HAPPY EASTER

Wishing you a beautiful Easter.

I loved styling and photographing some Easter pics for a client. Here I used real eggs mixed with white candy coated chocolate eggs in a tin bowl set on wooden table in nature.

Hope you are having a spectacular time relaxing and spending time with the ones you love.
Of course a good chocolate or two in the mix ;)

Thanks for stopping by. I just wanted to check in and say hi.

Have a great time. All my hellos and smiles

HAPPY EASTER

Wishing you a Happy and Beautiful Easter filled with Meaning, Love and Life :) 
 AND ALL THE CHOCOLATES YOU'VE EVER DREAMED OF!


Whatever your reason for celebrating I know it will be stunning. May you be blessed and loved

hugs

EASY SCRAMBLED EGG AND OVEN ROASTED BABY TOMATOES (EASY EASTER BREAKFAST)

 
We all want to have a stress-free Easter weekend with whomever we spend it. And with family (or friends) popping in its nice to make an easy breakfast for everyone. You could even start making it while the kids are searching for Easter eggs! It only takes a quick checking on stove and oven to keep an eye on  breakfast - its that easy. Start by putting the little tomatoes in the oven and once they are looking almost done then mix all the ingredients for the eggs together and place in the pan and only stir every now and then... and you're done.

Make sure to brew some really good coffee to finish this laid back breakfast off. It will feel luxurious while you put your feet up and relax - not having to slave over the stove. (be sure to put a kiddy wink on toast making duty).

INGREDIENTS
5 - 7 Rosa or Cherry Tomatoes per person
Fresh basil (a few leaves)
2 eggs per person
1/3 Cup of Milk per person
a splash of cream for extra decadence (optional extra)
Salt (pinch)
Olive Oil

METHOD
Start with putting the little tomatoes a size appropriate oven dish and drizzle with olive oil, salt and scatter some fresh basil over. Place in the oven at 170 degrees celcius and leave to cook away - keep an eye on it every 7 minutes or so.
When the tomatoes are almost ready crack all the eggs and milk (add cream for decadence) and some salt into a jug or bowl and whisk with a fork to mix through. You should have yellow milk.
Heat a frying pan, add some olive oil and pour in the whole mixture.
Place on a low to medium heat and resist the urge to stir.
Wait a while but do make sure its not burning and then with a flat edged wooden spoon or egg lifter stir/ push the egg across the bottom of the pan to move- allowing the runnier egg to move into the gaps and the cooked egg to be moved to the sides.
Once most of the egg is cooked take off the heat - don't over cook/ dry out the egg (the egg will carry on cooking as it sits)
Dish up with the cooked tomatoes and serve.

ps the gold in egg the photo is spray painted and I would never condone eating anything that has come into contact with paint - it was just for picture fun!

CHOCOLATE AND COCONUT TRUFFLES

 

I originally posted this recipe on my blog when SPAR Cape Quarter asked me to write some recipes and blog about it - They paid me in yummy vouchers to buy all the ingredients in their store. (to read the original POST go here).

With Easter coming up soon I thought I would re-post it.
These truffles are beautiful and sweet but healthier than your regular chocolate truffles (especially if you swop out the glace cherries for some soft dried fruit). They do contain chocolate and the higher percentage of cocoa in the chocolate you purchase - the healthier they will be. So don't go buy a regular milk chocolate but a dark 70% or 85% cocoa bar.
My understanding of how it works is, if you buy a 100gram bar of 85% cocoa chocolate then 85 grams out of the 100 gram bar is cocoa leaving only 15% for sugar and cocoa butter etc... Yes it will be more bitter as there is less sugar in the bar but I assure you I have added beautiful sweet dates and dessicated coconut and raw sweet almonds to sweeten it up naturally. With no bad sweeteners but healthy natural ingredients. You could always add a dash of honey if it really isn't sweet enough for you.

Adding the maraschino cherries in the middle or the glace cherries to the mix is not healthy at all so if you go that route - then it is only for a very special treat and the truffles won't be healthy (just FYI)

INGREDIENTS
50grams Raw almonds
7 fresh Dates (pips removed)
a generous handful of Glace Cherries (roughly 17) +/- 100grams (I now would opt to have soft dried fruit like PEARS or APRICOTS instead)
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 OR soft dried fruit. (much better option).  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---> OPTIONAL and not as healthy!
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 Chocolate and coconut truffles or wrap up and package in a pretty box to make a beautiful and delicious gift.

THINGS I MADE or ATE THIS WEEKEND - EASTER

 

Well happy Monday - umm errr Tuesday :)  Being the long weekend and having monday off my brain thinks it's monday when it's actually tuesday (ha ha ha silly me) I keep thinking tomorrow is tuesday when it is actually wednesday. Pretty sure the rest of the week is going to go like that which is great cause when it gets to friday - which will feel like thursday the weekend will have come early - what a nice surprise it will be for my brain :)  It is funny how our bodies get into rhythms and certain circumstances make you feel differently. Anyway Easter was lovely and great to see friends and family and relax and eat ...... wait for it.... CHOCOLATE :)


We (my daughter and I) did try make our own easter eggs and I thought I had this bright idea - we blew out the inside of the eggs and washed them out, let them dry and then filled them with melted chocolate and let them set so we had solid easter eggs in a real egg shell which then you crack open with a spoon and inside is a solid chocolate egg. It kind of worked but the filling of the melted chocolate took way to long and you couldn't see if it was full so i gave up after 2 eggs. but it was kind of fun!

We also made an easter tree :) which was fun. Which we got the free printable eggs and bunnie pictures from Spagat a really cool blog. We had lots of fun making it and I think it came out really nice.


In all we had a very creative and relxing Easter - hope you did too