:::{Betty Bake ... Real Food made with Natural Ingredients}:::

PURE restaurant Valentine's Day Menu judging

2012-02-08T15:40:00.003+02:00

THE Amazing Springbok that stole my heart! with spiced beetroot puree, baby caramelized onions, cherry tomatoes, red wine sauce

On Friday I had the privilege of being invited to Pure Restaurant at Hout Bay Manor to do a tasting/ help with some dish judging :) I've never been a judge before ... I must say I quite liked it and found it quite fun. Taste , comment, taste, comment, write some notes, ponder - its strenuous work *wink*

It was a great idea: Each person in the Pure kitchen (except the main chef) got to cook and create a dish for the Valentines Day Menu... then one of their dishes will WIN and be the main course for the official V-day menu at Pure. There were 6 entries and they were all very delicious. But there were definitely 2 dishes that stood out!

Delicious duck on carrot puree, plum carpaccio with 3 bean cassoulet and love-oli (minus the duck in this pic)

Now note that I had let Pure know that i wasn't really eating meat (I have been 90% vegetarian for the last 2 and a half months) They very kindly allowed me to judge/taste the food minus the meat but I did elect to taste a small portion of the one and only game meat on the menu which was springbok and it was AMAZING! So much so I asked them if they would include it in their regular menu at Pure. (So that was my teeny tiny meat indulgence for the month.) but I just couldn't do all the duck, beef, pork and springbok of fear that I would fall asleep after living so happily and AWAKE for the last 2 and a half months! *yes I feel amazing being off meat*

Ok so back to the tasting of food.

Mark Coxon - far right

The winner of the Valentines day dish from Pure's kitchen was Mark Coxon - a 3rd year student at Silwood kitchens. His creation was: Plump duck breast, beetroot puree with pomegranate-vanilla reduction & lusty kimchi salad. It was VERY delicious - even minus the duck for me.

Beetroot Puree with pomegranate-vanilla reduction & lusty kimchi salad

My dining companions were: Max Lund (@maximusland), Retha (@Rethavs), Clark Truter, (@clarktruter), Cheyne (@cheyne_reaction) , Matt Mercer (@mattmercerZA), Lara Scott, Aletta Longari and Alexa from Pure (@purerestaurant)

Snapped a pic of someone else plate: crispy pork belly with Strawberry risotto, mange tout fan and granadilla vanilla syrup

Thanks Pure Restaurant and Hout Bay Manor for a very delicious day

EAT-IN Best Local Food Blog Awards

2012-02-02T12:15:00.000+02:00

So this blog is in the running for an EAT-IN DStv BEST LOCAL FOOD BLOG AWARD.

I am 1 of 10 bloggers who are up for the prize/title of Best *LOCAL food blog. So that means I have 1 in 10 chance - YAY! If you help me *wink*

Its this voting process that allows you to pick who has the best blog and tell the Judges who you like.

You visiting this blog and reading this so I'm gathering you probably like this blog - or better yet you know me and think I'm nice *happy dance*
SO then please vote here http://www.eat-in.co.za/Awards/Blogger-Awards

IT EASY PROMISE
->SELECT BETTY BAKE from the list and use your name and email address to vote.

Its these kind of happy awards that make blogging a happy place and make you feel you have a little noddy badge of "hey, you're doing good"

Thanks for helping me out

*Local being South Africa (but you can vote from any where in the world with your email address)

VANILLA CAKE GLUTEN FREE

2012-01-31T17:27:00.000+02:00

Here is the typed out version from the recipe: Vanilla cake in my you tube video. A big thank you to all who have viewed it. I hope it keeps spreading and being viewed - YAY!

It really is a VERY easy and Yummy cake :) Its one of those cakes that you can make in 1 bowl and whip up and place in the oven while supper is being prepared. It is THAT easy!

Scroll to the end of the post to see how yummy is is all finished and filled with cream.

INGREDIENTS
100 grams Brown sugar
2 eggs
120 grams Gluten Free flour (you can use regular flour - just use a bit less)
1 and a half teaspoons baking powder
1 vanilla pod or a generous teaspoon of vanilla essence
1/4 - half a cup of milk

METHOD

Beat together the sugar and eggs until pale and thick.
Sift in the flour and baking powder and stir in lightly, but do make sure there are no lumps.
Scrape in the seeds of a vanilla pod or essence.
Slowly add the milk until nicely combined and you have a medium/thick batter.
Place in a buttered and floured cake tin
Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 20 min or until golden and springs back to the touch.
Allow to cool before slicing in half and filling with cream and sifting icing over the top

Or decorate as desired

VANILLA SPONGE CAKE - GLUTEN FREE & ON YOUTUBE

2012-01-25T09:00:00.000+02:00

After Many hours I finally have a recipe video on You Tube - hooray!

Enjoy the EASY and Gluten Free Vanilla Sponge cake. Feel Free to share this video - go nuts and tell everyone - even your grandma. She'll love it to!...

To go directly to the link and to see it in a much bigger screen go here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbt0pfH1_ZM

Thank you to my 2 egg actors who were super cute and very willing to try anything ;)

A BIG THANK YOU to Matthew Mole for allowing me to use his cute and fun snappy song. You can down load his music for free here

And for my husbands patience I owe him another cake ;)

GNOCCHI GLUTEN FREE

2012-01-19T12:27:00.000+02:00

I have been eating very little meat for the last 2- 3 months. Reserving to eat meat for special occasions or a treat. Doing this I find that I have so much more energy and feel more awake. Weird cause I didnt feel asleep before.
Anyway when eating out I find it hard to find something on the menu that I like that is meat-free and wheat free. *I don't eat sea food either.
Even though Gnocchi isn't wheat free I decided that because it has quite a lot of potato in it I'd give it a try as I was tired of eating lettuce filled salads at restaurants.
After enjoying a few I decided I needed to give it a try myself

I read through some recipes and I found this one to be the most comprehensive and helpful here on www.finecooking.com

I converted my recipe to gluten free and just used a rough read through of the recipe to make my own version.

INGREDIENTS
6 medium potatoes
Gluten Free Flour +/- 1 and a half - 2 cups (i just added until i had the right consistency)
1 egg
a generous pinch of Salt

METHOD
wash your potatoes and place in a pot of boiling water so that potatoes are covered by the water and turn down to a simmer.
Simmer until soft. I tested by inserting a knife and it went in easily.
Turn off and throw off the water and allow the potatoes to cool down until warm.
Peel the potatoes by hand and roughly cube.
Mash the potatoes WELL! you want it to be lump free and smooth.
Let the mash potato cool then add 1 egg and a generous pinch or 2 of salt and stir in thoroughly.
Now add flour a bit at a time until you feel you have reached a soft dough consistency - not super sticky but not to stiff either. Mix with your hands. DO NOT work with it to much - just enough to mix all the flour in. I felt the success is not over working your dough.
Wash and dry your hands.
Flour your work surface.
Break off fist sized balls of dough 1 at a time and roll into a sausage.
Use a sharp knife and cut into pieces about as wide as your thumb.
Lay the pieces on a baking tray covered with wax paper.
Keep working until you have rolled and cut up all your dough.
Using a large pot bring water to the boil and sprinkle in a little salt. Turn down to a simmer.
Place roughly 10 gnocchi pieces in at a time and when they float remove with a slotted spoon.
If you put to many gnocchi in at once you will end up with a goopy mess.
Place a sauce of your choice on your plate or bowl and place gnocchi on top.
Sprinkle with freshly grated cheese
Serve immediately

PS this was a huge hit with my family :)

Coffee Espresso Machine - BREVILLE

2012-01-17T15:45:00.001+02:00

flat white made by a professional Barista - not me!

So recently my husband and I went coffee machine shopping. Before we set out I never realised how daunting this would be. We had been browsing for almost a year now and we had a rough idea of what we wanted. We knew we wanted an espresso machine. We had a stove top peculator already and we were now wanting to progress to the next step :) yay! well so I thought...

After browsing some stores I realised I didn't want a machine that took pods or capsules like Nespresso. Even though their machines were very cute I wanted to tamp (push down on the coffee) myself so I wanted a manual machine (NOT an automatic). I also wanted to buy whatever beans I wanted! so I could grind fresh. I wanted to make the perfect cup from scratch - like in a real coffee shop.

So when walking from shop to shop to shop - each only stocked a few machines. And the makes and models varied. Even though the store clerk rated them highly I didn't feel like they had one at home. So I went home to Google, watch some YouTube videos and ask on twitter.

YouTube really helped but the outcome was that I should really buy a SUPER expensive machine around R18000 ($1500) and up. Now as much as I love my coffee I am not in this bracket of spending this amount of money on 1 machine right now! but If I bought a cheaper machine would I be wasting my money? this was the great debate. So after much consideration we settle on a Breville Barista Express machine from @home store. It costs around R4950 but they were running a promotion so we got it less 20% at R3990 - yay!

Once home it took some knack to get our espresso not to taste sour! about 5 days of minor adjustments and loads of coffee making - coffee high anybody? but now we are so happy!

I proved that I didn't need to spend the R18000 but could get a manual Barist style machine to make coffee at home.

I am now practicing how to make the prefect flat white .... the coffee journey continues ;)

How do you make your coffee?

PLEASE NOTE: I bought this piece of machinery myself and was not asked by Breville or any agents or stores to write a review. This is my personal experience ONLY and I used my own money to purchase it.

DOUBLE HONEY ALMOND TRUFFLES

2012-01-11T09:30:00.000+02:00

INGREDIENTS
100grams Raw Almonds
6 Tablespoons Honey
2 Tablespoons water
pinch of salt
125ml cream
100grams 85% Dark Chocolate (eg Lindt or other good quality chocolate)
2 tablespoons cocoa for dusting

METHOD
Grill/ roast the almonds in the oven until light golden brown (watch it or they will burn). You can store them in an airtight container for a day or 2 or carry on with the recipe.
Transfer the almonds to a frying pan with 3 - 4 tablespoons of honey, water and a tiny pinch of salt. Simmer and stir and leave on low till nice and thick and darker golden brown. Make sure that you don't burn the honey!
Have a tray ready with buttered foil or buttered wax paper!
Spoon the honey almond mix onto the buttered foil/paper and allow to cool and go brittle.
In a Bain Marie (eg glass bowl over a pot of simmering water) place cream and chocolate.
Stir until melted and smooth.
Stir in 2 Tablespoons honey
Cut/crush the brittle honeyed almonds with a sharp knife until you have course crumbs and stir into the melted chocolate mixture.

Place in the fridge for a few hours to firm up.
Once firm (I left mine over night but think 2 hours should be fine) scoop out a rounded teaspoon at a time and roll very lightly in your hands and the place in sifted cocoa.
Shake off lightly and place on tray or place and place back in the fridge to firm up
I managed to make 20 small truffles

They were moreish!
Enjoy!

STRAWBERRY SORBET - COOL & HEALTHY

2012-01-06T16:08:00.000+02:00

It is beach weather in Cape Town at the moment. REALLY HOT! Get-a-tan-and-burnt-in-20-minutes-flat-kinda-weather. You know the kind where the sea glistens and the beach babes play volley ball and your skin smells of coconut sunblock.
Well I'm not falling for it! I may live 2 minutes walk from the beach but I am opting to sit in the shade of my garden and watch my daughter play in the sprinkler (under the shade of a tree).
Im going to kick back my shoes and eat some sorbet. It maybe less fashionable but I'll have just as much fun with out the sand being in my shoes and every piece of clothing I wore to the beach ;)
BONUS: This Sorbet will be even more delicious (and healthy) than ice cream bought from the kiosk at the beach.

This recipe is so much easier than you think and is filled with fresh fruit (vitamins) :) Its a win-win summer treat!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup fresh apple juice
1 generous cups strawberries (trimmed and cut up)
4 tablespoons honey
1 small lemon
2 x eggs whites beaten (soft to medium peaks)

METHOD
Dissolve the honey in the apple juice by heating it slightly in a small saucepan on the stove.
Puree your strawberries in a blender and then pass through a sieve into the apple juice. This is to get rid of the tiny little seeds.
Squeeze the juice of the lemon into the mixture - tasting as you go. Don't make it to sour.
Freeze and mix in your ice cream machine or in a low dish in your freezer.
Add the all ready beaten egg whites.
Stir and freeze or serve immediately
Freezes well in a sealed container (I use CONSOL glass jars - preserving/ Mason jars) for roughly 6 weeks.

*if you don't have an ice cream machine and are freezing it in a dish = then beat the mixture and return to the freezer twice before adding egg whites

NEW YEARS EVE SPARKLYNESS

2011-12-29T09:30:00.000+02:00

This year I think we will stay in with our 7 year old - make some snacks rent a cool DVD and spend some time chatting about the new year. Then when it is very late for a 7 year old to be up :) we will send her to bed with a million kisses and tell her all about how it will be a new year when she wakes up. but before she does we'll fit in some ice cream before bed and some fizzy juice in "champagne" glasses... maybe some sparkly cupcakes and light some sparklers while listening to some Frank Sinatra :) then tuck her in.

Once the little one has drifted off to sleep the husband and I will sit outside under the stars as we do every year and talk, eat and wrap ourselves in blankets to keep warm... of course there will be yawning and joking and then just after 12 a kiss and off to bed for a snooze.

There WILL BE food - Im already contemplating the snacks. Maybe some cheese on biscuits with cherry tomatoes and basil. Also some yummy berries and home made custard ... ooo .. I know custard cold with chocolate grated into it YUM!

I can also make use of the cherries I steeped in vodka to make a nice fizzy champagne cocktail for me and the husband.

mmmm - Who knows? maybe we will invite some friends over

OOOOOOR go out...

I am never sure exactly how it will go, but I do know I want it to be relaxing and stress free.

hope your New Years is as fun and as nice as you anticipated and FULL of sparkly-ness

Love and thanks for reading my blog over this year

Hope you will come back and read some more in 2012

See you then

Happiness and love

PS WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR NEW YEARS- ANYTHING FUN?

One & Only Nut Cracker themed High Tea

2011-12-23T09:30:00.000+02:00

I attended the Press Launch for THE ONE & ONLY CHRISTMAS HIGH TEA in August for Christmas. Yes they are that organised!

The Christmas theme at The One & Only is sure to be cute and special this year with a high tea spread that I found really pretty with a festive nut cracker theme. There were cute little nut crackers everywhere .

If my stomach was bigger and could have handled more food I would have tried one of every single thing on the table.... I wish! So choose wisely if you are not a big eater!

I personally loved the tiny canille and the creamy and smooth mini cheese cakes not to mention the florentines! I tried many more things too ... mmmm

Canille on the right - a giant bowl of yumminess!

Tea is R145 per person and includes teas and coffees. Early booking is advised.

Seeing as Christmas is a few days away - run off and go try it before its over and gone!

*photos are all my own*

MISS K's IN GREEN POINT

2011-12-13T17:34:00.000+02:00

A little while back I was invited to lunch with a few bloggers and media at Miss K's. It was a small intimate lunch with the owner herself - and what a lovely lunch it was.

Miss K herself - so friendly and warm. And an array of deliciousness that is in her eatery.

I was fortunate enough to have a generous and delicious salad all to myself as I have been avoiding meat lately and everyone else was having a seared tuna salad - which looked so good. But wanting to avoid the seafood and meat aspect I had a veggie salad. It was a show stopper of a salad!!! Filled with delicious veggies, fruit and salad ingredients. I think I will need to return for another one :) It was huge so next time I'll share some of my salad with the husband ;) as I couldn't finish the one they served me.

The delicious salad I had / outdoor seating / painted wall mural / fresh flowers.

The vibe and layout is quite nice with an open kitchen counter where you can see the cooks and kitchen staff cooking. The outside area has tables, chairs and umbrellas for the sun and fresh air seekers.

The event was lovely with a delicious lunch followed by very nice chocolate brownies (they were as fudgy as they were chocolatey). *note return again for brownies*

A kind thank you to Kirsten and her PR team for inviting me.

To see their menu and other details visit their website here

SIGNAL RESTUARANT AT THE CAPE GRACE AND PAUL CLUVER WINES

2011-12-01T09:30:00.000+02:00

On Thursday night I was invited to attend the Food and Wine Dinner at the Cape Grace Hotel in their Signal Restaurant paired with Paul Cluver wines - All compliments of The Cape Grace Hotel (thank you!)

View from the library window

We started out in the library at 7pm with canape's and white wine and some chatting. I had the lovely husband with me to talk to (phew) as I'm not so good at meet and greets.

After half an hour we were led through to the restaurant for dinner. To my great surprise we were seated at our own table of 2 and each party of people had their own table depending on the amount of guests they had booked for. It was like any usual night in a restaurant seating wise. I really liked this as I didn't have to make small talk with other diners but just enjoy the evening with my husband. I sounds like I hate talking to people - I don't I promise! but it was nice having the husband all to myself :)

After a brief talk by the chef Malika van Reenen explaining the menu and then a talk by Andries Burger from Paul Cluver wines about the wines that would be paired with our food. Both were interesting. Andries made me want to visit Burgundy in France from his stories. It sounded so beautiful and amazing.

Starter
green gazpacho toasted cumin flat bread, homemade blueberry yoghurt cheese paired with Paul Cluver Close Encounter Riesling 2011 - I have to say I really loved this wine and drank it through out the night - it paired well with everything! I have added it to my list of must buy wines.

Main
twice-cooked crispy duck leg with wild mushroom and lentil ragout, beetroot gastrique paired with Paul Cluver Pinot Noir 2009 - The duck was lovely and the mash very creamy. The wine wasn't to my taste - then again I'm no wine buff.

Dessert
summer strawberries, rose and litchi paired with Paul Cluver Riesling Noble Late Harvest 2010 - The summer strawberries was served in the form of a sorbet which was very light and refreshing, it was lovely. The wine was very sweet - being a dessert wine and lovely.

PRIOR TO THE EVENING:
I had let the hotel know that my husband is allergic to nuts a few days prior to the function and The Cape Grace were really good at making sure that he didn't have any food containing ANY nuts!
They really were very thorough. I felt that they had taken the time to prepare their staff and several of the waiters and staff were aware of the allergy and made sure that everything was nut free.

*Thank you to Leah De Klerk who helped organize everything

WI-FI SUCKS AND COULD = CANCER

2011-11-29T10:51:00.001+02:00

To my family and friends I'm a bit of a health freak. They are always wandering if I'll eat the food they have in their homes if I come round. Its really not that difficult - anything fresh eg fruit, veg or salad. See its not so difficult. Even better if its pesticide-free or organic (that makes me super happy).

I avoid hormone filled meat and dairy and anything high in sugar. But I still eat plenty of really yummy things - like really dark chocolate and wheat-free baked goodies like chocolate cake and other things like gorgeous vanilla ice cream. So you see I'm not a deprived, boring, salad eating health nut but a regular girl with a desire to be healthy.

With health on my mind I tend to read some health related stuff - like how cinnamon is good for you ;) which means I have more reasons to eat lots of cinnamon pancakes .
So anyway on my healthy reading kick today I came across this article online http://www.naturalnews.com/034268_cordless_phones_electromagnetic_radiation.html and it got me thinking. Have you noticed over the past 10 - 15 years how many more people have had cancer than before.
I remember when I was young - if someone got cancer everyone was shocked and saddened and it was a friend of a friend. Now if someone has cancer everyone is so much less shocked and more people we know have had it in some form or shape. And yes some cancers are very preventable through the foods we eat and the things we do. BUT especially in the fact that in the above linked article that we are using more and more wireless devices... I have pasted part of the article below.

I know this sounds silly and petty but if it means my child will grow up cancer free - or lower her risk I will do it! Really is it so hard to plug in my internet instead of having the signal all over the house and turn off the wi-fi? So a cable costs me a few rand - I got my husband to bring me a really long one and I can use it almost any where in the house. Also do you really need your wi-fi on at night while you are sleeping? Same for your cellphone - at night put it at least 3 meters away from your head or in another room. If someone needs to call you, you will hear it.

It bugs me that the houses around me all have their wi-fi on 24/7 - I know because if I turn on my laptops wi-fi function I can see the list of networks and their signal strengths.
And cellphone providers keep putting up more and more towers!
Do we not have a say?

Anyway I now really sound like a health freak - and if that is the case so be it!
I want myself and my family to live long healthy lives.

I love the digital age we live in - being able to blog and stream music etc... but is it so difficult to have a few extra cables?

Just saying

(NaturalNews) Many people are aware that prolonged cell phone use has been associated with brain cancer, but most don't realize how other sources of high-frequency electromagnetic radiation (EMR) also radically increase cancer risk.

Until recently, EMR has been given scant attention. It's a toxin that can't be seen or often felt; flawed telecommunication industry-sponsored studies have revealed that current EMR exposure levels are safe, so it has been mostly ignored in medicine. Furthermore, the US government, which receives massive tax revenue from telecom industries, has established faulty guidelines for EMR exposure. It has deemed safe levels to be thousands of times higher than what disinterested scientists have proven as safe. Indeed, studies from such scientists reveal that current amounts of EMR from telecom towers and antennas radically alter the body's cellular communications' processes, leading to cancer and other diseases. These scientists believe that the dramatic increase in cancer in recent years has been due in part to the growing prevalence of EMR in our environment. And the amount of radiation that we are exposed to doubles yearly.

New telecom towers are constructed every day. Average city-dwellers have anywhere between 30-100 microwave towers/antennas within a four-mile radius of their home. All of these towers emit high-frequency electromagnetic fields that have been linked to cancer development. For example, one Germany study reported that living within 1300 feet of two microwave towers over ten years triples cancer risk. Other studies in Australia, UK and Italy revealed significant increases in leukemia among people who live near such towers. Many other similar findings have been reported.

EMR outside the home isn't the only type of high-frequency radiation we are exposed to. Wi-Fi routers, baby monitors, and cordless phones emit high-frequency radiation that has also been linked to cancer. When in use, cordless phones emit an amount of radiation similar to that of a cell phone. (One study revealed that thirty minutes of daily cell phone use, over ten years, increases the risk of brain cancer by 140%). Wi-Fi routers are similarly dangerous. G. Blackwell, PhD, Chartered Engineer and advisor to WiredChild, states, "Having a digital wireless device in your home, office, or school is like having a mini-base station (cell tower) indoors with you." And with Wi-Max (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) now being implemented across the globe, entire regions will be blanketed in cancer-causing high-frequency electromagnetic radiation.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034268_cordless_phones_electromagnetic_radiation.html#ixzz1f5Fmpxc9

Just think about it

hugs

EASY NECTARINE & YOGHURT DESSERT

2011-11-24T12:37:00.001+02:00

I always hope to give my family healthy food. Delicious... but healthy. This is one of those times it really works. Fresh fruit full of vitamins and Greek yoghurt filled with dairy. There is a little brown sugar in there but I did mention it was a little.
Lying below the layer of yoghurt could be any fruit your fancy - Adapt this recipe with fruits like fresh soft plums, peaches, cherries or even bananas.
The time that the bowls sit in the fridge allows for the sugar and fruit to make a small amount of syrupy juice that gives it an extra yumminess. (could make a nice breakfast too)

INGREDIENTS
Nectarines (organic if you can get) OR Fruit of your choice
Greek Yoghurt
Organic Brown Sugar

METHOD
Wash your nectarines and then slice up into thin-ish slices. Take ramekins or teacups and line the bottom of the dish with slices of the fruit until you have a nice layer in each.
Sprinkle a thin layer of sugar on the fruit.
Cover with the Yoghurt until you can't see any fruit peeking through. *all the fruit must be covered*
Sprinkle a thin layer of brown sugar on top of the yoghurt and place in the fridge for an hour or 2 for the sugar to turn to syrup.

Serve

*if the yoghurt doesn't cover ALL the fruit then the air may cause your fruit to brown

Things I am CRAVING right now...

2011-11-22T14:14:00.001+02:00

So as a woman I am always thinking and finding things that are a must have, or want... some realistic and some not! Hope you enjoy.

1) I could really do with a tin or 2 of Nomu Hot Chocolate chunks (its real chocolate ground up into chunks) instead of making it into hot chocolate I put spoonfuls into a glass of cold milk and drink / eat it with a spoon... YUM

2) I love my blender which was bought from Boardmans a few years ago and it has by far given me its best years of use... sadly it is sounding rather sick, I think the motor is dying. I would LOVE another... I mean what will i do without being able to make my banana ice cream and smoothies?

3) Mornings in our house consist of me waking up and making/packing lunches after which I dream of my first cup of coffee I am going to make myself :) I always grind my coffee beans fresh and I LOVE a good cuppa... I'm thinking I would really enjoy learning how to be a Barista with a course at Origin coffee...one of my favourite coffees to drink. maybe I will.... Just need to work on my study brain ;)

4) With Christmas under 5 weeks away I am dreaming of making everyone the PERFECT Christmas present.... but I am a bit worried that time is running away and I won't get finished in time *fingers crossed*

5) Have I mentioned I LOVE Cherries? because I so do! I am so so so happy because they are now in season and I hope to fill my cherry addiction my the mouthful actually by the bucketful in every form and shape ... for as long as my wallet allows! NEED MORE CHERRIES!

6) a new camera lens... mine is BROKEN *sad face*

*ps all the pics are my own except the Nomu hot chocolate and the black and white barista pic. Each taken from the companies mentioned websites.

ICED COFFEE MILKSHAKE

2011-11-18T13:21:00.001+02:00

What do you do when you REALLY want a cup of coffee but you have NO milk in the house? After a few minutes of sulking and wandering if I could put yoghurt in my coffee - Ewww! I eventually reached for the jar of my home made vanilla ice cream in the freezer and mixed some with my coffee. Results = Yumminess and even better than regular coffee!

Found 2 of these Milk stream glasses at a vintage store and I couldn't resist. They remind me of when I was young and my grand father used to have a soda stream machine, he would make us our own cool drinks in little glass soda stream bottles.
Not sure when they launched a milk stream? but they are pretty and vintage and I just like them. perfect for milkshakes.

INGREDIENTS
Vanilla Ice Cream (home made or store bought)
Filter coffee left to get cold
Sugar (optional)
Cream (optional)

METHOD
Pour your cold coffee into your desired glasses about half way and fill up with ice cream.
Stir until well incorporated or leave your guests to stir their own and the black and white contrast of the vanilla ice cream and black coffee is quite pretty. Garnish with some whipped cream if desired.
Add sugar if you need more sweetness - I didn't need it but make to your own preference.

Enjoy - Happy Coffee filled weekend!

LEMON CREAM CHEESE ICING / FROSTING

2011-11-15T15:45:00.001+02:00

Cake garnished with blueberries and dripping smooth lemon cottage cheese icing

It the time of year for festive happiness and Christmas cheer :) and what better to cheer you up than some zesty and sweet icing or frosting for your cakes.
Super easy and simple to make.

INGREDIENTS
Icing Sugar (+/-250 grams)
1 lemon
Cream Cheese or Smooth Cottage Cheese
Milk

METHOD
Depending on weather you use cream cheese or smooth cottage cheese will depend on how much icing sugar you need. Start by placing your cheese (which ever you pick) in a medium bowl. Beat the cheese until soften slightly then sift over icing sugar a bit at a time and mix in until smooth.
Cut your lemon in half and squeeze some of the juice into the bowl - taste and add as much as suits your taste. If your icing is too thick add a little milk until it is the desired thickness. The same applies if it is to runny, add more sifted icing sugar until thick enough.
Then ice / frost your cakes

Happy tea time

enjoy

POTATO, FENNEL & CAULIFLOWER SOUP

2011-11-08T18:53:00.000+02:00

This is one of those recipes I made while cooking and hoped it worked out. I stumbled across a lovely combination of flavors quite by accident but I am really glad I did. Do try it, it is really nice.

INGREDIENTS
1 small to medium onion
1 fist size fennel bulb
2 medium to large potatoes
1 medium cauliflower
1 small handful of soup celery
a few sprigs of FRESH oregano and thyme
3-5 largish FRESH basil leaves
olive oil
salt
water

METHOD
Peel and chop up your onion into small cubes and fry in olive oil in a medium pot.
Season with salt and fry until light golden brown.
Thinly chop up your fennel bulb into small cubes and add to the onion and continue to brown.
Peel and dice your potatoes into roughly 1cm size blocks and fry with the fennel and onion.
Once everything is lightly browned chop up your cauliflower in to smallish chunks and add to the pot and then fill the pot with water until everything is covered.
Dice your celery and add to the pot along with the fresh herbs (shredded).
Salt the pot a little more and bring everything to the boil.
Once boiling turn down to a simmer and leave to cook till everything is tender (roughly 40 min)
Pour your soup in batches into a blender and blend until smooth and place in a new clean pot.
Taste and season with salt if it needs it.
Dish into bowls - serve with a dash of cream.

Enjoy

BANANA LOAF

2011-11-08T11:09:00.001+02:00

for a cute dessert bake in little bowls and pour custard on top just before serving.

This was my Granny's recipe that I got out of her hand written recipe book. A book with her scrawling hand writing, some pages with stains and marks on the recipe as they were well loved and used often. This is one of them. And it really is a very good recipe. I have adapted it to be gluten free.

INGREDIENTS
125g butter
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 vanilla pod or 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
4 ripe bananas
2 cups gluten free flour
a pinch of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon bicarb
1/2 cup of milk

METHOD
Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.
Beat in the eggs 1 by 1 until thoroughly incorporated.
Add the vanilla pod or essence.
Mash up the bananas well with a fork on a separate plate and then mix into the mixture.
Sift into the mixture the flour, salt and baking powder.
Mix the bicarb with a little of the milk and add to the mixture.
Now add the rest of the milk gradually and then beat the mixture thoroughly
Put into a greased and floured loaf tin (you can use a round cake tin if you don't have a loaf tin)
Bake at 180 degrees celcius for roughly 1 hour (check near the end)

Take out the oven and turn out of the tin after 10 min.
Leave to cool and then slice

Enjoy spread with butter and a cup of tea

Old World Christmas Thoughts

2011-11-04T23:26:00.000+02:00

My mind is reeling with ideas as Christmas approaches and the things I could be making and should be baking... Like when will I start baking my Christmas cake. And will I get to it this year?
Last year I baked mine after Christmas. I had all the ingredients but just didn't get to it until Christmas was over. Its not that I didn't want to bake it.. just the opposite - I really wanted to bake it. It is one of my own little Christmas traditions for myself. Every year for me it is reminiscent of my grandmother who would bake a whole batch of Christmas cakes every year. It is such a lovely memory and since I have her recipe (which I have adapted to be gluten free) it makes me feel a connection or closeness or just a feeling of old world charm.
I think this year our Christmas will be more home-made and less commercial. I am opting to make quite a few of my Christmas presents for people. For no other reason than because I want to. I feel like I am giving more than just a quick, mall induced, crazy shopping spree present wrapped in crunchy, cheap, red and green paper but a piece of me in the gift.

How are your days coming along? with festive cheer? or a muttered mall induced snarl?

SA BLOG AWARDS

2011-11-01T10:58:00.001+02:00

So the SA Blog awards is upon us again. I would so appreciate (like A LOT) if you would vote for me. *pretty please with a cherry on top*

please go here to VOTE and then when they email you please confirm the link in the email for your vote to COUNT!

I need your help – the winning blogs are chosen through a combination of judges and public votes. I need your votes to win!

note: You can only vote once per category and the voting is only open for 10 days.
*ALSO: if you vote for someone else in the same category -your last vote will override your previous vote!

I wander to what lengths bloggers will go to get votes... bribing, begging, pleading, paying... ;)

Thanks darlings
*sprinkles and rainbows* from me for your kindness :)

PEPPERMINT AND DARK CHOC CHIP ICE CREAM

2011-10-27T12:51:00.000+02:00

The first time I attempted to make this ice cream flavor it was a big flop! I started out with my original vanilla ice cream flavor and decided I wanted it to have real peppermint in it - not fake peppermint essence but the real thing with real peppermint health properties and taste. I figured if I took my peppermint leaves (I have a plant in my garden) and blended the leaves in a blender until juiced/fine and sieved it into the cream mixture it would have the flavor I wanted. Boy was I wrong! It tasted earthy and green and not nice at ALL!
Then after stumbling across a few peppermint ice cream recipes on the internet I realized that in order to get the real peppermint taste I wanted I needed to infuse the leaves in the cream. (check out this cool peppermint ice cream recipe). I tried it out recently and it worked. *happy dance*

Sometimes we just need to persevere.... and good things happen

INGREDIENTS
7 Egg yolks
500ml cream - 2 tubs of cream (250ml each)
1 cup (250ml) milk
2 vanilla pods (seeds scraped out)
125ml organic brown sugar
3 tablespoons honey (optional)
1 - 2 large handfuls of peppermint leaves (well washed)
50grams - 100grams DARK chocolate (i use either 70% or 85% cocoa)

METHOD:
Place the milk and cream in a heavy based saucepan along with the peppermint leaves. Slowly bring to just below boiling point. While you are waiting for it to heat up separate the eggs and mix very well with the brown sugar and honey.
When your peppermint cream mixture has been heated to just before boiling point take off the heat and stand for a few minutes (it must cool and infuse) take out the leaves. Stir into the egg mixture.
Keep stirring. Once the egg mixture has been incorporated properly put it back in the pot on the stove and warm slowly until it has thickened slightly to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Take care not to heat to quickly as the eggs will scramble once it has thicken you can now place the custard in a bowl in the fridge to cool down for a few hours (atleast 3 hours).

Roughly chop up the dark chocolate.
When you custard mixture is nice and cold place in an ice cream machine and make according to your machines instructions. Add choc chips half way through :)
*If you don't have an ice cream machine place the mixture in a low sided metal pan or bowl and place in the freezer. Take out every 30 - 45 minutes and beat with an electric beater until nice and smooth and the ice crystals have been broken up - the more time u beat and return to freezer the smoother and creamier it your ice cream will be :) You can add some choc chips after the first beating.

Enjoy

La Motte - Cape Winelands Cuisine Cookbook Launch

2011-10-21T18:12:00.000+02:00

On Wednesday I had the pleasure of attending a cookbook launch of Cape Wineland's Cuisine at the La Motte Wine farm.
The idea behind the cookbook is to bring back some of the old family recipes our grandmothers used to cook in the Cape Winelands area ... traditional comfort food. Things like Offal Brawn, Rolpens and pickled tongue. I don't know what is comforting about Offal... I was yet to find out!

ARRIVAL SNACKS. We started in the old cellar with refreshments (rooibos tea, ginger beer with rose geranium etc.) and some snacks (Mosbeskuit, Mini ouma's loaf, oyster and marrow pies to name a few). After our snacking, drinking and chatting, the day proceeded with an interview style talk on a mini stage with the chefs and owners of the farm about how the book came to being. A very interesting discussion to say the least. Funny and informative. All was ended off with a lovely prayer by Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg.

We then headed to lunch at Pierneef.

LOCATION. Pierneef is a beautiful building with a delightful mix of decor, chic and comfortable mixed together.
I loved how everything was mixed together from comfortable couches to beautiful chairs and hanging teapots.

FOOD. We all had detailed programs/menu's which told us what food we were going to be eating- Things like Offal, and pickled tongue and cape bokkom salad...To say I was apprehensive is an understatement! I mean eating tongue and Offal is really not my thing but I was determined to try everything.
And to my surprise - it was delicious. I really enjoyed quite a lot of the food. I had to consciously turn off my mind and just go with the flavours I was tasting... and they were very good!

My favorite was the Sweet and Sour Pumpkin and Lamb Stew - I will be returning for this if it is on their menu. It really was so GOOD! I am still thinking about it a few days on. And of course all the food was paired with La Motte's wines. All perfectly complimented each dish and tasting.

THE FARM. Having it been my first time to La Motte I really enjoyed finding out more about the wine farm. It has an art gallery, wine tasting cellar, restaurant, farm stall and walks on the estate.

The Rupert-Koegelenberg family were very warm and welcoming - letting us onto their farm and sharing their beautiful food and wine with us. I felt at home and well taken care of. Thank you very much.

*Cape Winelands Cuisine available soon in bookstores

ORIENTAL PARTY

2011-10-18T12:42:00.002+02:00

In February this year was my daughters Oriental Party. To have a look at the invites I made, take a look here. I have finally got round to editing the photos.

low oriental inspired table to eat at.

I started with the colour scheme of white as a base colour and then used red, black and different shades of orange as accents and touches of blue.

Oriental figurines

I found this cute Japanese figurine couple at a 2nd hand shop. They formed the center piece for the table surrounded by mirror boxes filled with red, orange and yellow flowers.

Each girl had a pillow to sit on, a square dish, a pair of chopsticks and an oriental jelly sweet that I made. For the candy/jelly sweet I made a version of this Agar-Agar Candy

Homemade sushi

For the main course I made sushi. (I had to get up really early in the morning to make it so it would be fresh for the party) maybe next time I will order it from a good sushi restaurant.


pink and white coconut ice AND pink and white home made marshmallows

In between the flowers were little white bowls of treats. As it was an all girls party - most of the food/treats were pink and white. Pink and white coconut ice and pink and white marshmallows (marshmallows were made by my sister in-law).

Party packs in Chinese take away boxes

I bought Chinese take-away boxes and filled them with pink and white sweets, a little Chinese purse, some hello kitty stickers and other cute things. Tied it up with black packaging ribbon and a black feather with a silver gem stuck on top. Label each box individually with the girls name with a picture of a Chinese lantern next her name.

Party packs ready for happy little girls to take home

alice band accesories

For our craft for the party the girls made Alice band/ head bands with feathers, flowers and jewels.

Other games played were fishing for paper koi fish were they won prizes of little silver rings- which all the girls seemed to love.
(I also had pass the parcel ready with little prizes wrapped in Chinese newspaper between each layer but never got round to playing it.)

my daughter picked jewels to decorate her cake - so I borrowed these from my mom, they were my grans.

And the cake - my daughter had no idea I had made her a rainbow cake, so when the cake was cut it was a huge surprise. I used Whisk Kids famous recipe for rainbow cake but i made mine gluten-free :)

Rainbow cake

It was very delicious cake :)

Radio Silence

2011-10-12T09:28:00.000+02:00

Radio Silence ....

So here I am staring at the computer screen. Cursor flashing back at me, daring me to write something brilliant and worthy of awesomeness.

But then I realized I should probably leave it to the pros for amazing writing and just be me :)

So hi. I'm back from our 3 week family holiday and ready to get my life back in gear.
Being away from the computer so long has made me lazy for writing and editing and organizing in digital world. I loved being in nature and seeing all the animals and the beautiful countryside ... but now I am home back in suburbia and needing to get back to work, life and routine.
It has its ups and downs... Ups like I get to have a morning cup of coffee all by myself and breathe the fresh smell of the morning and just think and plan *bliss*
Downs because its back to washing (clothes), sorting, lifting, homework (the kid), more washing (dishes) and just schedules of ballet and play dates and suppers etc.... and not enough time to take photos of food and edit and type out recipes - I need to get my groove back.

In short please bare with me... I'm trying and will be back.

WINNERS

2011-10-03T09:30:00.000+02:00

YAY! and the winners for the cookbooks of Simple Indian by Atul Kochhar are...

Kathryn (Becoming you) and Bronwyn Howells

Please email me soon with your delivery address.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT RAVIOLI - GLUTEN FREE

2011-09-29T09:52:00.000+02:00

I found this really nice recipe for gluten free pasta/ravioli on Gluten Free Girl & The Chef.
I made it quite a long time ago and made up my own filling for the little ravioli pockets. And even though it been a long time since I made them my daughter has been asking for it again.

I need to make them again soon. They do take a little work and time to make - but its sooo worth it!

I did a roast butternut filling and in others I did a tomato mince filling.

Start by making the Ravioli (I found this recipe on Gluten Free Girl & the Chef)

RAVIOLI

DOUGH INGREDIENTS

2-1/2 cups gluten free flour (I used Health connection Gluten Free Flour Mix)
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon olive oil
5 eggs
1 egg yolk

METHOD

Place the flour in a bowl.
Add salt, oil and eggs.
Mix until you have a dough.
Then place on a lightly floured surface.
Knead dough by folding over and turning over and kneading for a few minutes, until the right consistency appears (somewhat like bread dough). If the dough is too dry and crumbly, add remaining egg white
Place the dough in a bowl and cover.
Allow dough to rest for at least 20 minutes

ROASTED BUTTERNUT FILLING

FILLING INGREDIENTS
1 medium butternut peeled
1 small onion peeled
1 Tablespoon olive oil (or oil of choice)
salt
1 garlic clove skin still on
a few Tablespoons fresh cream

METHOD
Chop your butternut into chunks (the smaller they are the quicker they'll cook)
Place in a medium to large oven roasting dish.
Dice the onion finely and sprinkle on the butternut
Drizzle with olive oil (or oil of choice)
Take 1 clove of garlic with the skin on and crush under a knife or heavy object to just break the skin so flavors can release.
Place in the middle of the butternut tray.
Sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt
Bake at 180 degrees Celsius until golden brown and tender. (stir occasionally)
Take out the oven
Remove the garlic clove
Take your ingredients and place in a food processor/blender and blitz until smooth adding a tablespoon of cream at a time. You want a consistency of mashed banana or heavy cream (not to runny).
If you don't have a blender you can mash butternut with a potato masher or a fork but you won't get as smooth a filling.

COMPILING THE RAVIOLI

METHOD
If you have a pasta machine put the dough through it a few times and then cut into squares.
If you don't have a pasta machine - not to worry. Just roll out the dough with your rolling pin until nice and thin and then cut into squares. You can decide if your want small, medium or large ravioli - just make sure your squares that you place on top of each other are the same size. I made ours roughly 5 cm x 5cm.
Once you have decided on the size of your squares and cut them up. Place a spoonful of the butternut filling in the middle and dab water all along the edge and then place another square on top to seal. I then used a fork to press down lightly on long the edge to make sure they were well sealed. (not sure if this is necessary) I also liked the pattern.

Put water in a pot and bring to a rolling boil and then place a few in at a time.
Once they rise to the top take out and place on a plate with season with salt, pepper and a little sprinkled cheese if desired or a nice sauce - like a cheese sauce or whatever you fancy. I think if would go well with a cream cheese and bacon crumbled on top.

You can see I served it with a mince sauce in the pic above. Use this recipe minus the spaghetti for the mince sauce.

Enjoy

INDIAN by Atul Kochhar COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY

2011-09-15T09:30:00.000+02:00

Fancy some Indian?

I received some cook books from The Penguin Group. One of them was this one called Simple Indian by Atul Kochhar. I like the front cover - that beautiful blue of the counter or table reminds me of the ocean. I have only just recently started cooking Indian food so i am by no means a word of authority in this field of cooking. (not sure if I'm a word of authority in any field) but I can firmly say I am definitely not in this one...

So Indian food. Which Simply translates in my brain to curry! I know Indian food is so many more things than just curry but I can safely say curry is the first thing that comes to my mind. (Im sure Im not the only one.) So this cookbook arrived to change my mind - that Indian is so much more than just curry. Just listen to these recipes: Crab Salad with coconut and curry leaves, or Kashmiri apple pudding, or Baked yoghurt with figs in syrup... YUM!

So while I'm off trying these delicious goodies and cooking my way through this book. I have 2 copies to give away.

THE GIVEAWAY:
2 copies of SIMPLE INDIAN by Atul Kochhar

There are 3 ways for you to win - you will get an entry for each thing that you do

YOU HAVE TO BE A FOLLOWER OF BETTY BAKE BLOG 1) Be a Follower of Betty Bake Blog
1) 1 entry for being a follower of my blog
2) "like" Betty Bakes facebook page (just come back and say so here) - 1 entry
3) Tweet about this giveaway - add @bettybakeblog to your tweet (just come back and say so here) - 1 entry

*please leave a separate comment for each thing you do (facebook like, tweet, etc) in comment section below

this is SOUTH AFRICA give away ONLY

this competition closes midday Friday 30th September 2011

BANANA TARTIN & CREAMY RISOTTO WITH BACON AND JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES

2011-09-12T14:30:00.000+02:00

For those of you who remember when I did the READY,STEADY, COOK at The Earthfair Market in Tokai a while back... OK quite a while back. Well I had so much fun and chef Ian and I won (YAY!) Here are the winning recipes so you can make the delicious food at home. I remember it being really delicious and have made the Risotto several times since then - so you should really try it! I know the Banana Tartin isn't wheat free but you could always leave off the pastry.

These recipes are compliments of chef Ian Cawkwell - Thanks Ian.

RISOTTO

INGREDIENTS
100 grams risotto rice

1 onion chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 pack streaky smoked bacon

20 grams sun dried tomatoes

50 grams Jerusalem artichokes peeled and sliced

500ml cream
250ml white wine (roughly a glass)
Stock (not sure exactly how much)

100 grams Parmisan cheese (we used pecora sheeps cheese)

METHOD

In a pan sweat off the onion's, garlic and peeled Jerusalem artichoke.
Chop and add the bacon and continue till cooked.

Add rice and white wine,keep adding stock until rice is cooked

Add cream and sun dried tomatoes and reduce for 5 mins

Now add the cheese

Dish and serve with a crunchy salad

BANANA TARTIN

INGREDIENTS

50 grms melted butter

100 grms sugar
3 Bananas
Brandy/Whiskey (optional)
1 Roll ready made Puff Pastry

METHOD

melt together until golden brown add small tot of brandy/whiskey ect

add 3 sliced bananas

cover with puff pastry and bake in a preheated oven of 180 degrees celcius for about ten minutes

Turn out and slice
Serve topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream

LIVING GLUTEN-FREE EASILY

2011-09-07T11:09:00.001+02:00

Being Gluten-Free doesn't mean you can't make yourself a delicious cake like this... you just need to know how.

Living gluten-free can be quite a big adjustment at first, especially if you eat a lot of baked goods and pastas. I decided to write this post because sometimes I get emails or tweets from people asking what to change in their diets to become gluten-free.

So here is what I did and maybe it will make the transition easier for you to.
Start with your basic shop: Go to the store and select fruit, veg and salads that you like. Buy as much as you think you will need for your week (I shop weekly so I have fresh fruit and veg and salad).
Buy things that you like - no use buying veg or fruit that you hate - cause then you just torturing yourself and you won't want to make the change to gluten-free.Make sure you skip the bread and bakery section!!!
Now buy your meat (chicken, fish, lamb, beef or pork) and dairy (milk, yoghurt,cheese, cream etc). Look at the veggies you have in your basket and think can I make a veggie bake? take your favorite vegetables, peel, chop and add some cream or a cheese sauce and top with a little cheese and bake in the oven.
If you can't have dairy think roasted vegetables with olive oil,rosemary, salt and garlic. Add some salad and meat and you have a meal. For variety try different vegetable and salad combinations. In summer you can eat more salads and add fruit to them too. Think Pear with walnuts and lettuce and a nice salad dressing. And in winter you can eat more baked and steamed vegetables.

Lunches: When it comes to lunch boxes - swop out your bread for rice cakes, corn thins, and 100% rye biscuits (be aware rye has a teeny tiny bit of gluten in it). In winter think soup. In summer fruit and yoghurt.

Pasta: You can replace the regular wheat kind for a 100% rice pasta or corn pasta Be sure to use straight away after boiling. And the pasta strands tend to brake up when reheated. but that doesn't mean you can't have your favorite mac and cheese.. just swop out your usual pasta for the corn or rice based pasta and make the usual way.

Baking: I know you want chocolate cake - who doesn't? And more than likely you won't be able to just buy cake or bread at the store that is gluten free.But you certainly can make whatever you like with gluten-free flour.

When baking I use these 2 gluten-free flour mixes.

Nature's Choice Gluten Free Cake Flour

Health Connection General Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix

Health Connection Wholefoods - General Purpose Gluten Free flour Mix:
Ingredients: rice, potato, tapioca, chickpea flour and Xanthan gum.

Nature Choice Bio Friendly Gluten Free Cake Flour:
Ingredients: brown rice flour, soya flour, sago flour, potato flour, tapioca and sea salt

I prefer the health connection flour for things like pizza bases and bread-related type things.
I prefer the nature's choice flour for cupcakes,cakes, general baking and light things like pancakes.

Don't be afraid to try different products. Be sure to read the labels and make sure you can have the ingredients that are contained in the product you are buying.

If you are gluten-free what products do you prefer using?

Best of luck! You can totally do it!

Note

2011-08-31T00:00:00.000+02:00

(On a Side note - is a new post I've started when I want to write something about my life that ISN'T food related. If you are here for recipes then please simply skip over them)

I am on a mission to find ....

An office chair (for my new office in a cupboard*) - not so easy to find an office swivel chair in white and silver for a price less than a ... price of a kitchen aid!!! Its just a chair!

A gorgeous corner couch in either grey fabric (corduroy) or white leather (genuine) .... been trying to convince the husband ;) He is very obliging but says do I want to go away on holiday in 3 weeks time or rather have a pretty new couch! mmm do I have to pick?

I'm also on a mission to find time... let me know when you find it - OK?

*Office in a cupboard is this crazy idea to turn a wardrobe/clothes cupboard into a hideaway office. So when we not using the computer, printer etc we just close the cupboard and it seem like we have a normal lounge with out all the gadgets/techie stuff :) Its coming along nicely ... hence the need for a sparkly white and silver swivel chair.I post pics when the office in a cupboard is all finished.

hugs

HAPPY FRIDAY!

2011-08-26T18:06:00.000+02:00

Happy Friday

Here's hoping you have one of those chilled, no dishes, Jam on delicious toast and tea weekends!

Hugs

Smooth Banana Ice Cream

2011-08-22T16:25:00.000+02:00

I love this treat/snack SO much as it is one of the EASIEST things to make, so very cheap on ingredients and easy to adapt to your taste!

I have seen this blogged about as the 1 ingredient ice cream. ... and I suppose it can be called that. I just adore it because it can be given to babies all the way through to adults. AND IT DELICIOUS AND HEALTHY. Think easy for kids on a hot summers day. No need to buy ice cream and fill them with preservatives and glucose syrup when this tastes just as delicious and is twice as healthy. Great for kids parties - especially toddlers. You also can add chocolate chips or peanut butter or nuts and cherries to make it an even more special treat.

INGREDIENTS

1 and a half bananas per person

2 Tablespoons cream per person (optional) - don't add if giving to babies

extras: chocolate, peanut butter, cherries, nuts etc...

METHOD

Peel your bananas and slice into 1cm chunks.

Place in a glass (freezer proof) bowl or jar and freeze until hard (I freeze mine over night) but I'm guessing 3 hours should be fine.

Then place in a blender jug and blend until smooth - adding cream if you so wish to make it even more decadent and ice cream like but not necessary.

Once smooth you can stir in any goodies if you wish .. chocolate, nuts etc..

Enjoy straight away or place in the freezer to keep cool until needed

so creamy and delicious - you can also use mangoes instead of bananas :)

enjoy

Birthday with The Grand Daddy and Hout Bay Manor

2011-08-18T09:00:00.018+02:00


Kalk Bay - one of my favorite places to visit

Life gets pretty busy sometimes and its great when we get to step back and have a few days off. Its especially good when its your birthday and there is a public holiday 2 days after :) allowing for me to really maximise the birthday celebrations and time off :)

It all started with a family lunch at my parents with presents and home cooked food and happiness. Then a drive through Kalk Bay and off to Cape Town. Very kindly I was spoilt rotten with a nights stay at The Grand Daddy Hotel :) - thanks Sergio and the Grand Daddy team. Crisp white sheets and comfy pillows along with bubbly in my room on arrival... I loved it ALL.

The husband and I went out for supper at the V & A Waterfront that evening with some shopping thrown in and then relaxed and slept cozily at the Grand Daddy.

We rose very early the next morning to head off for a treat given to me to by Hout Bay Manor - 2 full body massages (hubby and I together) in the Inzolo Spa. It was oh so relaxing and just what I needed :) - thanks Alexis and team- It was blissful!!!

After our hour long treatment we set off to pick up a take-away coffee from Origin in Cape Town and drove back to one of my favorite spots in Kalk Bay for amazing views and more coffee and a little more chilling before heading home and back to reality.

I'm still day dreaming that every day should be like this - pretty and comfy hotel rooms and massages and awesome coffee and chill out sessions by day!

Lifes Spice bowl

2011-08-16T10:04:00.003+02:00

Im sorry for taking a while to post ... life is busy right now and I love my blog and I'm missing you all so much! Right now I am busy trying to plan a holiday for our family, deciding whether to just stay locally or take a trip internationally but on a budget. Sounds like fun hey...but the decisions are not that easy! and ALL require money and some clever thinking on my part. I've also been out at some lovely launches and events and I have quite a few pictures to go through and edit and post on here. Never mind the recipes I keep hoping to post but I just don't seem to get there. Added in the usual cooking, cleaning, lifting, school homework, family functions etc... Life seem to be one big juggling act!

I hope you are well :) I always check in for comments regardless of if I get time to post something.
Life no matter how busy is good because we have so much to be grateful for ... the weather is beautiful, we have air to breathe and people in our lives to love. I always take time to put on some good music while I'm working - it makes me smile and that is what counts!

I hope your life is happy no matter the circumstances... you are unique and there is NO ONE like you! :)

Hugs

BEEF CURRY

2011-08-10T16:14:00.001+02:00

I really dislike certain spices! And because of that I have never been able to eat curry. I'm thinking it may be the actual curry leaves or tumeric that I really don't like. Because every time I taste a curry the flavour is NOT to my liking. The burn is not what I want either but the actual taste is what makes me not like it. So for the very first time a few weeks ago I made my very first curry that I could actually eat! :) yay! I took several recipes and decided what spices I would use and what I would leave out as well as what I actually had in my cupboard. So this curry was my first curry LOVE and I'm proud to say my husband and daughter liked it too and I will actually make it again!

If you like very hot curry - add MORE chillis and fresh ginger.

INGREDIENTS
1 garlic clove
large pinch of coarse salt
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 smallish piece of star anise
some woolworths steak rub (contains, mustard green peppercorns, black pepper, sugar.. etc)
a thumb size piece of ginger grated on medium small
1/2 - 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tiny 1cm piece of star anise
half a red chilli ( finely diced)
sugar
salt
pepper
600 g beef steak
3 medium onions (peeled and diced)
olive oil
2 tins or 1 large bottle organic tomato puree
1 small tin organic coconut milk
1 tablespoon tomato paste
*note to self - (next time add some fresh tomatoes too)

METHOD
Cube the beef into bite sized chunks/blocks.
Fry the beef in a frying pan with some olive oil and some steak rub until sealed/brown on the outside.
Take the steak out the pan and let rest in a bowl to one side.
Add the mustard seeds and the cinnamon and star anise and add a dash more olive oil and fry until toasty.
Take out and crush in a pestle and mortar and add back to the frying pan.
Mash your garlic and salt into a paste in a pestle and mortar and add to the frying pan.
Add the peeled and grated ginger to the pan. Stir.
Add the onion. stir and fry until light brown.
Add the tomato paste, tomato puree, chilli and the meat to the pot and stir.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add a little sugar if needed.
Then add the coconut milk. continue to simmer until thick and the meat is tender. (maybe 40 min to an hour.. the longer you cook it the more tender the meat )
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with rice

FREE PRETTY CARD AND TAG DOWNLOAD

2011-08-04T17:16:00.004+02:00

It is my Birthday on Sunday (7th of August) and while looking on the Internet for all things cute and Birthday-like I came across these SUPER CUTE birthday tags and cards :) Are they just adorable?

Photography by the Elephant Shoe Love :)

Kindly even though they are featured on The Pretty Blog (which I LOVE) Elephants Shoe Love, the super cool designer of these cute tags said I could share the lovely FREE download with you :)*yay*

I can't wait to play with these :)

Thanks to Elephant Shoe Designs :)

FREE CARDS, TAGS & STICKERS DOWNLOAD

Have a GREAT weekend :) My Birthday festivities have already started! *double yay*

Silwood Kitchen & Le Creuset

2011-07-31T18:38:00.000+02:00


Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

What started out as a very organised me on a thursday evening ready to join some food bloggers and a Silwood chef to cook, drink and be merry .... didn't happen as i hoped!

After consulting the husband, google maps and maps on my phone, I headed off in the direction of Rondebosch set to attend a Silwood Kitchens cooking class - yay, happiness :) BUT.... what started off as a happy food blogger (me) driving and listening to music and in a good mood ended up very lost , sad and desperate to not be LATE. As the sun started to set and the traffic thickened I was starting to get desperate .... I so badly wanted to be there on time and I had left home early enough even to factor in the traffic. But after getting into the area and not finding the road I drove round and round and round... I kept convincing myself the next road would be THE road!

Now sad that I was definitely not going to be there on time -regardless of being in the area of Silwood Cooking School the husband phoned to check if I had gotten there ok (kind man). I informed him I was LOST!

He logged into google map, while I ~~moaned~~ talked to him on my handsfree cellphone headset while he directed me where to go!!!! (Thank You husband)

At last i got there.... 40 minutes late - YES I was THAT Lost!!! I was so happy to just have arrived I wouldn't have cared what they told me to do!

Jess a 2nd year student at Silwood Kitchens Cooking School

The lovely people helping with the class got me to my cooking station and set me up with all I needed and Gary (the instructor/chef for the evening) got me up to speed with the rest of the class who were merrily chopping and cooking.

I eventually let out a sigh and relaxed. The evening was finally back to happiness and ended up in such bliss - teasing Cayley (from Love Bites Blog) everytime I misheard the instructor I would turn to Cayley and Ming (from Butterfingers) and ask did he say? umm the small portion of butter or the large portion of butter??? and when Cayley couldn't tell me I would tease her - you are supposed to know Cayley- you've been here before ;) Sidenote: Cayley had done a 2 night cooking class at Silwood before and they made this decadent looking chocolate cake (drool). so i kept asking her stuff with her previous Silwood experience ;)


Cayley and Ming

On this particular Thursday night we made: Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup, Stuffed Chicken with a Tarragon sauce and Cappucino Bread and Butter Puddings.

Le Creuset gave us some beautiful dishes - 2 Large Ramekins, a mini cocote and a 19 cm rectangular dish.


Stuffed Chicken breasts with a Tarragon sauce

Cappucino Bread and Butter Puddings (Large Ramekins given to us by Le Creuset)

I along with 12 other bloggers- we cooked and chatted and worked our way through the evening - it was great fun and something I would LOVE to do again! I would like to thank Le Creuset and Silwood Kitchens for a fab evening! A special thanks to Jess a second year Silwood Student and John a first year Silwood student who were so friendly and helpful along with the helpful and relaxed chef Gary.

I am definitely contemplating going back with a friend for a fun and relaxed evening of cooking :)

Ishay from Food and the Fabulous

Matt Alison from Im no Jamie Olive

Ming from Butterfingers

Hope you enjoyed reading

ORANGE AND HONEY CREME BRULEE

2011-07-20T09:50:00.002+02:00

You know when you mean to make something but you end up making something else? Do you? I keep having one of those moments where I go to make my regular vanilla creme brulee (which is very delicious) but every time while making it I think awww just add the honey and orange juice, you can make plain vanilla next time. I have been doing this so much lately I've come to realise that orange and honey creme brulee is my new favorite!!! It is so silky and smooth and just the right amount of sweetness with a good flavour - I just LOVE it!!!

INGREDIENTS

250ml cream
250ml full cream milk
1 vanilla pod
2- 3 generous tablespoons honey
1 large orange
6 large egg yolks

METHOD
1) in a small saucepan put the cream, milk and seeds scraped out from the vanilla pod as well as the empty pod into the pot. Slowly bring to the boil - just before it boils over -remove from stove top.
2) in a bowl/jug mix together the egg yolks and honey.
3) allow the vanilla milk mixture to cool slightly before pouring into the eggs and honey - stir while adding the vanilla milk
4) place it into the pot again and slowly heat while stirring, remove the vanilla pod.
5) cut open the orange and squeeze over the pot and taste. Keep adding orange juice until desired taste is reached ( i usually squeeze one lasrge orange into the mix) - let mixture thicken slightly from stirring over low heat.
6) pour into ramekins or tea cups.
5) place the cups in an oven proof dish (deep roasting tray or bakeware) and place boiling water half way up the outsides of the cups/ramekins and place in the oven of 160 degrees celcius
6) bake for 10 - 15 min and remove from oven when there is a set layer on top of the mixture when you tilt the custard -it ripples or moves a bit from underneath the thickish milk skin

let it cool then place in the fridge for a minimum of 2-3 hours
they can be kept in the fridge covered for 3 or 4 days

take out and sprinkle castor sugar on top and caramelise with a chefs blow torch or put under the grill of the oven but watch CAREFULLY as it will burn very easily

There really is something so soothing about eating these delicious little treats

WINNER

2011-07-18T21:11:00.002+02:00

AND THE WINNER IS...... Laura

Laurasaid...: AND I tweeted :)

well done sweetie, please email me your full name and address :)
CONGRATS and sorry everyone else, I know this little piece of cuteness caused lots of gushing and wanting... Next time ;)

MUESLI - MAKE YOUR OWN STYLE

2011-07-15T16:53:00.004+02:00

MUESLI is one of those great things that if you make your own you can decide just what kind of mood you are in and make it according to your taste. If you don't like nuts or a particular nut - leave it out. If you really LOVE dried mango add double the amount! :) See its fun when you make it how you want it instead of buying the shop version and then picking out the annoying parts you don't like. Also the shop bought version can be expensive for the good stuff! And the cheap stuff tends to lack in taste or nice ingredients. Of course as always I believe in buying the best quality ingredients you can afford. And go for organic if you can... it will be healthier and better for you.

Here is the really simple MAKE-YOUR-OWN muesli.

INGREDIENTS (feel free to swop out ingredients for what you like)
500g - 1kg rolled oats (organic if possible)
2 - 5 tablespoons pure sunflower oil
2 - 5 tablespoons Honey ( as RAW and as pure as you can get)
Sunflower seeds
Sesame seeds

MIX ALL THE ABOVE TOGETHER AND BAKE/GRILL UNTIL GOLDEN BROWN. STIR OFTEN AND WATCH IT DOESN'T BURN. THEN ADD:

Almonds or other nuts you like

Dried fruit of choice- (Raisins, Golden Saltanas, Dried Mango,Dried Pineapple, Dried Apple, Dried Apricots, Dried Pears etc...)

Chop up your dried fruit into small bite sized pieces and stir into the honey toasted oats.
Let cool and then pour into a air tight jar.
Enjoy with milk or yoghurt and a spoon of honey.

Makes an excellent gift - label and tie some pretty ribbon round the jar.

READY STEADY COOK - Market Style

2011-07-13T15:38:00.002+02:00

On Saturday 2nd July I had the opportunity of being part of a Cape Town Version of READY STEADY COOK! No there was no Ainsley Harriot but there was chef Ian Cawkwell and Chef Stefan Wessels as well as Sam Linsell from Drizzle & Dip.

To say that I don't like crowds and people staring at me is an understatement!!! I hate that feeling when you realise the whole room is looking at you and everyone has stopped what they are doing to hear or see what you are doing... say EMBARRASSING! but I must say the market kept its buzz in the background as some people watched and others shopped... and it was FUN! Yes I said fun... this coming from hermit crab me who wanted to climb under the table just minutes before it all started. Thanks to my team member and chef - Ian Cawkwell. We won! ;) YAY!

Sam and Stefan made a fish biltong salad for starters and a Kudo/gembok (or some other wild and exotic mince) into a spaghetti bolognese for their mains. The point of the exercise was to use ingredients from the market that people don't always tend to buy = unusual.

On our team Ian and myself- our dishes were Jerusalem artichoke, bacon and pecora(sheep cheese) risotto. And we got to do a dessert instead of a starter - a banana and almond Tartan. All this = Delicious :)
I really enjoyed working with Ian as he was very thorough and made sure I learnt while we cooked. It was a very enjoyable experience - even if having a microphone in your face every now and then with an MC asking you questions is a weird way to cook! I still had a blast.

Thanks to Jackie from Earth Fair Market organized this event and who has a very cool vision for the market and wants to try new and fun things .... and Fun is what I had!

This Saturday 16th July is the Earth Fair Markets 2nd birthday! Im sure it will be fun.

SUNDAY

2011-07-10T17:42:00.000+02:00

Hope you are having one of those kind of Sundays!

THINGS THAT MAKE ME SMILE...

2011-07-06T15:56:00.000+02:00

Sitting in the sun on a winters day
Eating homemade food - Like soup or risotto or homemade cookies
Nice emails and kind tweets and sweet comments on this blog make me smile - alot!
A hot cup of rooibos tea and a cute cat curled up on the windowsil
Watching my favorites TV series and having a good giggle
Pretty bunches of flowers around my house
Having the husband at home (even if he is sick) is nice company
Learning how to make risotto from scratch and then eating your creation - rewarding :)
Friends and family who came to support me on Saturday at Ready Steady Cook at The EarthFair Market :) so very kind

What is making you smile right now?

GIVE AWAY Cath Price Rabbit Bowl

2011-07-01T18:05:00.000+02:00

How cute is this bowl by Cath Price. I first spotted her beautiful work on the House & Leisure website and just knew this piece of functional art was a must have. I mean think of the possibilities... not only could you use it as a cute pinch bowl for spices or sauces but placing your jewelry in it or your keys would look just as fabulous - or just staring at the little bunny popping through is nice too.

And the Good News is you get a chance to win one of these pieces of cuteness :) how lucky!!!

Please visit Cath's Facebook Page and LIKE it

THE GIVEAWAY:
1. Super Cute Rabbit Bowl

There are 4 ways for you to win - you will get an entry for each thing that you do

YOU HAVE TO BE A FOLLOWER OF BETTY BAKE BLOG & LIKE CATH'S FACEBOOK PAGE
1) Be a Follower of Betty Bake Blog (I will check) - 1 entry
2) "like" Cath Prices facebook page (just come back and say so here) - 1 entry
3) "like" Betty Bakes facebook page (just come back and say so here) - 1 entry
4) Tweet about this giveaway - add @bettybakeblog to your tweet (just come back and say so here) - 1 entry

*please leave a separate comment for each thing you do (facebook like, tweet,) in comment section below

this is SOUTH AFRICA give away ONLY

this competition closes midday Friday 15th July 2011

Organising a Bloggers Get Together

2011-06-27T15:11:00.001+02:00

So on Thursday I am looking forward to being part of organizing the Cape Town bloggers get together (with the helping hand of Being Brazen). Now we have utilized Twitter and Facebook as well as some very kind bloggers who have re-posted our invites.
We have been offered wine by Zandvliet Wines and changed venues...It was quite a search.
Thankfully the Grand Daddy Hotel will have us with no venue hire fee = we don't have to charge for people to come - YAY! So I'm hoping people will support their bar and buy a drink or two (fingers crossed)
Ofcourse the FREE wine isn't going to help this - so we have decided to limit the wine to 1 welcome glass of wine per person to hopefully start things off and then hopefully everyone will order from the bar - after all we would like to be invited back again or be on good terms with the Grand Daddy Hotel for other events ...(if there are any) .... I maybe CRAZY at that POINT!!! (insanity here we come).
We just realized we don't have any snacks for everyone and were hoping to get some donated (good luck on that!!!!) so far no takers. If you are a nice kind soul (read - company) who would like to give us some food for roughly 140 (yes you read right) we would love you FOREVER!!! and of course tweet about it on Thursday night.

Let see if 140 people really pitch? - if half pitch thats 70 people - still not bad for a get together in Cape Town when people tend to hibernate when the weather is cold!

;)

Hugs

HOUT BAY MANOR

2011-06-24T10:39:00.001+02:00

On Monday night I had the pleasure of attending Hout Bay Manor's Concierge Party. It involved live music by a very entertaining entertainer, delicious snacks by Pure Restaurant and mingling by a cross section of media and travel related people, - And it was LOVELY!

After a tour of the hotel I realised how lucky we are to have so many beautifully decorated hotels in the Cape area. As well as such interesting and different places to visit in Cape Town.
I really enjoyed the snacks/eats from PURE restaurant and will definitely try go back for some supper. The tastes were impressive!

Thanks Hout Bay Manor for a lovely evening :)

CREAMY ROASTED ROSA TOMATO, MUSHROOM AND CHICKEN PASTA

2011-06-23T09:30:00.000+02:00

When walking into a shop and smelling gorgeous cooked meats and tomatoes.. it made my stomach growl. I shopped like a lunatic buying a whole chicken and little tomatoes and onions and cream... came home and proceeded to make the aching for the gorgeous smell in the shop go away... It worked!

INGREDIENTS
1 whole chicken
2 large onions
400g (2 punnets) rosa/small tomatoes
250 - 350g mushrooms of your choice (i used button and portabello)
250ml (1 cup) of cream
fresh herbs - thyme, basil, sage (1 small sprig of each)
salt
pepper
2 tablespoons brown Organic sugar
3 cloves garlic
1 packet of pasta (i used rice noodles)

METHOD
Place your chicken in a roasting dish and season with salt and roast at 170 degrees until cooked but still moist. Take the chicken out the dish and set aside to cool. keep the dish with the juices from the chicken.
Peel and slice the onions into half rings about thin to medium thickness and place in the same dish as that the chicken was roasted in - in all the juices. Roast the onions for roughly 10 - 15 min (until light golden brown)
Now place the little tomatoes in with the cooked onions, placing a slit in each tomato so it won't burst in the oven. Add the fresh herbs and thinly sliced 2 cloves of garlic. You can use dried herbs if you don't have fresh.Sprinkle with sugar, salt and pepper. Place back in the oven and stir occasionally. Cook until the tomatoes are soft and wilted and oozing. Squish them down with the back of a large spoon.
While the tomatoes are finishing up in the oven start to boil your pasta.
Thinly slice the mushrooms and fry in a large frying pan with some olive oil add 1 diced garlic clove.
Once your pasta is boiled take off the heat and rinse.
Take all the white meat off the chicken and chop into chunks.
Add the tomato/onion dish from the oven to the mushrooms (juices and all) stir.
Now add the chicken and a tub of cream. Mix together and salt to taste.
Stir your chunky mushroom, chicken and tomato sauce into the pasta and serve.

(serves 4)

FYI

2011-06-22T09:52:00.000+02:00

If you are attending the Cape Town bloggers Get together on the 30th of June we just need to make sure that you don't go to the wrong venue>>>> Because so many of you fabulous people wanted to join us we have had to change to a bigger venue (YAY!) so please do turn up at THE GRAND DADDY HOTEL in Long Street and not at El Burro.

If you knew this already - sorry. But if you didn't know that means others don't know either so spread the word for us please. The beauty of social media. Oh and talking of social media - did you know it is World Social Media Day on the 30th of June? - the very night we are having our bloggers and tweeters get together. Happy coincidence and so fitting! YAY!

don't forget to RSVP here

LAMB AND ROSA TOMATO STEW

2011-06-15T10:00:00.002+02:00

Sometimes we need food that is easy to prepare but makes the house smell soulful and warm during winter. The smell hugs you like a blanket and makes you feel at home.
This dish is so easy to prepare and is delicious served with rice and a good glass of red wine.

INGREDIENTS
500 - 800g Free-range lamb stewing pieces
200g baby rosa tomatoes (or any little tomatoes you like - cherry etc..)
6 potatoes peeled and chopped
1 large onion diced
basil
rosemary
sage
sugar
salt
pepper
cooked rice for 4 people ( i used brown basmati rice)

METHOD
In a nice sized oven dish place lamb pieces, potatoes and diced onion with slitted baby tomaotoes and fresh herbs. Sprinkle on sugar, salt and pepper.
Place in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius.
Stir occasionally and cook until the lamb is brown and the potatoes are soft.
Serve on rice

2011-06-14T18:11:00.001+02:00

Kind bloggers and a thoughtful sponsor are really making me smile about our bloggers get together we are going to have
cooking really can be good for the soul :) especially when listening to music and just enjoying the moment
being busy can suck but time away from the computer is necessary and brings NEW inspiration!
watching a kid grow can be the most amazing thing for a parent - mine is amazing me each and every day
getting a tiny recommendation in a magazine can really make me smile and boost my blog life
each a every comment makes me soo happy - thank you

so what is HAPPY in your world?

BLOGGERS GET TOGETHER

2011-06-09T16:32:00.000+02:00

Hey Lovely Bloggers and Tweeters
Its been a while since anyone has hosted a get together. Lets just meet and say hi - possibly a drink :)
The lovely Zandvliet Wines has offered us some wine for the evening and El burro said we are welcome to have it at their Restaurant. So we picked a date and a time and hope you will ALL pop in for a hello :)

It would be so nice to meet you or say hi again.

*please post this invite on your blog page so more bloggers will know about the event :) It would be so appreciated!

ALSO Don't forget to RSVP on the Facebook Events Page so we can let El burro know how much seats/space we need. (And feel free to invite your fellow blogger friends on the events page too)

EVERYONE is welcome

hugs

HESTON BLUMMENTHTAL AND GOOD FOOD & WINE SHOW

2011-06-04T19:30:00.002+02:00

This time last week I returned home from the Good Food and Wine Show with sore feet and a head buzzing with ideas. After seeing Heston Blummenthal talk and hearing how he came up with parts of his tasting menu for his restaurant The Fat Duck in England (ranked number #2 in the world) I was so inspired! It was a shame that he didn't cook but all his talking inspired me to re-look at where i find my inspiration of how a dish is comprised. Now I won't be buying any special gyro-thingy-ma-jigs or reducing my stock and freezing it 3 times over! but I will be thinking how i can do things differently. So after Heston told us that cooking star anice with onions gave food a fragrant meaty flavour to a dish - I had to try it out. I have already since then made up an Asian lamb rib soup with star anise and corn in it, which my husband was well impressed with (10 points). Now it isn't by any means a Heston creation but it did make me think i should try out cooking with more different spices.

VENDORS

I enjoyed looking and tasting many things at the Good Food and Wine Show. Some of the display owners I recognized from places that I shop. It is always nice to see a happy friendly face and have a chat. Unfortunately I didn't get to photograph them all but I need to say hi and thanks for the chats to Lewis at Odeds Kitchen, Linda at Sublime, Ben at Le Creuset and plenty more....

The above pictures were taken of the Cavendish display done by Kim Gray. I found it very pretty and the actors sat around a table and pretended to have a tea party. They seemed to be enjoying themselves.. or maybe they just enjoy acting ;)

Cute and pink - The Sweet Temptations display was so cute. They had plenty of toffee to taste in a multitude of flavors (from vanilla to turkish delight and also jelly tot flavor and many more). I think the tops the ladies all wore at there stand were so pretty- All matching pink and black and CUTE!

Wayne from Rudis Sausage Deli. Wayne is a great guy who I buy sausage from at The Earth Fair Market in Tokai on a Wednesday and a Saturday. Rudis has a large display of sausages and they use free-range pork which is anti-biotic free and hormone-Free.

Of course there was plenty of Lindt to Taste. enough said... :)

There was plenty of chocolate vendors -one I enjoyed chatting to was to Mr and Mrs Ellis of Madecasse Chocolate. The company Bright Bean imports fair trade chocolate from Madagascar. So not only is this the right product to buy as its fair to the farmers but it tastes delicious too.

My husband bought me some goodies while we were walking around the show - one of them being this beautiful red kettle by Le Cresuset

one of the other things that I bought was a really nice pairing knife that I REALLY love! It is so handy and I've been using it ever since I got it last weekend. The people at the KAI shun knife stand were really helpful and apparently the little knife I bought has won an award so that is always a good thing. They also stocked beautiful baking equipment from the USA.

HONEY - MANUKA HONEY :)

2011-06-01T21:31:00.000+02:00

regular honey on breakfast, bananas and milk

This all starts with Miss Emma Jude Jackson who asked me if I would be interested in trying out some Manuka honey. After saying yes :) I receiving it, opened it and proceeded to eat it by the spoonful straight from the jar - Because it tastes Fabulous!

But wait!!! Manuka honey is special and has these amazing properties that have made it quite an extraordinary honey. I had read about this particular honey before on natural health sites on the internet and really wanted to purchase some for myself because it has some amazing healing properties. And when the opportunity arose for me to try some from Manuka honey via Miss Emma I jumped at the opportunity - I now didn't have to pay R150 for a small jar of honey :) AND I could try it out for myself and see if I it really worked or not.

After a few weeks I had tried it on my muesli and I was contemplating how to use it next. But Manuka honey has amazing anti-bacterial properties and cooking it just seemed wrong! after all would heating it up kill the anti-bacterial properties? But then last week I was sick last with a killer sore throat and achey body (I felt sooo aweful)... I now had the PERFECT opportunity to try out the MANUKA honey.

Well I can say it worked fantastically - REAL homemade Lemon in boiling water with a spoon of honey stirred in for my super sore throat. It tasted amazing and actually worked. Like sore throat gone after 24 hours. Next I want to try it out on a scrape or cut if I hurt myself (on the skin) but no opportunities have arisen as yet and I'm not that crazy to actually cut myself.

FYI: You can buy this honey in different strength ratings from 5 - 20. I had rating 15 which has a high antibacterial activity e.g. it worked on my sore throat! but you can get it in a 5 rating if you just want a regular table grade honey.

Manuka honey all brown and caramel

Manuka honey has a smooth caramel taste and is fluffy and thick - like its been beaten to a mousse consistency. I really enjoyed just eating it off the spoon! I think it would be really great in a smoothy with bananas and milk. It would make a great energy booster and breakfast on the run. I'm going to definitely try this in the warmer months when the weather warms up :)

ASIAN LAMB RIB NOODLE SOUP

2011-05-30T20:54:00.002+02:00

INGREDIENTS
2 Large Onions
500- 800g lamb ribs (cut into ribbetjies - cut into strips)
a few tiny pieces star anise
fresh celeriac stems (about half a handful)
1 bunch organic carrots

fresh sage (half a handful of the baby leaves)
fresh chives (about 5 leaves)

fresh rosemary (1 sprig- end of a stick)
fresh oregano (half a handful)
dried basil (2 Tablespoons)
dried origanum (1 Tablespoon)
1 medium to large butternut
2 large fresh mielies/corn
2 handfuls of rice noodles
olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
1 clove of garlic crushed

METHOD
Take your lamb ribs and place them in an oven dish sprinkle with olive oil, salt and black pepper and half of an onion roughly chopped. Add a little fresh rosemary and a sprig of fresh oregano. Place in the oven and bake at 190- 200 degrees Celsius. While the lamb is cooking in the oven in a Large pot chop up the remaining 1 and a half onions and fry in some olive oil with a tiny bit star anise until lightly browned. Add a little salt. Cut the corn off the cob and place in the browning onions and stir for a few minutes. Now add the celeriac stems and leaves chopped up medium fine. Stir for a little bit and then fill your pot with water until just above three quarters of the pot. Bring to the boil. While you are waiting for the watery soup to come to the boil peel and chop up your carrots into rounds and place in the soup. Add the fresh and dried spices (except the rosemary). Take out the floating star anise, if you can see any. Peel and cube the butternut and add to the lamb ribs which should be starting to brown - Cover the ribs with the butter nut and add some garlic and season with salt. Continue to bake the butternut and lamb ribs until the butternut is tender and the ribs are well cooked. At the same time the soup should be boiling, turn down to a simmer and allow to reduce for about an hour. Then place the butternut and lamb and all the juices etc from the lamb dish into the soup pot and continue to simmer - cover the soup and taste. Add salt and skim off the oils on top with a large spoon. Add the rice noodles 10 minutes before serving. Stir and season then serve in Large soup bowls

Enjoy

FOOD FOOD FOOD

2011-05-25T11:39:00.000+02:00

FOOD - what can I say? I am drawn to it like a moth to a flame. And what a good hot flame this weekend is going to be. If you are in Cape Town this weekend you know why... Don't you!? You have the opportunity to visit The Good Food and Wine Show. If you haven't already heard about it, it is this huge food event that has loads of cool food related stalls and events going on - the WHOLE weekend :)

There is food to try and food to buy and food so see and food being made and food everything! Of course I will be going!

Of all the things happening at the Good Food and wine show they have this one idea that I am particularly drawn to - They have these cooking theaters were you can watch food being prepared. One of them being Lindt (drool) and you know me and chocolate :) whats not to love right?

But there is more than just Lindt *gasp (why who knows? -the world should revolve around chocolate) But they do have several theaters all with very interesting chefs lined up in each.
But one in particular caught my eye.... what for it.... strained silence *crickets chirping They are having Heston Blummenthal from the michelin starred Fat Duck restaurant. He is acclaimed as the coolest chef in the world - so of course I need to go see for myself- (compliments of the Good Food and Wine Show) I'll be sure to report back with my findings and tastings.

So with the Good Food and Wine Show starting tomorrow there is no excuse not to start the weekend off early and go give your taste buds a really good time out :) I'm sure going to

CREAM OF ROASTED TOMATO SOUP

2011-05-17T08:36:00.001+02:00

INGREDIENTS
a bag or 2 of tomatoes (1kg or more)
a handful of fresh basil leaves
1 large onion (roughly chopped)
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
pinch or 2 of Salt
olive oil
a dash of balsamic vinegar (if you like)
1 tub (250ml) fresh cream

METHOD

Wash your tomatoes and then slice in half or if very large in quarters. Place them in a large roasting dish/ one they can comfortably fit in. Drizzle with olive oil and a dash of balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle over your chopped up onion, basil and then your sugar and salt. Place in the oven on the middle rack and roast at 180 degrees Celsius stirring occasionally until nicely soft and roasted through and your roasting dish is brown and sticky.
Place all of the contents of the roasting dish in a nice sized pot and blend with a blender stick adding a little hot water to the dish from the oven and then pouring it into the pot. Blend some more until smooth. Add almost the whole tub of cream (keep a tiny bit for garnishing). Stir in the cream and warm on the stove top until hot and steaming. Pour into bowls and accompany with toast or fresh bread.

Garnish with a drizzle of cream and a fresh basil leaf or some grated cheese. Serve and enjoy.

CHEESE CAKE AND CHERRY, COCONUT TRUFFLES AND SPAR CAPE QUARTER

2011-05-09T10:01:00.001+02:00

The SPAR challenge - So I was contacted by SPAR Cape Quarter and they asked me if I would like to do a recipe bake-off of some kind. All I had to do was come up with a recipe or two and they would supply the ingredients. Mmmm now this could be interesting...
The deal was I had to get ALL the ingredients from the Cape Quarter SPAR. Darn it! - there goes Peruvian dark chocolate truffles and any other exotic thing I could think of. Well boy was I wrong! The owners of this particular SPAR decided they needed to have a large variety of imported chocolates *drool* and I decided my husband had to see all this deliciousness with me ;)

So I had to take (drag) him along on a Saturday when he and our daughter could both accompany me. Also I wanted to bounce recipe ideas off the husband (as the recipes were driving me crazy running around my head). Much to his delight - NOT! He kept asking me on the drive there - why is that you need me with again? Its a Saturday you know... Can't you shop on another day? like by yourself? I politely told him I needed him to be with and I just got back blank stares.

AT CAPE QUARTER SPAR....
Walking up and down the many aisles I reached the chocolate aisle - or should I say area. and that was the end of me - blank stare, *drool*.
Husband: Are you talking to yourself?
Me: ignoring husband - you are a pretty chocolate...mmm.
Eventually the husband literally dragged me to another aisle filled with wine and olive oil and shook me...
Me: Yes babe?
Husband: you can't invent a whole recipe out of chocolate you know.
Me: Oh really? watch me!
Husband: you need other things too - like this, this... randomly looking for things, um olive oil!!! (ok he didn't pick olive oil - but he did seem to look at me in a crazy way)

More shopping and aisle walking - clip clop, clip clop..
Husband: why am I here again?
Me: to help me - remember... what do you think? this awesomely huge chocolate - where I take these slabs and just melt them into this giant chocolate so it will "seem" like a recipe? or this other silly recipe of... um milk tart (trying to make it sound yuk and uninteresting)?

The poor man, if you have seen the variety of interesting things they stock - like marmalades from Great Britain and olive oils from various places in the world - you understand how I drove him crazy that day. and so the shopping proceeded:
Me: look babe at the this Marmalade it's from Great Britain.
Husband: Yes honey
Me: and this olive oil it's from Spain
and so the shopping trip went...
Me: look at this.. and that ..and this..
Husband: Yes sweetie (blank stare)
But near the end of the shopping trip when I had eventually talked myself (with the husbands help) out of getting 10 slabs of imported chocolate at R37 a slab -the husband just couldn't understand that spending R370 on 600grams of chocolate (yes they are only 60grams a slab) wasn't decadent AT ALL!!!
I did buy him a cheese cake from the bakery and some camembert cheese and biscuits. He walked out of there a happy man - and my shopping was complete. And Yes I did get some chocolate ;)

*And just so you know - they do stock local ingredients too but clearly I LOVE chocolate!

Lemon Zest Baked Cheese Cake

I got the base from the Planet Organic Cookbook by Renee Elliott and Eric Treuille. Cheese cake filling is all mine :)

INGREDIENTS FOR BASE:
150grams Almonds (blend in a processor/electric blender until fine-ish like course sugar)
4 rounded Tablespoons butter at room Temperature
4 Tablespoons Brown organic Sugar (you can use whatever sugar you have - just not icing sugar)
tiny bit of salt

METHOD FOR BASE:
Place all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix with an electric mixer (or by hand) until nicely combined. Press into a buttered and double lined cake tin and bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celcius for 10 -15 minutes. Or until very pale brown. Take out and let stand while you prepare the filling.

INGREDIENTS FOR CHEESE CAKE FILLING:
2 x 250gram cream cheese
250ml cream
4 eggs
1-2 Lemons = of which you will need 4 Tablespoons lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Bulgarian Yoghurt

METHOD FOR CHEESE CAKE FILLING

Beat together the cream cheese and cream until smooth. Scrap down the sides of the bowl every now and then to incorporate. Beating slowly add one egg at a time on slow. Add the Lemon juice and lemon zest and beat in. Add the sugar and beat again. Now add the yoghurt and beat in. Pour onto the prepared base and place on the center shelf of a preheated oven at 180 degrees celcius. Bake for +/- 50 min until the edges have puffed up and started to golden and the center is still a little wobbly. Open the oven and take the cheese cake out and let some heat escape for a minute then place the cheese cake to cool in the oven with the door closed for 30 - 40min. Then place the cheese cake in the fridge for 3 hours or over night.
Garnish as you desire and serve. Best cut with a wet sharp knife.

Cherry and Coconut Truffles

INGREDIENTS
50grams Raw almonds
7 fresh Dates (pips removed)
a generous handful of Glace Cherries (roughly 17) +/- 100grams
50g 70% dark Chocolate (I used Lindt) (roughly chopped)
1/2 cup fine coconut
70- 100grams dark chocolate (or chocolate of your choice)
2 teaspoons sunflower oil
OPTIONAL a few marachino cherries on stalks

METHOD
Grind the almonds until fine in a blender and then take out and set aside.
Place dates in the blender and blend slightly and then add the glace cherries. Blend a bit more and then add the dark chocolate and blend until very well mixed, chopped and kind of smooth. Add the ground almonds and mix again. Now add the coconut little by little until you reach a pliable consistency. Then roll into balls or mold around marachino cherries.
Melt the chocolate and oil in a baine marie or a glass bowl balanced on top of a pot with a little water boiling below (the glass bowl mustn't touch the water below). Stir until melted. Dip the rolled cherry and coconut balls in the chocolate and spoon over more melted chocolate with a spoon and then place on waxed paper to set. There will be a little melted chocolate left over but if you use less you wan't be able to spoon the chocolate over the balls - so spread the left over chocolate on a separate piece of wax paper and sprinkle with cherries, almonds or raisins or water you fancy in your chocolate and leave to set - break into pieces and enjoy.

Enjoy your lovely cherry and coconut truffles or wrap up and package in a pretty box to make a beautiful and delicious gift.

p.s placed in the Friday Link up at http://www.whipperberry.com/

FOLLOW YOUR HEART IN BLACK & WHITE

2011-05-05T12:55:00.000+02:00

As requested the I'LL FOLLOW THE ROAD TILL I FIND YOUR HEART pic in Black and White :)

Hope you have had a fantastic week :) it seems to be going by so quickly, but I guess that is what happens when Monday this week was a public holiday. 4 day working weeks are lovely. But it does make me think that next week is going to feel super long.

Don't forget that it's Mother's Day on Sunday :) It's also my brothers birthday, I'll be sure not to confuse his present with my moms - hahaha can you imagine his face if I give him a bunch of flowers for his birthday instead of my mom - priceless ;) (not that I'm giving you flowers mom) -don't tell her OK.

So I'll be on the present hunt this weekend finding lots of bling for my mom ;) and something super gadgety for my brother. I hope I find the right stuff.

What are you getting for your mom this weekend? or doing for her?
Inspiration welcome.

hugs

LIFE

2011-04-27T18:13:00.002+02:00

I always find that making a list of things I like and I'm privileged to have always makes me smile, lifts my spirit and makes me happy. So here goes - cause the rain outside and the pending chores are grating me the wrong way today....

I love that it is school holidays and I get to sleep in when it is raining :)
Retail therapy is fun but not as fun as spending time with a friend and chatting the day away :) or being on the phone with one of them :)
I was priviledged to be given the NEW Nomu hot chocolate by Paul Raphaeli himself to try out - Thanks Paul and Tracey
I love that I was invited to Andiamo for breakfast last week (for FREE) to try out there new breakfast buffet and we were also treated to a goodie bag each - Thank you :)
A beautiful drive with a great soundtrack is a must on a long weekend
Beauty is all around us - we just tend to filter it away in our brains some days! Try take a FRESH look! Hello pretty mountains and fresh air.
Live in the NOW- it is the only time we can take seriously :)
Singing with abandon is GREAT for the soul ;)
Drinking a good cup of coffee made to perfection is always nice

So how have you been? Notice anything beautiful or do anything fun? DO TELL ME :)

HAPPY EASTER

2011-04-24T18:58:00.001+02:00

May you have a blessed time with your family and friends :)
Hope you eat lots of chocolate and have a lovely rested time. Come back soon and tell me all about it -oKay :)
May we remember why we celebrate this holiday - not just for the chocolate but for so much more.

Hugs

CHOCOLATE BEETROOT CAKE

2011-04-18T23:19:00.001+02:00

This cake was originally inspired by Ross Burden's Beetroot Choc Cake - having seen it on the internet I gave it a look through and then proceeded to do a re-hash (kind doing my own thing) - Gluten-Free of course

INGREDIENTS (BROKEN UP INTO 4 PARTS)

STEP 1:

50g dark chocolate (I used 70% lindt)
a tiny pinch of salt
3 Tablespoons of cream

combine the 3 ingredients and melt in a baine marie - stir until smooth and put to one side.

STEP 2:

1 generous cup /200g/250ml Brown Organic Sugar
3 Free range eggs
180/190ml Sunflower Oil

Beat/mix together with a hand mixer in a large bowl until thickened slightly and the mixture has lightened a little

STEP 3:

1 cup /250ml cooked and pureed beetroot (roughly 450g when raw and peeled)

add to the egg/sugar mixture above and mix in then add the chocolate cream and mix in until totally incorporated.

STEP 4:

3 heaped dessert spoons of cocoa
1 teaspoon bicarb
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups/ 500ml Gluten Free flour mix

Gradually add each ingredient above one by one beating after each addition to the mixture.
Place mixture into 1 buttered and floured ?? cm cake tin and place in the oven at 155 degrees for roughly 48 minutes - until the cake springs back to the touch and the knife inserted into the middle of the cake come out clean.

Ice as desired - I used a chocolate ganache :)

FLOPPED ICE CREAM GASP

2011-04-15T10:25:00.000+02:00

click on pic to go to ice cream recipe

I learnt a valuable lesson on Sunday when trying to make ice cream for my sister in laws birthday lunch - DON'T use xylitol in ice cream cause it won't set! My sister in-law was looking for a sugar free option and I was happy to oblige. I mean who doesn't want to eat home made ice cream? Also I usually stay clear of sugar induced shop bought variety anyway. (I use very little sugar in my own recipe) So I have my usual recipe (which always works) and made it the way I usually do (except the sugar was replaced with xylitol). Well well well.... ten million hours later and the ice cream machine was still churning but the mixture had not frozen! not even a little!! It had got VERY cold and a little thicker - like pouring cream/runny milkshake but definitely NOT ice cream :( Sorry sister in-law, I couldn't grant you your birthday lunch wish of ice cream... Now I know for next time...

MY BUCKET LIST

2011-04-14T17:56:00.000+02:00

Today "My Bucket List"was posted on Being Brazen :)

If you would like to have a look at it you can go here.

FOLLOW YOUR HEART PICTURE

2011-04-13T09:00:00.000+02:00

Look what I made :) yes the picture you are seeing above this writing - I had fun in photoshop elements and I think it came out ok.
This is a photo I took of a road near my house and I manipulated the yield painted road marking into a make-shift heart.
I have been enjoying messing about in photoshop elements lately and get absorbed for way too long.... so much so I get way to little other things done. - yeah like dishes, cooking, folding laundry, shopping for food.. ok I don't forget to shop for food but I do dash out the door at the very last minute.

If you would like to use this picture on your blog - please leave a comment in the comment section below with a link to your blog post that it is in and of course please link to me from the post that the pic is in and credit me for my work :) THANK YOU SWEETIE :)

BLOG LOVIN

2011-04-12T16:28:00.000+02:00

IM GOING TO TRY OUT BLOG LOVIN

Follow my blog with bloglovin

THAT IS ALL!

Relax - Life Down the Rabbit Hole

2011-04-05T23:47:00.001+02:00

Hello

Sorry for my absence. I have been doing too many things at once - and getting soooo distracted by the internet world. It's like the rabbit hole in Alice in wonderland - ooo that looks pretty and before you know it you've been to 300 websites, 10 flicker accounts, 15 facebook pages and a whole bunch of twitter followers and you've tweeted 20 things and it leads to another 300 websites!
Let's just say I'm trying to be a bit more disciplined online right now. Let's see how long it lasts.

So that is why I haven't posted. I always check my comments and check on this blog everyday but posting takes time and I've been so easily distracted lately - sorry. *sheepish grin*

So how is life with you? I had a lovely night away at Welgelegen Guest House in Cape Town on the weekend compliments of them - So very kind!!! And what a lovely place. Comfy bed, lovely decor and delicious breakfast and very thoughtful staff :) what more could you ask for? It was oh so delightful :)
To check out the place go here

Hope you are well.
My cat is attacking my leg. Must go... oh but what is this pretty link... click click

THINGS THAT MAKE ME SMILE

2011-03-29T19:21:00.001+02:00

Getting a package delivered containing delicious goodies like Nomu Hot choc and sweet rub...
Having an understanding spouse who says go back to bed when you are really not feeling well.
Buying a nice set of speakers that makes music sound like it should = happiness :)
Having a very helpful petrol attendant who knows what he's doing and doesn't make you feel like an idiot for not knowing too much about which coolant I need for my car. Thank you kind sir.
Having an encouraging sister-in-law who helped me get over my moaning and then helped to talk me into a positive mood.
Just breathing fresh air
Kindness of strangers - having cute twitter messages from people I don't really know :)
Feeling important even though I'm a small fry - to somebody you matter :)

how is your week going?

happiness :)

BREAKFAST FRY UP - BIG AND TRADITIONAL

2011-03-24T16:30:00.003+02:00

Having had this delicious breakfast this weekend just gone by- I am now drooling over my computer screen just thinking about it. errr sorry. Everyone should make one of these kinds of breakfasts every now and then. And the better the produce eg organic and free range - the better for your body and the better it tastes!

INGREDIENTS
1 large potato per person
3- 4 rashers of bacon per person
half a handful of mushroom per person
1 or 2 eggs per person

EXTRAS
1 onion
oil (olive or whatever kind you use)
salt
pepper

some freshly crushed garlic

I do this in stages to make sure everything is cooked and warm and ready to be served.

The potatoes will take the longest to cook so you need to start with them.
Peel and thinly slice the potatoes and place in a baking dish. Peel and finely chop up an onion and sprinkle on top of the potato. Drizzle with olive oil and place a little crushed garlic on top. Season with salt and pepper and place in the oven at 180 degrees celcius. Stir every 5 - 10 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking you can now fry the bacon in a frying pan with a little oil until crispy. Then place to one side.
Next chop your mushrooms into quarters and cook in a small pot or pan with some salt and a little garlic. When ready place to one side.
When the potatoes in the oven are cooked through (remember to keep stirring them every now 5 - 10 minutes) have a pan ready for the eggs to be fried and put the mushrooms and bacon on a low heat to keep warm until dishing up. Turn on the grill of the oven while the eggs are frying and take the potatoes out so they don't get burned. When eggs are almost ready place them under the grill to cook any egg white (slime) that is still wobbly on top of the eggs.

Dish up everything and eat with seasoning and sauces of your choice.

ps the bacon in the photo I get from Cure Charcuterie at The Earth Fair Market in Tokai. And it is so delicious. It is worth every cent as it is hormone-free and free range and double delicious, = how bacon should taste :) ** I was in no way compensated to tell you this and I buy the bacon every week with no kick back - I just like it!!! Just Saying

THINGS THAT MAKE ME SMILE

2011-03-18T09:36:00.001+02:00

I am so glad it's Friday and Monday is a public holiday so YAY for long weekends
Breakfast with a girlfriend is a great start to any weekend
A clean house makes me happy - but the housework doesn't!
I am loving listening to soulful and vibey Frank Sinatra - he always lifts my mood
It is my wedding anniversary on Tuesday so I'm looking forward to presents!
Some glorious weather and some relaxation is sure to make for some happy memories
kids come up with the sweetest things
I'm looking forward to a long drive and some good music

How is your weekend looking?

FASHION CUTENESS > CUTE PAPER DOLLS

2011-03-15T11:55:00.014+02:00

Look at these cute paper dolls myself and my daughter made this weekend.

I would love to say that I thought of this myself *sigh* but I can't. I found the inspiration from these cute pics below:

.

Aren't these paperdolls so cute? I wish I had thought of this!!

You can find the full tutorial here. Found on the b kids blog. I really need to start reading this blog more often :)

Happy Tuesday :) How was your weekend?

WHAT NEXT?

2011-03-11T12:11:00.000+02:00

I've been going round and round in my head if I should write posts on this blog even if they are not food related. Now I don't mean about my family eg aww sweet my daughter lost her tooth posts. posts about stuff that interests me etc.... I know I write a post called "things that make me smile" every now and then and that is as far as i have gone to be un-foodie in a post.... You see I've have been trying not to fill my blog up with non food related matter as I feel I would make my blog change from a "foodie"blog to a "personal"blog. And as much as I like reading other peoples personal blogs - I want my blog to be a niche blog. But turning out recipe posts is hard sometimes. Finding time to write out the recipes without missing anything out (or the recipe may flop!) and taking the pics and editing them ALL takes a lot of time and that means I post not as regularly as I would like. So I am hoping to have a mix of blogging stuff and see how it goes. I will post stuff and see the development... I like Pioneer Woman as she posts food, photography, home schooling, life on her ranch and other stuff but her website/blog is compartmentalized so if you like cooking you can just subscribe to cooking and if you like photography you can just subscribe to that. Not sure how to do that but I'm going to try posting various stuff and see. So it may or may not contain things like: Food, Style & Decor, Photography, Health, Lists, Jewelry and Pretty things.

Thanks for understanding and I hope not to lose to many strict foodie recipe only blog followers (fingers crossed)

Any thoughts about how I should do it? or what you would do??

CHOCOLATE CREAM / CHOC MOUSSE OR AWESOME HOT CHOCOLATE - you decide :)

2011-03-04T14:23:00.003+02:00

Friday Inspiration

buy a slab or 2 of chocolate (100g) and a tub of cream (250ml)
make sure its good quality chocolate :) treat yourself
place half the tub of cream (125ml) in a double boiler - or in a bowl over a pot of boiling water and heat if up
place in the slab/s of chocolate and stir every now and then until melted
you should have a goopy mess of chocolate and cream - num
try not to eat it
now you can decide - to either 1) make chocolate mousse or 2) make an awesome hot chocolate
for the choc mousse - take the choc cream off the heat and let cool slightly. While its cooling separate 3 eggs (whip the whites on there own until soft peaks form and then add 3 tablespoons of sugar to the egg whites and beat till medium to stiff peaks form). Whisk the yellows a little - stir these into the choc cream mixture. Now stir the beaten egg whites into the choc cream mixture. whip the remaining half a tub of cream until soft to medium stiffness and stir into the choc cream mixture - spoon into cups and place in the fridge for atleast 2 hours to set. you could eat right away but will be a bit runny.
Awesome hot choc - take your choc cream mixture and add 1 and a quarter cups of milk and keep heating on the stove slowly until almost bubbling. Add some vanilla and a tiny sprinkling of salt (just a tiny pinch) pour into mugs and stir in some sugar to taste (if you wish). Whip the remaining half a tub of cream until medium peaks and spoon on top.

And there you have it - an awesome chocolate desert or drink :)

I would do both :)

ps. I forgot to say you can make this into truffles to :) just take the choc cream mixture place in the fridge and leave till set then roll into bite sized balls and roll in cocoa. Place back in the fridge and eat as required - num

Monday Shmunday....

2011-02-28T12:41:00.000+02:00

Rainbow Birthday cake - ooo I could do with some right now!!!

So its Monday again and I think life is just whirling by... Tomorrow is the 1st of March and I still haven't edited my daughter party photos since the 12th of Feb when it happened. (bad betty) but don't you find life gets that way some times? I keep meaning to edit some photos and type out some recipes but then I see some beautiful pictures of Italy on the internet and I daydream and click, click, click... and I look at the clock and oops I better run out the door to fetch my said daughter. And so life goes... cooking, cleaning, play dates, ballet, washing, eating, homework, internet - click click click... oops I must run again. It just seems to be that way at the moment. I am trying hard now to start prioritizing some things 1) how much cleaning I should do. 2) being on time for things. 3) using my computer time effectively 4)spending some time outside in the fresh air.

So I will try this for now and see how it goes. (even if I have to set a timer on my cellphone for myself)

So tell me - is there anything you are working on right now? Is life whirling by for you?

ps. And I'm going to drink more water
pps I must run so I am not late - early is the new black :)

THINGS THAT MAKE ME SMILE :)

2011-02-25T14:42:00.001+02:00

Friday afternoons and the promise of a beautiful weekend
flowers from the man I love <3
A clean house after returning everything I have borrowed after a messy party
crazy twitter followers who say the funniest things!
A decent cup of coffee - freshly ground and brewed
A friend who phones to ask what is your favorite flavour and darkness of chocolate :)
comments from you - my lovely readers

Baking is FREE well it could be....

2011-02-23T12:39:00.000+02:00

To all you lovely foodies out there - Baking isn't Free. It does cost Money $$$ and as much as I want to live the dream and bake and cook till I am in a sugar coma (ok not really ) sugar heaven then. Ingredients cost money.

So I am going to be super cheeky and put a tip button on my right hand side bar - it says donate. I would rather it say Tips for Betty Bake but Paypal didn't have an easy way to customize it - so, it says Donate. And if by any chance any of my wonderful readers - yes that's you. Don't look away - you staring at the screen. If you like reading this blog and feel like you want to give me money :) so I can drink more coffee and stay awake and type this blog :) or buy more ingredients to bake then feel free :) any amount would be awesome. Like paying a car guard R2 but I'm way cooler than a car guard , I am friendly and keep you company (sometimes) and I have awesome recipes that are gluten FREE and wheat FREE and that work :) and I don't come running upto your car at the last minute pretending I've been watching it the whole time. hahaha! Ok no pressure now :)
Ok you don't have to give me anything - A big corporate sponsor would be fine too :)
Just saying.
You can pretend I'm not here - its ok.

I also accept chocolate ;)

anyway just so you know whats happening with the blog .... now you know
cheekiness has a name - its called Betty Bake hahaha ;) *winks

ps I have bought betty bake a .co.za - yay. It is taking a little time to set up as I am not as clued up as I thought regarding the world wide web... But things are happening around here - yay!

Happy Wednesday
kisses

EASY CARAMALISED PINEAPPLE DESSERT

2011-02-18T14:49:00.001+02:00

I created this gooey caramel dessert one weekend away, while we were all sitting around the dinner table feeling like something sweet and warm. I needed to be creative with the ingredients I had on hand, as we were at a self catering place and the shops were a good long drive away and by now closed. I'm sure you know how it goes if you go away to self catering places for holidays and pack stuff you never use and wish you had brought stuff along you had never thought of before! Well this time I had packed a pineapple thinking it maybe good for a healthy snack (brownie points for being a healthy mom) to cut up during and nice warm Saturday but we never got round to eating it. Well it was now night time and the weather had turned. Our longing for a sweet, warm, dessert was now much more important and that is how this caramelized dessert was born. Some sugar, a pan and some butter.... and some chopping and this dessert was born in no time at all.

So whether you are on holiday or at home, spend more time relaxing and less time standing on your feet cooking. This caramelized pineapple dessert is so easy to prepare it can be prepared over a camp fire in a pan or at home on the stove. No matter where you are it is easy and fairly quick and healthy too. Delicious and caramelized this pineapple dessert can be made into almost any kind of caramelized fruit and served up with cream or ice cream. (make sure to select firm seasonal fruit if replacing the pineapple for other fruit). The ingredients are a guide, so if you are out in the bush you can wing it.

All you need for Delicious Caramelized Pineapple Dessert is:

INGREDIENTS
1 to 2 medium pineapples
some brown sugar (roughly 4-5 tablespoons)
some butter (about a table spoon or 2)
some fresh cream (if you have)
ice cream for serving (optional)

METHOD
simply peel the pineapple and remove any eyes/bits.
Slice your pineapple into rings - as in picture above.
Place your pineapple rings in a frying pan with the brown sugar and butter.
Place over low heat and cook until golden and caramelized and slightly soft.
once all gooey and golden pour over a little cream.
Serve with whipped/pouring cream or your favorite ice cream

* you can use any fruit you wish - but harder fruits work better

Happy Friday

Wind, Bed, Mag, Sleep

2011-02-16T16:11:00.000+02:00

Well today I am feeling weird -

the clouds are stormy and the wind is pumping
I wore a hat so the wind wouldn't annoy me and make my hair all knotty
I feel like some tea in bed with a good magazine
last nights Ravioli totally ROCKED and was worth all the time standing making it!
I know I should be working on recipe posts but there is so many blogs I am catching up reading since I've not been in front of my computer for the last two weeks.
Please forgive lack of recipe post and party post..... It is coming. Promise.
I am moody and little things are annoying me
My body is achey - I think some Panado and bed maybe in order
night night
Come back soon 'K

PARTY PREPARATIONS IN PROGRESS

2011-02-11T08:58:00.000+02:00

I apologize for my absence but I am busier than a bubble bee collecting pollen - working on making party packs, baking, sorting, cleaning and tidying all in preparations for Saturdays party for my daughter in between school, homework, ballet, and the usual cooking and cleaning :) and of course valentines day on Monday - so working on that to.

Please forgive me, I'll be back on Tuesday :) ready to read and browse the internet and write a blog post or two. Happy weekend

Until then

Valentines Day Chocolate brownies

2011-02-08T11:27:00.000+02:00

THIS IS A RE-POST FROM LAST YEAR'S VALENTINES DAY :)
ENJOY

Heart shaped Chocolate Brownies

Valentines Day is a day of many beautiful opportunities to make something so delicious and thoughtful for the one you love :)
Just think luxurious and delicious - and my brain conjures up thoughts of things made of chocolate :)

We all know most women love chocolate - ALOT and so, that is why valentines day is the day of roses and heart shaped chocolates in heart shaped boxes in red heart shaped wrappers :)
Of course if your man is really romantic then some bling* wouldn't hurt either

So what better than to make your love some chocolate brownies.... mmmm I personally can't think of anything better!!!

So to give you some time to shop for the ingredients and plan ahead for valentines day - Here is the recipe.Taken from the AWW cookbooks and then adapted by me.

Read it through and take note of the suggestions - then go shopping, get everything you need and bake to your hearts content - he he he

Romantic Heart Shaped Brownies with raspberry cream

175g butter (must be real butter)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup tightly packed treacle sugar (really dark brown sugar)
3 eggs
1/2 cup cake flour - I used wheat free flour by health connection
1/3 cup self raising flour - I also replaced this with wheat free flour by health connection and added 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa powder (I always use nestle cocoa powder in the tin)
some rolos or caramel centered chocolate
1 punnet of raspberries
1 tub (250ml) cream
1 vanilla pod or some vanilla ess
2 tablespoons icing sugar

NOTES*** (before starting) 1) oven shelf must be in the middle of the oven. 2) for the best brownies you really need treacle sugar -it's really really dark brown sugar. 3) you must use REAL butter. 4) you MUST use baking paper - NOT WAX PAPER or they will stick badly and you won't like me any more cause all your hard work will be ruined!!!

right now we can get started :)

.Turn Oven to 180 degrees celcius.
.Grease and line a baking pan or oven dish about 19 cm x 29 cm - (I just use one of my medium lasagne .dishes) * Remember it must be proper baking paper and not Wax paper. The paper should stick up above the sides of the dish on all the sides just a few centimeters - roughly 3 - 5 cm.
.Put the butter in a small pot and and melt -don't boil (this could also be done in the microwave)
.In a nice sized bowl put the 2 types of sugar and pour the melted butter on top and mix together.
.Break the eggs into the bowl and whisk to mix together
.Sift the flour (add baking powder if using gwheat free flour) and cocoa on top of the bowl of ingredients and stir/whisk some more until mixed through
.Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin/dish and dot with Rolos cut in half - *NOTE do NOt push the Rolos down into the mixture as they tend to burn if on the bottom of the dish*
.Put the dish in the oven and bake for 15 min then cover with foil and bake for an additional 45 minutes
.Test with a skewer of knife to see if the brownie mixture is cooked -the knife must come out clean - if it has sticky batter on it - cook for another 5 min.
.Take out and leave to get cold in dish then remove and peel back paper
.The brownies will be very fresh right now and can be cut into squares but if you want hearts etc...it is best left in an air tight container for 24 hours before cutting into shapes - you may try just don't moan at me if they break :)
.ok when you are ready to cut your brownies - get out your shaped cutter and cut them out carefully
.whisk your cream to a nice thick-ish consistency
.Put your raspberries in a bowl(keep a few for decorating) and crush/smoosh together -not to hard jsut to make a little bit of pink liquid and break into pieces
.stir the raspberries into the cream and add a table spoon or 2 of icing sugar
.sandwhich the brownies together and style nicely on a side plate or saucer and serve :)

Best of luck little valentines
ps of course you can make these brownies and just enjoy for tea :) they are lip smacking delicious, If I do say so myself :)

ORIENTAL PARTY INVITATIONS

2011-02-03T16:37:00.000+02:00

It is my daughter's Birthday Party next weekend and I finally got around to doing the invitations. She is having an oriental party and I've been focusing so much on what sweets I can find or make that are - wheat/gluten, corn/maize and glucose syrup FREE that I forgot about the invites! So this was my quick one school morning attempt. And they will just have to do... not to bad.

Just designed and printed on the computer and then used some glue to put some foil on and a pretty red sparkly square. I put them each in a white envelope and wrote each girls name in fancy, curly writting with red and black pens.

Happy Thursday!

I'M NOT CRAZY!!!

2011-01-29T18:22:00.000+02:00

'beady eyed seal giving me that crazy look....

Merrily browsing the sweetie aisle of the supermarket desperately trying to find sweets that do not contain glucose syrup (so much harder than it sounds) reading every label and minding my own business when a mom comes round the corner with a trolley and 3 children in tow. Mom instructs them to pick some chips to buy, each to pick a flavor that they would like :) great - so they all do that and place them in the trolley. Then one kiddo sees the pre-packaged lollipops you put in the freezer to make frozen lollies and says please mom can we have these. Mom says um let me see and starts reading the label, "kids this has aspartame in it" so she picks up the next brand and starts reading again... more aspartame! and going through every make says sorry kids but these all have junk in (meaning aspartame) I think we must make our own at home. You know I could have walked over to that mom and kissed her I was so happy. she had no idea that I overheard her conversation and that I was smiling with delight.
I often feel like a label freak and a weirdo when I say sorry sweetie pie but we won't be having that - because of the junk that is in it eg aspartame, MSG, tartrazine, the E numbers on stuff!!! (the list is long- they put so much junk in our food) I was giddy with happiness to find that I wasn't the only one that was concerned about what I ate/gave my kid and was happy to say no to them - even if that mom was only concerned about aspartame I was sooo happy I almost did a Jimmeny cricket up in the air sidekick. I often feel like the crazy mom - "like oh please we aren't going to die if we eat tartrazine" looks i get. And the best part was I had a moment of - "you know I am not as crazy as I thought" :) yay me!
Thank you lady in the grocery store you made my day :)

:::{Betty Bake ... Real Food made with Natural Ingredients}:::

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WHAT NEXT?

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Valentines Day Chocolate brownies

FLOPPED ICE CREAM GASP