SAND PAPER & PAINT!

So there was this kitchen......

that was very 70's and  .... well just not me.

The kitchen of the house we live in 2003/2004

yellow cabinets with brown wooden handles and yellow floor

So with little money to spend I got some white paint from my mom and tinted it blue and painted the cupboards. Also slowly started replacing the handles - but didn't get very far....

painted the cupboards just after moving in

Floor still yellow and splash back tiles still patterned

Then we asked our lovely land lady last year if we could tile the kitchen floor and repaint the cupboards....
And she said YES :)
Of course it took a while for us to get going - but we managed to tile the kitchen floor ourselves with big white tiles (which really wasn't as easy as it seems - cause big tiles are harder to tile with!)
Then I started to ponder what colour the cabinets/cupboards should be....
So after many many hours on the internet looking at a kazillion kitchens - we painted the top cupboards white and the bottom cupboards grey and afixed silver brushed handles :) and I really like how it came out :)

the middle section behind the fruit is still not painted - I wasn't sure if i wanted to tile it or something

We took out 2 small sliding doors and replaced the backs of 2 of the cupboards with mirror (see where the dinner plates are)

My husband got this table and bench set made up to my dimensions i asked for and then it took me a few days of painting and sanding!

Well its safe to say that the kitchen unfortunately isn't sparkily and white anymore and there are dishes in the sink :( darn! but atleast it more my style :) chique grey, silver and white :)

Guy Fawkes and a Winner!

So I couldn't find my Guy Fawkes photos from last year - don't know why. So here is a pic of some boats in Kalk Bay Harbour. The reason for the need of fireworks pics is because it is guy fawkes today for us and lots of people will be letting off fireworks tonight. YAY! they always look so pretty.

And on another celebratory and explosive note: the WINNER of the Kawaii $20 voucher is:
*drum roll and fire works*

Curious Constellation said...

I also liked Kawaii Goodies on FB.

So happy Friday

Have a Super Weekend

All I want right now is one of these and a cup of coffee

I am so distracted and NEED to focus...


This blog post has taken 3 days to write and I'm only on the second line > yikes!
I can't write in story form right now as I'm so distracted so bullet form it is:

• So I was interviewed last week for the Wellness Warehouse blog about being Gluten-Free. Take a look at the interview here.

• I managed to email all the bloggers involved in the Blog it Forward idea [yay me]

• I have been catching up on emails - nearly there but school trips and cleaning and cooking keeps getting in the way of me getting it under wraps - darn!!! - I will conquer my inbox [positive thinking Betty positive]

•  Photo editing is also on my to-do list but I keep taking more photo so I guess that is one of those things I won't be conquering - oh well - you win some, you lose some.

• You are crazy for reading this post - hahaha - ok what i really mean is - thank you for reading this post

• Washing dishes is NOT cool!

• I have a strong urge for coffee - when I say urge I mean - AAAH give it to me NOW!!! I think I may need to go the shop right after I have hit the posting button - Run out the door - hand bag in hand and nothing else!!!

• You have until midnight tomorrow to enter my current give away then its over.

•  If your name is Swee San you have until Friday to email me - then I will be selecting a new winner for the birdie vinyl giveaway.- sorry. [hope you email]

• Have to go doing shopping now - organic and all - I wouldn't have it any other way.

so hope you weren't to confused by my crazy mumblings.....
coffee it is!!!  ....bye

Things that make me smile

• I love walking early mornings on the beach - the sight of sea and mountains never seems to grow old

• Playing music loud in my car while driving on the road  round the mountain :) puts me in such a great head space
• Making home made vanilla ice cream from scratch - and then licking the bowl
• Receiving comments from old followers and getting new followers - it brightens my day everytime - I still can't believe that others like to read my blog
• Planning parties in my head - with matching decor and food and drink :) prettiness is contagious  
• Chilling at home with my husband - so peaceful and calming

How as your weekend been?

AND THE WINNERS IS.....

Happy Friday - here is the winner for the Urban Walls Birdie Vinyl ...

1. Swee San said...

i'm a follower :)

PLEASE EMAIL ME 

Sorry to everyone else who didn't win. I have a new give away up for Kawaii Goodies - gorgeous crafty stuff :) Try entering - you may get lucky :)

Have a rocking weekend everyone and congrats again Swee San.

hugs

 

GIVE AWAY - COOL STUFF by Kawaii Goodies

I wish I could win this giveaway - there is SO much I would buy!!! I love the food cutters - especially the flower ones! and the stamps and washi tape are gorgeous - I may need to do some christmas shopping on this cute etsy page :)

A mother of 3, Soury works from home running 2 online business (www.kawaiigoodies.com and www.whimsicalgiftsetc.com).  Her favorite mediums to work with are fabric, paper and "anything sticky"! Her shop offers both hand made and commercial craft supplies such as hand stamped muslin ribbons, fabric tape and labels, imported Japanese stamps, and washi masking tape. Soury's stuff is affordable, adorable, and will inspire you to create something wonderful!

On Kawaii Goodies facebook page Soury has a giveaway EVERY Monday, so don't miss out on "liking" her page so you can more chances of winning!


 
Please visit Kawaii Goodies Etsy Shop



The giveaway: (1 winner)
1. $20 voucher to spend at Kawaii Goodies

There are 5 ways for you to win - you will get an entry for each thing that you do BUT YOU HAVE TO BE A FOLLOWER OF BETTY BAKE BLOG:

You need to go look at Urban Walls Etsy shop and then comment in the comment section of this post which of their Vinyls you love the best.

1) Be a Follower of Betty Bake Blog (I will check) then do one of the following:

2) Comment below and tell us which is your favorite item/s at Kawaii Goodies
3) "like" Kawaii Goodies facebook page (just come back and say so here)
4) "like" Betty Bakes facebook page (just come back and say so here)
5) Tweet about this giveaway - add @bettybakeblog to your tweet
6) Blog about this giveaway - give me the link in the comment section below

*please leave a separate comment for each thing you do (favorite kawaii goodies thing, facebook like, tweet, blogposts) in comment section below

this is an international give away so anyone can enter :)

this competition closes on Thursday 4th November 2010 , winner will be announced on Friday the 5th

PIZZA - I think i may have perfected it for me

so this is IT!!! well for me anyway. I have been trying to perfect the base of a gluten free pizza for ages. I can make one with flour/wheat just fine but since we don't eat that any more I need to make numminess out of things we can eat. 

STEP 1
200ml hand hot - hot water
half to 3 quarters of a sachet of yeast

mix the 2 together in a bowl and let stand until starting to bubble or froth.


Meanwhile in another nice large bowl sift and mix together the following ingredients EXCEPT THE OIL:

STEP 2
500grams (half a kilogram) of gluten free flour mix (I used Health Connection gluten free flour mix)
1 packet yeast
3 tablespoons organic brown sugar
a pinch or 2 of grinder salt
about roughly 3-4 tablespoons olive oil or sunflower oil

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the frothy yeast water and oil.
Mix and slowly add more warm water until you have a loose sticky mix. Mix and bring together and keep adding a bit of water until you have a warm loose dough. Add more flour if you've added to much water. other wise let if me a soft sticky ball that sticks to your hands.

Cover bowl with a hot wet tea towel/dish cloth by running hot water from the tap and wetting the cloth, ring it out slightly till not dripping any more but still wet/damp. place over bowl and leave dough to rise for an hour or two or until doubled in size.

Take out a nice sized ball of dough mix a little flour into the piece you are about to roll out and then place on a floured surface and roll out until desired size and thickness. I recommend rolling out quite thin.

place dough/pizza base and a preheated (very hot) baking tray and place on your tomato based sauce (recipe below) and cheese and toppings

Place in a 200 degrees celcius oven - oven rack slightly raised to between middle and top of oven.
Bake till the base is crispy and light brown under neath

Take out, cut and serve

HOMEMADE TOMATO SAUCE
a lot of tomatoes ( i use about 10)
1 - 2 onions
Herbs - basil, oregano
Salt
Pepper

Peel the tomatoes (place in boiling water then peel after a minute or 2) the skins should come off esily in your hands.
Finely chop the onions then fry in some sunflower oil until lightly golden
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.


*This is also great for a pasta sauce - just add cream ad the end and serve over pasta :) *



 TIP: use a pair of scissors to cut out your pizza -its so much easier than using a knife

-

“Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so
endlessly delicious.”

—  Ruth Reichl

GIVE AWAY - COOL VINYL STICKERS by Urban Walls

 

A modern and creative way to decorate your walls and give 

a new look to your room without the expense and hassle 

of hand painting.

Please visit Urban Walls Etsy Shop

The giveaway: (1 winner)

1. Vinyl Wall Sticker Decal Art - Just hanging out (birds in birdcages) 
   -cages in brown and you may pick the colour of the birds

There are 4 ways for you to win - you will get an entry for each thing that you do BUT YOU HAVE TO BE A FOLLWER IF BETTY BAKE BLOG:

You need to go look at Urban Walls Etsy shop and then comment in the comment section of this post which of their Vinyls you love the best.

1) Be a Follower of Betty Bake Blog (I will check)
2) Comment below and tell us which is your favorite Urban Walls Vinyl
3) "like" Urban Walls facebook page (just come back and say so here)
4) Tweet about this giveaway - add @bettybakeblog to your tweet
5) Blog about this giveaway - give me the link in the comment section below

*please leave a separate comment for each thing you do (favorite vinyl, facebook like, tweet, blogposts) in comment section below

this is an international give away so anyone can enter :)

this competition closes on Thursday 28th October 2010 , winner will be announced on friday the 29th

 

so Love is a choice

I love my life - but there are days I feel irritated and want to know the meaning.
To life and everything - to know when my expiry date is and how much time I have left. You know so that if I'm going to live till I'm 90 then I will keep on going working hard at trying to build up the various parts of my life But if I only have 1 more day - I'm going jump on a plane and fly far away or have an awesome picnic with my family and just lie in the sun and dream and smell and feel the warmth of the sun.

so I have decided to have a bit of both cause no one ever knows when our expiration date is.
I've decided to stop putting off the fun stuff and start planning once a month indulge days - for me and my family.

Because at the end of the day - who is going to say - I wish I had worked harder?

ps - this post is from a new blog i've started called Eat.Luv.Pray

http://eatluvpray.blogspot.com

(It is still being prettied up)

THINGS I MADE or ATE THIS WEEKEND

I had such a lovely weekend I just have to tell you all about it. It wasn't that anything profound happened or that we did anything particularly spectacular - it just was nice :)

• Friday I managed to go to a play date for my daughter and spend time with a friend :)

Made roast chicken and potatoes
In the evening we watched a dvd and relaxed - started late so went to bed late

• Saturday I managed to walk/run on the beach and then home, bath and off to the food market for a really quick shop.Came home and the husband washed the dog and then we all gardened together for most of the day. 

We cleaned up our weed infested pots and planted my herb garden that I've been wanting for sooo long now! (yay! accomplished that) My husband worked hard and helped me sooo much! Used left over chicken from the night before to make chicken and veg soup for Sunday and had salad for supper.

• Sunday morning got up early and walked on the beach - it was a stunning and hot day. Came home and sat under our pergola and drank freshly brewed coffee. We sorted, re-arranged and cleared out our daughters room (yay! another accomplishment -although husband did most of it). 

Shopped for a laptop bag for the husband. Made vanilla infused pineapple and banana gelato -my own made up recipe :)

Watched the Mentalist and some House and relaxed and ate soup late at night


It was a good weekend with good weather, good working and good relaxing :) a great balance.

OLD CLASSSIC - Creme Brulee

It amazes me how a dessert can seem so fancy and cost quite alot in restaurants but could be so cheap to buy the ingredients and relatively easy to make at home with some practice

So here goes to a dessert that is one of my all time favorites :) it makes me happy just thinking about it!!


INGREDIENTS
1 tub/cup (250ml) cream
1 cup (250ml) milk (full cream)
4 eggs (3 whole and 1 egg yolk)
60 ml (4 tablespoons) sugar or agave or xylitol
1 vanilla pod or 2 teaspoons vanilla essence

METHOD
1) in a small saucepan put the milk, cream and seeds of a vanilla pod and the stick (or essence) into the pot. (slit the vanilla pod all the way down and then scrape out the seeds with the back of a teaspoon). Slowly bring to the boil - just before it boils over is bubbling remove from stove top.

2) in a bowl/jug mix together the 3 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk and the xylitol or sugar or agave - which ever you are using.
3) pour the boiled milk/cream into the egg mixture slowly while stirring quickly the entire time
4) pour into ramekins or tea cups.
5) place the cups in an oven proof dish with boiling water half way up the outsides of the cups/ramekins and place in the oven of 160 degrees celcius
6) bake for 15 - 20 min and remove from oven when there is a set layer on top of the mixture when you tilt  the custard -it ripples or moves a bit from underneath the milk skin

let it cool then place in the fridge for a minimum of 2-3 hours
they can be kept in the fridge covered for 3 or 4 days

take out and sprinkle castor sugar on top and caramelise with a chefs blow torch or put under the grill of the oven but watch CAREFULLY as it will burn very easily 

AND THE WINNERS ARE.....

Happy Friday - here are the winners for the cupcake wrappers etc...

1. A set of 24 black & white cupcake wrappers goes to number 5  Shayne said...

Ok, so google ate my comment TWICE, so not impressed right now. I love them all it is impossible to decide! Love the Christmas ones, the pink/black polka dot, the black white and and and. I believe I do already follow you? Thanks for a fab giveaway - ps - if there are a million comments here from me pls delete and just leave one?

2. $10 gift certificate to my shop goes to number 12  FarmGirl said...

Great give away for a cupcake lover! I am a follower of you blog and love the breast cancer awareness wrappers.

3. $5 gift certificate to my shop goes to number 11 Bobby said...

I love the Minnie Mouse wrappers. These wrappers are amazing!

PLEASE EMAIL ME LADIES   Have a rocking weekend hugs

 

Pay It Forward - Kind Bloggers

For those of you interested in the Free Advertising and Pay if Forward idea I am still busy working on pairing you up. Trying to get everyone's email addresses together and see who belongs with who - I may just draw you name out of a hat if I can't pair you successfully. So now you know -  that I haven't forgotten about it. and if you have no clue about what I'm talking about - you can find the Pay it Forward idea here

Happy Tuesday




ps Also busy editting ice cream photos and trying not to lick the screen :)

Lunch Theft at work

For all you foodies out there who devote time into the perfect sandwich for lunch - only to have it stolen from the work fridge or locker. There is a plan :) Anti Theft Bags. When I heard the name I figured some sort of bag with a key or an alarm!

 

but no this clever company thought of printing what looks like green mold on the bag so people would be put off stealing your lunch :)

 so very clever - wish I had thought of this.

 Tada - nice and fresh for you to eat but looks nasty to others when in the bag. Ofcourse you can't tell your colleagues about this or they will start stealing your lunch again

You can get these cool lunch bags here

Things that make me smile

 . I love that it is Friday and the start of the weekend
 . I'm smiling because my husband is going to take me on a date this weekend
 . I am totally happy and grateful for my great family who will babysit for us
 . I can't wait to relax and think about nothing - sooo awesome
 . I love that the weather is so still and we live in such a beautiful place
 . I smile everyday when I consider all that we have -clothes, food and a roof over our heads
 . I am grateful for all my followers who read my blog - your comments make me smile :)

CUPCAKE WRAPPERS, TOPPERS - GIVE AWAY

So I have a giveaway for all you Cupcake lovers out there :) I know there are lots of you. All you party planning moms and foodies who love to bake and those of you who want to try your hand at some cool looking cupcakes :) yes really 

Thats A Wrap

I asked Beth from That's A Wrap how her cupcake wrappers and topppers came to be and she answered -

have been making cupcake wrappers and toppers for 4 months now. I have been paper crafting for over 15 years...... This spring, a friend of mine who is a baker suggested I make cupcake wrappers. Honestly, I had never even seen any handmade cupcake wrappers. I "researched" it and made some samples. I put those on my other etsy shop. They were a hit. So I opened up "That's A Wrap!" and the rest is history!!

Beth from That's A Wrap has a blog and of course an etsy store.

The giveaway: (there will be 3 winners)

1. A set of 24 black and white cupcake wrappers

2. $10 gift certificate to my shop

3. $5 gift certificate to my shop

You will get an entry for each thing that u do


You need to go look at That's A Wraps etsy store or blog and then comment in the comment section of this post which of her wrapper you love the best.

1) you need to be a follower of my blog

2) for an extra entry you can tweet about this giveaway
3) for another entry - you can blog about this giveaway

*please leave a link to tweets and blog posts in comment section below
** leave a separate comment for each thing that you do

this is an international give away so anyone can enter :)

this competition closes on Thursday 14th October 2010 , winner will be announced on friday the 15th

DATE AND ALMOND TREATS - WHEAT FREE

 This is one of those great recipes that can be made by young and old and is good for teatime with friends (or by yourself), good for lunch boxes or good for a easy gift for someone - no matter how healthy they are.
And the really cool part is even as young as a 2 year old can help you roll out little balls or logs and dip them in the coconut :) so it's good for bonding/baking together or for pre-school teachers to do with there class.

So this is a win - win recipe :)

 Now before making these please take note that you can vary the quantities of the ingredients to suit you and if you have more of one ingredient and a little of another in the house vary it with something similar (like you can swap almonds for some other nuts you have or use some peanut butter if you have only a few dates)

INGREDIENTS
200g dates - fresh sticky dates (you can use the hard block of dates but they are not as good)
50 grams almonds (ground or flaked or whole) which ever you prefer
50 grams pecan nuts
a handful of raisins
1/2 a cup of fine shredded coconut
Extra fine coconut for rolling in

First off pulsate the nuts in the blender until they are varying in size between crumbs and largeish chunks. You can finely chop with a sharp knife if you don't have a blender. Take out the blender and set aside. Take the dates and cut in half, take out the pips and then cut up into small pieces with a knife or place in a blender and pulsate (minus pips).Add raisins and pulsate a little more. Now add the raisins and dates to the nuts and mix with your hands. Add enough coconut to stop the mixture from being to sticky. At this point you could add some whole raisins/nuts/cherries/small copped up pieces of dried fruit or dried berries or dark chocolate and then squish/roll into small balls or logs.
place the extra coconut on a large plate and roll the balls/logs in it coating well.

Serve or package in an airtight container and refrigerate until needed