Archive | Food RSS feed for this section

Kitty Cat Love

April 24, 2012 in Food   Comments { 6 }

Lucky Pet Love
Cat love

I have to admit that at least half the photos on my phone are of Stripes. When you live with the world’s bestest cat it is hard to resist snapping shots of every cute thing she does. Thus far I have resisted the urge to blog about Stripes (although she did sneak into a photo here). If you are like me and snap WAY too many shots of your cat or dog then you might want to check out my Instagram photos (luckily we are not alone in our pet obsession!)

Being the trendy Instagram cat celeb (wanna-be) that Stripes is – she was asked by the folks at Lucky Pet if she would participate in their Lucky Pet Supreme Cat Census . Stripes was also lucky enough to receive a super gift from them – a cardboard box full of kitty toys and treasures. Stripes was in cat heaven!. Honesty, they could have just sent the box and she would have been happy – she loves boxes and can’t resist climbing, sitting on and shredding up any cardboard that comes into our house.

But back to the cat parcel, it was filled with lots of great goodies – everything from a scratching post (essential for any humans with a leather couch) to a really smart folding cat tunnel (essential for any cat wanting to ambush said humans in the dead of the night). Best part of the whole gift was the packet of Kibbles. Being a strictly Hills Science Diet household, Stripes has only ever known the delights of Hills in her bowl. Needless to say the new smells where very overwhelming and before I could get the packet out of the box she had managed to tear a little hole in it and scoff down a few Kibbles.

Much to Stripes’ annoyance the Kibbles are now stashed under lock and key, it seems they proved to be so irresistible that during the night we found the mended (with some sticky-tape) bag and helped our selves again.
Stripes LOVES them – so they are now given out as a small snack and on special occasions (else we will land up with a tubby doorstopper for a housemate!)

Make sure your cat gets counted in the Lucky Pet Supreme Cat Census too.

Thank you Lucky Pet for the great gift, you have made our Stripey Cat very happy!

Cat Love

All photos where taken using my iPhone.

Comments { 6 }

Sparkly deliciousness

December 13, 2011 in Food   Comments { 1 }

If you love chocolate cupcakes then you have to try Kathcake’s Favourite Cupcake recipe.
I whipped up a batch and iced them with chocolate butter icing (yum) and finished them with pretty gold glitter – so glamorous.
If you have ever used edible glitter then you will know it goes everywhere, thankfully this is the perfect time of year for a super sparkly kitchen.

Go on, you have to try making these scrummy delights, they are so SO delicious, super moist, really chocolatey and very morish.
You can find the recipe here. Thanks Kathcake for filling my tummy with sparkly deliciousness.

Sparkly Deliciousness

Comments { 1 }

Toast anyone?

October 6, 2011 in Design, Food   Comments { 0 }

Isn’t the smell of bread toasting just the most intoxicating thing? It’s the kind of smell that makes your tummy rumble even if you aren’t hungry (a bit like the smell of bacon frying).
Well now you can look forward to the very prettiest toast ever. Minale Maeda have come up with the cleverest toasting pan and coordinated Delft plate, so once you have toasted your bread it will blend perfectly into your side plate. All matchy matchy – isnt that sublime?

Comments { 0 }

Cupcake Creatures

September 1, 2011 in Design, Food   Comments { 2 }

A while back (infact way back in 2007) I blogged about cupcakes (again) and it was then that I spotted the cute animal birthday candle holder (see post). Recently, thanks to the wonders of Pinterest, I spotted another rendition of the cupcake candle holder. Only this time there was a tutorial on how to make your own.

This is a truly inspired little project, it constantly amazes me how many really crafty people are out there that come up with such ingenious ideas. Thanks to This Is Glamorous and also to The Sweetest Occassion for inspiring me.

Never wishing to miss out an oppurtunity to use my Dremel tool, I quickly dug out some plastic farm animals and got drilling. A couple of sprays of gold paint later and I had created my very own little Cupcake Creature. I had such fun making them that I made quite a few. If you would like to purchase a box (of 5) of Pretty Pretty Cupcake Creatures please drop me a line (jo(dot)reidy(at)gmail(dot)com) or leave a comment below. I would love to see them going to loving homes where they will can be proudly displayed on delicious treats.



If you are interested in how I made them, here is a little DIY lesson. It was so much fun making them, I hope you enjoy it too.





Thanks once again to This Is Glamorous and The Sweetest Occassion for the inspiration.

Comments { 2 }

Cupcake Love

August 24, 2011 in Food   Comments { 0 }

I am planning a small product shoot tomorrow afternoon. It’s hopefully the first of many as I document new Pretty Pretty products, so watch this space!
Anyhow, one of the key ingredients of tomorrow’s shoot is cupcakes, yippee! What girl is not tempted by icing and sprinkles? Here is a real stunner to fill the gap till tomorrow (photo from Angela Bax).
For more cupcake inspiration check out my Pinterest cupcake board.

Comments { 0 }

Kitchen Aid Love

August 16, 2011 in Food   Comments { 2 }

I grew up in a house where my Mum baked regularly. Often we would come home from school to a house filled with the smells of a cherry loaf cooling on a wire rack, or warm biscuits waiting for afternoon tea. Mum had (and still has) a Kenwood Chef and for as long as I can remember, it has had its own special place in the kitchen and has been probably the most used and loved appliance in her home.

When I moved out from under Mum’s wing and into my own house, mixing batters and whipping eggs lost its charm. No longer was the trusty Kenwood there to save the day, now all beating and whisking had to be done my hand – not fun! You need serious muscle power and stamina for such things. Needless to say baking only happened on special occasions where Woolies chocolate cake would not suffice.

Then, for Christmas last year, my darling husband surprised me with very own dream toy – a gorgeous Kitchen Aid. I was ecstatic, it was a black one, but I could swap it out for any colour I wanted. WOW, finally I would no longer have to longingly gaze at the mixers in shops and fantasise about the day I would effortlessly whip up a batch of something. Without another thought we swapped the black version for a baby blue beauty.

After what seemed like a lifetime of waiting (probably only a couple of weeks, but I am terribly impatient) my new toy was delivered by Yuppy Chef. Now I could finally play!

To christen my new Kitchen Aid I chose a recipe from one of my favorite foody blogs Joy The Baker (well worth a visit, especially if you appreciate yummy photos). A Lemon Pound Cake. The cake turned out beautifully and was gobbled without any complaints.
Needless to say my Kitchen Aid is definitely the most used and loved appliance in my kitchen. Thanks Mum for inspiring me to keep on baking and thanks Alexis for the amazing present – Worth every penny!

Comments { 2 }

Drinks anyone?

February 9, 2011 in Food   Comments { 0 }

Humming Bird Glass Tag

Dinner parties are fabulous! Lots of delicious food, excellent company and with a spot of luck really good wine. But, mark my words, put your glass of vino down for 2 minutes to visit the lav’ and you are bound to come back to find it mysteriously gone. Do you spend the rest of the evening sizing up everyone who may have nicked your tipple or do you do what someone else probably did and claim the next unattended glass of wine you find? Hopefully not…
Lots of my friends have resorted to buying those silly little charms you can get at most home stores, you know, the kind you twist onto the stem of the glass. These little “tags” promise to differentiate everyones drinks, but sadly after a couple of glasses no one remembers (nor seems to care) what colour their little tag was.
I bet if you presented them with a glass of Chardonnay taged with one of these beautiful hummingbirds there would be a lot less confusion – they are simply to striking to forget.
(Now if only they sold them here in Cape Town… sigh)

Comments { 0 }

Eye candy

September 26, 2008 in Food   Comments { 0 }

To get the weekend off to a delicous start, have a look at Amy Atlas’s gorgeous website. Amy is a event planner in New York and is famed for her devine dessert tables. YUM!!

Comments { 0 }

Delicious treats

September 1, 2008 in Food, Photography   Comments { 0 }

Every Monday is started swearing to my self that this week I am going to be very good, no chocies, no biscuits with tea, no ice cream. Well I got off to a fabulous start when I stumbled upon Cannelle et Vanille, the photography is amazing and the delicous treats are truely decadent. Well worth a visit.

Comments { 0 }

Petit Patisserie

March 31, 2008 in Design, Food   Comments { 0 }

Just a quick post, seems I am going to be burning the midnight oil again. Here is a another example of calorie free pastries. These are made by KupKup. How cute!

picture-57.jpg
Comments { 0 }

Queen of Tarts

March 30, 2008 in Food   Comments { 0 }

Saturday morning found Alexis and I happily eating breakfast in one of our favorite spots, Queen of Tarts, in Observatory. This is such a happy place. We have slurped many a fantastic cup of coffee there and had loads of many delicious breakfasts (often including an vital cupcake or two).
This spot always lifts my spirit and inspires me. Tina, the owner, has just opened a great vintage kitchenware shop across the road. Naturally we popped in and naturally I walked out with a whole set of gorgeous tea cups (thanks Alexis!).
Spots like this remind me of why I love this city.

queen.jpg
Comments { 0 }

Happy Easter

March 21, 2008 in Design, Food   Comments { 0 }

Hey, its time to hunt for Easter Eggs again! This little nest is an example of the Easter gifts I have made for my family.
Here’s wishing all a very happy and peaceful Easter. If you are traveling anywhere, please drive carefully.

basket.jpg
Comments { 0 }
← Older posts