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The Big Four! Happy Birthday Jay

February 27, 2012 in Uncategorized

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From this………………

to this………………………………..

in four short years. I remember like yesterday sitting in the passage outside theatre waiting for that cry…..as involved as I was with Tyler’s birth, mine being the very first hands to touch him as he was born…….so I was unable to be there for this little fella’s birth….but I was as close as they would allow me. Sweet daughter had been on bedrest the last 6 weeks of her pregnancy, walking painstakingly with a zimmer frame from the bed (my bed actually hahaha and brownieboy and I were relegated to the sleeper couch in the spare room because she needed to be nursed and there was no other way, son in law was the chef out at Vergelegen in those days,  so it was return to Mommy’s house) to the bathroom. She had developed a condition where the body produced too much of the hormone that loosens the cartilage between the bones of the pelvis in preparation for birthing so was in agony and unable to walk. Caesarian section it had to be………..

Our little dude Jayden was born with congenital cataracts in both eyes and a condition called Nystagmus. He has undergone 4 surgical procedures and has plastic intraocular lenses in situ now…exactly the same surgery they perform on the elderly who develop cataracts. Unfortunately Jay’s condition is exacerbated by the nystagmus, he has all three types where the eyes track from side to side, up and down and roll around. He controls it fairly well already at his age but it does cause issues with focus. He saw his specialist last week for a check up and they have prescribed the best glasses they can for him at this stage to assist with his pre-school work. Unfortunately his parents were told that there is  nothing more they can do for him. But his nan will never give up hoping and praying that medical science will find a way……he is a brave little boy with a MASSIVE personality and determination to succeed at everything.

I am nothing short of heart broken because I have had to miss his birthday party this year…..facial and oral reconstructive surgery does not lend itself to socializing……and tonight they are all out celebrating in the Zone at the local kidspot The Spur and here I sit……so this is the birthday that Nannie missed…. :(

Well done to his mommy who did an awesome first time cake for him….see? I told you that you could do it.

And to our little dude…..HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAY. You are SO precious and loved and we pray that your amazing life will be blessed so richly in the days ahead.

As an aside……a couple of days ago I complimented Jay on stopping his night time bottle and nappy and said he is now a big boy. He corrected me and told me he is “Amanda’s Gentleman”

Here is Amanda and her “gentleman” on Valentine’s Day 2012 (she is his lovely babysitter when I am not!)

Have a great week!

browniegirl xx

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Classic Caesar Salad and Tropical Mint Smoothie

February 24, 2012 in SALADS, Uncategorized

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So, it’s Friday again…..almost the end of February and time is flying by.  On so many levels I am so happy about that….I have a long year of surgical procedures ahead of me and periods of recovery in between so it will be good to wish everyone Happy New Year…so bad on every other level. HAH! I am wishing my life away….but it is good to look the weekend in the eye and know relaxing times are ahead. Today is my beloved daughter and son-in-law’s 11th wedding anniversary. When I look back at photos it seems like yesterday. I still have the habit of picking my quicks on my thumbs out of agitation and nervousness! Happy Anniversary Siobhan and Damon. We love you and support you and are so proud of you both. May God bless you for many many more happy years together.

I am recovering well from my oral surgery….a little bit easier in the pain department with longer periods between pain meds. The specialist is happy with the bone grafting so now we wait…and wait! In the meantime I am enjoying my smoothies and have given myself a challenge to try and make a different flavored one every day! Of course its wonderful because we are still enjoying wonderful summer days…once it gets colder it’s going to be me and the soup pot again baby! Hubby has been enjoying some wonderful salads….a classic one and so so enjoyable and easy to make if you can get the dressing right is, of course, the delightful Caesar Salad. Do I hear any HAIL CAESAR! Of course I do. I dont know anyone who doesn’t enjoy this one. And there are of course many ways to make it up including bacon, chicken strips etc etc….mine I like to keep clean and pretty pure, you know….close to the original. So here is my recipe…mainly the dressing of course!

Classic Caesar Salad

CLASSIC CAESAR SALAD

Ingredients:

2 heads Cos Lettuce – outer tough leaves discarded and the rest separated and washed (I used Baby Gem here as there were no Cos to be found!)

Garlic and Herb Croutons – make your own with french loaf, olive oil, garlic and mixed herbs

A handful of fresh Parsley leaves – just the leaves picked from the stalks – freeze the stalks for soup

Parmesan Cheese Shavings

Sea Salt Flakes and Black Pepper

Dressing: 1 Egg – coddled by dropping it into boiling water for just one minute then removing to cold water

6 Anchovy Fillets in oil – drained and roughly chopped

1/2 tsp Lemon Zest – finely grated – you just want a little bit

10-15ml Fresh Lemon Juice – I find with the zest I use only 10ml of the juice which is less sharp

10ml French Dijon Mustard

5ml Small Capers in brine – rinsed and drained

1 Garlic Clove – peeled and roughly chopped

50 mls Finely Grated Parmesan Cheese

100ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Freshly Cracked Black Pepper to taste

Method:

I use my stick blender, I find it invaluable in my kitchen and use it almost every day for something, from Mayonnaise in seconds to pureed berries etc. It makes fabulous caesar salad dressing too :)

Peel the coddled egg over the jug or bowl you will use to make the salad as it is still very runny despite having been in the boiling water

Add all the other ingredients for the dressing and blend very briefly. It only takes a few seconds

Pour most of the dressing into your salad bowl…a big wooden bowl is ideal for this

Place your lettuce leaves into the bowl together with half of the croutons (which should be at room temperature if you have baked your own)

Toss them well then pour over the rest of the salad dressing, drop over the rest of the croutons and sprinkle over the parsley and parmesan shavings

Grind over a bit more black pepper

Serve immediately

Tropical Mint Smoothie

TROPICAL MINT SMOOTHIE

Ingredients:

1 Banana

1 Nectarine stoned

1/2 Papino seeded

1 Granadilla

1 Pear cored

1 biggish Sprig Mint just the leaves (I use about 8 leaves)

15ml Oatbran

5ml Runny Honey – I love Lalibela Honey (available from Tandy)

100ml Bulgarian Yoghurt (Greek Style if you are feeling indulgent)

50ml Peach Juice

2ml Vanilla Extract or some seeds if you have them

6 Ice Blocks

Method

Blend all together well (excepting the granadilla) until the ice and fruit are smooth

Stir in the granadilla pulp, pour into a long glass and enjoy!

And now……for the last time!!  Please dont forget to vote for me…..last chance….last begging as voting is closing :)

A very special thank you to all the wonderful presenters at Zone Radio who have supported me and have highlighted my browniegirl blog and myself over the past two days totally uninitiated by me…just because they can and wanted to. I feel all the love and am humbled….totally humbled and filled with gratitude. If you want to read the testimonials from friends and loved ones you can pop over to their facebook page, like it first and then scroll down to read, mostly yesterdays posts. Also under their notes are some awesome awesome writings that made me all teary- eyed. Still on a wonderful high today. Thank you Unicorn, Shirley, who dedicates her time to the admin, all the fabulous broadcasters and all the Zoniacs who tune in and interact every day!  MWAH!!  And to my beautiful family and friends who wrote those things and all those unknowns who went and voted for me….I thank you so much. If I don’t win this award it really doesn’t matter as I am already a winner thanks to all of you!! I love you!

Zone Radio

Have a wonderful weekend and I shall see you next week, if not before. It is little Jay’s 4th birthday on Monday so family party this weekend. My little man is growing madly!  :)

browniegirl xx

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Pancake Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday

February 21, 2012 in DESSERT, Uncategorized

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Today is Shrove Tuesday or FAT Tuesday as it is also known, in other words the day before Ash Wednesday which begins the time of Lent…. so traditionally that means its pancake day people…….Pancake is something that we often make in the brownie household and both Tyler and Jay, my grandsons, have been making these beauties with me since they were very small. Of course we usually make them on a Friday when they sleep over but you cannot miss out on a mid week opportunity for pancakes can you? The beauty about my pancakes is that you can mix up the batter, pop it into an empty soda bottle and keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days…for those times when you just feel like a freshly made, hot pancake, dripping in syrup and melting butter, or all crunchy with cinnamon sugar and some face crinkling fresh lemon juice! As I like them!

So since it is Shrove Tuesday get those pans out and lets have some fun in the kitchen…..

My Petit Chef Tyler

Little Jay’s cute hands – grating nutmeg

This is my ancient recipe, handed down in my family for generations and pimped, of course, by me!

MOM’S EASY PANCAKE RECIPE

Ingredients:

500ml Flour

4 Eggs

400ml Water

300 – 400ml Milk  – I like to use half milk and half Buttermilk *see notes below re the amount of liquid to use!

Salt to taste – start with about 2,5ml or ½ tsp then add more later to taste

A good grating of Nutmeg  – I use about 1,5 mls or 1/4 tsp

10ml  Brown Vinegar

Method:

· Sift flour, salt & nutmeg into a bowl & make a well in the centre

· Break in all the eggs then mix up slightly with a wooden spoon

· Add most of the water at once & beat well – I use my mixer for this but you can use the wooden spoon if you have the stamina :o – add the rest of the water and continue beating until no lumps remain. At this stage the mixture should look like thick cream

· Add the milk mixture bit by bit until the mixture looks like thin cream – I find that I use it all and maybe even a bit more

· Stir in the vinegar

· Taste the mixture (ugghh but this is an important step!!) and add more salt if it tastes too bland. I find that salted pancake batter makes much tastier pancakes

· If the mixture is lumpy you can pour it through a strainer into a clean bottle · Let it rest for about 15minutes in the fridge before you make the pancakes

To make the pancakes:

Have your dry pan smoking hot over a medium heat or flame

Pour in a tiny amount of peanut oil – just to coat the pan

Pour in about 30ml or so of batter into the hot pan & swirl it around immediately to coat the base of the frying pan

Watch carefully & as soon as it starts to bubble and turn light brown around the edges start shaking the pan to loosen the pancake. Use a silicon spatula to help loosen the sides

Once the pancake is loose you can either flip it over using just a light flick of your wrist or using the spatula

Cook briefly on the second side before sliding it into a waiting dish or plate

Repeat until you have as many pancakes as you want

Keep warm until ready to eat

Sprinkle warm pancakes with cinnamon sugar, a little knob of butter and a squeeze of lemon juice

Or enjoy them with savoury or sweet fillings….

Brownie Notes

I bottle my batter in any clean 1 litre cool drink bottle and keep it, sealed, in the fridge for up to 4 days – Just give it a little shake then pour whenever your pan is smoking hot :)

The bottle makes for easy, clean, controlled pouring into the pan

You can double or treble the recipe quite happily if you need to make a lot of pancakes. Always use the ratio of 2 eggs to 1 Cup flour and increase the other ingredients proportionately

I like to use half buttermilk but you can use only milk if you prefer

I find that Peanut Oil handles the high heat the best of all the oils and it has no flavour to taint the pancakes. I keep a little squeezie bottle for my pancake oil. I use the one that you get in some home hair colour kits :o

Pancakes can be successfully frozen. Interleave dry plain pancakes with wax paper and freeze flat on a tray for a couple of hours then place in an airtight container or freezer bag. Just remove as many as you need each time and thaw at room temperature or microwave very briefly

Pancakes make wonderful wraps with savoury fillings as well as sweet ones. They also replace cannelloni tubes or lasagna sheets very successfully in pasta dishes

Most importantly….have fun & ENJOY!!!

browniegirl xx

Here are some more “pancake/flapjack” recipes from my archives

Stack of Flapjacks dripping with butter & maple Syrup

Stack o’ Jacks

 Buttermilk Oat Flapjacks with Caramelized Banana (& maple bacon)

Savory Pancakes with Chicken Fricassee 

Folded Pancakes with Rum Flambeed Caramelized Banana

This is a re-post of the original pancake entry here

PS My surgery went well for those who are following. I have been in a lot of pain and am badly bruised, cannot eat anything but liquids and very soft foods right now. But all positive and a start to healing. Thank you for all the love, support and prayers and good wishes xx

PS Dont forget to pass a little blog love my way if you would…..vote for me browniegirl in the EatIn DStv FoodNetwork best local blog awards  :) xx

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Sexy Valentine Food Prawn Mango Avo and Asparagus Salad with Goats Cheese

February 14, 2012 in MAIN MEALS, SALADS

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Happy Days people……here is a continuation of my sexy food theme for Valentine’s Day. Please pop over there and read all the information that I have already given for aphrodisiac foods and essential oils. I am an old romatic at heart. My lifetime Valentine and I have shared 37 Valentine’s Days already. Of course, to have a lifetime Valentine the sentiments of Valentines Day should be carried through into every day of our lives together and I think that we have achieved that pretty well. We have had our times of not getting on well. All couples experience that. But we have grown closer and more in love through them, and despite them all. I have a wonderful forever Valentine. Feet of clay, imperfect, but with a heart full of love and caring for me. I love you MY Valentine….thank you for sharing your heart and life with me xxxxx

PRAWN MANGO AVO & ASPARAGUS SALAD WITH GOATS CHEESE AND MICRO GREENS

300g Prawns – shelled with tails left intact, deveined and briefly dropped into boiling water until pink

1 Mango – peeled stoned and sliced lengthwise

1 Avocado Pear – stoned and sliced thinly then each slice cut into halves

½ Red Pepper – deseeded and thinly sliced lengthwise

Small bag of Rocket

100g Asparagus – washed, bottoms cut off then dropped into boiling water for 3 minutes refresh in cold

50g Blueberries

½ Chilli – deseeded and finely sliced

½ Cucumber  sliced into thin ribbons with a vegetable peeler

Micro Rocket Greens

1 Red Spring Onion – finely sliced at an angle

100g Goats Cheese Chevin Fairview

Method:

Place the mango slices on the plate then add  prawns

Add the rest of the ingredients randomly

Sprinkle over the sliced chilli and micro greens

Drizzle generously with the vinaigrette and grind over a bit of black pepper

Serve with crusty country bread to mop up the delicious juices

 

CITRUS VINAIGRETTE

90ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil

½ ClemenGold – finely grated zest (use orange if you don’t have ClemenGold)

20ml ClemenGold Juice (use the juice that dribbles out while segmenting for the salad)

15ml Lemon Juice

10ml Honey

5ml Dijon Mustard

½ Clove Garlic – crushed or finely grated

Small piece of fresh Ginger – peeled and finely grated

Few Mint Leaves – finely chopped

½ Red Chilli – deseeded and very finely chopped

½ Vanilla Bean – split and seeds scraped out

Salt Flakes and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

Method:

Whisk all together in a small glass bowl and set aside until needed

 

We enjoyed our Valentines picnic with some JC Le Roux bubbly, I dropped some fresh raspberries into each glass. Such a beautiful floral scent and flavour, released by the raspberries, permeated the bubbles. Le sigh! Le Good Life! :)

Our dessert was simple – chocolates, strawberries, blueberries and some ice cold black seedless grapes with the rest of the bubbles!

Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone out there. And I include all the singles too. Don’t limit love to only one day a year….love is so precious it deserves a HUGE place in our everyday lives. Not only romantic love, but that all encompassing, unconditional, accepting, working love that is so essential to living joyous, fulfilled and peaceful lives!

browniegirl xx

 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never dies”1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

PS I am going into hospital tomorrow morning for more follow up surgery to the procedure that I underwent in June 2011. I see lots of soup, smoothies, jelly, ice cream and yoghurt in my foreseeable future. But this salad was a wonderful send-off. Catch you all on the flip side.

And please dont forget to give me a bit of blog love and vote for me in the EatIn DStv Foodnetwork Blog Awards…a BIG thank you to all who have already voted. It is only a once off vote!

Originally blogged here as part of a series of posts for ClemenGold 

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Food and Wine Blogger Indaba 2012 Survey

February 13, 2012 in Uncategorized

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Beautiful Cape Town - photo by my talented friend Ricky De Agrela

Exciting news! We are busy planning the 2012 South African Food and Wine Blogger Indaba, which will be a Cape Town winter event this year planned for the weekend of 23/23 June, and Jeanne and I have decided to put out this survey so that you, the most important part of the whole event, can tell us what YOU want – in return we will do our very best to tailor make this Indaba to suit everyone. So whether you have attended any previous Indaba, or whether you are planning on attending for the first time this year or possibly in the future, please would you take a couple of minutes to fill out the online survey to help us in putting together the best Indaba possible, and one that fulfils your needs. And of course, keep watching this space and facebook for regular future updates on the 2012 event!

So please pop over and fill in the online survey. It will only take a couple of minutes and will give us a great perspective on how we can tailor make this Indaba to suit you.

And pencil in that weekend, book airline tickets, do whatever you have to to become part of this exciting event. Look forward to seeing you all there.

Thank you,

Have a great week,

browniegirl and Jeanne (cooksister)

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Eat something sexy, its good for you – Fig & Smoked Salmon Salad

February 10, 2012 in Uncategorized

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GO ON! EAT SOMETHING SEXY! It’s good for you!

With Valentine’s Day falling in the middle of the hottest month of the summer season I have always turned to salads and the fresh produce aisles at the local stores to plan and prepare my picnic. We always end up having a picnic, one of life’s simple pleasures, just the place differs… depending on what the weather is doing. I don’t enjoy sand or dust with my meal so if the south easter is blowing we resort to plan B and enjoy our picnic indoors or on the patio if it isn’t too bad. I love going for sunset picnics at this time of year as the sunsets are spectacular and I am such a sunset freak. I have to get my regular dose of Dopamine you know….mind you I do get that from eating as well…so combining two simple pleasures like eating and watching a sunset gives double the pleasure :)

I usually plan my salads around what produce I am able to find when I do my shopping so no picnic is ever the same. But my one rule of thumb for what I do buy is that I look out for all those natural aphrodisiac ingredients…you know, those that are supposed to ummmm….increase your interest in your partner! ;)

The interest in aphrodisiac foods began when Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, rose from the sea on an oyster and then gave birth to Eros. The first aphrodisiac food was born. An aphrodisiac food is one that is believed to stimulate libido and enhance sexual performance. These foods have been used as far back as the Romans and the Greeks to increase sexual powers. During those periods, people were concerned about fertility and sexual performance more so than passion itself, so a great amount of time was spent on determining what aphrodisiac foods would help these two separate concerns.

You will find all of these on a good aphrodisiac food list: salmon, prawns (both so sexy to eat!) figs, asparagus, avocado, oysters, caviar, champagne, chocolate, vanilla, almond, truffles, chilli, basil, garlic, honey, rocket, ginger, mustard, seedless green and red grapes, mango, papaya, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries

Of course the Puffer Fish is also considered both a delicacy and an aphrodisiac in Japan. If the poisonous gland is not properly removed, the tiniest, teeniest, weeniest taste is DEADLY. The flirt with death is said to give a sexual thrill. Ummmmmm, I don’t think so Mildred!! Not recommended, unless you are in Japan in a speciality restaurant and the chef shows you his certification and proof that he has never killed anyone and you’re in the mood for that particular kind of thrill!!!

If you would like to know more about aphrodisiac foods you can go and read here..

So then, switch off those pesky cellphones, slip into something sexy, get the groove on in your kitchen with the food of love, set the table, scatter those rose petals baby (Cleoptra was such a clever woman, poor Mark Anthony never stood a chance!), crank up the old love songs, burn some erotic essential oils (for example bergamot, rose, geranium, sandalwood, ylang ylang, black pepper and cardamom oil  - these make a fabulous massage oil as well when 1 -2 drops of each are mixed into 50mls of a carrier oil like almond oil – you can thank me later! ;) ), light the candles and pour the bubbles! It is time for a little bit of romance darlings!!

“Sometimes your nearness takes my breath away; and all the things I want to say can find no voice. Then, in silence, I can only hope my eyes will speak my heart.”

Robert Sexton

 

CITRUS VINAIGRETTE

90ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil

½ ClemenGold – finely grated zest (use orange if you don’t have ClemenGold)

20ml ClemenGold Juice (use the juice that dribbles out while segmenting for the salad)

15ml Lemon Juice

10ml Honey

5ml Dijon Mustard

½ Clove Garlic – crushed or finely grated

Small piece of fresh Ginger – peeled and finely grated

Few Mint Leaves – finely chopped

½ Red Chilli – deseeded and very finely chopped

½ Vanilla Bean – split and seeds scraped out

Salt Flakes and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

Method:

Whisk all together in a small glass bowl and set aside until needed

Sexy Black Fig Smoked Salmon Mozzarella and Basil Salad


SEXY BLACK FIG AND SMOKED SALMON SALAD WITH CITRUS MOZZARELLA AND BASIL

(Adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Sexy Salad in Happy Days With The Naked Chef)

6 Black Figs

1 ClemenGold (or orange) – peeled and segmented (no pith or skin (keep the juice that runs out for the vinaigrette)

3 Radishes -  finely sliced

100g Smoked Salmon – torn into ribbons

1 Mozzarella Ball – torn into pieces

Few Basil Leaves

Micro Rocket leaves

Black Pepper and Salt Flakes

Method:

Slice  a cross through the figs stopping before you cut right through. Squeeze open and place on a serving plate

Weave the ribbons of salmon around and between the figs

Randomly add the torn mozzarella ball and the basil and micro greens

Drizzle generously with the vinaigrette and serve with fresh crusty country bread

~o~o~o~o~o~

Coming up soon my sexy prawn, mango, avo & asparagus salad with goats cheese and micro greens!

Until then, have a wonderful weekend!

browniegirl xx

Originally blogged here

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Tame your Dragon with these Citrus Wontons

February 6, 2012 in DESSERT

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Are you self-confident, innovative, brave, impulsive, compassionate and a perfectionist who is strong and decisive? Do you not care to listen to the advice of others? Like being in command? Then you were most likely born during the Year of the Dragon, the mightiest of all the Chinese Zodiac signs.

The Chinese year 4710 began on the 23rd of January 2012, and of course this is The Year of the Dragon. The Year of the Dragon comes around every 12th year . Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth day, when the moon is brightest. So, much is being celebrated all over the world by Chinese and non Chinese alike.

To enter into the mood I decided to make a dessert.  My inspiration for this recipe came from Amy at she wears many hats  My eye caught her photograph that had been pinned onto Pinterest so I followed the link and found her recipe. I pimped it a bit to suit my ingredients that I had to hand

Citrus & Mascarpone Wontons

 

CITRUS MASCARPONE WONTONS

Ingredients:

4 ClemenGolds – canned mandarins will also do)

2.5ml Chinese 5 Spice Powder

15ml Brown Sugar

10ml Cornflour

Mascarpone Cheese

Wonton Wrappers (I couldn’t find any around here so settled for phyllo pastry)

Peanut Oil and Vegetable Oil – enough to cover about 2.5cm of your saucepan base

Method:

Peel and segment the fruit (catching the juice that runs out in a bowl as you do so)

Place in the bowl with the juice and add the 5 spice powder, cornflour and sugar. Mix well and set aside

Open up Wonton Wrappers (if using the phyllo pastry as I did brush melted butter on sheets and layer 2 or 3 on top of each other. Cut them out into squares

Place a small dollop (about half a teaspoon) of Mascarpone Cheese into the centre of each square or wrapper, add a teaspoon of the ClemenGold mixture then wet the edges of the pastry, fold the one corner over to the opposite corner to form half a triangle then fold over the other corners all to meet in the middle. Fix with a bit of water

Repeat with all the wrappers.

Heat up some oil (I used half and half peanut and vegetable oil) in your wok or saucepan and add the wontons a couple at a time and fry until golden brown all over

Set aside on paper towel to drain while you complete the rest of them

When cool dust liberally with icing sugar and serve as is or with some vanilla ice cream.

I made a yummy dipping sauce to dip my wontons into:

Mix together until dissolved :

50g Dark Brown or Muscovado Sugar

1 teaspoon Lime Juice

¼ teaspoon Five Spice Powder

Few drops Kikkomans Soy Sauce

20ml Hot Water

Serve alongside the Wontons or pour over ice cream as I did and enjoy!

Oh….and seeing as this is the month of luuuuurve………

Dragons will give in to love, but won’t give up their independence. Because they have quick, sometimes vengeful, tempers their partners need to be tough-skinned. Dragons enjoy others who are intriguing, and when they find the right partners, they’ll usually commit to that person for life. If you would like to read more about the Year of the Dragon you can go here

Happy Chinese New Year to all my readers,

browniegirl xx

A reminder – If you enjoy reading my browniegirl blog I would be so happy if you would pop over and vote for me. I have been selected as one of 10 finalists for the Eat In DStv FoodNetwork Best Local Food Blog Award and need all the votes I can get to win this. Thank you!!

Vote here or by clicking on the button in the sidebar to the right of this post!

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Eat In DStv FoodNetwork Food Blog Awards

February 2, 2012 in Uncategorized

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To all my fabulous readers and friends,

I have just been notified that my humble blog browniegirl is one of the TOP TEN finalists in the Local Food Blog Awards. This is an exciting new category in the Eat In DStv FoodNetwork Produce Awards and I am thrilled and honoured to be counted along with the other nine great blogs selected.  I really need your help in making it to the No 1 position. If you could pop over to the link and just vote for browniegirl I will be eternally grateful to you all. Click here and it will take you directly to the voting page . You do NOT need to register for anything….just supply your details to verify your vote! You may only vote once so remember that the one click you make today will make a world of difference for me! Thank you! The winner will be announced at the Awards ceremony at that takes place at the  Stellenbosch SlowMarket on the 24th March 2012! Anyone is welcome to attend the market so keep a watch for more information!

Eat In Food Blogger Awards Voting now

Have a fabulous weekend….yes, it is already Thursday afternoon and I can smell the weekend baby!! :)

browniegirl xx