HAPPY FRIDAY

 So i thought i would write what makes me smile at the moment: (in no particular order)

. my lovely family and friends who put up with my craziness
. loud music in my car while driving
. a warm cup of tea when my hands are cold
. pretty blogs (especially ones with good recipes)
. my understanding man - even when I am hormonal and make crazy ridiculous remarks
. the mind of a small child :) they are so encouraging and honest
. a good walk on the beach - beautiful waves and fresh air
. accomplishing a clean kitchen - dishes and all


So what makes you smile? go on do share :)

CUPCAKES WITH A HINT OF LEMON

original recipe from here   - thanks to Lana of Lanalou who takes the most gorgeous photos of her once a month recipe (sweet treats) and blogs about it - i make these cupcakes often and use them for all the party cupcakes i make :) I have changed and tweaked the recipe to suit my family  - as we are wheat free and love to use real vanilla from the pod. Ofcourse you can use vanilla essence if you don't have vanilla pods or leave it out if you prefer.

Cupcakes with lemon zest

100g butter
⅔ cup sugar (i use brown organic sugar)
1 cup wheat-free flour (you can use regular wheat self raising flour too just leave out the baking powder below )

1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
6 tbsp milk
2 large eggs
pinch salt
1 vanilla pod - seeds scraped out in mixture
1 tbsp grated lemon zest

Mix all ingredients together starting with the butter and sugar - slowly add the rest once the butter and sugar are nicely mixed together,  beat well
Pour the mixture into cupcake cases
Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown at 180°C
 Makes ± 12 cupcakes depending on what size cupcake cases you use
         

LITTLE BIRDS BABY SHOWER

  

On Saturday I had the pleasure of decorating for my sister in laws baby shower. It didn't take much brain storming to come up with a theme for her baby shower as she knows she is having a girl and her nursery is going to have accents of little birds - so we went with pink and white with little birds :) taaa daaaa

 

 

 

 

  

Working along the theme of little birds we added bird related things like feathers and eggs- All in pink of course :) I added wording "baby bird" and "baby girl" to a few special cupcakes and the top of the cupcake display had two little birds facing each other.

 My sister in laws mom arranged all the eats to be brought and so to try and keep things as coordinated as possible i brought extra little fondant birds and a butterfly or two to be added to various plates and platters to tie them all together with the theme.  

I also printed a picture of little birds and their babies put it in a frame and used pink ribbon and tuile on the table and scattered little pink flowers. Of course it helps that I have a little girl so pink fabric etc is easy to come by in my house :)  

Some of the Pink and white eats included were: turkish delight, scones with strawberry jam and cream, strawberries dipped in chocolate (red but also ties in with the pink nicely), Cream cheese with sweet chilli sauce and crackers, speckled eggs (all the pink and purple ones), pink decorated cupcakes (which i made and decorated).

 

Champagne and Cupcakes

 i baked chocolate cupcakes and had some pretty champagne at my party

As I sit here and type this at 2.20 in the morning - it is deathly quiet outside and I am content with the world.
I have had a very productive and crazy last 2 weeks (hence the lack of blog posts). My husband is on leave and my 30th birthday is over and done with (phew). Food has been baked and eaten and dishes have been washed and mostly packed away. My lounge is yet to be re-arranged as i quite like how it looks from my party :)
I had a grand time and was so happy and blessed with all my family and friends who took the time to celebrate and spoil me - (Thank you oh crazy friends)
I did manage to take some photos (look at the one above) but have still got to sort and edit them and try to sort out in my head how to post party photos as well as before and after photos oh how my hubby and I decorated/remade our furniture etc....

Just thought I would give you a hi/ hello world, I do still exist and a happy thank you to my friends, being brazen and simply Mel B and various others for sharing my birthday with me :)

well odious 20's and hello 30's

nighty nighty *yawn* I really should go to bed

 

This time next week .....

 So this time next week the guests will be arriving for my birthday party and everything will have been set up and ready! everything will be in GO mode and i hope i will be dressed and ready for the fun... camera in hand :) So i apologize now for my lack of posting as i tick off and arrange and tidy up ahead of time for my party. I will be sure to share it with you afterwards with photos. I must say I already feel behind with things - the list is as long as my arm of things i need to get, make arrange and clean! oh darn - but it will be worth it in the end and i do have my lovely sweet husband off this week to help me so i intend to milk that for all it's worth - Go hubby Go!

Happy Saturday


Fingers crossed for a fabulous week :) I'll be sure to check in once or twice - but write a blog post, I'm not so sure.



ps I am happy to have 50 followers :) thank you! I appreciate everyone of you :)

sunset on the beach and still painting

Just thought i would share with you another one of my photos i took from the train the other day on the way to the fan walk in Cape Town (for the FIFA world cup soccer/football). I really like this pic of the river running into the sea at sunset.
Anyways i'm still paining stuff in my house for the P A R T Y  - so not much cooking is getting done.


So 17 more sleeps and counting .... to the big 3 0


 
A.K.A Bernice Griffiths

30 new followers for my 30th

so it is 20 sleeps till my 30th Birthday!!! woooo dude. So I am busy making my house pretty for my party that will be happening here on my birthday weekend. My hands are full of paint half the time or a rag making things clean. stuff is being packed away and things straightened. It is choas yet all part of the planning right now. I really hope it comes together in the next 19 days.


anyone want to get me 30 new followers for my 30th birthday present :)  cheeky hey :)



have a super monday

THINGS I MADE or ATE THIS WEEKEND

Well i decided i should try make more effort to do my monday morning (used to be regular) post of things i made or ate this weekend.

•  I had a great time eating cheese and biscuits - which are always easy to prepare and delicious to eat

•  Enjoyed a great dinner with fellow blogger and friend Being Brazen and our other halves - Brazen made roast lamb and veggies, while i made creme brulee - it was delicious!

• Braaied (BBQ for non South Africans) with my family - delicious sausage and salad

• My husband and i did the Fan walk for the world cup in cape town - we ate nothing but just thought i would share this random news cause it rocked!

• Ate chocolate mousse while the hubby and I watched movies - it was good too, recipe to follow :)

• All is well in my world! :) How was your weekend?

 
If you like cheese and biscuits remember to add some dried fruit or fresh fruit and a nice jam or fruit sauce for a delicious dimension to your cheese board.A good salami or parma ham adds a nice savoury dimention. Red or white wine for wine drinkers is always a nice touch too!
If you follow these ideas and place on a nice wooden board you are bound for some very classy looking entertaining that is easy and tasty with minimum effort

 

LAZY MANS PIZZA

You know when you are chatting with someone about what you are going to eat for dinner and they tell you they are going to have something really nice like pizza and then you realise you feel like pizza too - but you don't feel like making it from scratch cause you've had a long day or just feel like minimal effort. Well i decided that when i'm feeling lazy i'm allow to do the next best thing and make lazy man's pizza or pizza toasts as it's called in my house. So here is some early easy weekend food for you :)

INGREDIENTS
2 - 4 slices of bread of choice per person (we use gluten free)
*homemade tomato relish (recipe below) or tinned tomatoe and onion mix -but not as good!
a nice big block of cheese grated - cheddar or mozzarella or a mix of what you have in the fridge
Pizza toppings: - eg. mushrooms, avocado, banana, pineapple, bacon, chicken, salami, etc.. (whatever you like and have in the fridge).
some garlic finely chopped
oregano and basil

METHOD
Put your bread in the oven and grill till crispy on both sides but not to brown or the edges will burn later when you melt the cheese. Then layer with tomato relish  (recipe below), then cheese then toppings of your choice and then a little more cheese and a sprinkle of garlic, oregano, basil and salt and pepper.
Put under the grill and leave till bubbling and golden - eat hot straight away
- preferably eaten with a good movie :)




*RELISH
4/5 tomatoes peeled (place in boiling water then peel). Finely chop 1 to 2 onions then fry in some sunflower oil until lightly golden and add the peeled and chopped tomatoes. Add salt, pepper, basil and oregano and some sugar. Keep adding sugar until the sourness of the tomatoes has been balanced out. lightly simmer for roughly 20 min. And serve on your toasts - goes well on burgers or hot dogs or boerewor rolls.


Have a lovely weekend everyone - so excited that it is friday tomorrow :)

Betty Bake

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Today i was featured here :) Thank you to Michele from pocket exchange for such a lovely review. And welcome to any new readers from her site.

She also reminded me that i used to do posts on things i ate or made this weekend in her review - and i think i may have to add those again as i haven't done one in ages.

have a super day 

HOMEMADE VANILLA CUSTARD - MORE DELICIOUS AND CREAMY THAN SHOP BOUGHT STUFF

we love to grate chocolate on ours and stir it in - mmm chocolate custard.

How to make custard like your granny used to make the old fashion way. No box custard or powder bases you mix with some milk and microwave or stir in a pot.
Non of those tastes the same as old fashion custard made from eggs, milk and real vanilla. For added smoothness and richness swop out 1 cup of milk for a cup of cream in the recipe below.
This is what you will need to make your very own delicoius custard.

INGREDIENTS
3 eggs
1 litre of milk
2-3 tablespoons gluten free flour
1 vanilla pod or vanilla paste or 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
4 tablespoons sugar or agave. you can put in more to taste


METHOD
Split your vanilla pod and scrape the seeds into a large pot with the milk in it. Place the restof the vanilla pod in the pot once u have scraped out all the seeds.
Bring the vannilla milk to the boil and then take off the stove. In a small to medium bowl place the eggs, corn flour and sugar and beat to a smooth consistency.
Pour the egg mixture while continuasly whisking the milk into the pot. Keep whisking until it begins to thicken - make sure it doesn't stick on the bottom of the pot.
place the pot back on the stove on a low to medium heat and continue to stir until nice and thickened up. You can add more sugar if you would like it to be sweeter.
also vary the amount of corn flour for a thinner pouring custard at less and for a thick tart filling custard add more.
place in bowls and serve. or you can add a multitude of toppings, cherries, chocolate chips, sprinkles or jelly :) our favourite is to leave the custard in the fridge until cold and then to grate some chocolate over it and stir it in -  mmmm

ROASTED PLUMS WITH ALMONDS, HONEY AND CINNAMON SERVED WITH SWEETENED VANILLA MASCAPONE

INGREDIENTS
Plums (1-2 plums per person)
Cinnamon

Honey
100grams Almonds (chopped)
Vanilla pod or essence
1 tub 250g Mascapone
2 tablespoons icing sugar (or 2 taste)
1 -2 teaspoons milk or cream

fresh plums cut and sprinlked with almonds and spices

Straight from the oven - all roasted and golden brown

METHOD
Cut plums in half and remove the pip (1 or 2 plums per person). Place in an oven proof dish large enough to just hold the plums. Make sure each plum is facing with the cut side up so you have a hollow where the pip was. Over each plum drizzle some honey into each hollow and some generally over all the plums. Sprinkle with chopped up almonds and cinnamon to taste. Sometimes i add some seeds from a vanilla pod for some extra flavor.
Place in the oven at 180 degrees celcius and bake for roughly 15 - 20 min or until golden and soft.

In a separate bowl mix/beat the mascapone, milk, icing sugar and vanilla seeds. Adjust to taste.
Remove plums from the oven and place 2- 4 halves per person in pretty bowls and place a nice dollop of vanilla mascapone on top - serve straight away as mascapone will melt from the hot plums.
Enjoy

you can also use fresh peaches, pears or apricots or other soft flesh fruits in season.

COCONUT ICE - MAD HATTERS TEA PARTY LOOK OR GREAT GIFT

Sweet sweet coconut ice. for those of you that have a serious sweet tooth or have a friend with a very sweet tooth - this makes a lovely personal gift or great tea time treat.
so very pretty and girly - pink and white.

INGREDIENTS
1 tin of condensed milk
500grams Icing sugar (sieved)
4 to 5 cups desiccated coconut
a few drops pink/red food colouring


METHOD

Make sure the icing sugar is sifted and then add the condensed milk and then coconut - keep adding the coconut until the mixture is really firm but not crumbling apart. Squish some in the palm of your hand and see if it holds it shape - if it starts to sag or is very sticky - add more coconut.
Divide the mixture in half and press into a wax paper lined dish or baking tray.
Mix a few drops of colouring in the remaining half of mixture and work through thoroughly, then press on top of the white layer in the dish. (Do this quickly so the white layer doesn't dry out to much as then your layers can separate when cutting).
Leave to dry and then cut into squares

Enjoy

ps variations could be making the mixture green and adding peppermint essence - and for a decadent twist dip them in dark chocolate

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

 I don't usually do posts on the weekend but seeing as though i haven't posted anything on my blog in a while I thought I may as well share with you the great Chocolate chip biscuit recipe I've been baking recently. All nice and crispy with fine cracks on the top the biscuits look really good. My husband says they remind him of his childhood and that makes him happy :)

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (CAN BE WHEAT-FREE OR REGULAR)

125grams butter (at room temparature and cubed)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence or one vanilla pod
1 and a quarter cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 and three quarter cups (upto 2 and cups)Gluten-Free flour of choice (eg. rice flour, gluten free flour mix)OR (1 and a half cups regular flour)
1 teaspoon bicarb
1 teaspoon baking powder
80 grams dark chocolate or chocolate of choice


METHOD:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius
Beat butter, vanilla, brown sugar and the egg until smooth and lump free.
Add to the mix the flour, bicarb abd baking powder.
Mix until everything is well incorporated.
If using normal cake flour use the 1 and a half cups of flour but if you are using a wheat free/ gluten free flour then add more flour until the mixture is nice and kind of stiff like a workable play dough.
Chop up chocolate and mix in.
Roll into small balls and flatten gentle with your hands and place on a greased baking tray.
Allow space for spreading between the biscuits and place in the oven.
Bake in the middle shelf for 7 - 10 mon or until lightly brwoned.
take out and let them cool before taking off the baking tray and placing in jars or on a plate for tea

ENJOY!!!