And these are the days of our lives...

I invigilated two back-to-back chemistry practicals today and I am absolutely knackered, mostly due to five hours of the following:

1. Students not using the wash basin to dispose of various corrosive chemicals but simply emptying them out onto the floor because they aren't thinking rationally, thereby turning the lab into a chemical spill. Can you say: "Clean-up at aisle number four."
   
2. Students almost setting themselves alight because they are daydreaming while holding a boiling test tube over an open flame with a wooden test tube holder which, subsequently, sets alight while you continually scream: "Blow it out, blow it out!" and they think you're referring to the bunsen burner. Now while this does give the entire classroom the aroma of a roaring fire in an African boma, it's a little bit unnerving when you're not actually trying to braai meat.
   
3. Students forgetting to take out the cork stopper from the boiling test tube they are heating directly over an open flame, leading to random explosions of cork across the lab, narrowly missing many heads and sets of eyes with no promise of champagne at the end of it.
   

*sigh*

I love my job.

...Now put a cork in it.

The Weepies - Painting by Chagall

A little dog I know...

Flowerpot dog says: "Pick me, pick me!"

Quote: Jacques-Yves Cousteau

"When one man, for whatever reason,
has the opportunity to lead an extraordinary life,
he has no right to keep it to himself."

Berry-Banana Slush

I made this divine treat for brekkie the other day....oh so yum and kinda healthy too! If you've checked the label of some commercial ice-creams lately, they seem to be the dumping ground for a lot of chemicals with scary E numbers. This is a rocking quick and easy homemade substitute.

Ingredients:

• 4 large bananas
• 1/2 packet of frozen mixed berries (I use the ones from Woolies)
• 100ml evaporated milk (a.k.a. Nestle Ideal Milk)

Method:

1. Zoosh together using a food processor (I have one of those mini ones that came with a stick blender, and it works very well).
2. Chuck it into two bowls and smul lekker with someone you love!

P.S. Forgot to take a photo because I was too keen to eat the finished product, so I found one that approximately shows the consistency...although it is slightly more on the ice-creamier side than the pic.


When you're just NOT in the mood to be "good" and make your OWN ice-cream, I highly recommend Woolworths' Simply Chocolate Chocolate Ice-cream (it comes in a 1L black tub).

Born-up-a-tree!

Quote: How I Met Your Mother

Season 1, Episode 4, The Return of the Shirt:

Marshall: 'Oh, my god. Are you alright?'

Lily: 'What happened to you?'

Ted: 'Told the truth, turns out the truth has a mean round house kick.'

Marshall: 'Oh, man.'

Lily: 'Oh, well you did the right thing. I’m proud of you.'

Ted: 'I’m bleeding internally.'

Quotes: 30 Rock

Season 1, Episode 3, Blind Date:

Liz: 'Kenneth, why did you bet that terrible hand?'
Kenneth: 'Why? Because I believe life is for the living. I believe in taking risks and biting off more than you can chew. And also, people were yelling and I got confused about the rules.'

Season 1, Episode 4, Jack The Writer:

Tracy: 'But I want you to know something... You and me, it's not gonna be a one-way street. 'Cause I don't believe in one-way streets. Not between people, and not while I'm driving.'
Kenneth: Oh, okay.
Tracy: 'So, here's some advice I wish I woulda got when I was your age: Live every week like it's Shark Week.'

Season 2, Episode 5, Greenzo:

Jack: 'Look how Greenzo's testing! They love him in every demographic - colored people, broads, fairies, commies. Gosh, we gotta update these forms.'

Some weekend road trip love courtesy of my Nokia E71

Horses grazing at Summerhill Stud Farm,
Kwazulu-Natal Midlands.

The welcoming committee at the entrance to
Umlalazi Nature Reserve, Mtunzini, KZN.

The wind-swept Mtunzini beach.

A salty sea dog says hello in St Lucia, KZN.
(Also in the pic: My hubby's sexy arm and leg :-)

Breakfast dog says: "Me wantses some of your bacon, preez!"

St. Lucia Estuary framed by forest.

Rocking Gluten-Free-School-Holiday Flapjacks

School is out and I felt the need to celebrate the afternoon in style by making gluten-free flapjacks!

This was my first attempt at gf flapjacks, and boy did I strike it lucky the first time round.

I adapted a recipe by Chef Jackie Cameron of Hartford House in the Kwazulu Natal Midlands (original recipe found here).

Here is my version:

Potato Flour Flapjacks

Ingredients:

2 Eggs (jumbo)
50ml Butter (melted)
200ml Milk
2 cups (500ml) Potato flour
3/4tsp Bicarbonate of soda
3/4tsp Creme of tartar

Quick and Unfussy Method:

• Chuck the potato flour, bicarb and creme of tartar into a bowl.
• Make a hole in the middle of the ingredients.
• Toss the butter, milk and eggs into the hole (in that order in case your butter is a bit hot, then the cold milk buffers the eggs from cooking)
• Mix it together (I used a fork - ironically, despite being an ex-chef I have never owned an electric mixer or even a whisk for home use...I prefer robust home cooking which is no mess, no fuss).
• Use a pan with some form of non-stick 'itemage' coating the bottom (I used butter for richness, but you could use oil or Spray 'n Cook or whatever blows your hair back)

The consistency of this batter was SO perfect that the batter forms its own perfect circle when ladelled into the pan (well, that's what mine did...you might need to tweak your batter with a little more milk or a little more flour).


The recipe made 6 of these big beauties in total...


...which I serve with this sucrose-free treat...


...which looks like this when dolloped with decadently thick cream.


Mamasita blessed the cooking process with her voluptuous clay presence ;-D


I now consider my holiday officially started in sweet style - a flapjack, a fresh mug of rooibos chai, a Summer breeze and the following playlist:
Chris Cornell - Black Hole Sun (acoustic);
The Dirty Skirts - Daddy Don't Disco;
Incubus - Wish You Were Here; and
Chris Cornell - Long Gone.

Happy holidays!

Quote: The Big Bang Theory

Season 2, Episode 2, The Codpiece Topology:

Howard Wolowitz: 'Renaissance faires aren't about historical accuracy. They're about taking chubby girls who work at Kinko's and lacing them up in corsets so tight their bosoms jump out and say: "Howdy!"'

Sheldon Cooper: 'Bosoms would not have said: "Howdy!" in the fifteenth century. If anything, they would have said: "Hazaa!"'