fruit punch

Spring is only days away, and there's only one way to celebrate it - flowers in the hair. 

 
Love the natural waves going on in both these images, as well as the bright naartjie and nectarine colours - from this tumblr here. Happy Friday - I hope your weekend is filled with sunshine.

wholewheat buttermilk rusks

I've been slack with my baking lately and as much as I don't do excuses, I'm gonna have to give you one. Next week I'll be moving back to Durban after having lived up here in Jozi for exactly a year. With the move comes a new job - Goodbye DraftFCB, hello Wisdom & Youth. So... getting all my shiz together has been at the top of my list of priorities. Blogging/baking has had to take a little bit of a back seat. 

I was visiting Durban last weekend and on arrival I was welcomed by some wholewheat buttermilk rusks. Yes, it was that Mom of mine again. Anyway ladies, the search for a healthy, wholesome snack is over. Do make these, and tell me how you luur dat! (Sorry for the gangsta-ism.)

Ingredients:
500g wholewheat flour

120g cake flour

5ml baking powder

5ml bicarb of soda

5ml cream of tartar

5ml salt

125g butter or margarine

230g sugar

1 egg

250ml buttermilk

125ml oil

Handful of seeds, nuts, dried fruit - optional

1. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients.

2. Combine the egg, buttermilk and oil, and add to the dry ingredients, mixing well.

3. Place the mixture into a large greased loaf pan,35x15cm. Bake at 180 degrees for about 55 minutes.

4. Turn out onto wire rack to cool completely. Cut to desired size. Place on to a biscuit tray and dry out in the warming drawer for 24 hours or in a very low oven - 100 degrees for at least 8 hours. Check on them!

strawberries and stones

Hey y'all. Blogging has become so much easier since I dropped the tape detail from my blog posts. It's so strange! The images seem to complement each other more without all those bells and whistles. Such as these two - an image I found from here, paired up with an illustration of a strawberry (A little silly doodle I drew a while ago). I know I haven't done a recipe in ages... But fear not, I have a wonderful, typically South African baked goodie coming your way in a short while :)

old school cool

Do you like the new layout of my blog? I have done away with the bright shades of tape on my images. I felt it was "cramping my style", so I decided on a cleaner, crisper design. Hopefully I can start taking myself seriously now... 

Anyway I went treasure hunting in my mom's bedroom this weekend, scratching around for some cool retro pieces. I'll admit I don't own too much vintage myself, as much as I love the look, I can never find enough energy or patience to try on clothing in secondhand stores. I'm the kind of girl who grabs anything that catches my eye, but only tries on the items when I get home. Malls are just soul-killers, I want to spend as little time in there.

So I found some beaut accessories in my mom's cupboard. Heavy gold chain belts. Chunky gold jewellery. A crock-skin handbag. Old polaroids. The stuff dreams are made of. And here I photographed them.

that's what she said!

Photos: heysweetie8

I was chilling in my garden at my parents' home in Durban this weekend and this is what I spotted - this beautiful neon/lemon-lime/green/moss/lichen/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. I'm no botanist so excuse my ignorance.


Anyway I think this was nature's way of telling me which colour is gonna trend this spring season. Yes I want to dress in this colour, accessorise my bedroom in this colour, paint my nails this colour, taste food this colour. Winter, it's been real, now goodbye. 

hey sweetie!

Photos: heysweetie8

What did everyone get up to on Woman's Day? I decided to get a "nose job"! Well, my nose pierced. (I think it equals the pain of a nose job) I've always loved the look of nose-piercings; a little twinkly stud on the side of your nose - pretty! 


If you're wondering how and why - it goes like this. I said to my friend Catrina, "Aah, I've always loved nose rings!" and she replied, "Well tomorrow's a public holiday, so we can get you one done tomorrow then..." 


I really was not game, but Catrina and Roxy could not stop spurring me on! I'm the type of girl who never jumped off the high board at school until Matric. I never did abseiling or bungee jumping on school excursions. I'm a scaredy cat, I worry too much.


Wow. The pain was excruciating and I almost vomited and passed out after the guy pierced my nose, with what felt like a steel POLE. In fact it could have been a pole? My eyes were closed the whole time. Never again. I had it done at Jaded Ink tattoo parlour in Fourways and I must say the guy (Sorry I can't remember your name!) was so awesome. He was ultra-professional and super-hygienic... my kinda guy.


The sweets you see on the left-hand side were part of a gift Catrina gave me when she came up from Durban this weekend. I think she said she bought them from Fat Tuesday in Durban. Don't you think the wrappers are gorge? Thank you Cat for the sweets and pressies, and thank you for manipulating me into getting a nose-piercing xxx

weekend

Photos: heysweetie's iPhone

This weekend has been summed up in that image on the left - a blur. No baking went down, and I will blame it on the fact that I had my best friend Catrina come up from Durban for the weekend. We went out on both Friday and Saturday night, which is not the norm for someone like me. Recovery from a night out usually takes about week for me, however I was forced to condense that duration into a couple of hours, not even days. Sjoe. 


I really do need to mention a new discovery I made though - the Design District in Rosebank. We went there for drinks at the super cool MiBar, followed by the club (which is directly above it), Latinova. My word, I've been in Joburg for a year and I only get to make this discovery now! I could kick myself. I am moving back to Durban in less than a month's time.


Anyway in a nutshell my weekend was loads of fun, there is really never a dull moment when my friends and I get together. Love you ladies long time.

currently trending in my heart

Photos: sugar mill and all things fabu

Zebra-anything, and pink-painted doors. 

Orange clutch from here, pink door inspiration from here

turkish delight

Photos: heysweetie8

This weekend I finally got round to photographing some of the treats my mom had made for me after my weekend in Durban. So ya, I'll openly admit that I didn't make this myself, but I'm going to share the recipe with you anyway. This recipe has been tried and tested by my mom, so I'm sure it is a failproof version. I've heard turkish delight can be rather tricky to make, but this one seems like it's worth a try...

P.S. For those of you that entered the Little Chef recipe book giveaway, I will be announcing that lucky winner tomorrow :) xxx

Ingredients:

375ml water

45g gelatine

60g cornflour

750g sugar

2ml tartaric acid

30ml rosewater/lemon juice

cornflour and icing sugar for dusting

1. Place 100ml water in a jug, add gelatine and set aside.

2. Blend cornflour to a paste with a little water, set aside. 

3. Microwave remaining water on Full Power for about 2 mins until boiling. Pour boiling water over soaked gelatine, stir well. Microwave on Medium-50%- for 2 mins to dissolve.

4. Combine hot mixture and cornflour paste in a very large bowl, add sugar and tartaric acid. Cover with vented plastic wrap, and microwave on Full Power for 5 mins, stir well. 

5. Now microwave uncovered for 7 mins, stir in rosewater and a dash of pink colouring- or lemon juice with yellow colouring. 

6. Pour into a well greased 25cm square pan, cool and chill well. Turn out onto a board sprinkled with cornflour and icing sugar. 

7. Cut into squares with a knife dipped into hot water. Roll each piece in cornflour and icing sugar.