Opening of Haum of Yoga

A big congradulations to my friend Candice Helena on the opening of her very own Yoga Studio in Pretoria, HAUM OF YOGA. This beautiful studio is elegant and stylish with a warm tranquil atmosphere. Candice can help anyone attain a state of perfect spiritual insight.

I was flattered and excited that Candice asked me to do the food for her big day. My very first little function but not an easy one as everything had to be wheat free and vegeterian to compliment Candice's healthy lifestyle.

Wheat free veg and feta quiche



Spinach and feta phyllo pies

Variety of veg phyllo cups

Cheese board with wheat free olive bites

Wheat free mini muffins (lemon poppy seed muffins, roasted pepper and cheese muffins, banana and cinnamon muffins)

Fresh fruit

A little bit of this and that

Below are a variety of things I have been making the past while.

Swiss Roll filled with mixed berry mousse

Lavash Bread accompanied with philledelphia cheese and sweet chilli sauce

Mini Pita breads accompanied with chicken strips and humus

Berry mousse petit fours and White Chocolate petit fours

Chocolate Buttermilk cake garnished with white chocolate roses

Shortbread cookies

Chocolate chip cookies and chocolate biscotti

Mini feta and spinach quiche

Mini pecan nut tarts

Kitchen Chaos these past few months

Time flies way too fast for my liking. It had been 2 weeks since my last post which turned into 2 months and now I look again and it’s been almost 6 months. My life has been very chaotic these past few months, hence the lack of blogging. I have “recently” moved back to Pretoria, Jacaranda city- which are in full bloom right now, absolutely beautiful and quite delightful (a new word that I have picked up the last two weeks and find myself using quite often).

For a quick update on what my blog has missed out on this past while:

My sons 1^st birthday party- a carnival themed affair which I thoroughly enjoyed planning and sharing with everyone who has been a part of his very busy first year. 

Other than my son the birthday cake had to be my pride and joy, it was my very first novelty cake. A three tear circus tent chocolate cake with caramel and vanilla Italian buttercream icing, one word AMAZING!!!! 

A few tasty snacks- phyllo parcels filled with mince, spicy chicken phyllo pies

FBI School of Pastry- I enrolled at the Food and Beverage Institute School of Pastry to complete a Diploma in Pastry, which I am still busy with and finish end of November. 

Chocolate Garnishes

Mini Frangipan Tarts

Small Croquemboche 

A small French style wedding cake made from a tower of choux puffs filled with pastry cream.

Milk Tart

Puff pastry cheese straws

Mille Fouile

Puff pastry stack filled with strawberries and cream cheese mousse

Strudle

Filled with raisin, cinnamon, sugar, roasted almonds

Grossini

Variety of breads

Brioche loaf, health loaf, filled rolls, Portuguese rolls, hot cross buns, chelsea buns 

Bridesmaid duties- I was asked to be a bridesmaid for a very beautiful bride- to-be and was very busy planning the kitchen tea a month ago, for which I made the cake. The bride-to-be is a bit of a nutter so we decided that a Mad Hatter Tea Party was the way to go, which was complemented with the topsyturvey cake I made.

Pastry Master- With my Diploma almost behind my name I figured that I best start planning what it is I’m going to do with all the knowledge I’ve accumulated. Being a mom it makes it a bit difficult for me to get a Pastry Chef job that requires me to work ridiculous hours, so I figured why not start my own little baby company where my time is my own and more flexible. Pastry Master is what I’ll be known as doing cakes, sweet and savoury pastries, small functions and events. I’m so excited at this point in time I don’t know where to begin, my mind is racing with ideas and thoughts of what I want to do.  So stay tuned for what’s to come and hopefully I’ll blow your mind.

DIY Wall Art

Remember the DlIY Cupboard make-over I posted a while a ago? Well that was part of a little face lift I gave our room along with some wall art to liven up the room. My inspiration came from those vinyl wall stickers you can buy- I was browsing the web and came across so many different ones i liked. So I got my creative cap on and decided to make my own design and paint it on the wall... I chose a few different pictures from the web that I liked and combined them into one piece.

This was such a fun project for me and very calming. Once I was done I took a step backwards and was filled with such a warm fuzzy feeling when i looked at it.

You to can create something similar to your own specifications. All you need is black wall paint (or any colour of your choice) and some brushes. I hand drew my picture onto the wall, but if you don't feel confident in your drawing skills then you can make a stencil of your desired image and stencil it onto the wall.

Love in a pastry cup

Yesterday for lunch I was inspired by a number of recipes and couldn't bring myself to choose one... So I combined them and ended up making phyllo cups full of goodness... These are perfect as starters or finger foods at a party...

Feta Phyllo cups

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Cut out squares of phyllo pastry, lightly brush with melted butter and arrange in a greased muffin pan (layer plus minus 5 squares on top of each other). Bake for 5- 10 minutes, or until golden. Fry finely chopped onion and garlic until onion softens. Add butternut, brown sugar, ground cumin and ground nutmeg; cook until butternut is tender. Stir in spinach, cooked shredded chicken and crumbled feta cheese. Spoon mixture into phyllo pastry cups and top with crumbled feta cheese.

Yum Yum Yum... enjoy...xxx

The munchies = Crunchies

 My better half aka mr munchies has always got his head in the fridge and in the cupboards looking for a snack attack... he always wants "something"... one of his favourite munchies is crunchies...

What a tasty recipe that's ready in minutes and in my house gone in minutes...

Ingredients:

• 150g butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbl spoons syrup
• 1 t bicarbonate of soda
• 2 cups of oats
• 1/2 cup flour 
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut

Melt butter, syrup and sugar in a saucepan over low heat. Once ingredients have melted add bicarbonate of soda and stir until the mixture froths. 

Mix sugar mixture with dry ingredients.

Flatten mixture on a greased baking tray.

Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 20- 30 minutes (until golden brown)

Remove from oven and cut into squares, leave to cool. For those of you with a sweet tooth add chocolate icing on top- to top it off!

Chocolate icing

• 2 t butter
• 1 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1 tbl spoon cocoa
• 2 tbl spoon boiling water

Melt butter and add to dry ingredients. Add boiling water and mix thoroughly until smooth. Add extra water if too thick.

Spread chocolate icing over baked crunchie mixture, put in the fridge to set a bit then cut into squares.

Enjoy!!

DIY Coasters

I love to doodle all over scrap bits of paper... i doodle when i talk on the phone, i doodle on my hands, i used to doodle on the tables at school- didn't we all! And a quirky quote always brings a smile to my face... So I combined the two onto a few small square tiles and this is what I got...

What you need:

• 4-6 small (coaster size) square tiles
• Permanent marker
• 16 (4 coasters) or 24 (6 coasters) round adhesive sponge/rubber stoppers (to avoid tiles scratching surfaces)
• Doodle cap

I find that when you're not concentrating on what to "doodle", like when chatting to a friend on the phone, it comes a lot easier than when you sit down to draw something simple yet still pretty enough to put on display. So get your doodle cap on and start creating pretty images on your tiles with cute quotes to match.

Doodle some pretty pictures on your tiles. If you're not happy with what you've drawn do not fear... just use some thinners to remove the permanent marker and redraw...

Once you're happy with your images stick on the stoppers- one on each corner... and bob's your uncle you have a new handmade set of coasters... lovely for gifts as well!