Cake Alchemy

When I first heard about CAKE ALCHEMY at Annica’s, I almost couldn’t believe it!

Four courses of multi-layered cake, each paired with champagne, whisky, port and cognac whilst listening to Jazz?

Considering most of us attend a monthly ‘Girls Dinner/Book Club’ (a.k.a. an excuse to drink wine and have a girly chat), this amazing evening is the perfect excuse to meet up with our friends AND eat cake for dinner!

Why on earth has nobody thought of this before?? It’s pure genius!

It takes place on the first Thursday of every month at Annica’s Michelangelo Towers branch and the entire experience sounds unbelievable!

Surrounded by opulent décor and the most beautiful array of delicacies, you are presented with a menu of options.
Each course involves choosing between two different types of cake that have each been carefully paired with the alcoholic beverage of choice.

(Between you and me, it would make sense for half to choose one type of cake and the other half choose the other so that you can get to taste them all! Naturally…)

And apparently you can take a doggy bag home with you at the end of the evening (as if there would actually be any left over?!)

The tastings start from R265 per person if local champagne is used and R 300 if you prefer French Champagne.
You can arrive anytime from 6pm to 10pm.
Call 011 884 9445 - I’ve already booked a table for our next girl’s night out!

(Note that they do also take bookings at their Ferndale branch and you are able to book for whatever date suits you, phone them on 011 083 5264.)

 

Ooh Box!

The latest trend at the moment (and such a great gift idea!) is ‘sample boxes’…

You pay a fixed monthly subscription fee and every month you get a box of goodies delivered to your door.

It’s like having your birthday every month. Pure genius!

There are a few on the market at the moment:

Rubybox and Glambox are for the fashionista’s… both are jam packed with skincare products, make up and the latest perfumes.

My Baby Box offers custom boxes that cover the Pregnancy, Baby and Toddler phases. Such a divine gift idea to spoil a new, sleep deprived and (probably) vomit covered mommy.

BUT I have found the best box of them all…and, may I just remind a certain few of you, it is my birthday soon(ish).

The Ooh Box!



And it is certainly worth ‘oohing’ about!

For just R 295 per month (incl. delivery) you get:

4 x Wines (Retail between R50 – R120)

1 x 250ml Olive Oil or Balsamic Vinegar or Other oil

1 x Hot Drink ( Coffee, Tea, Chocolate)

1 x Chocolate (The really, really good stuff)

1 x Taste Treat

However, there is a catch (isn’t there always?).

They are only accepting a 1000 members!

So, if you’ll excuse me… gotta go… J

 

No-Bake Cookies

I have miraculously managed to find a recipe that is perfectly suited to the likes of myself (the severely kitchen challenged) that still makes me look like ‘Mom of the Year’/’Baking Goddess’ in the eyes of my hubby and toddler.

A NO-BAKE… let me say that again: NO BAKE Chocolate Cookie recipe!

Yes please :)

This is exactly the type of solution required for those last-minute, frantic, I-forgot-it-was-my-kids-bake-day-at-school-tomorrow panic sessions.

AND, despite the massive amounts of sugar and butter (standard requirements for a decent tasting cookie I’m afraid), they also include Jungle Oats…..so that’s gotta be a good thing?

Right?

These have been tried and tested and are currently calling my name from the depths of my fridge (where I tried to hide them out of my general line of sight).

No-Bake Chocolate Cookies (Makes about 30 to 40 small cookies)

125ml Milk

125ml Cocoa

250g Butter

500ml Sugar

650ml Jungle Oats

250ml Coconut

Pinch of Salt

5ml Vanilla Essence

1.      Boil milk, butter, cocoa and sugar together for 5 minutes.

2.      Remove from stove.

3.      Quickly stir in remaining ingredients and mix well.

4.      Spoon teaspoon-sized dollops into paper cups and allow to cool well.

5.      Store cookies in a container in the fridge until needed.

I suspect you  may even be able to add peanuts as well…

or half a cup of peanut butter?

Email me at kerryta@nedbank.co.za and I’ll send you the full Jungle Oats recipe book!

Happy NOT baking! J

 

Guest Blogger

What is a guest blogger?

YOU are!

Whilst this blog is currently crammed full of all of MY favourite things…..why not add a few of YOURS too?

After all, is variety not the spice of life?



Don't we all love being welcomed into someone's home?

There are always advantages whenever we are invited as a guest. We get to meet new people, experience a bit of their world,  share our own experiences, and if we are lucky, meet and find new connections to expand our network.

In the world of virtual cyberspace, guest blogging is pretty much the same thing!

So, what to write about…?

Anything that excites you,

inspires you,

makes you smile…..

Maybe you have a fool proof (easy) cookie recipe? Maybe you’ve discovered an amazing website, product or restaurant?

All you need to do is email me (kerryta@nedbank.co.za) your post with pics…..and I’ll publish it!



Go on, you know you want to!

Entrepreneur

As an aspiring entrepreneur (one day J) I’ve always been a huge fan of SA’s local Entrepreneur magazine.

It boasts a really modern, funky design and is packed with all sorts of interesting tips, insight and inspiration but, until recently, I was quite unaware of their hugely under estimated online content!

Their website is a great (if not even better) addition to their magazine.

It has a huge amount of content, free advice as well as industry specific articles and templates.

It’s a great resource if you need to quickly search for something that’s specifically relevant to what interests or affects you.

They also have a great list of weekly email newsletters that you can sign up for….again, specific to your requirements.

Such as:

 - Starting a Business

 - Growing a Business

 - Franchise News

 - etc.

Whilst they have a great selection of Business Plan templates,

How-To Guides,

Directories and Event Information........ what I MOST enjoy are the Success Stories!

The majority of these are the stories of Proudly South African entrepreneurs.

These not only motivate and inspire, they also impart really valuable advice, insight and wisdom…..particularly on lessons learned and mistakes made.

Makes you realise that if so many other people can do it…there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t too!



p.s. I am going to be writing a series of monthly articles on corporate office design as part of Entrepreneur’s panel of expert columnists, go check out my first article here!

http://www.entrepreneurmag.co.za/advice/staff/increasing-productivity/optimise-your-work-space/

 

Scatter Cushions

I was wondering…is it really possible to get excited about a scatter cushion?

Well, I certainly do…so that’s got to count for something right?

It’s probably because, as an interior designer, scatter cushions tend to provide a serious creative outlet….an opportunity to use those funky, exotic and expensive fabrics that would be too garish, loud or expensive on an ENTIRE 3 seater sofa!

So, yes, maybe I’m biased.

However, we all spend at least an hour (maybe a few more if you’re lucky….) a day firmly surrounded by piles of scatter cushions…be it on our beds, our couches, patio furniture etc.

Hence the reason why I have come to the conclusion that these little pillows are grossly underestimated in their value!

You cant tell me that you can truly ‘sink’ into your sofa if you don’t have the necessary scatter cushions to make the experience extra comfy? No.

And would your bed look complete (and so inviting) without these plump accessories? No.

So, perhaps now you are understanding why the perfect scatter cushion can be an item of extreme significance….that is often overlooked?

I generally hold ‘The Sofa’ in very high regard…aside from your bed, you will spend the most of amount of your ‘relax’ time on your sofa. Thus it makes sense for it to be an enriching experience.

When I moved into my house I spent a lot of time (and money) designing and having the perfect sofas made.

The leather was specially dyed to a specific colour, the seats cushions were made extra length so you can tuck your feet up comfortably, the arm rests were the perfect height to rest your elbow on….

BUT I OVERLOOKED THE SCATTER CUSHIONS!

I thought I could get away with buying some cheap fabric, even cheaper synthetic inners and begging my granny to sew them all together.

Within months I was surrounded by hard, flat cushions that slid down the back of my couch and looked more like crackers than puffy clouds of comfort! L

At last I have come to the realisation that, whilst generally you can get away with spending less on accessories, when it comes to items of comfort you definitely get what you pay for!

And also, considering how much time you spend on your couch as well as the fact that your couch is generally a signature aesthetic piece in your home, it makes sense to spend a bit of extra money on getting the look and, most importantly, the function…. right!

There are 3 important rules to remember when it comes to scatter cushions (in my opinion anyway)

1.      Size counts (doesnt it always? *grin*) The bigger the better. I generally go for a few big 600mm x 600mm and pair them with some 450mm x 450mm or 500 x 500mm’s.

2.      Fabric counts. This is your chance to have fun and add a bit of a wow factor. Go for one super bold pattern/colour and pair with one or two plainer coloured fabrics in a different texture.

3.      Inners count. Cheap stuffing = Flat, hard cushions. The only way to go is duck feather inners. These are fat and soft and can be plumped up again to their original shape. Also, the weight of them stops your cushion sliding all over the place and they make that lovely crunchy sound every time you sink into them.

The wonderful thing is that there are endless selections of delectable fat scatter cushions in all shapes and sizes in most local décor shops.

The scary thing is that you can expect to pay well over R 450 for a standard 600 x 600 duck feather fulled cushion.

I have 13 cushions in total on my sofas. That’s roughly R 5850.00. Holy hell.

Whilst I certainly deserve luxury (don’t we all?)…. I am MOST certainly not loaded. Time for Plan B...

There are a few perks to being a designer...we have access to all sorts of suppliers and manufacturers that the general public don’t.

Sometimes you have to D.I.Y. to get what you want at the price you can afford.

Mr Price have recently started to stock a really great range of scatter cushions in a variety of fabrics and colours that are perfect to mix and match.

They are at a fraction of the price of the ‘décor shop’ scatters and while the fabrics aren’t the best of quality…they should last for a few years until you get bored of them.

I stocked up on a variety of these and then set about trying to source my own duck feather inners. It’s worth spending a bit of money on these as you will have them for life. Just buy new cushion covers as and when you need them.

Looking at commercial sites/shops that stock these eg. Loads of Living, Granny Goose etc. I was horrified at the cost…not much of a saving L

BUT eventually I stumbled across a wholesaler who sells direct to designers only…at less than half the cost of the major retailers.

I am now the proud owner of some sexy looking scatter cushions…..all 13 of them.

For under R 2500.00.

I’m all about sharing the love so, if you’re looking to indulge in some duck of your own, drop me a mail at kerryta@nedbank.co.za and I’ll send you the price list.

You can order your inners through me and we can all smile in the shared knowledge of the satisfaction a simple scatter cushion can bring.

A bit of advice, when deciding on what size inner to go for, always opt to go 50mm bigger than your cushion cover size. So if your cover is 500mm x 500mm then order an inner that is 550mm x 550mm. This will ensure your cushions are nice and plump!

p.s. I never would have thought it possible to write almost 1000 words on the subject of scatter cushions….but hey, generally in life it’s the small things that can make a big difference!