Things we do

This morning I woke up, glanced out my window, admired a glistening ocean and started smearing on the sunscreen. Ray and I rushed to the beach only to realise that thick clouds were gathering, a strong wind was blowing, and that it was definitely not beach weather! We were on the beach for a grand total of two minutes before we headed home. So this is us, our bags still packed and towels ready for the perfect beach day. 

Days are swiftly passing until my beautiful best friend gets married. This last sunny Friday I joined her for her makeup trial in Kalk-Bay and on the way home picked up a takeaway coffee from Tribeca for Ray. 

When we first started going out every week Ray would buy me treats from one of the bakeries in Kalk-Bay - brownies and hazelnut-chocolate-dipped-meringues from Olympia, cupcakes from Tribeca, scoops of ice-cream from the Italian ice cafe in crunchy sugar cones... so to get him a little coffee every now and then (especially when he still constantly buys me my favourite chocolate - said while she eats it right now!) is the very least way I can do to say thank-you :)

Something else Ray and I love to do is make pizzas - usually when we are really hungry and nothing in the fridge or cupboard tempts us - it is quick, easy and really fun! (Although the pizza dough sticks to your fingers like superglue no matter how much four you sprinkle on your hands - which is not so awesome). The kitchen is warm and smells like yeast, it helps make the wait worthwhile, while the dough rises and the pizza bakes in the oven, the cheese melting and crust becomes golden. Yum! 

My birthday backstage :)

Living this past week... the lovely engagement, exams, my birthday and the dance show...!! (I feel like all my dreams have come true, and are coming true, and so much more!) I have had an AMAZING twenty-first birthday!! Thank-you for all the kind messages :)

I had the most fun eating cupcakes with crazy friends at varsity, talking about my wedding (AHHH!!! Still can't believe how fantastic they have been - their joy for us makes me want to cry!!), receiving LOTS of hugs, laughing till it hurts, getting drenched in the rain and riding the train home together... Then it was time for pizza with my fiance and snuggling up, with blankets and feather pillows, to watch a movie - the best way to spend a birthday :)

Next it was off to perform the opening night of Expressions!! My beautiful fellow Grace Dance Company dancers surprised me with balloons, a bouquet of stunning roses and chocolate (yay!!) just before the curtain was about to go up :)

 Nothing like being in the dressing rooms before a show - the anticipation, the nerves, the excitement, helping each other with our liquid eyeliner, false eyelashes and tying ribbons in our hair. We are sisters. It was such an honour to be on the same stage as them - the hours spent in rehearsal and months of hard work, struggling together, knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses, seeing growth, the passion we all share for dancing, how we have to depend on each other, the vulnerability,  the love we have...  

No feeling like waiting in the wings... waiting for the blinding lights, the curtain, the music... your heart flutters!! It is a rush, a feeling of thrill and fear flowing through you - but you smile and you let go, you dance like you never have before, you want to gasp for breath and collapse from exhaustion but you push past the burning in your muscles, turn faster, kick higher, jump effortlessly... for just this brief moment in time, while you are on stage and the spotlight is on you, you fully express who you are... And afterwards, when the adrenalin slowly seeps from your sore feet and aching bodies, you listen to your pounding heart quieten, it is surreal that it is all over, when your put your soul into each movement... you want to cry, but you are also simply incredibly HAPPY!! 

Tonight, the final performance of Expressions, was wonderful. My family (and fiance!) and dearest friends came to watch the show. It is on closing night, with those you adore the most, that you dance the hardest. I have loved every moment of Expressions - the silliness backstage, the pre-show meetings, the awesome music and lighting, our costumes, the makeup (and the nightmare of trying to remove it all), the friendships, our phenomenal teacher, choreographer and mentor, the quiet moments in the darkened wings, whispered prayers, photograph taking, laughter, tears, performing on stage and hearing the applause and shouts of the audience, the red lipstick and gelled hair, the Jazz, the Tap, the Contemporary, the singing, the video montage, being able to dance with my gorgeous little sister, the quick changes between numbers of stressed dancers, how my friends told me that they could see the diamond of my engagement ring sparkle, holding a scared little girls hand, having fun in the finale, bursting with happiness, pride and thankfulness in being part of a dance studio,  sharing a message, hugs and congratulations after the show, winking at the crowd, the insanity and excitement, the warming up on stage while the curtain is closed and dying for it all to begin...!! These are memories I will cherish forever *

Chocolate brownies!

Is there anything more lovely on a freezing cold winter's day than eating chocolate brownies hot out of the oven? And so here is a moist, fudgy, and one of our favourite (and easy), chocolate brownie recipes:

What you need:

• 180g butter 
• 150g dark chocolate (about 2 slabs/bars)
• 1 3/4 cups of caster sugar (sticky brown or normal white sugar are also fine)
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten 
• 1tsp vanilla essence
• 1tsp caramel essence (if desired)
• 3/4 cup of cake flour
• 2Tbsp self-raising flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 100g of your favourite sweet treat (see below)
• 1/3 cup of yumminess (see below)

What to do:

For me the fun has always been in the making: see it as a time to relax, no distractions, just you quietly leaving all worries outside of the kitchen door, adorable in your apron, creative genius if just for a few minutes... let yourself experiment, it is not about creating the "perfect" baked good but about trying new things, laughing, licking that chocolate drenched spoon and feeling yourself de-stress :)

1. Preheat the oven to 160C (or 325F) and grease a medium-sized baking tray. (Once I made these in a smallish tray where the mixture overflowed in the oven while baking causing the most horrible mess. I remember scraping burnt brownies for quite a while...)
2. Melt the butter (fact: butter makes everything better!) and dark chocolate until smooth. The "proper" way is to place them in a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water... but the microwave works just as well (for time pressed - not lazy - bakers).
3. Add in the sugar, beaten eggs, essences, sifted flour (let's be honest - who actually sifts their flour - unless they need to impress someone special right?) and cocoa (which really should be sifted to avoid clumps) to the butter/chocolate mixture. 
4. The "awesome" part of adding in your favourite sweet treat: I usually just add in another slab of chocolate chopped up, but this is where you can make the brownies your own - white chocolate chips, raspberries, cherries, chopped nuts like hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, your favourite chocolate bar all diced up like bar one, nougat, rolo, reeses peanutbutter cups, new york peppermint patties, fudge pieces, crushed meringues, honeycomb, a dollop of creamcheese or sourcream, whatever your heart desires! (I have a rule that the "baker" is allowed to eat as much of their treat while they are adding it to the mixture - but beware of hungry family members!)  
5. Pour your delicious mixture into into the prepared tray. This is where the "yumminess" comes in: take little spoonfuls of peanutbutter, nutella or caramel treat (use your baking inspiration) place them into the mixture and swirl through with a knife. 
6. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes (I promise that it is worth the wait - said by the most impatient chocoholic in the world!) or a little bit longer for a lighter, cake-like brownie. Tip: sometimes I find my brownies getting crisp on the edges but still gooey in the middle, I then turn down the heat (or turn off the oven) and leave them in there for about 10-15 minutes until firm.
7. Final, and BEST, step is to EAT your brownies while still wonderfully warm (or like my family which demolishes them within minutes) and preferably with ice-cream. Enjoy :)

One last baking idea:

Sometimes we truly just need to eat the most decadent imaginable baked creation possible - layered brownies: the bottom layer is chocolate chip cookie dough, the middle layer is double stuffed oreo cookies topped with your favourite treat (caramel, chocolate, marshmallows), and the top layer is brownie mixture. Repeat layers as your "need" demands,  bake and serve with, of course, ice-cream!