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Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days

By on October 4, 2013 in Food, Personal

I have been in search of the elusive holy grail of a recipe book for a while. You know the one, where every single recipe turns out exactly the way you want it to, every time you bake something. Well, I’ve found it, and it’s definitely a keeper.

I bought The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days a little while back on Kindle. (It’s pretty handy to view on the iPad but I’m going to have to invest in an iPad holder. Talk about new age baking.)  I’ve tried a few of their recipes now, the Chocolate cake, Apple Streusel Cake and most recently their Vanilla cupcakes. My decorating and photography on this one could use a little work, but I was in a massive rush to eat them, so you’ll have to forgive me. Next time I will use a proper lighting setup, I promise.

In any case, if there is one book I recommend to anyone who loves to bake, then this is it. There is a recipe for every occasion and quite a few of them have variations as well, which is always a bonus.

Like I said, I bought my version from Amazon for Kindle. If you want to go that route you can get it here. If however, you’d like a hard copy of the book then you can get it from Kalahari here. Happy baking.

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Mommy Darling Dearest

By on October 1, 2013 in Personal

As you can see from the title above, this post is about my mom. She liked to make me call her “Mommy Darling Dearest” when I was young. These days it works pretty well if I want something.

My mom is a Taurus, I’m a Gemini. You can see how that might not make for the most peaceful of relationships. We’re both always right all the time, but if you had to ask me, I’m right about 80% of the time to her 20%. She feels the same way in reverse. This means that for the first few days, we can live in relative harmony but 72 hrs or more can result in some of the greatest re-enactments of WWII ever fought.

Back in 1986, when I was four years old, we followed my grandparents from Joburg to the coast. I applaud this move because first off, I got to see a lot of my grandparents, and secondly, it was awesome growing up on the beach. Shortly after moving to Port Edward, my mom started working at The Wild Coast Sun. I’m not entirely sure what position she started in but over the years  it’s been Banqueting, MVG and Marketing of which she is now the manager. Take my mom anywhere from Port Edward to Durban and people come up to her to say hello.

All in all though, my mom is one of the most hard-working, kindest people I know. She, along with my grandparents, brought me up to value family above all else. She also drummed really strong personal and work ethics into me, to the point that I know that I wouldn’t be who I am, or where I am today, without her.

So this is to thank my mom for being my personal hero, my mother and father all rolled into one. You’re everything to me that grandpa was to you and more. I wish both granny and grandpa were still here to see what you have become. They would both be so proud.

 

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No Shortage of Family

By on September 29, 2013 in Out and About, Personal, Photography

We went down the coast to Port Edward this weekend and visited my other half’s grans house today. The extended family is really rather large. There are 10 grandchildren and currently 7 great-grandchildren with another 2 on the way. These are just a few of the littlest that were around today as well as Roy and Rick at the end, who are 2 of the 10 grandchildren.

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For The Love Of Ginger

By on September 27, 2013 in Personal

This little kitty makes my heart melt every day, and she’s not even ours. Ginger is a cat who lives in a lovely Guest House on 9th Avenue, called Bon Ami. For some reason though, she chooses to make her way up the alleyway to our garden on 10th Avenue where she plays in the plants, chases birds and meows at the bottom of the stairs for us to fetch her. She seems to have decided that our flat is her second home, and loves to snooze on our couch, bed, floor or anywhere else really.

Once upon a time, we took a picture of her lying in a Yuppiechef box and mailed it in. You can see the blog post on Yuppiechef here. Then of course, there’s the video I uploaded to YouTube. Isn’t she just the most adorable little bundle of fluff? Now if only she’d stop losing her collars!

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Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

By on September 27, 2013 in Food, Personal

I found this recipe on mybakingaddiction.com and adapted it to suit my personal tastes. If you love chocolate as much as I do, then this will be perfect for you.

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups dark chocolate chips, divided use (I used 1 slab of milk and 1 slab of dark Lindt chocolate cut into pieces)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Stork baking margarine, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons Nielsen-Massey vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 170º C. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt 2/3 cup chocolate pieces (half milk, half dark) on medium power for 30 seconds; stir. Continue to microwave and stir in 15 second intervals until chocolate is just melted. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy; about 3 minutes. Add melted chocolate and mix until thoroughly combined. Add egg and vanilla extract, mixing until well blended, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture, mixing just until blended. Stir in remaining 1 cup of chocolate pieces. Using a medium cookie scoop (1 1/2 tablespoons) drop dough 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.

4. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes until tops have a cracked appearance. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

5. Eat!!

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