Today my parents have been married for 50 years. They celebrated with my siblings and some of their friends at my sister’s house in Johannesburg and if I could fly, I would supersonic myself over there right now.

When we were in South Africa in December & January, we decided to surprise our parents with a meal the night before Warren, the kids and I got on the plane to return to Denver.

My 2 sisters, my sister-in-law and I spent the afternoon shopping for decorations and gifts. The interesting part was keeping my Mom (who insisted on coming with us to the store) distracted so she wouldn’t see us buying the balloons, confetti, orchids, chocolates, serviettes (napkins) and streamers. My sister-in-law was in charge of keeping her away from the 3 of us and fortunately it worked. She didn’t suspect a thing although she was a bit confused as to why Rozanna kept moving her around the store.

My Mom loves orchids so we had a couple of orchid plants on the table.

While I was back at my sister’s house taking family photos, my 2 sisters set up the table at the restaurant with the things we’d bought.

Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Of course.

Our gift to our parents: A garden gnome.

The gnome is a family joke. My parents HATE garden gnomes and so over the years, we’ve bought them a few. Each of them have been called “Norman” (another family joke). Usually, we get the biggest “Norman” we can find but since they’ve recently moved to a small townhouse, we thought a smaller “Norman” would be more appropriate.

So, Happy 50th Anniversary Mom & Dad. You have written on the fabric of our lives and we are the people we are because of how you’ve loved us, disciplined us, advised us, taught us, and prayed for us. And for that, your children and grandchildren are eternally grateful.

Love you both lots ‘n lots like Jelly Tots.

These muffins are a great snack for the kids but are also great with afternoon coffee. Since we’re doing Paleo for my son’s eczema we are using the most ‘pure’ products we can afford like raw honey, organic eggs, gluten-free/soy-free chocolate chips and good quality coconut flour and oil.

The ingredients are eggs, bananas, coconut oil, honey, coconut flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and chocolate chips.

Start by beating the eggs in a blender. Peel and add the bananas to the egg mixture and blend together. I prefer not to mash them first since they get mashed pretty well during the blending process.

Heat the coconut oil and honey (separately) in the microwave for about 30 seconds each or until they are in a liquid state.

Add the honey, coconut oil and vanilla extract to the egg mixture and blend well.

Next, sift the coconut flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg into the egg mixture and blend.

Add the chocolate chips and give the mixture a few whirls so the chips are mixed in evenly.

Using a serving spoon, spoon a large ball of the sticky batter into baking cups (about two-thirds full).

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

These muffins are great for school lunches. They also store well in an airtight container.

I usually store them in the fridge and the kids help themselves whenever they need a snack after school.

Coconut Flour Banana Choc Chip Muffins

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

These muffins are a great snack for the kids’ lunches but also great with afternoon coffee (which is my preference.) Since we’re doing Paleo for my son’s eczema we are using the most ‘pure’ products we can afford like raw honey, organic eggs, gluten-free/soy-free chocolate chips and good quality coconut flour and oil. These store well in an airtight container – I usually store them in the fridge and the kids help themselves whenever they need a snack after school.

Author: Traci

Recipe type: Snack

Cuisine: Paleo

Serves: 18

Ingredients

• 4 Eggs
• 3 Ripe Bananas
• 6 Tbsp Coconut Oil
• 5 Tbsp Honey
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Coconut Flour
• ¾ tsp Baking Soda
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
• ¾ cup Chocolate Chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Start by beating the eggs in a blender.
3. Peel and add the bananas to the egg mixture and blend together until bananas are completely incorporated.
4. Heat the coconut oil and honey (separately) in the microwave for about 30 seconds each or until they are in a liquid state.
5. Add the honey, coconut oil and vanilla extract to the egg mixture and blend well.
6. Next, sift the dry ingredients into the egg mixture and blend.
7. Add the chocolate chips and blend until evently mixed in.
8. Using a serving spoon, spoon a large ball of the sticky batter into baking cups (about two-thirds full).
9. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.
10. Enjoy

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My Soccer Mom friend told me about a place where you can feed baby goats. Loved the idea. Decided to do it. Jellystone Park is a themed campground that caters to overnight stays and day visits and the owner’s daughter-in-law owns the goats. And the fun part – the campground is owned by a South African and we had a great time chatting, (reverting to our South African accents) and dropping phrases like “is it?” and “howzit”. So much fun.

We were directed to the goats and the boys had to sit on the golf cart so they could hold the goats safely. The people who help run the goat feeding caught the goats that the boys were assigned to feed.

The goats were so excited and very hungry and so it took a minute to get situated.

The goats were given two bottles each.

They were hungry and those who had to wait their turn were getting impatient.

I don’t know how the helpers knew which goat was which. They all looked the same to me.

The goats mobbed Cullen each time he fed was given a bottle to feed one of them.

They were very sweet and sucked those bottles down in no time at all.

Those waiting for their bottles were happy to suck on Warren’s finger. For a few seconds. Until they realized they wanted the real thing and not some human’s appendage.

Once the goats were finished feeding, it was time to play and chew on anything they could find that looked interesting.

They had no problem getting close-up-and-personal.

The father of this family got a kiss from his baby goat.

Cullen made the mistake of getting on the ground. His hair tasted good to this goat.

Warren got this little guy to come on over.

They introduced themselves to each other.

And suddenly the golf cart whizzed by.

Which freaked the goat out and he left, ears flying behind him in the wind.

I love their ears. Long. Floppy and oh, so soft.

I had a conversation with this guy. I asked him if I could take a few photos and he obliged.

He said I should take a couple of photos of his horns.

They looked more like rust marks.

I shouldn’t have said that out loud. He looked offended and hurt.

About 45 minutes after their feeding, the goats were collected and put into their pen. It’s naptime little fellas.

This guy must be teething or maybe he’s just being a goat.

It was a fun experience and on the way out, I bought a 2 dozen organic eggs from the goat owner. We had omlettes and goat’s cheese for dinner.

Cullen’s reading group has just finished reading “How To Eat Fried Worms” and since it coincided with the end of the semester, they got to watch the movie over 2 days.

The parents were asked to make the desserts featured in the back of the book and I chose this one.

It’s starts with brownie mix, chocolate cookie (biscuit) crumbs, frosting (icing), gummy worms and any other dessert decoration.

First make up the brownie mix according to the package instructions and bake at 350F.

Since there are 18 kids in the class, I decided to bake the brownies in cupcake holders so the teacher doesn’t have to bother with cutting and splicing.

Each cupcake then gets a dollop of frosting.

Place the brown cookies in a Ziploc bag and make crumbs using a rolling pin.

The cupcakes get a sprinkling of the “sand” on top of the frosting.

I found these candy strings in Michaels. They are like licorice strings and I cut them into small pieces to resemble blades of grass.

And the gummy worm desserts are complete.

I love shortbread. My favourite is the Walker’s brand which is a British company that specializes in shortbread. I decided I’d make a batch of my own but with a little ‘extra’ in the mix.

Shortbread ingredients are very basic. All you need is flour, cornstarch, sugar and butter.

I threw in these. Chocolate toffee bits.

Start by creaming the butter and 4 tablespoons of sugar in a blender or using a hand mixer until creamy and light.

Add the chocolate toffee pieces to the creamy mixture.

Blend for about a minute so the chocolate toffee pieces are well incorporated.

Sift the flour and cornstarch into the butter mixture.

Blend well until combined. The mixture will resemble breadcrumbs.

Line a 9×9 inch baking pan with parchment paper.  Pour the shortcrust pastry into the pan.

Using your hand, press the shortcake until flat and firm.

Cut the pastry into squares before baking since cutting after it’s baked will result in a pan full of large crumbs. Baked shortbread is brittle when cut if there are no scoremarks.

Prick the top of each square with a fork before baking. This is for decoration. Walker’s does it to their shortbread so I like to do it to mine. Place in the oven and bake at 300F for an hour. Remove and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of fine baker’s (castor) sugar lightly over the top of the pastry. Allow to cool completely before separating the squares.

To separate the squares, place the point of a sharp knife along a scoremark and push the knife down.  The shortbread square will easily separate. Enjoy!

Shortbread with Chocolate Toffee Bits

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

 

Buttery shortcake with chocolate toffee bits for added flavour and crunch.

Author: Traci

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 10-12

Ingredients

• ½ lbs (4 sticks) Butter
• 4 Tbsp Fine Baker’s (Castor) Sugar
• 3 cups Flour
• 2 Tbsp Cornstarch
• ½ cup Chocolate Toffee Pieces (e.g. Hershey’s Heath chocolate toffee bits)
• 1 Tbsp Fine Baker’s (Castor) Sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 300F.
2. Cream the butter and 4 tablespoons of sugar in a blender or using a hand mixer until creamy and light.
3. Add the chocolate toffee pieces to the creamy mixture.
4. Blend for about a minute so the chocolate toffee pieces are well incorporated.
5. Sift the flour and cornstarch into the butter mixture.
6. Blend well until combined.The mixture will resemble breadcrumbs.
7. Line a 9×9 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
8. Pour the shortcrust pastry into the pan and press the shortcake until flat and firm.
9. Cut the pastry into squares before baking since cutting after it’s baked will result in a pan full of large crumbs. Baked shortbread is brittle when cut if there are no scoremarks.
10. Place in the oven and bake for an hour.
11. Remove and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of fine baker’s (castor) sugar lightly over the top of the pastry. Allow to cool completely before separating the squares.
12. To separate the squares, place the point of a sharp knife along a scoremark and push the knife down. The shortbread square will easily separate. Enjoy!

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