just hanging out

Sam, Megan and I quickly popped into North Beach during our lunch hour yesterday. We had just enough time for an ice cold drink at the restaurant Circus Circus, which has a couple of tables located right on the beachfront. We shamelessly acted like tourists, it was lots of fun! I love this time of year, it's when Durban really does me proud. 

xmas diy no.3: polka dot napkins

Christmas and polka dots. Two of my favourite things at the moment!

What you'll need:

• seedcloth (cut into squares, each 30cm x 30cm in size)
• a sewing machine
• white cotton thread
• pins
• red fabric paint
• paint brush
• a surface to paint on 

1. Place 30cm x 30cm squares of seedcloth onto your work surface (You WILL end up messing paint on it, so put a little bit of newspaper down first for protection.)

2. Using your paint brush, apply the fabric paint onto the seedcloth in circular shapes to create the polka dots. Make sure to space the polka dots out evenly (roughly 2,5cm apart from eachother).

3. Allow to dry. This may take up to 20 minutes - in that case, go make yourself some coffee or tea whilst you wait!

4. Once napkins are completely dry, the next step is to sew a basic rolled hem. A rolled hem is sewn to ensure no raw edges will fray on your napkins. Although this is super easy, my mom had to guide me on this one (I am still in the rookie phase of sewing!) I found this simple tutorial on how to sew a rolled hem on the interwebs, I reckon it explains it better than I ever could. See here for the tutorial)

Pretty neat huh?

And there you have it, some really cute polka dot napkins for your Christmas lunch! I used a wooden peg to cinch it in the middle to create a bow shape (as seen above).

xmas diy no.2: homemade muesli

Since I was young I've only ever tasted "store-bought" muesli a couple of times. The reason being, my mom has always baked her own for us Groblers. So I'm quite a snob when it comes to muesli, I am easily disappointed if I find too many raisins in mine! (Raisins are boring *rolls eyes* and tend to over-sweeten the muesli) I prefer having an "array" of nuts, seeds, and dried fruits - and who can argue that. It's one of the easiest and tastiest ways of putting nutrients back into your body :)

So here it is, a muesli recipe that gets two thumbs-up from me! I recommend packaging/storing it in a mason jar when giving it to someone as a gift, as this will ensure the muesli stays air-tight and keeps it's crunchy texture. 

HOMEMADE MUESLI (Makes roughly 28 servings)

Ingredients: 

• 4 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup chopped pecan nuts
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, raw unsalted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable, canola or coconut oil
• 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup 
• 1 tbsp vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut (I left out the coconut in my recipe)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 chopped dried apple
• 1/2 cup currants

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees. (Muesli needs to be baked at a lower temperature than usual)
2. Combine the oats, pecan nuts, sunflower seeds, brown sugar and salt in a large bowl. Stir well to combine, breaking up any lumps of brown sugar.
3. In a glass measuring cup, combine the oil and honey. Microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute. Remove. Add vanilla and stir well.
4. Pour oil/honey mixture over the oats mixture. Using two spoons, stir and toss the mixture until all of the oats are coated with the syrup.
5. Place granola directly onto a baking sheet and place in the oven. Set the timer for 10 minutes. At the end of 10 miinutes, remove the granola and stir, moving the granola around the outside edges into the middle and the middle out towards the edges. Set the timer for another 10 minutes. 
6. After the second 10 minutes, sprinkle with the coconut and then stir well again. Return to oven and set the timer for one last 10 minute bake. (30 minutes total, stirred twice at 10 minutes and 20 minutes). At the end of the last 10 minutes (30 minutes in the oven), remove the granola from the oven. Stir just a bit then sprinkle with the cranberries, dried apple and currants and leave undisturbed until it is completely cooled. 
7. Once cooled, stir the granola. Store at room temperature in an air-tight container. Will keep for several weeks.

'weeping rose' by tretchikoff

My mom brought home this lovely postcard of Tretchikoff's "Weeping Rose" from Fat Tuesday the other day. I can't seem to take my eyes off it... there is something about still-life paintings that I find so engaging.