Valentine's Day

Hello Everyone! This is not Part #3 of my Tour to the USA - coming soon! 

Here are a few of photos of our Valentine's Day Weekend. I thought you might enjoy it!

On Friday night I put together a little something for us "older" people. My mother put the 4 little boys to bed and we had a chocolate fondue and marshmallow frying evening. 

I made some hearts and ribbons to hang from the fan to give it a more Valentine's look

On Saturday morning my Mother, Danika and I went to Hillsong Canal Walk's Sisterhood morning.

We had lots of fun!

On Sunday CJ took Josua and myself to the Waterfront in Cape Town to go buy Josua some new shoes. we also had fun walking around the Waterfront.

More Postings coming soon! 

Thanks for reading!

E-mail Entry For Fortnightly Baking Fun Challenge #14.

Hello everyone, I received an e-mail entry for my Fortnightly Baking Fun Challenge #14.

The theme is Valentines - Anything Red, White, Pink, Hearts or Roses.

The sweet little girl, Robyn, is 11 years old.

She made a Choc Chip Cookies Message for Valentines Day!

Note from Heidi-Mari: For a healthier alternative, you could substitute the margarine with butter and crease the pan with butter and not spray it with spray and cook.

 Recipe for cookies:

Ingredients: 

2 ¼ cups flour

200 grams margarine

¾  cups white sugar

¾  cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla essence  

1 tsp. baking powder

1 ½  cups choc chips

can add raisins or chopped nuts (optional but I didn't)

Method:

Preheat oven to 160 - 170 degrees.

Cream together margarine, brown sugar and white sugar.

Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix well.

Now add sifted flour and baking powder. Mix.

Add choc chips. (Nuts and raisins optional.)

Spray a tray with spray 'n cook.

Roll dough into letters (you may have to add more flour to make dough thick enough to roll.)

Put into oven and bake for 10 - 12 min.

Icing and Decorating:

A packet of sweets of your choice

Icing sugar

A few drops of water

Pink food colouring 

Method:

Put 3 tsp. of icing sugar in a bowl.

Add a tsp. of food colouring. 

Add a drop of water.

Stir together and add more icing sugar until thick enough.

Stir until all lumps are gone.

Ice and have fun decorating!

Optional: I cut the sweets up before putting them on the biscuits.

That sure looks like a great cookie Robyn, and lots of fun!

Thank you so much for taking part in my challenge.

Fortnightly Baking Fun Challenge #14 is still open till Monday the 27th of February, so you still have time to enter everyone!

Baking Greetings

Fortnightly Baking Fun Challenge #14 is

Hello everyone, Happy Valentines Day!! I hope you had a great day so far.

Have you all voted for the winner of our Baking Fun Challenge #13?

If not you can see how to vote here.

 Now since today is Valentines day the theme for this fortnight’s challenge is.....

Valentines!!!

Anything that has to do with red, white, pink, hearts or roses.

The prize is the Women’s Weekly Little Party Books Fairytale.

This is the cutest little party book that every little girl wants. 

It contains ideas on Invitations, Dress-Ups, Games, Food and Take-Home Treats for you to enjoy. 

I decided to make “Macaroons Au Chocolate” as my example.

Ingredients:

4 egg whites

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 1/3 cup/250g superfine (caster) sugar

2 1/3 cups/ 200g ground almonds

2 tsp. cocoa 

For the filling:

150g bittersweet Chocolate

1/3 cup/ 80ml whipping cream

1 1/2 tbsp./ 20g butter 

Cocoa, for dusting

Heart stencil.

Method:

Prep and cook time 1 hour 

1 Beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until they form stiff peaks, then gradually trickle in the sugar, still beating.

Continue beating until the mixture is firm and shiny, and then carefully fold in the ground almonds.

Fold in the cocoa to lightly colour the mixture.

2 Preheat the oven to 270 degrees F/ 135 degrees C.

Put the mixture into a piping bag with a large round nozzle and pipe 60-70 small domed circles approximately 3/4 inch/2 cm in diameter onto a cookie sheet lined with baking parchment.

3 Bake the macaroons in the oven for about 40 minutes, leaving the oven door open a crack. (It works to put a spoon in the oven door.)

4 For the Filling, chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt carefully in a bowl over a pan of hot water.

Cut the butter into small pieces and stir into the melted chocolate.

Whip the cream until stiff. As soon as the chocolate has cooled fold in the cream.

5 Sandwich the macaroons together in twos with the chocolate cream. Put the stencil on top of each macaroon, dust with cocoa, and then carefully remove the stencil.

There you are! I hope you like it, now it’s your turn I can’t wait to see what you all will come up with!

If this is your first time here, this is how it works:

-You can link-up using your blog or if you don’t have a blog, e-mail your entry to me.

-Create a post on your blog with the recipe and at least one picture of the finished product.

or

e-mail the recipe, with at least one picture of the finished product and I will enter your recipe in the challenge (remember to come back and check out your entry).

-One recipe per person/blog please.

- All entries must be appropriate

-You are allowed to have help with your baking.

-Please use the blue frog below to enter. Be sure to add the link to your direct blog posting/recipe and not your whole blog as this makes it much easier to find your recipe. 

-Please comment on at least 3 other entries.

-Each recipe needs to be linked back to Heidi’s Crafts or has to have the button in the post.

-This is a fortnightly challenge, you have two weeks to enter.

-Entries need to be linked up by Monday the 27th of February  for this Valentines challenge.

-After the challenge has closed, I will announce the entries in a separate posting and you will be able to vote for your favourite recipe.

-You are all allowed to advertise anywhere you like for people to vote for you, on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

-I will have a personalized blinkie, specially for the Winner. As well as the PRIZE!! I ship anywhere in the World!

-Age doesn’t matter, from little girls to grandmas are welcome to enter!

-The aim of the challenge is to encourage mothers and grandmas with their girls to enjoy making food in the kitchen, to share recipes, find new ones and have lots of fun together!

Baking Greetings