Rylan "Hard-Kour" Is Here!

Top of the morning to ya!

Meet Rylan. This is Rylan in his natural habitat. 

He's an incredible photographer.

Ambitious entrepreneur.

Loves life. Loves people. And he loves the Lord.

He also sends me random parkour videos that he gets of himself.

Hence the nickname: "Hard-kour".

Yes... I came up with that, myself.

He's also seeing how long he can grow his hair... Kind of intimidating

having a guy walk in with hair almost longer than your own.

Am I the only one who looks at this and thinks of "Sunshine" from Remember The Titans???

Rylan is my partner-in-crime. 

But he is also my culinary enemy.

I've recently forced him to work in the kitchen for the remaining 1.5months here

because he is ULTRA picky.

He doesn't even like cheese in his scrambled eggs. Gross.

So here we pose pre-cinnamon roll making. 

(Photos to follow...That is if I can get any before they are pulverized.)

I've been loving my life since he arrived because I now have THREE food photographers for Douceur.

And I take full advantage of their competitive nature because they now race

to take the food photos for my Instagram account. 

This. Is. The Life.

We are all very random. It's amazing to look at him and he remind me of when I used to babysit him and his siblings. 

Now, he's a traveling young man advancing the Kingdom.

The Bruce was quite entertained by the young adults who seem to not be able to overcome the child-at-heart spirit within them. 

But together, we fully enjoy the life God has blessed us with and make the most of our time together. 

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

The Bruce

Top of the morning to ya!

    

 This one is for our little buddy, Bruce or The Bruce...

Meet "The Bruce". Our handsome little nephew. Here he is with

his favourite person besides Oupa Craig: Uncle "G". Bruce LOVES

Graham and every time I see him he asks: G??

Bruce is quite the curious adventurer.

 I often look at him in awe as I consider the fact this 2yr old is 

entirely oblivious to the fact

that he is an American traveling the world and exploring Africa.

My goal is to be Bruce's favourite aunt and I think I'm getting pretty close!

He definitely looks up to men, which is awesome, but he is kind enough

to share some love with the ladies. ;-) Sunday afternoon, we went to have lunch at 

his new house where he has even more to explore. It's hard keeping him from climbing up the rocks

like a "proper Boer" child... Barefoot. 

He was disappointed with me for telling him he couldn't

climb past a certain point. He furrowed his eyebrows and pointed up the rock face saying, "MAHN-keys!" (Monkeys.)

I am not one for tricking children, but this little guy was so persistent that I finally said:

"Bruce, the monkeys are at church."

Bruce looked up at me quizzically and said: Bible? JESUS???

Me: Yes, Bruce. They went to read the Bible and learn about Jesus.

To my surprise, he was satisfied and soon began to distract himself

with other curious things to be explored in the garden.

Kait sent me an SMS this morning saying: No monkeys today. They must still be at church! 

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

My Cup OverFlows

Top of the morning to ya! 

     My dear friend, Ash, has made it safely back to the states. God is so good and, as usual, I am overwhelmed by His goodness to me! 

    I stole this photo from her instagram. I was sad and stalking her and found LOADS of photos of us that I was completely unaware of. I forgive her. ;-) 

    This time was bittersweet to me because it marks new beginnings and could potentially be our last time together when we are both still in our fathers' households and all of our siblings are around us. - Growing up is overrated. If anyone forgets anything else I said, remember this: cherish the moments you have with your family. Time is fleeting.

     Ash has such a beautiful heart for the Lord and I am honoured to watch as He blesses her faithfulness to Him!

    A mutual beloved friend of ours, Susannah, also came into town. (I'm still waiting for the photo we took as a family with her.) In fact, she and Ash were in Joburg airport at the same time unbeknownst to either. Both were sad to learn that they JUST missed each other! 

   Sue has been a friend of mine for almost as many years as Ash and I have known each other. She has been on a Christian world tour since last summer and she didn't realise until yesterday morning that the "Nelspruit place" she was staying in was the very same "Nelspruit" that I live in. Once it dawned on her, she sent me a few emails informing me of where she was. I was elated to discover that she was staying 5 minutes from my house! 

    The Lord has surrounded me with incredible young women/sisters-in-Christ who challenge and encourage me to delight in Him! As my title says: my cup overflows.

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

{Chopped: The Second Schmidt-Lock ZA Competition}

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     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."

A Little Valentine's Day Heart-String Pulling

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     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."

No Ordinary Sign

  Top of the morning to ya!

 

    The Whitlocks are now living in an eco-estate where we have the privilege of seeing wild game everyday. Contrary to popular American assumption, you don't just see African wildlife walking around wherever you go. You actually have to travel to game parks, etc. to even see animals. Excepting, of course, the monkeys that reside like squirrels in our trees.

    So awesome!



   Anyways, here is a "photo of the day" of sorts.

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

Rain Spiders and Jerusalem Crickets, and Beetles, OH MY!

    T-top of the morning to ya!

 

    I am currently scratching myself nervously due to the creepy crawlies... Guys, all of the insects in King Kong are REAL!! They must've done a casting call in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga because alllll of those bugs are living it up in a golf estate and giving a particular welcome to the Whitlocks.

   Recently, to my utter dismay, I heard someone say that if all of the bugs in the world were exterminated, human life would not exist in 50 years... That is just a sad thought. The other sad thought is that the Afrikaners have made me reevaluate my murderous ways. Their rule is if you kill it, you eat it. Otherwise, rescue the bugs and put them back in their natural habitat.

   Problem is, they seem to be naturally inclined to trespass upon the Whitlock premises.

   I didn't blog about the rain spider; but that was a frightening experience. I can handle reptiles and amphibians... Lions and rhinos. Etc. But anything with more than four legs is on my hit-list. I discovered the existence of the rain spider (or the Huntsman spider) when I was using our little powder room a few weeks ago. I was going to wash my hands when I saw eight eyes shift and stare at me. I SCREAMED and sprinted out of that bathroom.

  My brothers wouldn't even get it when they got one look. Dad was out of town. So... We called our superhero and the REAL Spiderman - Shaun Adams - to come up and rescue us. He got a real kick out of "The Americans" and taught Gab (the only brave soul) how to catch spiders. He said you can actually handle these disgusting, 8-legged, hairy man-hand sized creeps.

   I would've taken a photo but I ran out too quickly.

   Today, however, was when it dawned on me just what jurassic creatures we have in our midst. We got home from dinner and saw what was the equivalent to an elephant hiding behind a pillar: a Jerusalem cricket trying to crawl under our front door to hide from us. I don't know why HE was scared.
 
   The one we caught is much much uglier than the photos online. It serves him no justice. He looks like his mother was a half cricket and half ant and his father was a scorpion. HUGE. And my favourite part of the description in our insect guide was the fact that they have a terrible bite. Yes, folks. He's huge, can jump, has the face of a Goliath-an ant, and can BITE. I didn't take a photo of him because I am afraid my faithful iPhone is too small to capture the size of that thing. He is now in a jar and showing himself aggressive to anyone who tips it to get a look.

  So, the moral of my story is: King Kong is realistic. Forget dinosaur days. They all just migrated to Africa and the Middle East.



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

{Gabbi}

 Top of the morning to ya!


     Meet Gabbi. Bona fide genius, this girl. 14 years old with the intellect of a 40 year old. Sunshine and happiness. Has the best chipmunk giggle. Strong. Caring. Creative. Organised. ... Just look up "Gabbi" in the dictionary and you'll find lots of strong attributes attached. ;-)
   She has loads of nicknames that describe her. Before she could understand, my parents jokingly called her "Gabzilla". I'm sure I don't have to explain that one. She has always been partners-in-crime with our brother, Graham, and the two NEVER seemed to run out of energy. In fact, they're still like that and will continue to be rightfully referred to as Thing 1 and Thing 2.

   One thing that I really admire about Gabs is her determination. (Yes, I call her "Gabs" too. That wasn't a typo.) She is self-motivated and an avid learner. She asked me to quiz her for her biology test and I am confident the girl is going to ace it. I chuckled to myself because she got stumped by the word "Holdfast" but she could tell me - without hesitation - the Phylum, Habitat, Organization, Cell wall, and also give an example of anything she learned in the Subkingdom Algae.

Holdfast: a special structure used by organisms to anchor itself.

   There's a lot to say about this girl... But I better be careful because she knows I am writing about her and is suddenly motivated to look at my blog I've been telling her about!! 

  Here are some photos of our study session: 

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

{Kruger Photos}

Courtesy of my incredible siblings... Includes the Cape Buffalo from my last post.

Been there. Done that... Or Have I??

Top of the morning to ya!!

So, people have been asking us here: Have you been to the Kruger Park yet??? 

My prideful self has been thinking: I lived here before and went twice. Who needs to go again???

Well, today we went and took Dad for the first time. I was excited because there's FINALLY something in this world that I had experienced that Dad hadn't. ;-) Other than that, I was thinking, "Bah! Been there. Done that!! This is for Dad."

If you have ever been to a game park, you know already how many HOURS you have to drive around, observe, chat, and think. Today... I did a lot of thinking.

You gotta love the splendour of God's creation. Let me just tell you. Before we passed the Paul Kruger Gate's threshold, we saw about 5 elephants. I've seen them before. But they are just as exciting EVERY time.

Then I got to thinking, "These are animals that are not regulated. You are not guaranteed to see THE BIG FIVE every time you enter the park. This is no zoo."

Did you know??? The term "Big Five" was coined by hunters for the lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo, and rhino because they are considered the most difficult to hunt on foot and they are amongst the most dangerous animals??

As a child, I only liked one time I went to the zoo. That was the Pittsburgh Zoo and we went with some orphans from Juarez. My new friend, Karla, and I came up with a game where I learned the spanish word for every animal we passed. Unfortunately, I have forgotten the words. :-/

 Other than that one time, I quickly became bored with the zoos for multiple reasons. I never knew I'd have the chance to go to Africa. It wasn't for snobbery. I just didn't feel right going. Why??

1.) They are predictable. You are sure to see ALL of the animals you want to because they will still be lying in their cage.

2.) The animals are not kept in their natural habitat.

3.) The animals are much smaller in the zoos than in their natural habitats due to health (or bad health).

4.) The animals are fatter than their wild counterparts. 

Etc.! Etc.! Etc.!

Today we were stopped in traffic (At a game park??? Who'd a thunk it??!), stopped in a herd of HUNDREDS of Cape Buffalos crossing the road, stopped because an elephant just decided he wanted to stand guard in the centre of the road, ate lunch looking out at LOADS of sleeping hippos and crocs, watched big sis baboon babysitting numerous little ones, saw baby giraffes eating together, and were awed by the incredibly massive size of the Kudu!!! The list goes on... But my favourite was the wreaking giraffe carcass surrounded by Ground Horn Bills.

Graham: "I have never smelled a carcass that big."

Before we even saw this one, we could smell something AWFUL. A few cars were stopped and people were snapping photos. Disgusting! ... But incredible too. 

I love Kruger! The scene constantly changes. You can go one day and see absolutely NOTHING... (Well, you might see a rhino, a few giraffes, zebras and gazelles... and more zebras and gazelles... and even more zebras and gazelles.) 

Other days you can go and see lions, hyenas, and if you get there at the precise/exact/perfect/on time moment... A leopard or a cheetah. Neither of which I have seen yet. 

With this perspective in mind, I had loads of fun. As I marveled at His creation, I found myself praying to God; thanking Him for animals in their natural habitats that we feel honoured to observe and wonder at. I had a lovely day... And I look forward to going again!

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

Random Photo: Mo and I saw this grocery shopping at Spar.... Notice the "Best Buy" tag. TIA, folks. TIA.

The Food Fundi Cafe

 Top of the morning to ya!

   As I am sure many of you who know the Whitlocks already know... We LOVE food. When we lived in Moçambique, we had our favourite cafe that we found and EVERYBODY knew us there. (I mean... how can you miss a family of seven that completely rearranges the outdoor seating just to get a table???) Praise the Lord we have found our new hotspot.

  Ladies and gentlemen... May I present to you The Food Fundi!   - It was started by two gifted chefs who have not only completed culinary training but have also proven themselves all over the world. I especially appreciate the experience that they've had because they understand our culinary passion, which most Afrikaners and black South Africans don't quite get unless they have been to Europe or the US.

   The salad above is one that Gordon, one of the brothers who owns the cafe, recommended to me a few days ago. I decided to try it yesterday and my taste buds were doing the hallelujah dance! Rooibos Smoked Chicken Salad with pineapple chutney. Who'd 'a thunk??

Mo and I were a bit pumped about going today... It was my third time this week. 

No one would ever know by our calm faces how silly we were before arriving. 

I apologise about the lighting! But here is Mom. :-) 

I don't know why, but my brothers love a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich with a...BACON, EGG, AND CHEESE omlette.

This salad deserves a second photo! It has cashews (which sounds scary, but trust me, folks!), pineapple chutney, rooibos smoked chicken, tomatoes, Danish feta, and some fabulous drizzle. YUM!

This tea he also recommended. I had Gabbi take a photo for me because she was closer; but the girl is so fast-paced that she kept moving before the pictures took. This was the least blurry photo. -.- Beggars can't be choosers, I guess. I had the Lemongrass, Coconut, and Ginger one. It was INCREDIBLE. They really are about quality at this cafe. 

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

Past Week's Highlights

  Top of the morning to ya!

   I'm not setting a very good record. It has been shamefully long since I have posted and I've already broken my resolution to be consistent. 

   It's been quite a busy week or so and we are currently honoured with the presence of friends who are expecting their first baby and daughter today or tomorrow. (I will make a post soon about them.) They say watch pots never boil... Try waiting for a baby!  Granted, it's only 16:15hrs and today is her due date; but I am impatient to see this gorgeous baby. (And I am positive that Sarah is even more ready to have her baby than I am.)  ... On top of that, I have added baby-holding competition because Grandma flew in from the states. I have a feeling I've been drastically bumped down in pecking order. ;-)

    In the meantime, I have preoccupied myself with different baking brainstorms. Besides their passion for meats and braais, South Africans (or at least Afrikaners) love their puddings and custards. They also eat a lot of cake. So, I decided to take it upon myself to come up with a vanilla cake with custard filling. So, I made a custard using a simple online recipe I found. (Tasted like glorified sweetened condensed milk.) Then I googled a good vanilla cake recipe. And finally, I just made some basic buttercream frosting with the usual butter, confectioner's sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt for good measure. 

   This is how it went:

     

And we have the cake batter...

One of the two layers. I could already tell from the first one (I had to bake them separately because I only had one pan) that these were going to be pretty dense. A lot of factors contributed to it's texture and weight. Trial and error. Trial and error. I just have to remind myself of Thomas Edison.  ;-) 

Morgan - my darling perfectionist sister - did the honours of leveling the cake.

Voila! The final product. Strawberry formation is a courtesy of my brother, Craig. (He wants full credit for that one and rightly so.)

Oven oat pancakes with Bulgarian plain yoghurt (!!!!), strawberry jam, and honey or syrup. This was one of our breakfasts. I had to do the recipe from memory because I couldn't find it online. It comes from the *amazing* cookbook Hearth and Home. Excellent quick, healthful breakfast. A winner for our family and guests.

 And my personal favorite breakfast: cinnamon pancakes with sauteed cinnamon-sugar apples. 

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