sauce inspired by Mozambique. Like me, these recipes are a blend of many places, adjusted by memory, mood, and what’s in the cupboard.

Mandazis – Coastal Kenya’s Coconut Doughnuts

Fifteenish years ago, I was living in the UK, homesick for the tastes and sounds of my childhood. I craved something familiar—Mandazis, the moreish, coconut-infused doughnuts from the Swahili coast. My children, excited at the mention of “doughnuts,” were expecting sprinkles. Instead, they got my determined (and slightly chaotic) attempt at recreating a taste of home.

After a phone call to my mother, scrolling through random websites, and experimenting in the kitchen, I came up with this version. My first attempt flopped—I hadn’t let the dough rest long enough. But I persisted. And in the end, we sat around the table, warm mandazis in hand, and laughed.

Here’s the recipe that finally worked:

Mandazis

  • 1 ½ cups plain flour
  • ½ cup sugar
  • Seeds of 3 cardamom pods, crushed
  • ½ tsp fast-acting yeast
  • A handful of desiccated coconut (if you have it…)
  • ½ cup coconut milk (I used low-fat because that’s what I had!)

Method:

  1. Mix all ingredients and knead until you get a soft, pliable dough. Add a little more flour if it feels too sticky.
  2. Rub some oil on your hands, form the dough into a ball, cover it, and let it rest overnight (or, if you’re like me dump it into an oiled bag and refrigerate the dough after allowing it to rise at room temperature for an hour.)
  3. The next morning, divide into 3 portions. Roll each into a circle about 1 cm thick and cut into quarters.
  4. Let the triangular-ish bits of dough rise for another 10 minutes (or longer if you’re patient).
  5. Deep fry in hot oil until golden and puffy.
  6. Enjoy warm. (Sprinkles still not included.)

Peri-Peri Sauce – Mozambique’s Fiery Flavor

Now, let’s clear up a common misconception: peri-peri sauce isn’t South African in origin. While a certain chicken franchise may have made it globally famous, the sauce actually comes from Mozambique—and many of those franchise chillies are still grown there!

This recipe, like my mandazis, is more of a story than a strict list. It’s a blend of instinct, memory, and trial and error. In the last few months before departing Mozambique, I brought a jar of this homemade sauce to a friend’s braai, or BBQ to anyone outside of Southern Africa, and she immediately asked for the recipe. So, I scribbled it down as best as I could.

Here it is—messy, spicy, and totally delicious:

Peri-Peri Sauce

  • 1 red bell pepper/capsicum, chopped
  • 1 small red onion, chopped
  • 4–5 garlic cloves
  • 1 inch-ish piece of ginger
  • 3–5 red bird’s eye chilies (or green chillies if that’s what’s available)
  • 2ish tablespoons chopped cilantro/coriander
  • Salt (1 tsp), pepper (½ tsp), chili flakes (½ tsp), oregano (½ tsp), basil (½ tsp) – adjust to taste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • ⅓ cup white wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 2 tsp tomato paste

Method:

  1. Blend everything until smooth.
  2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.
  3. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t burn.
  4. Blend again for a silky finish.

Bringing International Day to Life

To help make the day even more festive and interactive, I also created a customizable Country Bingo template for students and families to enjoy. (Credit to the original Canva template by Zuzel that I adapted and made my own.) It’s a fun way to engage with the diversity around us.

If you’re decorating your space, I’ve also made International Day letters filled with world flags—perfect for bulletin boards, banners, or student displays.

As I prepare to celebrate International Day once again, I’m reminded that identity isn’t always something that fits neatly into borders or checkboxes. Sometimes it’s found in the familiar smell of cardamom, the sizzle of dough in hot oil, or the slow burn of a homemade sauce shared with friends. These small things—the bites, the spices, the stories—help me feel rooted, even when I’m unsure where “home” truly is. If you find yourself between cultures too, maybe you’ll find a little comfort in these recipes.