Kitchen Diary

24.com Cares Charity Drive has a huge problem bloggers and we need to all step up to the plate and help them with this………….go to Original Cin’s Blog blog to get all the details. I copied and posted the words below from her Monday posting………..

Come on foodie bloggers lets all see what we can do for this amazing lady and the charity she is assisting and representing here. 
PLEASE VISIT HER BLOG – click on the link I gave at the top or click on the badge to the right

browniegirl xxx

HAPPY BIRTHDAY X 2

Today is Cat_Woman and Supagran’s birthdays soooooo………..
just for you two I givva da boquet of flowers and I singa dis song……..

Well, here we are at the end of September already, the year is spiralling madly to its end and we are at the tail end of one of our most extreme winters – a winter that is hanging on for dear life here in the Western Cape! We have been ready to embrace and welcome Spring for the last month already but Spring is coyly hiding behind dark fluffy clouds that bring heavy rains and driving sleet, Spring is dancing crazily with driving north westerly winds that bite bitterly through to our bones, Spring is only allowing us tantalizing little glimpses now and again……..yesterday we had one of those wonderful glimpses…..a beautiful day that told us to hang on, Spring is coming……..we’re hanging on Spring!!! Please come and visit us here in Cape Town!!!

I have been asked a couple of times by viewers and fellow bloggers for a carrot cake recipe. So here is my famously delicious carrot cake recipe. The original comes from Ina (does she really exist??) Paarman “Cooking with Ina Paarman”. I love that book, there are so many good recipes in it. I’m sure some of you wonder why I put the does she really exist in there? That was one of the questions asked on Answerit.24.com a while ago. I was so tickled with that question asked about one of our own very real very good cooking divas!!!

MOO’S CARROT CAKE

Adapted from “Cooking With Ina Paarman” by Ina Paarman

Ingredients:

2 ¾ Cups Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

1½ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

3tsp Mixed Spice

1tsp Salt

1½ Cups Sugar ( I use ½ granulated and ½ soft brown)

1¼ Cups Cooking Oil (310ml)

4 Extra Large Eggs

1½ Cups Carrots – peeled and grated

2 Granny Smith Apples – peeled and grated

¾ Cup Pineapple (grated or tinned crushed well drained)

½ Cup Roasted Pecan Nuts -  chopped

¼ Cup Smooth Apricot Jam – heated just to melt

½ tsp Vanilla Extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 190⁰ C

Grease & flour a 28cm loose bottomed springform tube or Angel Cake (I use large silicon ring pan with just a bit of Spray n Cook)

Sift all dry ingredients together twice

Beat the oil, sugar, eggs & vanilla together until light and very well blended

Add the carrots, apples, pineapple, nuts & melted apricot jam, mix well

Fold the dry ingredients in with a spatula until uniformly blended

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan & bake at 190⁰ for 30min then 180 for 30min. Check with skewer & bake a bit longer if needed

Allow cake to firm & cool in the tin for 10min before turning out to cool completely

Cream Cheese Icing:

½ Cup Butter – softened

4 Cups Icing Sugar – sifted

1tsp Vanilla Extract

200g Cream Cheese (drain well on paper towel in a sieve over a bowl for a couple hours)

100ml Sour Cream

Method:

Beat butter until almost white then gradually add the icing sugar.

When its getting too stiff add the sour cream and beat well.

Add ½ the cream cheese and beat gently then gradually add more until good spreading consistency.

Spread liberally over top and sides (inside ring as well) of cake and sprinkle with roasted chopped pecans or walnuts

YUM!!

Enjoy and have a great weekend everyone,
browniegirl xxx

Something to start before the weekend………..

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, whereyou have plenty of room at each side.
With a 2kg potato sack in each hand,extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can.

Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

Each day you’ll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 5kg potato sacks.

Then try 10kg potato sacks for a couple of weeks when you feel ready to progress. This is starting to get difficult now

You want to try to get to where you can eventually lift a 50kg potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute.

I’m currently at this level – its taken ages for me to get here and I’m dreading the next…

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After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each of the sacks…………….

Have a great day,

busy browniegirl xxx

 
Happy Heritage Day to fellow South Africans – both here at home and all over the globe!!! It is traditional to light the fires and have a braai (barbeque) and I am sure that is what is happening in most places across the country today. Of course Cape Town weather is doing what seems to come naturally for September 2008 – cold miserable and raining!!! Honestly, I can count on half a hand the amount of sunny days we have had this month. So no outdoor sunny skies and braais for us. Its one of those days that make me feel like going into the kitchen to bake something……hmmmm browniegirl must get busy!! Hubs is working so maybe I can surprise him with something yummy when he gets home later.

I found the following interesting facts on the SOUTH AFRICAN HERITAGE RESOURCE AGENCY website  earlier when I was browsing……..

WHAT YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT SOUTH AFRICAN HERITAGE!

1. FROM CHINESE TO FRENCH - EVERYONE IN THE WORLD IS SOUTH AFRICAN: All the worlds people are “twice South African” because it was here that mans descendants and modern man both evolved

2. THE FIRST EVIDENCE OF LIFE ON EARTH — YES — FROM SA: In eastern South Africa, scientists have found traces of blue-green algae dating back 3 500 million years. This is some of the earliest evidence of life on Earth.

3. METEORS HIT PRETORIA 220 000 YEARS AGO!: 220 000 years ago a meteorite struck South Africa, forming the Tswaing Crater northwest of Pretoria. This is one of the most accessible and best-preserved meteorite impact craters in the world.

4. IF ALIENS LANDED THEY WOULD BE THE PROPERTY OF THE STATE! According to the National Heritage Resources Act, all meteorites are considered protected property of the nation and there are rules regarding what can be done with them. Interestingly, because a meteorite is defined as “any naturally-occurring object of extraterrestrial origin”, this means that if an alien landed in SA he/she/it would become the property of the State. Should an alien arrive and find that SA did not suit its disposition, it would not need a passport to leave but it would have to acquire an export permit from the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA).

5. SA HAS THE WORLD’S OLDEST REMAINS: The oldest remains of modern humans were found in Klasies River Cave in the Eastern Cape. They are well over 100 000 years old.

6. SOUTH AFRICA HAS OVER 2000 SHIPWRECKS: There are more than 2 000 shipwrecks, dating back at least 500 years, off the SA coast and more than one, including the Waratah, simply vanished without a trace.

7. TRANCE WAS HERE OVER 25 000 YEARS AGO: Trance is nothing new to South Africa. In fact, bushman cave paintings in the Drakensburg are thought to be the work of Shamans operating in a ‘trance’ state. Some of these are up to 25 000 years old.

8. THE SAYING “WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST” COMES FROM SA: The practice of “women and children first” originated off the coast of Hermanus when the British ship, the Birkenhead, sank in 1852. Of the approximately 600 people on board, all 200 women and children survived. Unfortunately, almost 400 men went down with the ship.

9. SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE: Detailed documentation from travelers and researchers in the Cape in the 1600s shows that more than 350 years later the traditional “maatjieshut” residence of Namaqualand is still being built in precisely the same manner and proportions as those of the KhoeKhoe people of the past.

10. SOUTH AFRICA THINKS AHEAD OF THE WORLD: South Africa is one of the first countries in the world to formally protect places associated with “Living Heritage” that is based on stories passed down from generation to generation by for e.g. Grandmothers telling children stories about the places in which they live. One of the first projects in South Africa that looked at how we can protect such sites took place in Dukuza (formerly Stanger) in KwaZulu-Natal. The town was the site of King Shaka’s royal residence and interviews with old people in the community revealed an amazing store of information passed down over nearly 180 years concerning things like from which spring the royal water was drawn, where the King swam, under which trees particular events and councils occurred.

11. THREE MILLION!: South Africa’s history and pre-history goes back more than three million years.

12. KAROO BOASTS THE BEST DINOSAUR FOSSILS: The Karoo region is home to some of the best fossils of early dinosaurs.

Enjoy those braais guys, or whichever way YOU choose to celebrate Heritage Day!!!

browniegirl xxx

Hello everyone,

I just learned something new and thought I must share it with you all……..how to tie up a lunch box in a bandana at WOTS FOR LUNCH - a fellow food blogger who inspires many with her healthy and diverse daily bento lunch box meals. Thanx Wots for sending me down an avenue I would not normally have travelled down. Most interesting!! 
 
Today is NATIONAL BANDANA DAY an iniative of THE SUNFLOWER FUND to raise awareness and funds for Leukaemia sufferers and the SOUTH AFRICAN BONE MARROW REGISTRY Please take a look at their website and if you haven’t already bought your bandana from Pick n Pay (for a snip at R15 and in lots of lovely colours) why not buy one now online from the website??? It costs R10 for the SMS…….SHARE A LITTLE, SAVE A LIFE!! They need a lot of money and a lot of donors……….

Anyhoo, after reading Wots’ posting for today I went a little further and looked for more infomation on the Furoshiki as demonstrated by Wots. I came upon this diagram below on all different ways of using one of these Japanese cloths – which come in all sizes by the way. WOW!! How cool would it be to use these sometimes instead of all those plastic bags that damage the environment?? I think they are a fantastic idea!! The diagram is a downloadable PDF file so go ahead and give the furoshiki a try!!

http://www.env.go.jp/en/focus/attach/060403-5.html

Cheers for now,
browniegirl xxx

Today Capetonians were shown what a spectacular place Cape Town can be when the sun shines, the rain stays away and the wind is quietened…..not that it will stay like this if the rumour mongers are to be believed, but WOW! what a glorious day and I’m sure every dassie on the peninsula would’ve been found basking on a rock somewhere!!
My Friday started with me baking another batch of chocciechai cuppicakes for

another very satisfied customer……this time I put orange zest and vanilla bean seeds into the frosting

     TY aged  4 1/2 yrs              JAY aged almost 7months

I made 3 salads……….
The usual mixed garden salad with a bit of feta cheese & onion sprouts sprinkled over it

The second one I made was my beetroot, ruby orange & feta salad that I originally blogged about  here without the nuts

The third salad I made was a new one for all of us and I was so impressed with it, it is definitely a keeper for my family. I originally found it here and was entranced by the look of it so thought I would recreate it and pimp it just a bit to suit my taste and low GI lifestyle  unfortunately I didnt have enough time to fiddle enough with it but I am so thrilled that I found this amazingly healthy  recipe. Everyone loved it so I am going to give you the recipe here.

sleep well blogland and have a restful blessed Sunday.
browniegirl xxx

 

Well………..after much complaining Cape Town has had SUNSHINE today. There were lots of clouds passing over but at least it ‘s been sunny and a bit warmer so my mood has lifted considerably. Amazing what a bit of light therapy can do for you. I cannot imagine living through winter in places like Norway, Greenland or Iceland where there aren’t many daylight hours in winter, sometimes none at all

Anyhoooo, lots of celebrating today……the sunshine, my WEIGHT LOSS (look at the weight chart under my badges to see how I am doing…..!!!), over 10,000 views from 55 different countries - thank you so much to everyone who  visits my blog!!! –  and my new oven bakes really well……so I am well pleased all round!! I have ordered an inside oven thermometer just so that I can get my temperatures perfect as its readings go up in 50deg notches. Need something a bit more accurate than that for delicate things like brownies. Although they could’ve baked for a minute or two less, they are still very good. I just prefer them a bit more fudgy.

 For those lovely bloggiefriends who would like to know what the weather is like here in Cape Town…….

Waterlogged garden – since we moved on the 30th August this is what it has looked like….

This was taken 5 minutes ago…………..HUMMPPHH!!!!!
Spare a thought for us as you gaze out at the warm sunshine!!!!!
We had such a hailstorm at 1am that we huddled under the blankets (with poochie!!) and thought the roof was going to come off!!!

browniegirl is off to do baking for the rest of the day!!!!!!!!
xxx