SUN KISSED NECTARINE TARTE TATIN

7 Ripe and juicy nectarines

150g Brown sugar

Teaspoon of cinnamon

puff pastry
 

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.

Grab a 25cm tart tin and cut out a piece of grease proof paper (not wax paper) into a circle that fits into the base of the tart tin. Smother it in butter- don't be stingy.

Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together in a little bowl and sprinkle the lot it into the base of the tart tin.

Cut the nectarines into more or less 1cm thick wedges and pack them side by side in a tight spiral until the whole tart tin is filled with a beautiful juicy nectarine spiral. Just remember that fruit shrinks when you cook it so don't be scared to really pack those juicy wedges in.

Unroll the puff pastry (I just used store bought woolies one) measure it and make sure it is big enough to drape over your nectarine spiral. If it is a little small gently roll it out. Using a sharp knife cut out a circle the size of the tart tin and drape the pastry over the fruit. Put it in the fridge for about 30 min to chill. 

Once your Tarte Tatin is chilled put in in the oven on the centre rack and bake for about 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden and puffy and gorgeous. Take the pud out the oven and leave it to cool. 

When the tart tin is cool enough to handle put a plate over the top and flip your tart right over onto the plate. Remove the tart tin and serve with some vanilla bean ice cream.

SANTA, BE A DARLING...

Dear sweet, gorgeous Santa... 

I luuurve a good magazine subscription, this year I'm gunning for WomensHealth. Before it launched in SA I used to buy the odd American one from CNA which I literally read, cooked, worked out from and pretty much loved them till their pages fell out so now that it has arrived on our shores I feel a little celebratory subscription is in order. Of course these things are always much more fun when someone else is buying:) thanks Santa.

Im in love with "Cloud Guy" 2009 by Frank. These little statues are such a hoot I have been lusting over them for years, maybe this year I'll get lucky:)

I think these cheeky little poppets would make the coolest gift to a mum or a friend. Salt pigs (as they are commonly known - best kitchen accessorize name ever) are so super useful and they just look so pretty. I personally am smitten with the Emile Henry (you can get them at that rad kitchen shop at the cape quarter - I forget the name help anyone?) and the Le Creuset one (via Yuppiechef If you are planning on buying one make sure you wrap it up next to a box of Maldon sea salt. Gifting an empty pig is like giving a kid a toy with no batteries.

 

Im of the belief that one can never ever have enough white takkies. They go with everything and anything and are a wardrobe staple that I firmly believe in.  Now that I have successfully murdered 3 Mr P pairs, and 2 Country Road pairs I have decided to give Astore's Feiyue's a bash.  I couldn't face leaving them to go stale in their shop window, that would just be cruel.

So that is about it in the Christmas Round up stakes for now but fear not my lovelies, tomorrow is another day and there are many gifts left to be lusted after.

DANIELA DOTAN - MACAROON GURU FROM HEAVEN

Piccies by the lovely Kamini Pather of Deelishuss

I recently met the Macaroon wunderkind Daniela Dotan. I blogged about Decadent Dani's a little while ago and announced to the world that she would be opening in Durbs in December. I got completely beside myself with excitement, jumped the gun as usual and then the worst happened. Some hoochy sex shop opened right by her potential spot so she has had a few delays while she looks for a new store. She ensures me that she has found a bigger better more fab one so I'm not completely heart broken. So opening will be more around Feb- just in time for your man to spoil you on Vday (there is that great timing thing again!).

Now I consider myself to be quite the Macaroon connoisseur and let me tell you these little darlings in the picture look very lady-like and petite. As usual pictures lie! Dani's macaroons are like the Eva Mendez of macaroons. They are sexy and girly but they come with big curves and and a much fuller figure than the usual dainty jobs you see else wear. I even close my eyes and go oooohhhmmm like that irritating girl in the Aero ad when I eat them- They are that good!

Dani landed in Durbs last week and I jumped at the opportunity to grab a cup of coffee with her and make friends because well she is a macaroon guru and I am a macaroon addict so naturally we are destined to be bff's so i thought i would speed up the process. Dani arrived clutching a beautiful box bursting with heavenly macaroons and instantly won me over. I am so excited for Dani to open her store here so that the girls of Durbs can be introduced to the heaven that is a macaroon hang over and the warmth that is Dani Dotan.

FLIPPING MARVELOUS

Hello hello my dears! ITS THE WEEKEND BABY:) This morning I got up to the most ridiculous beautiful day and hit the tarmac for regents (the best running club that Isn't really a running club in the whole world!) and then jumped in my car the moment Gareth burst into his weekend baby extravaganza- I love perfect timing. The mixture of Gareth's glorious announcement and the huge endorphin kick has me grinning like a fool and did I even mention that Christmas is just a stone's throw away? There is just too much to be happy about so if you are feeling grouchy today best you bugger off now because I am going to be irritating happy for the rest of today and I would hate to enrage you more.

IM DREAMING OF A GLAM CHRISTMAS

Be warned, I am obsessed with Christmas! From now on there will be dangerous amounts of jingle bells, ho ho ho's and a sickening amount of cheer and general Christmas based hysteria oozing out of this blog so don't say I didn't warn you! What better way to start the official kick off to Christmas obsessing than with this glorious gold and silver Christmas decor... 

 Via Citified

Via prinscharming

HOW DID WE MISS THIS

I was at a little farmstall in the Karkloof this weekend and there was the most hilarious guinea pig waddling around that looked exactly like Zach Galifianakis's.  Can you see the striking resemblance? I can't believe we never saw this sooner...

BUNTING LOVE

I am currently having a love affair with bunting. It is so simple and also super affordable I saw one made out of newspaper and gold foil the other day and it was so so gorgeous. All you need is some scissors a piece of pretty string and a whole pile of triangles and you can make something really pretty. You could even add some baubles and string it up over your Christmas tree- I think Im going to experiment.

1. Bunting and lanterns via lefleurdelis . 2 . Advent calendar bunting via Insidetheloop . 3 . Cake bunting via Wedfully . 4 . Disk bunting- source unknown . 5 . Classic bunting via Emmas design Blog . 6 . Bunting Illustration via Sugarspicedesignblog

HAIR DO HOW TO

In only 1 more day Christmas party season will be upon us (I am hysterical with excitement and already have my Woolies advent calendar ready and waiting). For the most part December is a fab month packed with family, sunshine and lots of delicious mince pies nom nom nom. There is however, a small window of panic that bursts open onto some days releasing a flurry of panic in the form of the onslaught of Christmas party's. The never ending hysterical wardrobe mining as you feverishly dig to the depths of your cupboard trying to find something that will help you camouflage the evidence of all those mince pies without making you actually look like a mince pie. Unfortunately there is little that I can do to help you keep that window of doom firmly shut what I can do is show you how to whip up a killer hair do in 6 easy steps... so you can spend more time panicking over what to wear... (source - Citified)

{one} 
Using a round brush, blow-dry hair smooth and straight, focusing on the top sections

{two} 
Once dry, use a large-barrel curling iron to create waves from the ears down

{three}
Build height and volume at the crown by teasing hair gently with a fine-tooth comb

{four}
Gather hair into a low ponytail; twist it along the nape of your neck, pinning as you go

{five}
Once you reach your ear, shape the remaining hair into curls, and pin them back over

{six}
Red, red lips and platform peeptoes and you're set!

POSITIVE VIBES FOR MONDAY'S THOUGHTS

WILTON ARTISANS

Don't you think these bottle top necklaces from Wilton Artisans are such a lovely way to recycle old bottle tops? They could make really cute Christmas baubels too -  ah christmas, Im too excited!

WE BE LOVIN' IT

Because

In today's day and age saying you  like something pretty much means sh*t. Facebook's little button has found its way onto just about every t shirt, Chinese vase and hamburger costume for your dog and very few fb statuses have been left un "liked" and "poked." Liking something is just not enough anymore. That's where WElove comes in. WElove is a place you can go when you just love something so much you want to blog it, tweet it, cry hysterically because of it, but you don't want people to think you are an obsessive lunatic. When you have these urges about things like great coffee, sushi, shoes, french fries or even good looking spatulas (speaking of, have you seen the LeCruset ones at Yuppiechef?) go to www.welove.net and spill out your emotions in a safe an contained environment for all the world to see. If you are completely devoid of emotion and are looking for something to love, head over there and click about. Who knows you could find the Sushi restaurant to spend your life at.

LEOPARD PRINT LEGGINGS IN THE PARK

Being Wednesday and the middle of the week (nothing exciting ever happens on Wednesday) all I figured I would give you guys a little pick me up in the form of weekend entertainment. What are you up to? I am planning on hitting the DUT show on Friday night, I must say I had a little sneak peak of some of the designers stuff and I was totally blown away by some of the garments you should come check it out. Saturday will see me hitting Woolies for a cold bottle of Pierre Jordan Tranquille, some melba toast dippers and a little pate which will be accompanying me and my leopard print leggings to the Mango Groove concert in PMB.
 

 I went to the one in the Durban Bot gardens and it was an absolute hoot so I am giving you 4 days to call your mates, get organised, dust off your shoulder pads and make plans to hit PMB for a little fruit salaad. The show will start around 15h00 and will cost R150 smackeroos tickets are available at the PMB spar or on Ticketbreak. See you there:)

THE TRIPPLE "I HEART DURBAN" WHAMMY

Do you know what I love more than a Christmas market? 3 Christmas markets:) Hooray!

WOMEN'S HEALTH GIVES US THE SKINNY ON HEALTHY SNACKING

Womens Health has the raddest website filled with fantastic tips and tricks on keeping a sexy, healthy bod. It is jam packed with work-out, health and weight-loss inspiration that will have you on the road to bootayliciousness in no time. This is what they suggest you add to your shopping list if you are looking to bring the heat to Summer. Do you have any other suggestions we can add to the list?

 

1. Woolworths Melba Toast Dippers   2. Parmalat Fabulite Strawberry Yoghurt  
3. Woolworths Raw Breakfast Mix    4. Weigh-Less Microwave Or Air-Popped Popcorn 

5. Solero Mini Lollies  6. El Paso Wholegrain Tortillas   7. Woolworths Brilliant Braai Prego Chicken Fillets

FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY WITH RUSSEL WASSERFALL

I am so excited I could pop! I don't care what I have to sell to be able to raise the rubels to do this course. If you are a budding food blogger like myself, you should recognise this here bull and grab it by the horns, I sure as hell am going to:)

 

The Blogger Course
Photography for Food Bloggers aims to equip all those interesting people who are blogging about food with the skills to work at improving their photography and add to the quality of food images out there. Along with my comely young assistant Sarah, we will look at how a camera works and getting the best out of what you have, how to use natural and artificial light, making creative and styling choices, post-production and processing and then applying all this to food still-life and portrait photography. Discussions about the industry and the craft will be led throughout. And we'll feed you lunch.
See here for more info.

BANANA LOAF

 I can say with one hundred percent certainty that this is the best flippen banana bread recipe on the planet- ever! It is mandatory that you serve it straight out of the oven, slices must be thick as door stops and smothered in cold butter, you could eat it some other way but I'm not quite sure on how to top my serving suggestion it really is the only way.

 




2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
120 g butter
2 eggs
3 big ripe bananas (the browner the better- bananas
that look the worst often make the best banana loaf)
65ml water
a splash of vanilla essence
7 ml baking powder
5 ml bicarb
some salt

1. Beat together the butter and sugar until you get a light fluffy mixture that's baby yellow in colour.

2. Shmoosh the bananas in with the butter mixture (your mixture might look like it has split but ignore this all will be made right later)

3. Beat in the eggs until the mixture is nice and smooth, then, chuck in the flour, baking powder and salt and stir to blend.

4. Dissolve the bicarb into the water and chuck in the vanilla essence then beat the liquid into the batter.

5. Grab a bread tin, I personally like to line it with baking paper but f you don't feel like the luss its not an issue just grease it up, pour the banana mixture into the tin and chuck it in the oven at 180 degrees C for about 45 minutes or until your kitchen smells like a cloud of banana heaven.

WASHI TAPE ALERT!

The day of celebration is upon us! and our days of pining and scheming are over, finally. Washi tape has been made available to us needy Saffers thanks to the best company in the Universe- In Good Company. I don't know about you but my Christmas wrapping is pretty much going to bring down the house this year, who cares what is inside the box when its all stuck together with awesome washi love hooray! get yours here. P.S please don't be selfish and buy it all, lets be kind and leave some for our friends too:)

CANDICE BOUCHER FOR KENNETH WILLARDT

If Edward Cullen had a love child with a girl version of Marilyn Manson (when she was going through a pin-up phase) in a grungy back alley I imagine this is what the kid would grow up to look like, not to shabby but im not sure if its my vibe, do you like?

IT TAKES TWO TO TWANGOO

How cool is Twangoo? I have recently been introduced to this clever little venture and I must say it's pretty cool.  Twangoo is a super cool buying club that has harnessed the power of collective buying to bring you the best most exclusive deals in SA. You just rock up on their site and all the deals are there just waiting to be scooped up.  Deals include stuff like spa packages, tickets to shows,  meals at premium restaurants all kinds of rad stuff and all at very very reduced prices.

Here’s how it works:
1) See something you like? Reserve your deal by clicking the "buy now" button and entering your credit card details.
2) Once the required number of people have signed up to the daily offer, the deal is on - so invite your friends using email, Twitter or Facebook.
3) If the required number of people signs up then the deal tips! Only at that point will we charge your credit card for the deal. Once the payment is completed you will receive the voucher by email.
4) If not enough people sign up, the deal is canceled and you will not be charged a cent.

Twangoo is pretty much operating in most owns of SA and has finally got their act together and launched in Durbs so we can share in the fun too ( Durbs gets left out so often- thanks for nothing 30 seconds to mars) anyway Head over to Twangoo, perooze their deals and click away, im personally gunning for the massage so I can float around on a cloud and be glowey like this chick...

 Love the lighting in this shoot see more of it here

FREEDOM CAFE

 

Oh.My.Lord have you even been to Freedom Cafe? Yesterday I was lucky enough to go on a lunch date with one of the Girls and I actually left feeling depressed, cheated in fact, that I have been living up the road for months satisfying my hunger with regular lunch things like cous cous and chicken salad when all along, my taste soul mate has been living practicaly next door. Travesty. I don't even think mo and I said a word to each other from the moment the food arrived we were both too involved in our sexy little lunches. I tucked into a tart made by the lord himself Wild Mushroom tart that just too ridiculously scrummy, a light, heart shaped, pastry shell stuffed full of all kinds of mushies- ooooh yum:) Mo had a squash Lasagne, I had a bite and then spent the rest of the lunch torn between loving mine and being jealous of hers! 

  
Our service was super, all the staff were really friendly and keen to tend to our every beck and call with giant smiles on their faces. Freedom Cafe comes highly recommended. 

Like I need help picking a pastry, why would I pick one and leave the others out- that's just nasty:) Nom Nom Nom

  XXX Mints with your bill, nice touch.