Skip to main content

Day 31

The bathroom is flooded and I'm pretty sure that now there is more water on the floor than in the tub. On the up side, it's so hot, it will dry in a short while with little to no mopping effort. On the down side, a wet floor and energized kids at 9.30pm is not an ideal situation.

I blame their sugar high (and my sugar crash) on the brownies.

Basic ingredients
I had lots of fun trying out a new recipe today. The aim: gooey chocolate brownies
I reduced the 3 cups of sugar that it asked for to just 2 cups (I mean, seriously?!), I didn't add the vanilla essence because I couldn't find any, I added a little baking powder for some punch and replaced chocolate chips with walnuts and a spoonful of peanut butter...

Crushed walnuts and a spoonful of smooth peanut butter
While the Chef got artsy with my the added extras, I lined the baking dishes with damp wax paper. This is truly a washer-upper's dream!
Kitchen Aid - quality batter
I don't know how I'll cope once I have to leave this Kitchen Aid behind and rely on my whisking abilities again... What a pleasure to have something else put in all the effort!
Feed some to your son
 Ethan loved the peanut butter...
Feed some to your daughter
 And Jorja enjoyed the chocolate!

And in 25 minutes, we had ooey gooey chocolate & peanut butter brownies to enjoy after dinner.

Voila!
So another recipe makes the cut and I look forward to trying it again for some more willing guinea pigs... As long as their names are not Jorja and Ethan!

Thursday is Sunrise Farm day, so we popped in after 4pm to see what was on offer. Unlimited summer squash, zucchini and swiss chard was a good way to start! Jorja pet the chicks while Ethan observed from a safe distance and P-J collected what he needed for the week ahead - basil, tomato, cauliflower, snow peas, green beans, cucumber... It was a hearty selection this week (and helps me feel a little better for all the chocolate we ingested earlier)!


We all rushed down to the courtyard to catch our first glimpse of new born calf, Eddie 3, when we arrived at Hope Meadow Farm this evening. He was laying down quietly, keeping close to his Mom, while she grazed on the hay that P-J fed them. Ethan watched from the wagon and Jorja carried on doing her other checks - driving around in the car between the chicken and the pigs. She really is getting quite comfortable with the animals now. Must watch that she doesn't try and ride a sheep again!





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A home-made birthday

Due to the fact that we celebrated Jorja's birthday with the Weber and Wilcox families in the UK last year - over a few days and in various styles - we were a bit out of practice. In fact, if Jorja had not brought it to my attention with just two weeks to spare, I must confess that I would not have expected it to arrive for another few more weeks! But Moms could never let that seem to be the case, so we got cracking on 5th birthday celebration arrangements... On the night before, I set out every baking ingredient, apparatus and accessory that I could find and hoped that we would make it work! Aunty Robyn and Aunty Ilana arrived just in time to help us bake off the first round of vanilla cake pops and cookies with sprinkles. At this point, there was no turning back, our kitchen was already in a state of bake! The biscuit batch baked beautifully (and bountifully) and Jorja was well pleased with her assisted effort. As she head to bed on the eve of her birthday, I popped the...

The week that has been...

"Life as we see it", right? My time so far at the cycle tour office is reminding me of just how demanding life in this age can be - a time seeking instant solution and gratification: We want it now! We won't wait! This is what makes a relaxing, easy going activity seem so rewarding! We've always been fortunate enough to cook with pleasure - obviously more for mine! And since returning from BA, we've also found great enjoyment from leisurely strolls in the neighbourhood or at Sea Point promenade. Take time for this! Here's what we've been a part of this past week: We were encouraged to see a group of students from Bishops come out (even in the rain) and join with the FBC team in painting a mural on the school's new diningroom and kitchen wall. For news and updates visit: http://www.fbcschool.org.za/ We joined over 15 000 walkers in a quest to feed the hungry children in the Western Cape, by participaing in the Blisters for Bread walk on Sunday. We tackl...

Day 5

P-J left early this morning to help offload the hay bales into storage and then came back to fetch us (giving me time to blog!). When we got to the farm, I realised that my Tomi Takkies were not designed for farm fashion... and that pretty much determined my day. I was on indoor duty - filling water bottles, changing nappies, supervising indoor play ... and enjoying the air-conditioning in the 34 degree heat. What a perfect day for a fashion faux pas! Before being labeled a City Snob, let me just say that I was part of the team that moved the sheep to their new pasture (although I did not help with separating the cows and the sheep, or erecting what P-J called Insta-fence in the blazing heat, prior to the migration). The new fence was opened up and the rest of us worked our way up from the bottom of the field saying "Come girls, move up. Come on" and hoped the flock would follow suit. We met Tutu (after Ethan insisted my sheep, my sheep ) and the boys showed Ethan ho...