A recipe shared...

The other day I added a sparkly, dazzling, disco-like button to my blog...I'll wait while you look.  Seen it?  Okay - let's continue.
This button, when clicked, will take you to a blog called "No, Really, you can eat it" (yes, really) where Melanie shares recipes and all sorts of interesting stuff.

She offered to give me a recipe as thanks for sharing her shiny button.  I advised her that a salad recipe would be appreciated as it is so gosh darn hot in Durban at the moment.

Here is the recipe.  Enjoy!
http://noreallyyoucaneatit.blogspot.com/2012/01/i-dont-like-mondays_23.html

Gifts and Gratitude

I am a rather simple chick.  I have no illusions of grandeur and my wishes are verging on the dull and darn right boring.

• I wish the Alien would listen to me the first time I say something (Not a difficult request surely?)
• I wish my cats and dog would stop shedding hair everywhere (I am drowning in their hair, people.  HELP!)
• I wish alcohol didn’t give me a hangover (How can something so delightful be so punishing?  It’s cruel I tell you.)
• I wish TV adverts weren’t so bloody loud (They are at least 1000 decibels louder than the programme you just fell asleep to.)
• I wish women could stand together and force feminine hygiene companies to bring down the prices of sanitary towels/tampons (Come on, it’s a rip off.  I expect to see cotton wool prices after gold and oil prices on business news.  It is clearly a rare commodity)

When it comes to my birthday I am therefore totally cool with just a well-worded card or an e-mail or a phone call.  No mess, no fuss required.  I am over 40 remember.  As long as Chicken Man and the Alien remember to give me an extra hug and kiss (and exempt me from cooking dinner) I am a happy camper.

We have a no-gift policy in our family.  One of my brothers does not conform to this policy however and, together with his wife, always gets me the most apt and amazing gift.  I was nursing the last fumes in my perfume bottle and VOILA – they gave me perfume for Christmas. I was growing crow’s feet like ostrich feet around my eyes squinting against the Durban sun and VOILA – they gave me sunglasses. So it goes on...

This year they gave me something that I have wanted since the product first hit the market.  My obsession for reading has never been a secret.  So, when I opened their gift to me last night, I could not contain my tears of gratitude.  I have a Kindle! 

What more can I say?  A fantasy comes true. I’ll ignore the cat and dog hairs and pay full price for tampons as I lose myself in my love for the written word on my new toy.  Thank you Herman and Michaela.

My joy cannot really be captured by Kodak but thank you Vernon for sending me this pic.

The Alien is no longer Alienated

The Alien turned 15 in December.  Of course, all she wanted was a Blackberry.  Every other need and want paled in comparison to her desire to have BBM (Blackberry Messenger)

I stuck to my guns of not getting her one - with difficulty though.  The nagging, tantrums, depression and blackmail would have had the most hardened Marine SEAL crying like a baby!

Her joy when she received a Blackberry from her Uncle and Aunt was a sight to behold though.

The look of love as she clapped eyes on her BB for the first time almost brings tears to ones eyes??

Then there is the "look Mom - I have a Blackberry.  How cool am I?" stage.  Pouting is of course compulsory.

This is followed by the far away stare of an Alien plotting all the possibilities opened up to her thanks to finally becoming a part of the BBM generation.

The Blackberry has been surgically attached to the end of her hand since she received it.  

Quick question: Is there medication I should be giving her or counselling sessions available to ensure that she is emotionally prepared to get through the first day of school without it tomorrow?

Makes You Think, Doesn’t It?

The Alien’s plea for a Blackberry in order to make her life whole has not waned since I wrote about it here.  

She has quite a sense of humour that kid.  When all the children in her class were told to place their phones on the teacher’s desk prior to writing an exam – she placed her calculator on the desk.  She had written” Blackberry” on the calculator.  At least the teacher appreciated her humour and informed the Alien after the exam that she did not have any missed calls or BBM’s.

The Alien still does not have a Facebook account so, when I read this little piece she had written, I took a look at myself.  Was she suggesting something?  Am I a neglectful wife and mother?  “Nah, this seems to be how everyone is these days.” She said.  Phew.  Still – it makes you think, doesn’t it?

Modern Times – guest blog by the Alien

I wonder why your faces don’t change colour from staring at the light coming from your screen all day.

Your daily dose of exercise is poking people?

You are following him, she is following you.  Who is actually the leader in this whole following pack?

Your laptop is an upgrade of your husband/wife.  It goes wherever you go.  You tell it all your feelings and it responds with about 100 comments.

And if your computer shuts down – your life shuts down.  Oh no! Now you have to talk face-to-face!

I’ll give you some pointers about real life.

•   You don’t poke people when you want their attention nor do you put up your thumb and say “like” when they say something interesting. 
• When you get bored of the conversation, you can’t shut down.
• You don’t actually follow people wherever they go because that doesn’t lead to friendship – only restraining orders.
• Your computer is NOT your life.            

Alrighty then, best I listen to my daughter and sign off, pack my laptop away and GET A LIFE.

...With Natural Ingredients.

I wrote a post a while ago about how we have to believe a lot of the mumbo jumbo that advertisers claim about their products. (Read here)

Cosmetic companies also make a lot of claims about natural this and organic that.  I, well actually Roxy the Foxy, have proven that one company is not lying.

The Alien won a Palmer’s hamper filled with all their cocoa butter and olive butter products.  Cool.  They all smelt very nice and Alien and I looked forward to trying them out.

An Amoeba on steroids?

Yesterday I found this strange thing lying on the floor.  Is it a potatoe, I thought.  I gave it a hesitant kick.  Nope – too light to be a potatoe.  Maybe a sponge?  We don’t have sponges in the house so unless that Squarepants dude paid us a fatal visit – not possible.  Mmmmm.  Having established that it was not alive and dangerous, I picked it up.  I smelt it (as one does to unknown objects.)

It was a bar of soap that Roxy had been chewing on!  What?  The dog may not be a genius but she is not THAT stupid.  Yes, her breath does smell at times but we surely haven’t given her that much of a complex about it?  Anyway – why not chew on a tube of toothpaste then?

Out of curiosity, I had to prove that this soap’s cocoa butter ingredient was what Roxy was after and it wasn’t just a moment of full moon madness for her.

I put the bar of soap back, right next to the Dove soap, and Voila! Proof that you can believe what some products claim about natural (and edible) ingredients.  Best I hide the shampoo with lemon extract.

"Ooh yummy.  My snack is back"

"I'll take that now, thank you, before you remove it again"

"Now for a bit of Cocoa Butter indulgence.  Move aside, Mom"