1st of January, 2025...

The long-awaited year is here. 2025 is a year we've been looking forward to since we entered the "ember" months in the year 2024. It was a joyous moment in church yesterday as we were there to appreciate God for His faithfulness in the past year while being grateful for another awesome new year; a new chapter.

As the normal tradition in my hometown, every 1st day of the new year, we prepare rice in large quantities so we can share it with those in the house and visitors that come around; not only that, we give part to the elders in the town, one we know are close to our family.

When my big sister was still around every year, she was the one in charge of preparing a large pot of rice that would be enough for everyone, and then, I used to be scared of trying to cook a large proportion because I thought it wouldn't turn out sweet; perhaps the seasonings might not be enough or that they are too much in it. Cooking a large quantity of food wasn't something I thought I was capable of doing until the table shifted to me being the next older child in the house.

My aunt, the other day, teased me and said, there's no way I would escape that responsibility because I am now the older person since my big sister isn't around. She was trying to tell me the whole affair is my duty to control and make sure everything is in order. What I have been running away from since I was a young teenager, thinking my sister would always be available to run the home when we come around for Christmas and New Year, but it turned out the role has been handed over to me like a mantle to oversee everything accordingly and yes, this young lady is doing her best in that aspect.

We woke up very early this morning and after the morning devotion, we all dashed out to start preparing food for the celebration. The tasks were shared among the 8 of us, excluding the elderly ones, and the work got easier and quicker.

We made Jollof rice; thank God we'd fried the goat meat that was killed yesterday, so we won't have to do that this morning, making us stay longer than expected, especially for those who would be attending service so they aren't late. I didn't go to church as I had to finish the rest of the cooking while disengaging my siblings to go and dress up.

The food turned out nice, and I was excited to hear a good review when my aunt tasted it and confirmed it to be very okay. I was already scared, thinking the large quantity would have some errors, but everything was perfectly done, including the quantity of pepper, onions, seasonings and water added.

This would be my second year preparing in large quantity and I feel I am getting better. Thanks to my big sister who showed me some methods of cooking a party jollof rice because this is something I've been wanting to learn all these years. This is because the kind of jollof rice I usually cook on my own doesn't always taste like one eaten at a party until I got the secret to making it taste exactly as I have wanted.

We put some minerals in the freezer to get iced so we can enjoy our meal later when everyone is back from church. Right now, I am at home with my younger brother as we await them to be back in an hour, and everyone would eat to their satisfaction while waiting for dinner, which is pounded yam with vegetable/melon soup.

Happy New Year, everyone. I wish us the best of the year 2025.

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_{All images are mine and are captured with my Samsung Galaxy A14}