Rose & Thorn over at Homemade Heaven is celebrating her blogs first birthday/blogaversary today. It is only appropriate to have cake for such an important event isn’t it???

So HAPPY BLOGAVERSARY R&T – may you be as blessed in the years ahead as you have blessed me…

with love and good wishes from
browniegirl xxx

The weather is dreadful in Cape Town today, howling North Westerly wind, driving rain and dark and freezing cold!!! Just the weather for moving house guys!! I’m dreading it……..

  
  Gas heater on full blast   The best gift I got this year            Delicious Chai

 Belly Worshipper was looking for a recipe for chocolate brownies for this weekend so I thought browniegirl has to live up to her name. This is the first brownie that I ever made. They are very more-ish, fudgy and oh so yummy!! They also don’t contain any nuts or other things that kids don’t fancy. I cannot remember when I got the original recipe from but I have, of course, pimped the recipe until it’s my kinda perfect……

YUMMY FUDGY DOUBLE ChOColate Brownies

Preheat oven to 180°C

Butter an 8?square baking pan. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving
2 inches hanging over all the sides. Butter parchment paper as well.

In a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stir together butter,
chocolate and cocoa powder. Set aside to cool slightly. I do this in the microwave.

Sift together flour, baking powder, vanilla powder & salt. Set aside.

Whisk together sugar, eggs, and vanilla until very thick & pale

Add chocolate mixture and mix until combined

Add flour mixture gently, mixing until combined.

Add the sour cream or yoghurt and mix till just blended

Pour batter into prepared pan. Spread evenly with spatula. Bake 20min then turn
pan 180 deg and bake another 20-30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out with
a few crumbs but is not wet.

Let cool in pan about 15 minutes.

Lift brownies out of pan

Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

Sprinkle thickly with icing sugar before serving

Optional: spread/drizzle melted chocolate thinly over tops of brownies
(do this while still in the pan and before cutting!)

Makes 16 brownies (depending how you cut them!!)

This is for all those who are looking forward to the weekend……..not browniegirl…..she is looking forward to NEXT WEEK!!! In fact I would like to go to sleep now and wake up in the new house with everything perfectly unpacked and tidy heehee!! Not gonna happen I guess…………..
 

have a great one everybody,

browniegirl xxx

Poor Hubs has been so hectic and stressed at work the last week. And it’s stress and packing at home on top of that!!  Today was major inspection day by some government department and hey! The facility passed with flying colours! So, to congratulate him I thought I would take time out from the packing and prepare another one of the meals that he loves. He is gonna be surprised…..

Beef Olives in a sweet n spicy tomato sauce served with healthy sweet potato garlic mash, whole kernel corn & steamed green beans, broccoli & cauliflower

Beef Olives in a Sweet n Delicately SpicyTomato Sauce
4 Beef Olives
2 Onions – chopped
3 Cloves Garlic – chopped
1/2 Red Pepper – chopped
Glug of Olive Oil
Knob of Butter
1tsp Dried Thyme
Shake of Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Cumin
One long spiral of orange peel and the juice of the orange
80ml Chilli Chutney (depends how spicy you want it)
1 Wineglass of Sweet Rose Wine
1 Can Whole Peeled Tomatoes

To make the mash

Rice Pudding served with a spoonful of homemade Summer Berry Preserves
and a little glass of Jerepigo – he is a happy man!!!

BOILED RICE PUDDING

1 Cup Full Cream Milk

1/3  Cup Evaporated Milk

½ Small Can Coconut Cream

1/3 Cup Arborio Rice

2 Cardamom Pods - seeds removed and bashed till fine with pestle & mortar

1 Cassia Sticks

1 Tbs Rose Water

½ tsp Vanilla Extract

Pinch Maldon Salt

2 Tbs Sugar

1 tsp Butter

Sprinkling of Nutmeg

Method:

Place milk, evap milk and coconut cream in a medium saucepan over high heat

Add cardamom, cassia, salt and flavorings

Bring to just below boiling point, stir occasionally

Reduce heat and simmer very gently for about 10 minutes

In the meanwhile boil the rice with about 1 cup of water in the micro on high for about 5 minutes till rice is al dente (use a big micro bowl for this as it boils over)

Stir the sugar into the milk

Drain the rice then add it to the saucepan

Bring to the boil and simmer over very low heat for about 15 - 20 minutes until rice is tender and most liquid is absorbed

Taste and adjust seasoning and sugar if needed

Add more milk if too stiff – pudding must be of a slightly runny consistency

Stir in butter and leave to cool a bit before serving

Place into serving bowls and sprinkle over freshly grated nutmeg

Serve with a tsp of berry or cherry preserves and a dollop of lightly whipped cream

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Now browniegirl is in Seventh Heaven, cos look what she found in her baking
cupboard while packing it up earlier this afternoon…..

I am having just one little block when I go to bed now and then will keep
the rest for another time I really need it   

I have this theory that chocolate slows down the aging process…. It may not be true, but do I dare take the chance?

 Hi everyone,
No I didn’t forget to blog. My life is hectic at the moment with the move looming over the weekend. So I have been putting the shoulder to the wheel and packing. Not my best chore in the world but it has to be done. I think we have the major part of it behind us now but there is still a lot to do so I will be scarce around blogland for a bit – maybe!!!

Life in the kitchen is almost non existent now as I have most of it packed into boxes but I can still do this…………..

for breakfast I had yoghurt with mixed seeds mixed into it, and a grapefruit.

For lunch I had this gorgeous looking salad

I have just enjoyed a lovely cup of the bean soup I made yesterday and of course for my snack this afternoon I had an apple and my 5 almonds!!

not very inspiring for serious foodies I know but healthy and delicious!!

Hopefully I will see you all tomorrow.
Stay well.
browniegirl xxx

 It is bitterly cold again today in Cape Town. We had quite a storm in the middle of the night with lightning and thunder and rain with a bit of hail. I just knew that it must be snowing in the surrounding mountains………brrrrrr!!! Quite a shock after the beautiful spring weather we have been having. Not time to pack away the woollies yet!! My dog was so scared of the storm that she had to come up onto the bed and cuddle next to me……..I woke up very warm hours later when the storm was long gone and sent her packing back to her bed

So anyhoo, with it being so cold, of course the big saucepan came out for me to make some soup!! I looked at the groceries I still have left unpacked in the storecupboard and at the fresh stuff in the fridge and found that I had all the makings of a nice pot of bean soup….hmm real comfort food for me!! Hubs doesnt like dried or tinned beans at all so I could do what I wanted with it as its just for ME – of course I had to choose to put chillies in it hehe!!

SMOKEY BEAN SOUP

400g Smoked Bacon Bones – look for ones that have some meat on them J

250g Dried Beans – washed (I use a mix of half white sugar & black eye beans)

2 Onions – finely chopped

3 Cloves Garlic - finely chopped

A small bunch of Soup Celery – washed and finely chopped

1 Carrot - grated

1 Fennel Bulb - finely chopped

2 Tomatoes - peeled & finely chopped

1 Red Chilli - finely chopped or use dried chilli flakes or chilli paste

½ tsp Smoked Paprika

½ tsp Ground Cumin

1 tsp Dried Thyme

Zest & juice of ½ a lemon - finely grated

2 tsp Sugar

30ml Olive Oil

Salt & Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

750ml Hot Stock Liquid - use veg, chicken or beef

Handful of fresh parsley - washed and finely chopped

Wash the beans well and drain. Place them in a large saucepan with about 3 liters of water and bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes then turn off heat and leave to soak for about an hour. Remove all the bits of husk that float to the top. Drain the beans then place in a saucepan. Cover with about 2 ½ liters of fresh water, half cover with a lid then bring to the boil, lower heat and boil until the beans are softened - about 40-60min. Do remember to stir them now and again!!

In the meantime sauté the onion in the olive oil until soft and translucent

Add the garlic and fry gently until the aroma fills the air -  about 2 minutes

Add the fennel, carrot, chilli, thyme, spices and bacon bones and stir fry 3-4 minutes

Add the tomatoes, celery, lemon zest & juice, sugar and hot stock

Add the softened beans (& what remains of their liquid), add some salt and pepper now then bring all back to the boil. If it’s too thick you might want to add a liter or so of water

Cover with lid and boil until all the veggies are softened and the flavors are well blended - remember to stir often so that the beans on the bottom don’t burn!

Remove al the bacon bones with a slotted spoon - take all the little bits of meat off the bones, shred well and return the meat to the soup. Discard the bones

Season with salt & pepper to taste

I usually blitz half the soup with a handheld blender then put it back into the pot

Add the parsley and meat and just bring back to the boil then serve

Hmmmm……delicious!!

Good night bloggers,
browniegirl xxx

After a really good night’s uninterrupted sleep I am full of energy this morning and decided to spoil hubs with a healthy energising breakfast. You see, today he has to sort out and pack up the garage….that is his domain and there is a LOT of work to do out there….he loves kippers and I never do them for him – it was never a problem before as he used to travel extensively to all the bigger cities and he used to have his fill of kippers, haddock, eggs, bacon etc at the hotel breakfasts!!! Now the occasions are rare, so I surprised him this morning with this breakfast so he could get on with his work!!! 

   
            KIPPER, POACHED EGG & TOAST              POACHED EGG LOW GI TOAST, TOMATO & ROCKET

and in my glass today I have kiwi fruit, lemon & mint  it tastes very refreshing. When I started peeling the kiwi fruit I was expecting it to look bright green like they usually do but it looked very insipid and like a light greeny yellow. Must the golden kiwi that I have heard about. I must say that I prefer the gorgeous jewel green original one

  
            A DELICIOUS FINAL FORKFUL                       WATER WITH KIWI LEMON & MINT

The weather doesn’t look too promising for sun and I was hoping to get the large pile of laundry out of the way on the line….well, will try anyway. Mr Sun looks very watery but he is peeping through the clouds!

This is full steam ahead for us. The only full day left for hubs to get most of his packing up out of the way. Lucky him……….he picked up the phone this morning and he has instant helpers in the garage…son and son in law!!!!!!!!! HUMMPH!!! Sweet daughter will be coming to help me no doubt!!
Have a great day everyone……

browniegirl xxx

Well, I am truly surrounded by boxes now. More than half my kitchen is packed up – I must say I am heartsore about that as I designed it to my own needs and specs and I am really going to miss it, very hard to give up!!!  

Anyhoo, its been a weird day, flipping cold and pouring with rain this morning. The north westerly gale drove the rain right through the shut windows! And we have been working hard at filling and labelling boxes. It’s hard work. And the worst is it all has to be taken out again in a weeks time………. AARRGGHH!!! 

In my water jug today I put sliced strawberries with basil leaves. I must say that my favourite so far has been the orange and mint. Very refreshing and tasty. 

I discovered something by mistake about the low GI cookies that I made yesterday. I had a tiny little bit of dough left in the saucepan – maybe enough to make 3 cookies that I could not fit onto my baking tray and it sort of got forgotten in the pot until I did the dishes later in the afternoon – yes, I do do them sometimes  - and it had set to a beautiful consistency and it tasted even better than the baked ones!! Next time I am not going to bake them. I am going to press them into a pan then when cool I will melt some 70% choccie and spread that over the top and leave to set before I cut up into bars. I think they will be fab. But will have to leave that for once I’m settled in at the new house.

I am finding the ruby grapefruit to be so tasty, juicy and sweet this year. I am really enjoying them. My best way to eat them is like this – with a dash of Maldon salt crushed over them!!! YUMMY!!

We have a great shop nearby called Slivers where you can buy just the best biltong. It is so fresh and seasoned just enough!! We don’t have it very often but I am always happy to snack on it when hubs gets the desire for it and pops in to buy a little bag on his way from work…..hmmmm!!!

Well, I am going to stand in the kitchen to see if I can get inspired to cook something for supper. I think I’m too tired…………

Sleep well,
browniegirl xxx

Good morning blogland,

It’s been quite interesting this morning to see the changes and to meet some of the challenges after the BIG BANG update of last night……..at least I still have my avatar, unlike some……..

This was supposed to be last nights posting. I made a delicious salad for myself for my supper. Hubs was doing his regular Friday night shift and grandson was visiting and I didn’t feel like cooking.

This was just the most fabulous mix of flavours and I will definitely be making it a lot more…

BEETROOT, ORANGE, FETA & ROCKET SALD

Serves 1
4 Baby Beetroot – cooked, skinned  & cut into wedges
1 Orange – peeled and segmented (keep the juice that runs out)
1 Shallot or 1/2 Red Onion – finely sliced
Some rocket leaves
Danish or Greek Feta – cut into small cubes or crumbled
Few Walnuts chopped (keep a3 or 4 for decorating) - I only had pecans which were also good
Salt Flakes & freshly cracked Black Pepper
Drizzle of Olive Oil & Balsamic & the orange juice you saved

Put all together artfully on your plate and tuck in!!

Enjoy!!

browniegirl xxx

We foodie bloggers have been challenged by Original Cin
Can’t wait to see what Jenny’s answers are…………………..

Ten Questions : let’s find out how spicy the Foodie bloggers are.
Let me know when you’ve posted.

What would you do with 3 courgettes; an apple, an onion, a stick of butter and one cup of flour. You may add one ingredient, plus water.

What is the most ghastly tasting thing you have ever eaten?

What is the ugliest looking thing you have ever eaten?

Assuming you were stranded on an island, there is fire, water and provisions. What single cooking utensil would you want to have with you?

What sign of the Zodiac are you and do you think it influences your cooking character?

Are you a fanatically tidy or shamefully messy in the kitchen?

How many frying pans do you own?

What is your all time dream kitchen appliance to own?

Have you ever had rumpy-pumpy (slap & tickle) in a kitchen?

Hang on a minute Im trying to remember - Hmmmm, I guess it’s possible but it couldn’t have been very memorable

Have a great Saturday,
browniegirl xxx