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!"'

Moonish Superstitionliness :-)

While visiting my parents this evening, my grandfather (who is convalescing at their home after his stroke) mentioned that we should turn over some money in our pockets because it is a new moon. My husband has a special penchant for idioms so I thought I'd look it up for him.

As it turns out, it isn't an idiom but rather a superstition. As quoted in an article called Superstitions and the Moon - Myths and Superstitions Linked with the Moon by Carole Anne Somerville:

"Anyone seeking good fortune should bow to the new moon and turn over any silver coins in his pocket. The silver colour of the Moon is rumoured to have a direct affinity with the silver from which the coins were made. So if a person holds up a coin to a new moon and wishes for money, over the days ahead as the moon 'increases' in size, so too will their bank balance!

Being without money when seeing a new moon is thought to be unlucky but if a person has some coins and turns them over without taking them out of their pocket, they will have plenty money over the month ahead and the wish that's made while turning the coins will be fulfilled."

Cheers to that :-)

For you, for me, for us

"In the heart of every man,
wherever he is born,
whatever his education and tastes,
there is one small corner which is Italian,
the part which finds regimentation irksome,
the dangers of war frightening,
strict morality stifling,
that part which loves frivolous and entertaining art,
admires larger than life solitary heroes,
and dreams of impossible liberation
from the strictures of tidy existence."
~Luigi Barzini~

So here's to grabbing life by the kahunas, embodying la dolce vita, and tripping the light fantastic.
I love you (you know who you are).
xxx