Things of Interest – Page 4 – A Bit of This A Bit of That

June 3, 2014

Food, comedy and a king size bed.

We were very kindly invited by {Tsogo Sun} to spend a night at the luxurious {Silverstar Casino and Resort} and to see the hysterically funny {Nik Rabinowitz}.

After dropping the kids and my mom and battling some seriously awful Friday afternoon traffic (and a gps that took us THE most round about route ever), we arrived at Silverstar. We were greeted in the parking lot by a porter who insisted on carrying our tiny piece of luggage into the reception area and then on to our room.

Did I say ‘our room’? I meant our suite! We were seriously spoiled! The Silverstar hotel is relatively small, with only 34 rooms in total. We stayed in an Executive room. I could move in there and live quite comfortably.

The two best parts of the room for me were the king size bed and the gorgeous bathroom. Its not often that hotels have a bed big enough for my six foot tall husband, so the bed was a nice surprise. The bathroom was amazing too. Two full wardrobe cupboards, two separate basin and vanities, a huge separate shower and an awesome oval tub that I could stretch out in, my feet touching the far end and allowing me to lie back without drowning.

Once we had checked in and dropped our things in the room we were treated to dinner at {Billy G}, a buffet style restaurant will a variety of food including pizza, sushi, salads, pastas, ribs, calamari, prawns, roast pork, roast beef, roast lamb, roast chicken, a variety of veggies and soup. There was also a selection of yummy desserts including freshly made waffles and ice cream. I am not ashamed to admit I went back three times.

After dinner we moved on to the one night only show with Nik Rabinowitz. 90 minutes of laughing so hard I was crying. The man is a legend.

After the show we stopped in at {Black Cherry} for a Horlicks before bed.

I took advantage of the tub and had a steaming, turn myself lobster red, bath and then crawled into the massive bed with my book. I drifted off into dreamland with a full tummy and a head full of giggles.

The next morning we were treated to a buffet breakfast at the Silverspoon before checking out and heading home.

If you are looking for a mini getaway, not too far from Jozi, then Silverstar is the place to go.

*They are in the middle of a huge renovation that will add a family entertainment section as well as beer garden with space for live entertainment, a bowling alley, 6 cinemas and a kids arcade, an interactive fountain and a few new restaurants. The noisy parts of the renovation are kept to between 10h00 and 16h00.

May 13, 2014May 13, 2014

Cross post from #YouCookedWhat

On Saturday Fry’s Family Food sent me a chef to make a delicious #FamilyFood meal.

Take a look over at {You Cooked What} for the whole post…

April 30, 2014

Meat, Milk, Parev?

{Angel} asked a pretty interesting question on my {previous post about kashrut}.

Quick question on baking – does combining milk and eggs and butter count as a dairy-protein combination, like a cheeseburger?

To answer this you first need to understand the definition of ‘milk’, ‘meat’ and ‘parev’. I have taken the definitions from {Chabad.org}. You also have to understand why we do not mix meat and milk in kashrut.

Why we don’t eat meat and milk together?

This dietary law is based on two verses in the Book of Exodus, which forbids “boiling a (kid) goat in its mother’s milk”.(Exodus 23:19 and Exodus 34:26) This prohibition is repeated in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 14:21).

Milk (Dairy or milchig)

All foods derived from or containing milk are considered dairy, or milchig (Yiddish). This includes milk, butter, yoghurt and all cheese — hard, soft and cream. Even a small amount of dairy in a food can cause the food to be considered dairy.

Meat (fleishig)

The category of meat includes meat, fowl and their by-products, such as bones, soup or gravy. Any food made with meat or fowl, or with meat or fowl products, is considered fleishig (Yiddish). Even a small amount of meat in a food can cause it to be fleishig.

*Note that meat is considered protein by dieticians, but so are nuts, legumes, seeds and tofu which fall into the parev category.

Parev (neutral)

Foods that are neither meat nor dairy are called pareve. This means that they contain no meat or dairy derivatives, and have not been cooked or mixed with any meat or dairy foods.

Eggs, fish, fruit, vegetables, grains, and juices in their natural, unprocessed state are common pareve foods. Other pareve foods include pasta, soft drinks, coffee and tea.

Chicken is meat, why are chicken eggs parev?

The prohibition mentioned in the Torah is to not mix meat (beef) with milk. This law was eventually extended to include fowl (chicken) as its meat can be confused with beef.

Eggs do not fall into this category as they cannot be mistaken for meat.

We also eat eggs before they have been fertilised and start to become chickens. Therefore they are not a living creature.

So, to answer your question Angel, the cheese burger is forbidden because you are mixing a milk product, the cheese, with a meat product, the burger patty. We are not looking at it as a dairy/protein issue, but rather as a milk/meat issue. Since eggs are not considered meat, mixing them with milk in baking is allowed.

On that note though, if you made rolls with milk in them, you couldn’t use them as burger rolls since you would then be mixing milk, the rolls, with meat, the burger patty.

I hope this very long winded post has answered your question 🙂

April 22, 2014

#FeelPeugeot? Why yes, I did!

I was given an awesome opportunity to run around for four days in the Peugeot 3008 last week.

What a car! I used every opportunity I could to take this baby for a spin over the four days. Couldnt find an ingredient at the store? No worries, just hop in the car and go to the next store. Still cant find the ingredient? What? Its at a store 10km away? No worries! This car is an absolute pleasure to drive.

At least after I got used to the fact it was an automatic! Let me just tell you, 16 years of driving a manual car and muscle memory is a bitch to get rid of!

So, down to the nitty gritty…

Likes

So many nifty features.

Retractable side mirrors.
On board SatNav.
On board computer/radio set up.
Compass.
Heads Up Display for km/hour and for proximity alert.
Independent climate controlled air-con for driver and passenger.
Bluetooth functionality for hands free phone calls.
Adjustable hight for the drivers seat, us short people really appreciate that!
Rear park assist.
Cruise control.
Cielo (panoramic) retractable roof.
Heated seats.
Refrigerated centre console.
Diesel engine.
Huge and I mean, HUGE, boot!
Swanky leather interior.

That panel... it moves to give you more space, less space, all the space you want! — That panel… it moves to give you more space, less space, all the space you want!

Oh, oh!!!! See that interior light on the left hand side of the boot? It pops out and becomes a torch! No more scrabbling around in a dark boot. Especially because this one is so huge you could lose a few bodies in it!

The kids absolutely LOVED the roof, especially at night where they could chase the moon :) — The kids absolutely LOVED the roof, especially at night where they could chase the moon 🙂

Not so likes

I was hard pressed to find anything I didnt really like about the 3008.

The centre console opened from the left (passenger side). It should open from the right or from the front. I get that the car is manufactured in a country that makes left hand drive vehicles but surely it doesn’t take too much effort to adjust the features to a right hand drive car?
As above, the bonnet release was also found on the left side. In fact, it was found near the passenger door. Which means that if I needed to open the bonnet, I would have to get out the car, walk around, open the passenger door and then open the bonnet. Not so safe…
The controls for opening/closing and tilting the SatNav screen were ‘just’ too far for my small arms to reach. There is plenty space on the centre console to put these buttons.

Those buttons are 'just' too far *stretches* — Those buttons are ‘just’ too far *stretches*

That open compartment? Needs to open the other way for ease of use.

Blow my socks off

Automatic headlights! These were amazing, set the lights to auto and you never have to remember to turn lights on or off! This was probably the highlight of the car for me.
Child lock/safety feature. This nifty button locks not only the windows from naughty little hands but also stops them from opening the rear doors. And its just a push of a button on the drivers door. Meaning that when I had an adult in the back seat, all I had to do was press the button to disengage the lock.

Spacious and pretty and an absolute dream to drive.

There are probably a ton of features I haven’t even covered here but do yourselves a favour and take this baby out for a spin and see for yourself. I am definitely going to beg to test drive a few more models!

February 24, 2014

Pasta pasta everywhere!

The gorgeous {Sharon} from {Sharon Senior Photography} and her awesome husband, {Chef Andrew} have started a new venture called {Table 21}. Chef will be cooking, Shaz will be photographing and a cookbook will be born!

In the mean time they are running some awesome {competitions} and I won the first one!

A pasta machine from {Love2Cook} and the {Culinary Equipment Company}.

Paul, the kids and I went to the Lanseria show room to collect our prize and to have a few photos taken. We landed up staying for lunch at {the restaurant}. Oh heavens! So yummy! Healthy, home made, organic and free range, delicious food.

And then on Saturday night I made home made, from scratch, pasta. The kids had seconds and there were no leftovers. Not a drop.

I love my pasta machine!!

February 14, 2014February 13, 2014

Books. Sale. Books! Sale! BOOKS! SALE!

That’s right, {Exclusive Books} is having their summer sale!

The sale begins on 26 February 2014.

But wait, there’s more.

If you are a Fanatics member you can attend the preview sale on 25 February 2014, it starts at 5pm, and it is exclusive to Fanatics members and is at all stores (excluding the airport store).

But wait! There’s even more!

Exclusive Books is running a trolley dash competition! If you win, you get a chance to dash through the store of your choice for 2 minutes grabbing all the books your heart desires (or your arms/trolley can carry) and you get to keep ALL the books!

How do you enter?

Simple, send a photo of yourself* in front of one of the Fanatics Preview tables and email it, along with your Fanatics number to win@exclusives.co.za. That easy!

*A selfie taken in front of a bookshelf is apparently called a shelfie.  You learn something new everyday!

February 8, 2014February 8, 2014

#FeelPeugeot? Why yes, don’t mind if I do!

*This is not an advert and I was not paid to attend or write about the event!

The family and I were invited to the launch of the new #FeelPeugeot campaign this morning.

We had a blast!

The car of the day was definitely the {208 GTi}, there was a waiting list to test drive this baby and everyone who did, raved about it.

This stunning little car has park assist steering. You change gears and control the breaks, the car does the steering and parks for you, hands free!

I took a video of the demo. The oops at the end was driver error, he forgot the break!

I particularly enjoyed driving the ‘mom’ car, the {3008}. My only issue was that it was an automatic, and I haven’t driven an auto in almost 14 years. I kept looking for the clutch and didn’t know what to do with my ‘stick’ hand 🙂

Other than that, the 3008 is awesome. So spacious and comfy. Built in navigation and rear park assist. It has a Cielo roof, which is awesome, I could just imagine driving at night with the stars above you. It also has a refrigerated storage consul in between the driver and front passenger, perfect for snacks and drinks for the kids in between lifts and extra murals. You could host a party in the boot too, it is that huge!

Not the 3008 boot, think this is the 508, but still… HUGE boot! It even fits a {Dave!}

The kids had an awesome morning too, they had popcorn and got to drive their very own cars (go-carts) around a track.

We listened to some smooth live music by the gorgeous {Connell Cruise} who even wrote a brand new track and début it especially for the #FeelPeugeot crowd.

And what launch would be complete without a cupcake? Om nom nommy!

*All photos (except the cupcake) are curtesy of my awesome husband!!

December 11, 2013

MidIsle Spa or OMG that was fantastic!

*This is not a sponsored post!

Yesterday was our office year end function, we went for brunch followed by an afternoon at the spa.

I did a lot of calling and emailing to find a spa that could accommodate all 12 staff members in one go and at a reasonable price. And the surefire winner was {MidIsle Spa} in Midrand.

Ida, was awesome with organising dates and all the particulars that went into accommodating all of us.

We arrived a bit late due to the rain and were greeted by the gorgeous therapists with umbrellas to walk is from our cars to the entrance.

The spa is done up in a tropical beach theme and has a beautiful garden with a pond and fountain. We would have had our foot massages and head massages in the garden if it hadnt been raining.

We arrived and were offered tea, coffee and juice while we filled out the client forms that were waiting for us. We were then each given a basket with a robe and slip slops and asked to change. Let me just tell you, that robe almost came home with me, so fluffy and warm and delicious.

Our therapists then took each of us off to have our first massage. I had chosen a foot massage first which was 45 minutes of awesome. We then had a break for more drinks and some snacks and were then led to our second massage, a back and neck massage which left me limp like a noodle. Portia, my therapist stayed with me through both massages and was super attentive.

The staff are all friendly and helpful and the atmosphere is sublime.

I will definitely be going back, with Paul for a couples massage treat.

November 6, 2013

Books, books everywhere, which one will I read?

I have always been an avid reader. I remember getting a new book from the library when I was a kid and disappearing into my room to devour it, not coming out until I was done. I was a school librarian during my primary school years and had a library card up until I matriculated. I would spend all my pocket money on books and I have never been so happy as when {Kindles} became available. There have been months where I have spent every last spare cent I have in the Amazon book store!

Thank heavens my kids are heading in the same direction. Hardly a night goes by without books being read before bedtime. Aaron loves Wednesdays which are library day at school. Faith carries books around with her wherever she goes.

But how do you choose what book to get for your kids? With so many awesome books to choose from it can be pretty difficult.

So, the Dewey Big Book Guide for Kids is an absolute win!

Compiled by a panel of experienced booksellers, the Dewey Best Book Guide is packed with books to choose from, conveniently presented in age appropriate sections.

You will be able to find these guides in an {Exclusive Books} near you!

In the mean time there is an exclusive launch being held at {Munch} in Bryanston on Thursday 14th November and one lucky blog reader, and your children, will be attending with me, Aaron and Faith!

In order to be entered into the draw just tell me below, what your favourite book was when you where a child.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

November 4, 2013November 4, 2013

Its Panto time! #AladdinPanto

Yesterday afternoon saw me once again at the {Joburg Theatre}. This time for the opening of Janice Honeyman’s yearly pantomime.

Aladdin!

I had so much fun. There was booing and hissing and cheering and clapping. There was glitter and lights and balloons and dancing and singing and much silliness all around.

Jeremy Mansfield as the evil Abanazar was suitably evil and over the top.

Christopher Jaftha is Aladdin and let me just tell you, as well as a solid voice the man has moves! He had the female portion of the audience in a flutter.

My main man Bongi Mthombeni plays Wishee-Washee, Aladdin’s baby brother and in my opinion he stole the show with his cheekiness and his amazing voice!

The cast was amazing, the costumes fantastic, the music spot on and the lighting was just phenomenal.

Here are a few more photos taken by Mariola Biela