Cooking while under the influence off . . . Northern Africa - Shakshuka

I first heard of this dish from my fiancé’s best friend. I was a bit weirded out. I was just like "ja, ja". I saw this BuzzFeed Food article and went for it. I really winged the recipe. Now we can argue about were this is originally from but let's let food bring us together. It may seem exotic but I really bought all the ingredients at the friendly Spar

For two but I stretched it for 3 with added protein in the form of chicken

Diced Bacon

Onions*

Cumin*

Garlic

1 Can of Tomatoes

Salt (to taste)

Pepper (to taste)

Sugar (to taste)

6 eggs

Fresh Cilantro/ Coriander leaves*

I made it for a dinner meal so I bought Portuguese and a Garlic loaf and made easy cook in a bag Chicken to keep the other components simple as the prep for the shakshuka.

Fry off your bacon. I don't give an amount because I feel that some people love bacon on a higher level than others. For mine I used half a packet of 250g bacon. (I made two pans though, so for all the bacon lovers I did use the whole packet. I HAVE 6 PEOPLE TO FEED before you get judgey)

The onion has a star because of variables. Yellow or red I would use half an onion. Since some of my family aren't real big onion eaters I fried off three spring onions in the bacon. I cooked them until they were soft.

Cumin is also a variable. (Yes you can buy whole cumin from the <Mister Spices or the Robertsons part of the spice isle) Here you can add coriander seeds, crushed chilli, turmeric and paprika. Now that I mention I added a small bit of Paprika.

Only now I add the Garlic. I didn’t want it to burn and spices react to hot heat better that Garlic does.

Then I added the tomatoes. You could buy fresh and chop them up and add them or use the All Gold ones with the chillies or even the onion mix. Feel free in being creative. (Before you add the tomatoes you can even deglaze the pan with wine.)

FOR THE LAZY PERSON: You could skip out on all of this and buy store bought ready made tomato pasta sauce. Spice it up with some mixed spice maybe. . . if you want.

Now taste the sauce. Add salt and/or pepper and sugar if it's very acidic. Swirl it into the tomato mixture and let it cook for 5 minutes and taste again. Season again ONLY if necessary.

Bring the mixture down to a slow bubble. If the boil is too rampant it will biol the egg to scramble. Make a small well in the sauce and break the egg into it.

For hard eggs set your timer for 10 minutes, for soft 7. 

Sprinkle with fresh herbs. I used Coriander leaves. I think Basil might be awesome as well as Parsley.

 Enjoy. Ever tried this type of meal?

é

That time I went to . . . Chinese new Year

Every year for the last few years I’ve been going to the Chinese new year festival in Cyrildene and this year it’s the year of the Horse! 

Here is a quick guide to my way of doing Chinese New Year:

 

Do

• Go for the cultural experience. It feels like I’m transported to another country
• Check out the shops. There are things imported that you probably never thought we got in South Africa
• Be respectful. There are going to be food stuffs you’re not use to in our Westernized country
• Enjoy more Pak choy
• Wear comfortable shoes
• Take photos. It’s all super Instagramable
  
  
  
  
  

Don’t

• Go if you’re against fireworks
• Go if you’re planning to make trouble (They have extra security and Police for that evening
• If you are a picky eater. That evening most restaurants have set menus of the most delicious foods. MMM Pak Choy
• Take your small children or animals sensitive to loud noises

É’s top tips:

• Most shops trade with cash. I usually have a few R100 to pick up a few things
• Follow the dragons or wait by the shops with the most fireworks. (The dragons eat the fruit offering walk through the shop then they fire off the fireworks.)
• Take earplugs
• During the night book a table
• There are no real bathroom facilities so keep drinking to a minimum (I won’t usually say that)
• Go back during another time and walk through the shops
• Eat a mooncake at the Bakery
• Eat five of those pork sticks they braai next to the road.
• Buy a bubble tea
• Keep yourself and your bag safe. I have seen 3rd degree burn stories of people who got in the way where they clearly shouldn’t have been. And you for sure don’t want to replace all your stolen stuff
  
  
  
  
  Which Lunar new year festivals do you go to?
  
  
  é
  
  

Doing Business with people . . . with purple hair

For a while I have been following Pretty Pandora on Facebook. As you could guess I like my oddly coloured hair and with Pinterest sparking more interest in all the colours of the rainbow hair it was only a matter of time before I started looking for product to give the same result.

The hard part was picking the colours. Especially since she got a teal colour in earlier that week (Mermaid hair!!!) I was in the My Little Pony vibe so I got electric purple, deep blue and a flaming pink. It was as easy as I in-boxed Pretty Pandora and placed my order. She gave me banking details with a reference I must use. The day she received my payment she posted my tubs.

Here is how I used the product:

A bowl you don't mind messing up

Conditioner or I used normal Previous Christmas’s unused Body lotion

Gloves are a must

An old damaged towel

Foils if you do peekaboo highlights like I did or want colour only on certain places

Highlight brush to mix and apply colours

A shower cap to limit mess

AND the pretty Pandora dye powder

This is how sectioned up my hair

I didn't colour my whole head. . . YET. I just wanted peekaboo colour that I could hide and didn't colour close to my face

Hair dresser tip: Fold foils about 2 cm over a piece cardboard. I hacked up the box the dyes came in.

The cardboard keeps the hair steady on the foil

And with the help of my sister we foiled my colours in. Pink, purple, blue, pink, purple, blue

After this I put on a shower cap and did a few things around the house

Pretty's instructions are to leave it in for an hour though in our conversation she said she sleeps with her colour over night (Semi permanent colours need all they can get to last) I left mine in for two and a half hours.

This was two weeks on after colouring

Top tips For maximum results:

• Don't condition your hair before you do this. This dye gets mixed with a conditioner so your hair sucks up the colourful goodness of the powder.
• After colouring keep washing to a minimum. Opt for a dry shampoo or baby powder.
• This works best with lighted hair. The lighter the hair the brighter the colour
• Wear a shower cap or wrap a plastic bag around your hair. Heat assist it the colouring process. (Good call sleeping with it. Everything stays nice and warm)
• The old towel must also be used for after colour drying.Unless you like rainbow towels.

Pros:

• Was so easy to order
• Easy to understand instructions
• Fun variety of colours
• Cheap compared to other very similar products. Three tubs for R180 Postage included
• Awesome specials

Cons:

• Post office is so slow (Hopefully the business grows enough to afford a courier company)
• That I didn't find this company sooner
• That you probably haven't ordered yet.

Thanks for the great service and excellent product Pretty Pandora!

What Pretty Pandora Dye colour would you colour your whole head?

é

Honey coconut milk Hair mask - bought at Spar

The friendly Spar isn't really a place you think of when you think of hair mask and beauty. Dig a bit deeper in any thing and you'll find awesomeness. I saw this blog entry and found ALL the ingredients at my up the street, I buy there every day Spar.

1 Can of Coconut milk (just a normal one because you want the fat) this is usually by the deserts and box cakes.
1 Tablespoon on Honey
A vessel to mix it in. I bought a water
a shower cap also bought at Spar

Before I used the mask

All you need to do to prepare this is pour the coconut milk in the bottle. I smooshed the cream in with my hand. To get the honey off the spoon better leave the spoon in some hot water. Add the honey and shake. You can store it in the fridge for a few weeks or freeze it for a few months every time after use.

To use squirt a small amount of the mixture, like a R5 size, in your hand and work it into the root of your hair. I do this in five sections. (top/ fringe part, middle of my head, back/ neck, then left and right) be sure to really massage it in until you get an 80's hair style. I also add some mixture to my ends. Don't rub them together or ring them. 

Put on the shower cap an leave for an hour. Some times I do my nails or Farmville 2 and leave it on for longer.

I found that my shampoo was extra sudsy washing the mask out.

This is my hair after 3 applications:

Spar is really my Swiss army knife of beauty.

What unusual beauty items do you buy at your local store?

é

I see you there Tip Top Nails

Hey Tip Top Nails,

Thanks for your follow. I would like to say thanks for such a top notch product. You make my favourite colour nail polish: Hologram glitter. (Rocky Road is in three sizes of glitter. Fine, normal and chunky) 

My base coat is always your clear protein base. Even when I’m not wearing any colour I still only wear the protein base.

AND your brand is one only of the few who have a matte finish top coat. I mean it’s affordable.

I don’t have Seventeen Magazine teenager money to pay for the high end brands of which only select salons are retailers and regular retailers don’t have stock. (I’m looking at you Essie and OPI)

For those who don’t know, these nail polishes are what I like to call vegetarian. Clean and harmful chemical free. They are available at Clicks. (I always go around to their rack/stand) It’s always well stocked. Another thing to look out for is their regular specials. Buy 3 and get the cheapest one free OR Buy two and get a base coat free.

Pros: - Well stocked at Clicks

• Classic and fashion colours
• Matte-nifecent topcoat
• Harmful chemical free

Cons: - With some cheaper cosmetics on the market they may seem pricey

• It took me a week to think of that one con ^ ^ ^
• I still can’t think of any

Social them on twitter and Facebook.. Their website seems a little wonky at the moment (It still thinks we’re in autumn in the southern hemisphere.) I wanted to write punny things with their polish names.

Go paint your nails NOW!

é

Fairy light Project

I see plenty of plenty Fairy light projects on Pinterest. I always had an issue of how to hide the wire that gets plugged into the wall. Solar fairy lights are the answer.

Bought these at Builder's Warehouse for a mere R70.00

 

     Here is my empty window^^^

and then the finished product. No weird wires. No using electricity. Now let your Tumblr and Pinterest dreams come true.

é

That time I went to Jimnettes

I’ll be honest, I feel like an idiot walking around with my camera because I look like a tourist who doesn’t go out often. S.A.L.T.S. (Smile a little then stops) For real though. With my ‘That time I went to…’ blogs I want to tell you about places to go that you probably never knew or thought of.

This one is about an Art and craft store in Pretoria: Jimnettes

 

For their ineffective website their shop more that makes up for it. Canvas, paints (oil, water, acrylic and craft) to mosaic, glass and baking.

What to buy there:

Beginners can invest in a Visual Dairy. I prefer the A5 because its handbag sized. Scribble doodles, ideas and it’s a great way to keep your mind active if you have a short moment. It looks better than being on your phone (and saves its battery).

 

Advanced hobbyists can dive into glass craft. They also have glass rods for beads. They have all the provisions for making Tiffany lamps.

 Even if you are just passing through go check out the colours of the stained glass. It’s truly beautiful.

 

What é bought:

 

Chocolate chips. Dark chocolate chips. I’ll post the recipe soon of the chocolate chip shortbread cookies that I bought them for.

Glitter because you can never have enough. These are so fine I’m going to try to glitter up my makeup and I will use them for my nails.

And the cutest little canvas.

Please make a turn there.

é