Thursday 31 May 2012

Kitchen Krafts - Crunchies

 Kay has to do a South African talk in two weeks time at her school and has been asked to bring some eats from the country for everyone to try. As such I have been trying out all the biscuit recipes I know to see which one will be the easiest to make and transport. This week I made some South African crunchies. This is another fast recipe and is complete in very little time.

I haven't done this recipe as a tutorial today but it is pretty straight-forward.
Your ingredients:
180g Margerine
2 Cups Oats
1 Cup Coconut
1 Cup Flour
1 Cup Sugar
1 Tbsp Syrup (We don't get this here, but Table Molasses tastes very similar so I substituted the syrup with this)
1 tsp Bicarb

1. Melt the butter and syrup and add the bicarb to this. 
2. Mix in the dry ingredients.
3. Flatten out onto a greased baking tray.
4. Bake in a preheated oven (180 Deg Celcius) for 20 - 25 minutes.
5. Remove and cool slightly. Cut into squares.
6. When completely cool remove and store in container.
Enjoy.

I would love to hear from you. Do you have some recipes that you would like to share? Tips and tricks from the home, or a tradition that you keep alive. Please feel free to share it below. You may use this image on your site, and do be sure to link back here. Please visit some of the other sites linked below and show your support. 
Thanks. Till next week. x
On Friday I will be sharing this post over at Linda Scoot over there to see some amazing crafts that have happened over the week.

Wednesday 30 May 2012

WIP Wednesday / Yarn Along

Wednesday again, whew, I feel like the weeks are running away from me, but I guess that feeling doesn't only belong to me!
Let me see, what have I been busy with this week:
First WIPs: 
This week I have been busy with my second pair of socks that need to fill the order by Friday, but they seem to be progressing very slowly. I am having some trouble with my thumb and it is a bit painful so I can only knit so much before I have to give it up for the day which is very frustrating. So, I am done with sock number 1 and am just about finished with the ribbing of number 2. Again, I am knitting these socks to my "Simply Cabled" Knitting pattern (available from my Craftsy shop).
On the reading front:
I am filling the spaces in-between with some overdue reading which is great as I haven't been reading very much over the last couple of weeks at all.
I am busy reading two books this week. The first is "The Magic" by Rhonda Byrne. I loved her other two books and am enjoying this one also. I posted about it last week and am feeling so much better now that I have started applying the info inside to my life.
My second book is "Vom richtigen Zeitpunkt". I have used this book extensively before I left Switzerland last time and I found it in the attic over the weekend and am refreshing my memory on the details of it. It discusses how we can use the various moon-phases to our advantages in everyday life, we swear by it as it really works.
Anyway, that's it from me today. I hope you will come past and join me in "Kitchen Krafts" tomorrow.


I will be sharing this post over at:


Sunday 27 May 2012

Love and Gratitude

In our home we generally have a steady supply of "Love and Gratitude" water. I haven't made it in a while, so I remedied that straight away this morning.
If you have ever read anything by Dr. Maseru Emoto, you will quickly understand the difference loving words can make to your water.
And.....since we are made up of 70% of water ourselves, by drinking "Happy Water" we influence our water molecules to become "Happier".
Try it, the water tastes different, smoother, nicer. My girls love it and when it isn't readily available they will ask for it :-D

Friday 25 May 2012

The Magic

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while, may recall that last year I did a month of posts focusing on the Law of Attraction.
The experiment went well last year but with my move back overseas and the settling into a new life and new culture once more, I totally lost sight of my path and started to focus only on the lack and the negatives in my presence. I suddenly realised this was the case earlier on in this week, when I noticed I was having to constantly pull myself out of an ever-growing pit of darkness that was enveloping me.
For those of you who know me, you know that I did not want to move back overseas. I adored my time back at home and was surrounded by wonderful caring friends, who I had to leave behind, and a culture and country that warmed me to my very soul.
Needless to say, the move has been made and I have been having my difficulties in adjusting. I think I am a pretty positive person by nature and this dread and unhappiness that I have started to experience scared me to say the least.
Luckily, I have had the help of my ever-ready Bach Flowers here to help me through the worst of it. But I came around and realised that if I am feeling rubbish, I am the only one to blame, it is after all my reality and this reality lies only in my hands. So, I went on the search of some good reference books to help me change my mindset and help me to get back on my path once more. 


I loved "The Secret" as well as "The Power" and when I saw that there was a new book out by the author Rhonda Byrne I knew I had to give it a go. "The Magic" is based on the basics of the other two books but this one is built up as a "Daily-To-Do" Book. So each day for 28 days you are guided through what you need to do to accomplish what you are trying to attract.


I have started "The Magic" Work this morning and I am feeling great thus far, more positive and I definitely start to feel and see direction in my life once more. It would be great if there are those of you out there also working through the book to share your experiences here, or leave a comment. I will try to post a little something on the subject and my experiences every day, so do come back. If you would like to purchase yourself a copy, you can click on the image of the book and it will take you through to the book on Book Depository.
Chat tomorrow.
 x

FO Friday / Creative Friday

As promised, here some pics of the finished pair of socks. Unfortunately they are black, so it is almost impossible to see the cabling in the photos. Oh well, I can assure you it is there :-D
I haven't blocked these yet, so they will take on a nicer form later today :)
As mentioned on Wednesday, these were knitted to my "Simply Cabled Sox" Pattern which is a made as a photo tutorial. This pattern is available to purchase from my Craftsy shop:
I will be sharing my post over at Linda and Tami today, so head on over to look at what all the talented folk are up to.
Have a great weekend!
x

Thursday 24 May 2012

Kitchen Krafts - Coconut Ice


Today I want to share with you a yummy, quick sweet - Coconut Ice. If you need a quick fix for kids and adults alike, this is great as there is no baking or any other long procedure and you have a delicious sweet within half an hour.

So what do you need:

1 can of condensed milk 
500g icing sugar
390g  desiccated coconut

Okay, first, weigh out the sugar:
Weigh out your coconut and add to the sugar.
Add the condensed milk.
Mix well.
Now the usual recipes will tell you to divide your batch into two halves and colour the one half with food colouring and lay it on the other for a pretty looking sweet, but I am not very into food colouring so mine are white - also pretty!
Once well mixed (no dry ingredients left) press into a baking tray or container.
Allow to cool slightly by placing in the fridge for about 5-10 minutes, and then cut.
I place my batch like this in the fridge again for about 15-20 minutes.
Remove and put pieces in storage container or serve with tea :-D
Enjoy!
I would love to hear from you. Do you have tips and tricks from the household, a recipe or a tradition that you uphold? Share it below. You may use this image on your site if you would like to. Be sure to link back and please visit some of the other sites linked here.
Until next week x
Sharing with all my Link-ups

Wednesday 23 May 2012

WIP Wednesday / Yarn Along

Not a very colourful post today, but I must tell you I have been knitting my fingers to the bone - Literally! I think I am getting "knitting fingers", my thumbs are getting so sore and inflamed, but I just can't seem to put the darned needles down! 
I am working on finishing up the two pairs of socks that were ordered from me. They need to be pretty much finished by the end of the month. So far, I am not doing too badly, I have finished one pair yesterday (will show you them on Friday) and have started the next pair this morning. I am knitting them to my Simply Cabled Sox pattern (available in my Craftsy Store). This pattern is built as an image tutorial for a simple cabling in socks - you can read more here.
I can't wait to finish them so I can go back to the work I was busy with last week, and finish some of the other poor WIPs waiting in the shadows.
Last week I also started on something for Kay. 
Our weather seems to have turned back to winter, I don't really mind, as it has got me looking at some more coolish kinda weather goodies to knit. So, I was looking for something that Kay might appreciate and came across this knit which I am thrilled to say she can't wait to have :-D It is coming along nicely and is quite a nice "mindless" knitting project and grows from row to row.
My reading is still not getting anywhere and I have resorted to listening to some audio books so I can read something at least! I am listening to "The Secrets of the Power of Intention" by Dr. Wayne Dyer as I desperately need to change my attitude and mindset right now, am loving this, but then I really appreciate his works, so I know I am in good hands! 
I am sharing with the wonderful folk over at:

Friday 18 May 2012

Peugeot or Citroen - hmmm they all look so different, or do they?

I have to share something with all of you out there.
Now I understand there are folk out there who will only buy a certain trademark of car, let's say Citroen or Peugeot, not looking at any other make. Well, yesterday I was walking with hubby when we passed two cars, same colour, parked next to each other. It wouldn't have been a biggie, but the problem was they were IDENTICAL! What's the issue you might ask, well they weren't the same make, but had different badges on them. 
I didn't take a photo of the cars, but I should have. So I have googled some images to show you what I mean....make up your own mind. Hopefully it will show you that everything more-or-less comes from the same wholesaler, so shop around! I mean I checked out the price differences in these two models and you are looking at a difference of Fr.4000.- for the SAME car - different make - I think not!
Peugeot 107
Citroen C1
The only difference is the colour of the tail lights, Peugeot has them red, Citroen Colourless!
Citroen C1
Peugeot 107
The only slight difference is the light shapes!
Peugeot 107 Dashboard
Citroen C1 Dashboard
Your thoughts?

Thursday 17 May 2012

Kitchen Krafts - Rumtopf - next batch of ingredients



If you recall, at the beginning of April I started a Rumtopf or Rum Pot in english. If you don't recall you can go here to read the post and for the recipe.
This is how the strawberries are looking after sitting in the rum for a month and a half.
Well the spring/summer fruits are coming into the shops and so I can continue to fill the pot with some more of these fruits. 
I generally look for fruit that is ripe but firm.
Yesterday, I managed to get my hands on some nice nectarines and peaches which go nicely in the pot and so I have added them in.
The principle is always the same: 
Ready your fruit ( peel if you need to, remove pips and cut into chunks) then weigh.
Add your fruit to the pot and add half the weight of fruit in sugar, I like to stir it at this point, very gently. 
Top your pot up with some rum. 
Cover fruit with bowl (to keep the fruit inside the liquid at all times) and lid and allow to stand some more :-D
Nothing could be easier, or more delicious come the end of the year ;-D
I will keep you updated as I fill up my pot.
I would love to hear from you. Do you have tips and tricks for the household? A recipe you would love to share? Traditions of your culture that you keep alive? Please feel free to share them below, making sure that you link back to this page. Please visit some of the other links below and show your support.
You may use this image on your page:
\\
Until next week
x


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