A great way to use up leftovers – jar it!
I used leftover roast veggie salad and layered it in a jar with some chicken mayo.
I used leftover roast chicken, chopped up and mixed with a bit of mayonnaise and a dollop of chicken gravy {chicken stock and cream}.
Voilà – lunch is sorted! {Especially handy for a picnic, road trip or a quick lunch at home while busy with some tasks…}
Enjoy! X
I love the simple things in life – if you have to dress it up too much, there’s something not quite right… I prefer to use fewer ingredients, good ingredients, and just let them shine!
The same goes for {in my opinion} clothing, as well as home decor – keep it simple and rather invest in a few good quality and stylish items that will stay pretty and classic for years to come.
Ok, back to the salad…
Our veggie garden has been providing us with some fabulous treats over the past few weeks – butter lettuce, romaine lettuce, spinach, carrots, {giant} marrows, beetroot, rocket, sweet basil and coriander. The tomatoes are starting to grow, but are still green and I’ll soon be able to pick some gem squash.
This delicious salad came mostly from my garden, except for the garlic, onions, seeds and feta cheese!
Take a few carrots, beetroot and baby marrows {or giant ones!}, cut them into strips or wedges, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with freshly ground sea salt and pepper. Add a couple of squashed garlic cloves and sprinkle everything with some Peppadew spice and roast in the oven for about 40minutes at 180C. After 40minutes, add a handful of pumpkin seeds and some pine nuts. Add more olive oil and roast for another 15-20minutes until everything is cooked.
In a pan, sauté 2 sliced onions on low heat in butter and olive oil. When they’re soft, add about a tbs of honey and balsamic vinegar. Let everything caramelise and set aside.
Let the onions and roast veggies cool off before tossing them with some fresh rocket and butter lettuce. Add feta cheese and serve.
Enjoy! X
Aren’t December holidays meant for relaxing? It’s been quite a busy couple of weeks and of course I haven’t been getting to my precious blog…
I find myself doing things {running, tucking in my boys, cooking, baking, etc} while mentally making notes of fabulous blog posts, but then I never write them. The days just seem very short all of a sudden.
Perhaps it’s a result of just enjoying the silly season, working on Pink Poppadom Foods and training for a half marathon in three weeks’ time..?
Right, so tonight I made deeeelish chicken livers – I was inspired by a recipe in my new cookbook {The Real Meal Revolution by Tim Noakes} for peri-peri chicken livers, but ended up going a slightly different route.
What you will need:
4 large plum tomatoes, cut into quarters
A handful of small rosa tomatoes, some halved and some kept whole
2 cloves of garlic
Salt & pepper
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Brown sugar
500g chicken liver
Butter
Lemon juice
Fresh basil leaves
Maize meal {you can also serve it with mash or nice crusty bread – drool!}
I started off by filling a small oven dish with tomatoes – large ripe plum tomatoes, cut into quarters and small rosa tomatoes, some halved and some kept whole – and 2 cloves of garlic, chopped. I then drizzled them with olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper and popped them in the oven for 30 minutes at 180C.
Next, I cooked a big pot of mielie meal {maize} and kept it on a low heat for about 40 minutes.
After the tomatoes did their 30mins in the oven, I sprinkled them with a bit of brown sugar and more olive oil and popped it back in the oven for another 10mins.
When the mielie meal was almost done, I cooked the livers.
Start off by cleaning the livers and cutting into bite sized pieces. Toss them in olive oil, salt & pepper.
Use a large, heavy pot or skillet and get it nice and hot. Add the livers and let it cook for a few minutes on one side. Turn and cook the other side until golden. {It helps to place a weight or another pot on top, just to weigh the livers down and to help them get more crispy and not soggy.} Add a dollop of butter and a squeeze of lemon juice.
As soon as the livers are cooked properly and a nice golden brown, add the roasted tomatoes and let it simmer for about 2 minutes. Spoon the livers & tomatoes into a serving dish {I used the dish that I roasted the tomatoes in, it just adds extra flavour!} and scatter torn basil leaves all over.
Serve with mielie meal {or whatever you fancy – polenta will be great too! But I must say, the maize was a-MAIZE-ing!}
What a yummy and satisfying meal after a busy day – it definitely hit the spot.
X
Seeing as I’ve been such a good girl this year, Santa decided to drop off a little something a bit earlier!
I cannot wait to whip up something fab with my new mixer – yay!
X
This weekend was quite a busy one – with last-minute Christmas cake orders, a tenth-birthday cupcake order, as well as a few social events! Thank goodness for long-weekends, right?
I received a request for birthday cupcakes for a boy turning ten – the cupcakes had to be strawberry flavour, so at first I was a bit stumped as to how to make these strawberry cupcakes boyish… I scoured the internet for recipe and theme ideas and eventually I decided on monster-themed strawberry cupcakes. {I know my son loves monsters!}
I created two types of monsters – one a strawberry monster {my own creation} and the other just a generic monster {quite like the Monster Inc fellas – thanks Pinterest!} to adorn these yummy strawberry cupcakes.
These scrummy cupcakes are oh-so-moist and fluffy, with swirls of strawberry coulis inside and a strawberry butter icing. {Yum!}
{To order cakes or cupcakes, send me an e-mail to pinkpoppadom@gmail.com}
My fellow book club friend gave me some mushrooms that she had growing in her garden – wild amakhowe mushrooms. At first I was a bit skeptical to try them – after all, everyone knows not to just eat any old mushroom growing wild… I did a bit of research after she mentioned their name, and found them mentioned in a fab recipe book I have {East Coast Tables}:
These mushrooms grow wild in the Transkei {and in Joburg!} after the first rains of the season and the locals all grow up eating these. They’re large, fleshy and firm mushrooms – perfect for vegetarians too! They taste a bit like chicken – yum!
Right, so decided on a rustic mushroom sauce to accompany my pork chops I was making.
I cooked these mushrooms {sliced} in butter, olive oil and garlic in a large skillet over open coals {as they cook better on a high heat and won’t become mushy}.
As soon as they were nice and golden and crispy, I removed them from the heat and used the same pan for the pork chops. The pork chops were rubbed with olive oil, garlic, salt and lemon juice before going in the pan. I cooked them until golden.
I added the mushrooms to the pork chops in the pan to quickly reheat everything and just added a splash of cream to create a bit of a sauce. This is not a very creamy liquid sauce – you just want the cream to tie everything together nicely. Season with salt & pepper.
Enjoy with a salad and of course a nice glass of vino! X
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I officially have a ‘food baby’…
What is a food baby you might ask? Well, when I first joined our estate’s book club, there was talk of food babies, when you eat so much that you feel pregnant – with a food baby!
We had our estate’s Christmas lunch today and I honestly ate more than I had in ages – totally overdid it! Oops… {blush}
The food was just SO good, the company even better and the wine – well, the wine was great, as always! {my trusty old favourite – Pierre Jordan Tranquil}
Each person was assigned a dish – there was gammon, roast beef, chicken, salads to die for, veggie bakes, and desserts so good I had 2 helpings! {I will post my menu contributions during the coming week: smoked and roast beef, a veggie cheesecake and cinnamon custard slices}
What a great day – great food, great people and heaps of fun had by all! We even had a visit from ‘Santa’!
X
12 delicious and oh-so-pretty rosewater cupcakes in a pretty Giftbox for only R120!
What a magical time of year! The smell of cinnamon and cookies and pine – so quintessentially Christmas and the holiday season. In South Africa, we get ourselves beach-ready, we sip cocktails and sundowners, we shop-till-we-drop to find perfect gifts and perfect summer outfits. The scent of suntan lotion and sand epitomises December for some of us, for others it’s the smell of a braai and Grandma’s famous Christmas pudding / dish / cookies, etc.
I tend to usually leave my Christmas shopping until the last minute {I leave most things till the last minute…} or until just before a function or our departure on holiday… The past two years though, I’ve been a bit more organised. With most of my family living far away and my parents in the States, I don’t really have a very long shopping list – and I do most of it online. I LOVE that – I can sit in the comfort of my own home, with my slippers on, sipping a glass of wine and just click away, knowing all my parcels will be delivered on time, all wrapped up and just perfect! I do love gift-wrapping though and I love making the packages look oh-so-pretty, and I still get to do that with family here. It’s really a win-win situation {shopping-wise}…
Anyways – getting back to my Gift Guide…
I’ve compiled a few things that I think are fab gifts – hope you also think they’re fab!
1. Leopard print studs – from Etsy shop, $3
2. Teacup bookends – from Typo shop
3. ‘Homemade’ cookie stamp – from Big Blu, R150
4. ‘Bake on’ tea towel set – from Mr Price Home, R50
5. Apron – from Mr Price Home, R90
6. Silver Kate Spade napkin rings, set of four – from Kate Spade, $40
7. Kitchenaid mixer – from Yuppychef.com, R6490 {for the one you love A LOT!}
8. Kitchenaid food processor – from Yuppychef.com, R6490
9. Le Creuset butter bell – from Yuppychef.com, R275
10. Le Creuset ramekin set of four – from Yuppychef.com, R220
11. Krups ice cream maker – from Yuppychef.com, R795
12. Le Creuset batter bowl – from Yuppychef.com, R320
13. Carpe Diem pillowcases – from Superbalist.com, R75
14. Heart planters – from Amazon.com, $65
15. J. Crew necklace – from J. Crew
16. Eat napkin rings, set of 8 – from Etsy shop, $24
17. Kids initials necklace – from Etsy shop, $40+
18. Egg board – from Superbalist.com, R149
19. Heart ceramic bowls – cannot find where these are from, but fab aren’t they?
20. Le Creuset flower ramekin – from Yuppychef.com, R180
21. Le Creuset French press – from Yuppychef.com, R660
22. Mr & Mrs chopping board – from Lulu & Georgia, $74
23. Cookie jar – from Crate & Barrel
24. Pineapple / rabbit jar – from Lulu & Georgia, $76.80
{I recently discovered Lulu & Georgia via a fab blog I follow, http://ashleybrookedesigns.com and I just love their quirky things! I also really love Ashley Brooke Designs blog, always packed with stylish and fun girly things!}
Whenever you’re doing your shopping – and however you’re doing it – do enjoy! X
Teething – one of THOSE days… Shame, my youngest son has started to teeth and he’s been coping quite well up until today.
Anyways – all he wanted was to be wrapped up tightly against his momma – like back in the day inside the womb… Here he is in his ‘womb with a view’: {Helping me prep for my 7 cake orders!}
And yes, these are ‘selfies’! Not so easy to do a selfie with the iPad… Hehe!
X
bespoke + custom cakes + cupcakes for special occasions 