Chilli Popper addiction confirmed

When your friends start tagging you in pics and sending you links to new Mexican joints then you know something's up - I think I have a chilli popper addiction. The onset was quick, the cravings unrelenting. I started planning my outings so that they involved chilli popper consumption. I feel that the only way that I can truly accept myself and this addiction is if I bare all here on my blog.

Hi, my name is Linda and I have a chilli popper problem

The Bushman's Spice shop (West Coast Village)

My love at first bite moment was with these homemade looking chilli poppers from Bushmans. Jalapenos that have been cored and filled with mozzarella and wrapped in bacon. 

Remex Cantina (Parklands Centre)

My favourite these days is still Remex chilli poppers. They're wrapped in some batter or pastry and deep fried in goodness. They come with this divine guacamole and salsa mix with cream cheese and it makes my mouth drool even thinking about it now!

Pakololos (Blouberg)

I love all chilli poppers, some more than others, but I find the Pakololos ones very oily. They're dipped in a batter and fried in oil, they are also stuffed with cheddar - which I always find too rich. Still tasty and I won't say no.

Deer Park Cafe (Gardens)

Other than the gorgeous open space of the Deer Park Cafe grounds, their menu is divine and has gems like this chilli popper dish. Very simple, also a batter and deep fried with a creamy white tartar like sauce. These were very hot!! They had left quite a few of the seeds in the cores, which can make them hard to enjoy, other than that the batter wasn't as oily as in other cases.

Cape to cuba (Kalk Bay)

Lovely atmosphere at Cape to Cuba and delicious and differentiated chilli poppers. They came with a sweet chilli sauce and sour cream.

Rafikis (Kloof nek)

I presume that the lack of a picture of the chilli poppers here says more than this blurb could. Very similar to the Remex chilli popper it is covered in a batter and crumbed, also a favourite of mine.

Cubana (Waterkant)

Very tasty chilli poppers at Cubana, although I had one bad experience at the Table View branch when the poppers were under cooked and far too hot to enjoy.

Word games with Bananagrams

A year ago I was introduced to Bananagrams, a tiled word building game that has taken over game night in my family. It's like scrabble without the stuffy confines of a board! Also, it is much faster and so keeps everybodies attention much longer. Bananagrams has been fun for the whole family, from as young as 7!

The game is simple and full of fun banana-themed nomenclature. All the tiles are placed face down on the table, each player takes 21 tiles and the 'dealer' shouts "split", at which everyone forms words in their own scrabble like formations. As soon as someone has used all their tiles they shout "Peel" and everybody picks up another tile. This continues until all the spare tiles are used and someone places their final tile and shouts "Bananas!"

You can find Bananagrams at Exclusive Books in a humorously fruit-shaped bag.

Cherry picking at Klondyke Farm

While browsing through my photos I found a few great pics from our visit to Klondyke Cherry Farm (http://www.cherryfarm.co.za/) a couple of months back when it was picking season. It was the most divine experience, one that I had last had when I was only a child. 

There are rows and rows of Cherry trees that are literally drooping with the weight of bright red cherries on their many fingered branches. Many of said cherries did not make the journey from tree to basket, many found their end in our mouths, staining our lips and fingers! 

The farm was dog friendly, so we had our canine children join us on this particular adventure; something which we so seldom get the opportunity to do. They too enjoyed many an overripe and plump cherry. 

The bucket in my arms is a 10 litre bucket of prime cherries, so you can imagine how creative we all had to get to ensure that most of them did not go to waste. My mom preserved some in brandy, as seen below, for adding something special to deserts. Others made cherry pie or jam. We ate most of our share fresh, sharing many with friends and colleagues. The few we couldn't get to were depipped and frozen for use in smoothies or to flavour yoghurt.

Throwback Thursday: Themed Printer's Tray

I recently fetched the last few tendrils connecting me with my childhood from my old bedroom to outfit my spare bedroom and one of those things was my old Printer's Tray that I started when I was 10. My theme was pigs; over the years when friends and family travelled they would bring back a new type of piggy for my collection. It took years to complete but is an absolute treasure chest of memories.

I have wooden pigs, gemstone-bodied pigs, pigs of glass from Venice, copper pigs, clay pigs, material pigs, and whole families of pigs - and they are all so different! It now hangs in my own home.

Platform heels and Paisley tailored slip

I combined my love of Paisley and my affair with platform heels for a wedding a while back - just thought I'd share how great they both go together!

And on the day:

Introduction to Annie Sloan

My first intro to Annie Sloan Chalk paint was a few months ago when I was looking for tips on antiquing with wooden furniture. Whitewashing never went well for me, so I was concerned that it would be a similar experience, I was extremely surprised when I first used it to brighten up my garden decor. There was no prep involved, I only needed one coat, and it dried so quickly.

I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint on a previously varnished shelf and on a veneered chair - the whole project was done in an hour. I experimented with scuffing to create the distressed look. I've pretty much been addicted to it since then!

Easy art idea for the less than talented

I love doing arty stuff but I have very little natural skill, so I surfed the net for an easy and effective idea for home made art.  I have a short attention span, so it had to be quick, and I have limited craft materials - so I needed it to be something that I could make with what I had.

I came across another blog with great ideas and I made these:

How I did it:

I used my existing acrylic paints, a household sponge and some print outs that I Googled.

1. Google birds on a wire, or tree in silhouette and print your favourite design.

2. Trace the design on some A3 paper (I had watercolour paper), I drew the design by sight because I chose a very simple design.

3. Use one dark colour and white to create several hues so that you can create your background like above.

4. Use the sponge to dab the colour from the middle of the page outward ensuring the colour gets darker toward the edges.

5. Using a fine brush, paint the silhouette in black.