Photos, dresser and recipe for you

Just wanted to share some fun things today.
First of all a few weeks ago I went to my favorite little town , Stellenbosch. And I took these photos. Stellenbosch is one of South Africa's oldest town's. The French hugenots or settlers came and so Stellenbosch has a lot of french influence-to the street names, decor and even the feel of the town. You will find little bistro's with table and chairs on the sidewalks. Walking along the cobbled streets, you will find many beautiful decor, art and gift shops. Having been in Paris, I can definately feel the similarities! I love the quote on this sign board, it says " Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow."


A view from a little cafe we sat in and drank coffee.
Over the weekend I bought this gorgeous Welsh dresser from one of my favorite shops-Tutta Bella. I don't think they have a website, but you can see them on flickr here. They are a gift and decor store but specialize in cupcakes for all kinds of events and functions. Gorgeous cup cakes and they taste delicious too! The other day I had a triple chocolate cupcake and I am sure it had a spot of liquer in the icing sugar-was too delicious!

So this is the dresser I bought. I am in love with it.



Taken at night with a candle lit.
Now the recipe...
This is an origial South African recipe called Bobotie. It is really easy to make and totally delicious. You serve it with rice.

Mince mixture:
2 onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons oil
half tablespoon butter
500g mince
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup grated carrots or apple (optional)
1 cup raisins (optional -I alwasy add this as it makes it extra yummy)
half a cup of chicken stock

spices:
1 teaspoon of EACH of the following:
coriander
tumeric
sugar
half a teaspoon of ginger
half a teaspoon of cinnamon
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons garlic and herb seasoning

optional:
1 tablespoon lemon juice,
2 slices white bread soaked in chicken stock, lightly squeezed and mashed with a fork.
(I personally leave the bread part out as I cannot eat bread)


Topping:
3 eggs beated with half a cup of milk
bayleaves to decorate

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees c.
stir-fry the onion in the oil and butter
Add the mince and stir fry until crumbly and browned.
Add the garlic, carrot/apple or raisins, spices and sugar.
optional: add the bread and lemon juice
simmer on low heat for a few minutes after adding the stock. Don't
make it too runny. If it appears to be runny and not "saucy" add a tablespoon
of flour you have premixed in a little water to the mixture to thicken it up.
pour the mixture into a oven proof dish and then pour over the eggand milk mixture
and decorate with the floating bay leaves.
cook in the oven at 180c for 35 minutes.
Serve with rice.

Would love to know if you try this and what you think!
It's always fun to try other cultures food! This is what it looks like, I made it last night!

Photos

We have two new additions to our family...
Meet Nibbles...our little hamster...we actually had two, but unfortunately my cat got hold of one quite by accident as the kids didn't close the cage properly....

And this is sparky! Our little bunny who is very sweet.
This pretty pink spider is in our garden...fascinating, I have never seen a pink spider before!On the weekend we went to Simons Town, a town along our coast and we found this gorgeous shop. It is called "The Meeting place" and is actually a decor shop, deli and restaurant all rolled into one. The restaurant is upstairs.

They have gorgeous decor there.

Upstairs was this beautiful restaurant. When we first got there, we were the only ones there! We sat in front of the fire and had our meal. Click on the photos to view them larger..this place is spectacular, we will definitely be going back!





That's it from me, off to bed, it's too cold to hang around any colder! G'night!

oh one more thing...I got a new hair do....had it layered...what do you think?
(excuse the pose...hubby took this one, it was for his benefit!)

Paris!

I am finally getting around to showing off my Paris photos!
It was so surreal being there, for months before, I would look at postcards or browse through flickr and look at photos of Paris and wonder if it was really as wonderful as it seemed and looked. I even had dreams about being in Paris...for a while I thought I wasn't going to go...nearly didn't get my schengan visa in time...but I made it!
I went with two of my best friends-we took a few trains at 5 in the morning to get to London St.Pancras station to be there by the time our Eurostar left, which was at 8:30 I think. We almost didn't make it in time!!! I have never run to hard or fast in my life from one train to another!!
Talk about Panic!! I was with the friend I was staying with and the friend I stayed with the first week I got there, was meeting us there, so she had gone through to board already and was panicking because we hadn't arrived and was sending us frantic text messages to "run dammit, run!!! beg them to let you on!!! " ha ha. it was so funny.

We made it and sat down in a jumbled heap of nerves!! We had some guy sitting opposite us that fell asleep and proceeded to droll the whole way there and snore....lovely!

Anyway my day in Paris was wonderful..too short but fantastic. It IS like the photos, it is like everyone says it is!! It is romantic and charming and full of a special kind of feeling which I still can't put my figure on. The Parisians definitely have a different way of life than for instance we do here in SA. The traffic seems insane...I even saw a women driving with her top of her car down and she was DRIVING and READING a magazine at the same time!! no lies!! I have a photo to prove it!!

The french men (generalization here!) were very friendly and we got many whistles and smiles whilst we sat in the top part of the bus looking down on the city! ha ha. Stopping at traffic lights were more opportunities and this one was funny....this guy was waving frantically at us and blowing kisses so i got out my camera and made a gesture (since I cannot speak French) as in "do you mind" and he smiled and shrugged and posed for this photo!! haha. he looks like that guy from "French kiss"!! *not my cup of tea by the way* (and I am happily married-ha ha!!)
The food there is really good, we had some puddings and bagels, crepes, etc....expensive but tasty. I just love the way they give so much attention to detail with their cake and tart decoration.What I love about Paris is the architecture and attention to detail -even the scrolls and iron balustrades...so much detail and pretty handiwork. I love the flower boxes-a splash of color here and there.



The Arc de Trioumph is amazing too. The detail and intricate designs awed me! I stood for ages underneath gazing up!!

The Eiffel tower is amazing. I couldn't believe the size when I was standing right under it. The color also amazed me, as in photos it looks like a silver color, but up close it is like a brown/bronze color. Very pretty. I took so many photos, just can't show them all!



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This one is one of my favorites, I took it through the water fountation, in black and white-otherwise no touching up afterwards, and it came out looking like an old postcard!!


This guy came up to me and said "Sawbona, bafana bafana" ha ha!! "Sawbona" is zulu for "hello" and he mentioned a soccer team here-bafana bafana, do I look south africa or something? ha ha.
Anyway typically, he tried to con me by saying I could get 3 eiffel tower key rings for 1 euro and then proceeded to give me 6 key rings and ask for 2 euro! so I said "no, I only wanted the 3 for 1 euro dude" and he was not impressed...ha ha...my friend took this one of me "haggling" ha ha.
And of course we took up a walk up the montmarte steps (what a killer!!) and walked around a bit up top, I bought a beautiful painting! I just love these photos I took there, definately needed more time!!



Fantastic and unforgettable experience!!

Ready to share some photos!

It sure has taken long enough! lol! Things have been crazy. I finally have some photos re-sized to show you of my trip. I am waiting for a disc from the first friend I stayed at, as over 600 of my photos for some reason, didn't copy onto my discs, so she is posting them to me. But here are a few of my favorite so long....
This is me hanging onto a pole -the day I got to England. My friends took me to my first English pub for a "pint" and then to a little place called Stoke Bruene-and we strolled along the river and watched the barge's go up and through the locks-amazing. Someone kindly invited us to get on their barge and took us through two locks so we could experience the real thing.

the little forest walk we went on along the river.This pretty little place was in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare. We went there for the day and bought a 5 -house pass to see his birthplace, his wife's (Anna Hathaway) childhood home which was their marriage home too, his mother's farm (Mary Arden), his son-in-law's and daughter's house and something else,...can't remember now. I must say, this was one of my favorite outings of my whole trip. I loved the quaint town, the history, the houses, it was all so beautiful. When I get my photos of it, I will be sure to post some.
These two photos were taken along the River Avon, in Stratford-Upon-Avon. A mother swam and her two signets.

Last of the daffodils....
sweetpeas
Shakespeare's wife-Anne Hathaway, this was her childhood home and later when they got married, it became their married home.
Some of the gorgeous flowers in her garden.


Mary Arden...her house, She was Shakespeare's mother.
I fell in love with these Tudor-Style houses whilst there, I just love the history and look to them, look at this one, how wonky it is! And yes, that is me standing in front.

gorgeous tulip


We went to Warwick Castle (pronounced War-rick)which was nice. That was a whole day outing, exploring inside and outside.
Here is me on the top of one of the towers...took a lot of courage standing near that railing, I hate heights!
A view of the side of the castle with the old mill.

I just love this old bridge and the reflection!
roses and in the background, the big castle clock.
Some of the views from the highest towers of the castle.


I still have my PARIS photos to show you and lots more...so be sure to come back..and a FREEBIE later on in the week too! Would love to hear your comments!!