My kids used to ask me every year, “What do you want for mother’s day Mommy?” My answer was and always is the same. “Peace and Quiet”. Well, maybe not the quiet part. Any mother of three children will know what I am talking about. A day of peace and no bickering and moaning among the kids! That is a great gift. Jokes aside… an even greater gift is having them around. As long as we are all together, I don’t really mind what we do. I just want everyone to get along and enjoy the day. I have realized that as the kids grow up there will be times when we won’t always be together but I know they will be thinking of me wherever they are. I know they will be rolling their eyes and saying “I know, I know, you want peace and quiet…” Even though that is all I jokingly ask for, I always get breakfast in bed, little gifts and pampered for the day, which of course I love. In my opinion, we experience Mother’s Day everyday when we look at our children! I hope I never feel “Peace and Quiet”.
I am one of four children so I know my mother knows what I am talking about. Even though I was always the peaceful quiet one… hmm.
This post is for my mother who I seldom see any more as she is far away from here. She also celebrates her birthday this week. Lucky mommy!
I will celebrate her birthday with her favourite drink, Cape Velvet and her favourite flowers – roses - while I think of her.
Happy Birthday ‘Mã’ and Happy Mother’s Day on Sunday. Hope you have a day full of “Peace and Quiet”.
As far back as I can remember, my mom has loved roses. I remember walking with her as a child as she pruned the rose bushes in the front yard. Not having much interest in flowers or plants at that stage, I would wander off onto the lawn and do cartwheels and hand stands while she admired her roses.
Two years ago on mother’s day my family and I visited a place in Pretoria called Ludwig’s Roses. It’s a beautiful rose farm with just about any colour rose you can imagine. You can walk around the many rows displaying a variety of roses and pick any rose to custom make your bunch. It was quite amusing to see the names given to roses. They also have a little restaurant on the farm where they serve breakfasts, light meals and a number of rose specialities – from milkshakes, smoothies and coffees to cakes and jams.
I liked this bunch of roses which was displayed at the entrance.
The Mama Africa. An appropriate name for a Mother’s Day rose.
Because my mother’s favourite drink is Cape Velvet, I wanted to try to blend the rose aroma and colours into the infamous Cape Velvet. You may like to replace the grenadine syrup with a syrup of similar density. This allows you to play with colours and flavours. So here then is my recipe for Mother’s Day.
I wish you all a Happy Mother’s Day!
2F%2Fpurplecalabash.com%2F2012%2F05%2Fthirsty-thursday-10%2F%20&media=http%3A%2F%2Fpurplecalabash.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F05%2Fcape-velvet1.jpg&description=Mama%20Africa%20-%20Mother's%20Day%20Cape%20Velvet%20Cocktail" class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">
You might also enjoy these:
Tags: beverage, brown, cape velvet, cocktails, grenadine, mother's day, mother's day drink, red, rose cocktail, syrup, thirsty thursday
This is more of a catch-up post on what I have been up to. But I will add some foodie stuff in…I can’t resist it.
Last year my husband and I decided that we had had enough of the rat race and merely existing instead of living was not an option for us. We made a decision that Cape Town was going to be our new home. Things just started falling into place and everything that was meant to happen, happened. It just felt so right – even though the two or three months leading up to the “Big Move” were stressful, it was worth the wait. I guess we are extremely lucky and very blessed.
We drove down over five days with the kids and doggies in two cars, stopping along little towns and places we never knew existed. What a great trip!
The booking of places to sleep overnight was very last minute so we often found ourselves booking into what was available in the nearest town. There are some strange places out there!!! We were very fortunate in our choice of accommodation though. When we eventually got to Cape Town it was already rather late and I just could not find an affordable pet friendly place to stay. Luckily my husband had packed the tent in the car ‘in case’. Thank goodness for that – we camped out for the night at the Noordhoek Caravan Park very unprepared. Pouring rain, hole in the tent…. ( advice to parents: check tents after teens have taken it out for the weekend). Anyway, it was all very exciting and certainly not the worst experience we’ve had. The next day the removal van was on time, waiting for us to arrive. The move went rather smoothly which I am grateful for. So, here we are ready to take on the ‘Mother City’.
That was two months ago and it has been hectic settling into the day to day routine. Don’t know about you but I detest having to fill out forms. And after filling out many of them we finally have internet access, phone lines and all those ‘techie’ things that we rely on. We just need to change our pace slightly. There is just so much to see and do in Cape Town and we are enjoying every minute – with cameras around our ‘Vaalie’ necks. I am still trying to find where to buy my favourite ‘foodie goodies’ but discovering new things is part of the plan.
So now, it’s me and my blog. I have so much to catch up on and share with you.
With a big move comes insecurity. Especially for kids. Lots of hugs and comforting food makes it all feel like home.
Here is my family’s favourite comfort food at the moment. Good Old Choc Chip Cookies.
These have certainly earned the title of “comfort food’. After all, if there’s chocolate in them, there is comfort.
I baked a big batch of these before the trip, hoping it would last….NOT! So now, I bake two batches at a time and store them in the cookie jars. Still doesn’t last.
What makes your Choc Chip Cookies different? A special ingredient or a specific method you use? I am always keen to try new Choc Chip Cookie recipes.
2F%2Fpurplecalabash.com%2F2012%2F05%2Fa-new-home-and%E2%80%A6c-chip-cookies%2F&media=http%3A%2F%2Fpurplecalabash.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F05%2Fchoc-chip-8-e1336072741541.jpg&description=If%20it%20has%20chocolate%2C%20it%20has%20comfort." class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">
2F%2Fpurplecalabash.com%2F2012%2F05%2Fa-new-home-and%E2%80%A6c-chip-cookies%2F&media=http%3A%2F%2Fpurplecalabash.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F05%2Fchoc-chip-8-e1336072741541.jpg&description=If%20it%20has%20chocolate%2C%20it%20has%20comfort." class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">
Recipe: Good Ol’ Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 Tablespoons treacle sugar
- 2 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1½ cup dark chocolate chips or chunks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160°C or 325°F, placing the racks in the middle of the oven.
- Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
- Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl cream together the butter and sugars until well blended.
- Mix in the eggs and vanilla but do not over mix.
- Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the butter and eggs mix and blend until just incorporated.
- Gently fold in the chocolate chips or chunks, leaving some for adding onto the cookies before placing them in the oven.
- Roll into balls the size of a small egg (slightly smaller if you want smaller cookies) flattening the middle slightly and leaving the edges fuller.
- Place these on the lined cookie sheets(about 9 – 12 cookies per sheet) adding some chocolate chunks to each cookie.
- Bake for about 12-15 minutes, alternating the trays halfway through to make sure all cookies bake evenly.
- The cookies should be ready when the outer edges turn brown and slightly crisp, but the middle should still be slightly soft to the touch.
Preparation time: 20 minute(s)
Cooking time:15 minutes per batch in the oven
Number of servings (yield): 36 small or 24 large cookies
2F%2Fpurplecalabash.com%2F2012%2F05%2Fa-new-home-and%E2%80%A6c-chip-cookies%2F&media=http%3A%2F%2Fpurplecalabash.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F05%2Fchoc-chip-3.jpg&description=If%20it%20has%20chocolate%2C%20it%20has%20comfort." class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">
2F%2Fpurplecalabash.com%2F2012%2F05%2Fa-new-home-and%E2%80%A6c-chip-cookies%2F&media=http%3A%2F%2Fpurplecalabash.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F05%2Fchoc-chip-2.jpg&description=If%20it%20has%20chocolate%2C%20it%20has%20comfort." class="pin-it-button" count-layout="horizontal">
Notice, my cookie jar is still full! That’s because the kids were still asleep when these were baked.
You might also enjoy these:
Tags: baking, choc chip cookies, chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, cookies, recipe
