{Chopped: The Second Schmidt-Lock ZA Competition}

Top of the morning to ya! 

     I believe I have mentioned a few times our "Chopped" competition with the awesome Schmidts. Back in October, they were visiting with my Tio Sergio from Mocambique and we were all watching the FoodNetwork competition Chopped. 

   Mr. Schmidt had the splendid idea to do our own and the next day Morgan, Mrs. Schmidt, and Mom judged Team 1 (Gabbi and me), Team 2 (Mr. Schmidt and Graham), and Team 3 (Dad and Craig) on entrees and desserts. 

    It was LOADS of fun! 

    Everyone we have shared this story with has expressed a desire to participate and I believe this will become a regular-random event for us. 

   This time, we had pointers from the last competition, more judges, slightly different teams, and two curveballs. *gulp*

Helene and Willem. A lovely couple recently moved here from Bloemfontein.

Helene was one of our 4 judges, this time, and Willem was the official

taste-tester.

Dad (Team 3) and Roger (Team 2) were standing

awfully close for being Chopped enemies, wouldn't you say?? 

This was after the dessert curveball which I 

will explain momentarily...

I was working away at what I like to call "Rosemary Redemption"... Again, 

this was a result of the dessert curveball I will explain shortly. Dewie failed to realise

that the "plain" crackers he was going to crush for Team 3's dessert were actually

Rosemary... Not a good mix with peanut butter and chocolate... Nor the the

three secret ingredients for dessert: Brandy. Coconut milk. Cape Malay Curry.

Gabbi and I came up with this dessert but we did not get the credit for it

thanks to the lovely dessert curveball Morgan came up with... I still love her. 

This Cape Malay Pudim- as I called it- was inspired by a delectable dessert

I had in Dubai. This was the winning dessert and Team 2 (Graham and Mr. Schmidt)

will go down in history as the creators. ... I really hate revisionist history! ;-P

Dad and Dewie were trying to boot us off of the stove. The other fun factors in this competition

were the limited space, microwave-sized oven, and the lack of proper

pots/pans/cooking utensils since our shipment is yet to arrive. But the resulting

smack talk and competitive spirit was HILARIOUS.

Dad was trying to slow Gabbi down. Ha!

I just had to post another photo of them. I love this couple!

They were quite entertained by the debates between the contestants

especially since they - as judges - were in-the-know about the curveballs. -.-

So... I said I would tell you about the curveballs. The entree curveball 

actually saved our creation. 30min in, Morgan gave us a 4th secret ingredient (some apricot-mayo type sauce) that rescued our cocoa/anise balsamic reduction sauce that Gabbi burned on a high flame. (Love her still, too.) 

The second curveball, however, was a real...shocker. And I guessed it RIGHT before

the 20min mark hit and we would be informed as to what it was.

 Morgan was lovely enough to tell each team to move to the station to the right and pick up where the last team left off. We could not tell each other what we did or what we had in mind. The sad part was Gabbi and I were finished with our 

dessert that was just baking in the oven. Team 2 benefited from our prepared efficiency.

This was my face when they told me the dessert curveball.

... And this was Dad's face when he heard the dessert curveball.

Team 1's entree.

Team 2's deletable entree. (No, this isn't mine. Yes, it was delectable.)

Team 3's manly entree. - Dad and Mr. Schmidt I could swear were separated at birth.

They were talking a LOT of smack to each other. We all got a kick out of Mr. Schmidt when he saw this one. His way of painting the...unique trait of this pizza was by saying: "Ice cream is good. Pizza is good. But ice cream on pizza is not."

"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

Ode to Graphic Designers... Well, Not Really.

Top of the morning to ya!

Morgan's reversed-engineered granola recipe... She fell in love with a specific kind 

during her time in Israel.

    I have a new respect for graphic designers. And I love Wix. And I am singing the praises of my friend's husband who introduced us to this ingenious website.

   Morgan and I worked ALL DAY on our webpage for Douceur. There are so many details we have to critique, grammatical errors to be corrected, descriptions to be edited... the list goes on! I stared at it so long yesterday that my eyes crossed and what I initially thought looked beautiful began to look ugly.

   I see why most people have to walk away from their work for a while. I also don't understand how people can love web design and do it for a living. I have a lot of respect for you graphic and web designers out there. Seriously.

   A praise is that we received really good feedback from our friends and my prayer is that God will bless the path ahead for Douceur and that we would solely tread in the centre of His will for us! I've learned that I cannot manipulate His will and there is much joy and blessing in embracing His plan for my life!

"Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it." -Julia Child

    We shall see where this venture will take us! No matter what happens, I am grateful for the opportunity to step out in faith in the entrepreneurial realm.





"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

   

A Little Valentine's Day Heart-String Pulling

Top of the morning to ya!


     So, you may not know this about me but I don't really get into Valentine's Day. Besides the fact that the colour choices are just plain horrible, I feel bad for the men. It is another utterly selfish excuse for women to demand from their men and I just can't be a part of it! ;-)

    However, I do find it fun to write sweet notes to dear friends and family and I'll jokingly be asked by friends to be their Valentine. That I don't mind. However, I will not force that on my future husband.

     Something I am sure you DO know about me (if you've either known me for a while or have followed this blog from the beginning) is that I do not like dogs... Besides Pip and my pap's old German Shephard... I LOATHE the presence of dogs.

   They can be cute with funny personalities; but they stink, you have to bathe them, they defecate everywhere, you have to buy expensive food for them, and you can't just travel anywhere without first making plans for kenneling or dog-sitting. They're just plain high maintenance.

     

   To all of the people out there that say dogs are easier than children: I am highly offended. 


    Anyways... We've had this swallow nest above our front door for quite sometime and we've suspected that meant cute little babies. To my understanding, there were a total of three, and the runt of the hatchlings is still trying to fly. Everyday, its parents and siblings prod him on, but he just won't fly.

    Rhodes got to meet him today. (The poor little guy is so lonely he just hops around our driveway and sleeps under the shelter of our doorway.) We were a bit nervous as to what Rhodes would do when he saw him. I think Rhodes was initially excited by the strange little creature.

    To our great delight and wonder, this was Rhodes's response:

Rhodes decided to protect his little swallow who eventually fell asleep 

under the security of a lion-hunter. Too cute, right?? ... This is what I call

a LOVE-ly Valentines.

"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

International-Themed Surprise 20th Party for Mo!!!

Top of the morning to ya!!


    Herein lies the reason why I have been silent for a few days... Gabbi- my personal food photographer- took some amazing photos that give you a glimpse into our party. The cuisines: Asian, South American, and European.

    I fooled Morgan by making her think that we were baking for marketing runs. Unbeknownst to her, she assisted in her birthday party. However, it was dual purpose because I am compiling my business portfolio to show potential clients as well as posting millions of photos on our twitter and facebook page. I was also GREATLY helped by tremendous ladies who made this occasion so memorable for us.

    God bless them!

These were some of the party favours. I tried my hand at 

macarons for the first time... By God's grace and the genius of Martha Stewart...

AND Google search, I was able to make these mint chocolate macarons. :D

Marli showed me this chinese store that I am going to 

move into!!! I found these straws that I have been dreaming about

ever since I spotted them at a shop in Sandton. Woohoo!! 

And being the still even MORE amazing person she is, Marli taught me (and made)

the tissue paper pom poms. I love DIY occasions.

One of my favourite desserts: Tres Leches. I made sopapilla chips to garnish. 

Muy bien!

Behold... Ridwana is amazing, people!! These were DELICIOUS.

I also made personal-sized mediterranean pizzas. They varied from 

one another but the key ingredients were basil pesto, hummus,

and feta cheese (of course, DUH).

Ridwana's mother makes the world's best samoosas

and half moons... I was in a food coma, Folks.

Gabbi just loves this photo and so I dedicate another

to my favourite straws... I couldn't have done it without ANY of them!!

"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

{They're HOME!!!}

Top of the morning to ya!!! 

    I apologise... But my family is back together and we have been soaking up the weekend together! I  am in my happy place. They are NEVER allowed to leave again... At least for a little while. 

     I praise God that we miss each other when we're separated. I have to keep telling myself that it is a positive thing. I got all mushy with Mom saying how I'm already sad at the prospect of my siblings getting older and moving on and eventually (Lord willing) all of us getting married... I'm beginning to like this idea of a family kibbutz. 

I missed my mom! A mutual friend of ours came to have coffee with me

and she looked at Gabbi and said she could tell she needed a "mama" hug. 

I needed one too! I greet my parents with a hug and a kiss everyday and MAN did I miss that.

I was bubbling over...

Morgan and Gab may now resume their random food-poses

because we're all just interested in the nasty carrots they love to eat.

My vision is perfect, thank you. ;-)

Craig got a few cool shots of Raymond jumping into the pool... after work... in his work clothes.

It rained and POURED, so the guys did a bunch of cannon balls 

to splash out some of the overflow. Crazies.

We missed Dad too... And all of the competitions that come with him.

They were holding their breath, seeing who could dive out the farthest, and also

see who can do the most laps in one breath.

Craig and Abba... Abba won.

I'll tell you something else!! ... I sure missed seeing Morgan work in the kitchen!!

*sigh* I told Mo she, especially, can't leave me again. 

"Well... That's all I have to say about that."