- Essie nail polish is an awesome little pick me up. Merino Cool - a little edgy for some, but very on trend.
- Italian superette Super Sconto on Louis Botha has the best coffee in Johannesburg, and the best Parmesan cheese for an absolute bargin.
- Long lunches with old friends and a few bottles of wine are food for the soul.
- As is dancing in the livingroom with your baby on a sunday evening. Great excercise too!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
A few things from the weekend
Friday, July 29, 2011
Friday Finds
I can’t say I’ve had the most exciting of weeks – it’s mostly been about cleaning cupboards, car batteries and groceries. Nothing bad, just nothing too inspirational, so a quick Friday Finds today.
When I lived in London a friend took me to the Hummingbird Bakery on Old Bromption Road in Knightsbridge. Hummingbird is a gorgeous little bakery known for their jewel-like cupcakes and sweet treats. Not being a cupcake aficionado, it was the first time I had seen a red velvet, which I thought initially a very strange concept!
But I’ve learnt a lot since then, and was very excited when I came across this link to some Hummingbird recipes . At the moment I am eyeing out the recipe for the carrot cake to make for an upcoming occasion. I love really moist carrot cake (with its illusion of being slightly healthy) with cream cheese icing, which counteracts the sweetness perfectly.
120g chopped walnuts (or pecan nuts)
450g carrots, grated
3 large eggs
125ml buttermilk
1tsp vanilla extract
450g caster sugar
250ml vegetable oil
1tbsp orange zest
300g plain flour
1tsp baking soda
2tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1tsp ground cinnamon
the cream cheese frosting:
120g unsalted butter, softened
120g cream cheese, softened
400g icing sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 25cm round cake tin.
2. Toast the nuts in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
3. Place the carrots, buttermilk, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and orange zest together in a bowl and whisk thoroughly.
4. In another bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Fold the flour mixture into the carrot mixture, taking care not to overmix. Fold in the toasted walnuts until evenly combined.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
6. Leave to cool for 20 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the cream cheese frosting:
1. Cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
2. Gradually add the icing sugar and continue to cream until light and fluffy, add the vanilla extract.
3. Spread onto the top of the cake and round the sides.
Enjoy and happy Friday!
Xxx
When I lived in London a friend took me to the Hummingbird Bakery on Old Bromption Road in Knightsbridge. Hummingbird is a gorgeous little bakery known for their jewel-like cupcakes and sweet treats. Not being a cupcake aficionado, it was the first time I had seen a red velvet, which I thought initially a very strange concept!
But I’ve learnt a lot since then, and was very excited when I came across this link to some Hummingbird recipes . At the moment I am eyeing out the recipe for the carrot cake to make for an upcoming occasion. I love really moist carrot cake (with its illusion of being slightly healthy) with cream cheese icing, which counteracts the sweetness perfectly.
120g chopped walnuts (or pecan nuts)
450g carrots, grated
3 large eggs
125ml buttermilk
1tsp vanilla extract
450g caster sugar
250ml vegetable oil
1tbsp orange zest
300g plain flour
1tsp baking soda
2tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1tsp ground cinnamon
the cream cheese frosting:
120g unsalted butter, softened
120g cream cheese, softened
400g icing sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 25cm round cake tin.
2. Toast the nuts in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
3. Place the carrots, buttermilk, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and orange zest together in a bowl and whisk thoroughly.
4. In another bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Fold the flour mixture into the carrot mixture, taking care not to overmix. Fold in the toasted walnuts until evenly combined.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
6. Leave to cool for 20 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the cream cheese frosting:
1. Cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
2. Gradually add the icing sugar and continue to cream until light and fluffy, add the vanilla extract.
3. Spread onto the top of the cake and round the sides.
Enjoy and happy Friday!
Xxx
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
I started reading Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chau a few days ago and I’m completely gripped.
It’s a memoir written by a Chinese American woman who insisted on raising her two girls according to the Chinese way – pushing them to get straight A’s, training them to play the piano and violin to concert standards, and emphasising respect for their elders. They were also never allowed to be in a school play, have a play date, watch tv, choose their own extra mural activities etc etc.
You may have read about the book already, there has been lots of coverage online and interviews with Amy Chau, most notably the one in the Wall Street Journal titled ‘Why Chinese Mothers are Superior’ that had 8000 comments the last time I checked.
It’s a fascinating book that raises a number of highly controversial questions. She asserts that ‘Western’ children are lazy and that parents underestimate their ability by assuming fragility, instead of believing in their children’s strength and pushing them to achieve more than they (the children) think they can.
I’m a little undecided about what I think of Chau’s parenting methods.
Don’t get me wrong, in many ways the comes across as an over achieving psycho who can only do long term emotional damage to her children – insulting them, not taking their opinions into account and forcing them to practice their instruments for six hours a day, everyday, regardless of whether they are in a foreign country on holiday, whether it is their birthday or if they are sick.
But some of her points do ring true – children will often give up on something if it is ‘too hard’ before they have mastered a skill, thereby never learning what they can actually achieve through perseverance (I gave up ballet when I was seven because I was bored and couldn’t wait to start on pointe shoes, something that I regret to this day. I wish my parents had pushed me to continue); and not excepting mediocrity.
But she completely disregards personal freedom – freedom to find one’s passion through doing something that you love; learning through play and quite simply being a child and doing ‘nothing’ (for example, Chau says she hated summers as a child because her parents made her learn computer programming, rather than having a normal summer like every other child).
She also has no room in her partenting philosophy for creativity and innovation - a skill that children will need in every area of their lives as adults, whether professional or personal.
Chau doesn’t mention anywhere in the book whether she played an instrument as a child – so it comes across that she may be forcing something onto her girls that she wished she had achieved in her life.
While some of her points are worth pondering – not to be too soft and to give in because you as a parent actually don’t want to put in the extra work, and that everything worth achieving is hard, she overlooks the fact that one of a parent’s most important role’s is to teach their children to rely on themselves, without a parent always pushing them to achieve.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Potato, leek and bacon soup
I have become completely addicted to making soup this winter, after having discovered how easy and quick it is to do. It's also unbelievably economical - one big pot of soup normally lasts us for three or four meals, if I serve it with bread and a salad. I just freeze whatever we don't eat on the first evening and there it is - instant dinner!
It really is the best thing to eat in winter - warming and filling, but you don't go to bed feeling like you've had a huge meal. And considering the snowy weather we are having in much of the country, the cold is back for the time being and it's definitely soup weather!
This morning I made a pot of Leek and Potato soup from Marlene van der Westhuizen's book Delectable. Below follows the recipe, although I've made some additions and changes of my own.
200g sliced bacon
2 cloves of garlic
60g butter
6 leeks, sliced and rinsed thoroughly
6-8 potatoes peeled and sliced
1,5 litres chicken stock
seasoning to taste
fresh parsley or thyme to garnish
Fry the bacon until crispy and set aside.
Melt the butter and cook the garlic and leeks until softened.
Add the potatoes and the chicken stock, and allow to simmer until the potatoes are soft.
Blend the soup until smooth and add the bacon bits.
Serve warm with oven-fresh bread and salad.
It really is the best thing to eat in winter - warming and filling, but you don't go to bed feeling like you've had a huge meal. And considering the snowy weather we are having in much of the country, the cold is back for the time being and it's definitely soup weather!
This morning I made a pot of Leek and Potato soup from Marlene van der Westhuizen's book Delectable. Below follows the recipe, although I've made some additions and changes of my own.
200g sliced bacon
2 cloves of garlic
60g butter
6 leeks, sliced and rinsed thoroughly
6-8 potatoes peeled and sliced
1,5 litres chicken stock
seasoning to taste
fresh parsley or thyme to garnish
Fry the bacon until crispy and set aside.
Melt the butter and cook the garlic and leeks until softened.
Add the potatoes and the chicken stock, and allow to simmer until the potatoes are soft.
Blend the soup until smooth and add the bacon bits.
Serve warm with oven-fresh bread and salad.
Monday, July 25, 2011
A few things from the weekend
• Paris is the most beautiful city in the world. New York may be the most vibrant and exciting, London may be steeped in history and culture, but Paris is definitely the most beautiful.
• A long Saturday afternoon lunch with a glass of wine is one of the most indulgent things you can do on a weekend.
• We brought our first proper artwork home this weekend. It felt strangely similar to the day we brought our daughter home from the hospital – driving carefully, the excitement and the initial confusion about not knowing where to put it (the artwork that is, not our daughter!)
• Winter has gotten old. It has overstayed its welcome. Joburg is in serious need of a good thunderstorm to get rid of the dust and some blossoms on the trees to liven the place up a bit.
• If you want to knit a scarf for the winter, you need to start in April at the latest. Because by the time you unravel it at the end of July to start all over again, you will not really be interested in adding to your winter wardrobe and will only complete it in mid-November in any case.
• A long Saturday afternoon lunch with a glass of wine is one of the most indulgent things you can do on a weekend.
• We brought our first proper artwork home this weekend. It felt strangely similar to the day we brought our daughter home from the hospital – driving carefully, the excitement and the initial confusion about not knowing where to put it (the artwork that is, not our daughter!)
• Winter has gotten old. It has overstayed its welcome. Joburg is in serious need of a good thunderstorm to get rid of the dust and some blossoms on the trees to liven the place up a bit.
• If you want to knit a scarf for the winter, you need to start in April at the latest. Because by the time you unravel it at the end of July to start all over again, you will not really be interested in adding to your winter wardrobe and will only complete it in mid-November in any case.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Friday Finds
It seems like I am the very last person in Jo'burg to hear about Nonna , a decor and gift shop in Craighall.
Thankfully a friend put an end to my ignorance when she gave me a gift voucher to Nonna for my birthday earlier in the month.
Why some people hate recieving gift vouchers as prezzies is really beyond me.
You get to choose your own gift, knowing exactly what it is that you need/want, and you get to shop for it too!
Nonna is a shop on the first floor of a rather dodgy centre on Jan Smuts, specialising in 'found' pieces from antique and second hand shops, as well as new pieces - think ceramics, notebooks and cards etc.
I really liked the vibe of the shop, and they had some very cute and unique things, but I must admit that with some of the older items they seem to be trying to pull a fast one.
Most of the items you could find in your Mom or Granny's kitchen, hidden at the back of the cupboard, like old serviette rings and cutlery, jugs, enamel and copper items. Some of the candlesticks, which were definitely not silver, were marked at R500, which I thought was a bit steep. If you are willing to go get your hands a little dirty and dig around the second hand and antique shops on Queen street or in Newlands, you will find exactly the same things for a third of the price.
That said, I thought Nonna's was great for inspiration, and I ended up buying a ceramic bowl with a black and white protea from a label called Afro Delft, which I thought was a super cool name!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
A new chapter
I can't believe how quickly the past few months have flown by - I started my daughter on solids on Monday, and it feels like we are entering a whole new phase of babyhood!
She loves her cereal and I got all the first messy, uncertain moments on camera - it was a little tricky spoon feeding with my right hand and snapping pics with my left!
I was given a high chair by my sister in law for my baby shower, and at the time thought I'd only be needing it in an incredibly long time. Wow, how those 5 months flew by (well, at least in hindsight they flew. Sitting in the nursery at 2 in the morning with a crying 8-week old seemed to drag on forever...)
So today I am off to search for a steamer, and a cookbook for little ones. And soon I will be steaming and puree-ing butternut and carrots and sweet potatoes.
In other news, it is only six weeks until spring day (1 September) today! I can't wait. And as a sign of the impending spring, I killed my first spider today.
It may seem like a strange combination, but after years of apartment living in various cities, last spring/summer was my first in a ground floor house surrounded by a garden. And wow, did we get a lot of spiders!
Seeing as I was alone this morning, I had to suck it up and kill the horrible thing all on my own (squashing it with one of my husband's trainers, and not dirtying one of my own shoes, of course!)
I must admit I made some seriously girly squeeling noises while doing the deed, but got it done none the less. Yuck.
She loves her cereal and I got all the first messy, uncertain moments on camera - it was a little tricky spoon feeding with my right hand and snapping pics with my left!
I was given a high chair by my sister in law for my baby shower, and at the time thought I'd only be needing it in an incredibly long time. Wow, how those 5 months flew by (well, at least in hindsight they flew. Sitting in the nursery at 2 in the morning with a crying 8-week old seemed to drag on forever...)
So today I am off to search for a steamer, and a cookbook for little ones. And soon I will be steaming and puree-ing butternut and carrots and sweet potatoes.
In other news, it is only six weeks until spring day (1 September) today! I can't wait. And as a sign of the impending spring, I killed my first spider today.
It may seem like a strange combination, but after years of apartment living in various cities, last spring/summer was my first in a ground floor house surrounded by a garden. And wow, did we get a lot of spiders!
Seeing as I was alone this morning, I had to suck it up and kill the horrible thing all on my own (squashing it with one of my husband's trainers, and not dirtying one of my own shoes, of course!)
I must admit I made some seriously girly squeeling noises while doing the deed, but got it done none the less. Yuck.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
My ode to Etsy
For those of you who have yet to discover Etsy, get over there right away!
One day, when I'm big, and have an ADSL internet connection and don't have to get kicked off the worst 3G network in the world every two minutes, I will spend hours, yes, HOURS, just browsing Etsy.
Ok, there are some things that do look a little too 'hand made' but for the most of it, Etsy is the best place to find beautiful, unique things that have been made by some very talented people.
To date I've bought invitations for my daughter's christening next month (jpeg file) and my blog template from Yellow Savvy Design
Who knows, maybe one day it won't cost the earth to DHL a package to SA from the States, and then I won't only have to browse!
One day, when I'm big, and have an ADSL internet connection and don't have to get kicked off the worst 3G network in the world every two minutes, I will spend hours, yes, HOURS, just browsing Etsy.
Ok, there are some things that do look a little too 'hand made' but for the most of it, Etsy is the best place to find beautiful, unique things that have been made by some very talented people.
To date I've bought invitations for my daughter's christening next month (jpeg file) and my blog template from Yellow Savvy Design
Who knows, maybe one day it won't cost the earth to DHL a package to SA from the States, and then I won't only have to browse!
Monday, July 18, 2011
A few things from the weekend
» Amicis make the best pizza in Johannesburg. End of argument.
» Meeting new friends is good. But catching up with old friends is even better.
» Life is not about the car you drive.
» It’s totally pointless trying to stick to a diet at a Sunday afternoon family lunch.
» I really need to find a good leather sling bag in dark brown. I hear Country Road have nice ones. More about that later!
Have a great Monday!
xxx
» Meeting new friends is good. But catching up with old friends is even better.
» Life is not about the car you drive.
» It’s totally pointless trying to stick to a diet at a Sunday afternoon family lunch.
» I really need to find a good leather sling bag in dark brown. I hear Country Road have nice ones. More about that later!
Have a great Monday!
xxx
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