Addictively Craving

I have come to the conclusion that I have an addictive personality. Actually, I think I have come to this conclusion several times before, but I really only now truly feel ready to accept it.

I honesty find it so very difficult to refrain from indulging in all the things I love. My addiction definitely ranges between all things delectably delicious right through to non edible but still soul satisfying things.

I have been fighting against my insatiable craving for all things chocolate and have actually been doing very well!! 🙂 I have had some chocolate, but not every day, and not for breakfast ;).

This last week I have been craving anything containing some form of processed sugar cane and cocoa beans…. Sigh…. Chocolate mouse filled with microscopic bubbles of air making it smooth and foamy. I love the feeling of gliding my spoon through the firm yet unbelievably soft decadence, feeling my lips envelop the yummyness, tasting the deeply satisfying sensation of chocolate deliciousness. Yummm

I also crave caramel treat.. I did have some left over after filling a cake, but that little bit just made me want more! Lots more, gloriously golden sweet spoonfulls of pleasure.

Another thought consuming deliciousness that I desperately want is cinnabons. I had one for lunch the other day, but still want more gloriously soul satisfying deliciousness … Cinnamon combined with a soft doughyness, topped with melt-in-the-mouth cream cheese icing. BIG sigh!!

So reflecting on all my recent cravings I have come to the conclusion that I’m undoubtedly addicted… To anything that makes my mouth tingle with delight and awakens all the sensations within my taste buds that scream out with pleasure whenever they come into contact with anything delectable.

Sigh… So whilst my last block of chocolate melts away in my mouth, I feel satisfied with my acknowledgment of my addictions. After all, isn’t the first step to recovery admitting you are addicted? 😉

It’s beginning to smell a lot like chocolate :)

As discussed in my previous post, I received a gigantic basket full of delectable chocolate surprises from my friend Andra for my birthday. I had been looking forward to her gift for days and had absolutely no idea what it could possibly have been.

Andra told me that I can pack out what is inside, but only if I commit to unpacking everything inside. I obviously did not need a second invitation!! I was greeted with a “sprinkle” of kinder joy bite sized, individually wrapped bits, kinder joy schoko bons and some chocolate gold coins 🙂 I also found some Anna Lize choc chip swiss caramels(yet to be sampled). Speckled eggs, which are soft jelly eggs in chocolate with a crisp candy shell – besides having eggs made entirely of chocolate, these are wonderfully chewy and delicious! Cadbury dairy milk GIANT buttons…melt-in-your-mouth disks that leaves your mouth with a burst of chocolate loveliness. A Cadbury Fudge bar, also not yet devoured. A selection of deliciously dark Lindt chocolate bars that included a sea salt slab, chocolate chili slab, and intense caramel slab… Yummm, absolute heaven!. A Daim milk chocolate wit a crunchy almond centre, it was a little piece of heaven, crunchy and chocolatey leaving a rich buttery caramel after taste. Toblerone, always a winner :). Nutella hazelnut chocolate spread. Then some Ferrero Rocher balls, glorious!!!

Then a carefully selected group of items which caused a lot of laughter and jokes at the table…the selection included some Sugar Mommy kissing chocolate, to be put on your lips of course. Chocolate nipple spread that came with a silver spreading knife – instructions read: “warm knife before spreading, don’t over sharpen blade”. The thought of sharpening the blade would with no doubt have ever crossed my mind hahahaha. Chocolate body paint with a note on the tin: ” a note to weight watchers, body paint loaded with kilojoules but when consumed in accordance with directions is quite likely to have a slimming effect due to simultaneous physical activity” bwhahahaha, chocolate body pens, . It also included a box of “Teenie Peenies”… Very fun and well shaped 😉

It also had some chocolate cherry biscuits that I had for breakfast on Sunday morning, they were absolutely to die for!!! Oh so moreish leaving you with a taste of delectable dark chocolate and an after taste of cherry.
Chocolate Italian kisses were also in there, wonderful with coffee…you have to get the whole thing in your mouth in one go. It was a mix of very light and airy but deeply dark chocolate shortbread.

I can now also indulge in some mouth watering recipes from a recipe book all about chocolate. The basket also include a bottle of wine labeled “the chocolate block”, chocolate incense sticks, and last but not least some absolutely fabulous chocolate scented body wash, body scrub and body butter. The body scrub leaves you feeling renewed and the body butter is gloriously scented and melts into your skin, making it feel unbelievably soft and smooth…. I can seriously eat myself after applying it, and yes…I did give myself a lick, but other than the aroma of chocolate, it does not taste like chocolate 😉 lol!

What a fabulously thoughtful, creative and blissfully delicious gift!!! Besides the mountains of chocolate in my basket, I also received another enormous box filled with chocolate teddies, a huge chocolate bunny, smooth indulgent hand made chocolate squares with strawberry fill, butterscotch fill, and salted caramel fill. White chocolate squares with rich cappuccino filling and milk chocolate squares with a creamy chocolate mousse filling from my baby sister Irene. Another irresistibly smooth Lindor slab with smooth melting filling, a Milka chocolate bar , a ripple bar and of course, glorious minstrels from brother-in-law Brad. Thanks guys!! You all paved the way to my complete chocolate indulgence and no doubt weight gain regime 😉 xx

Wha laa – Maybe Not

Bored stiff as a plank this morning, I decided to look through an old cookery book that once belonged to my husband’s grandmother.

It is really old, with yellowed pages, a strange smell and absolutely NO pictures!!!

As many of you know I prefer fully illustrated, 5 step recipes that won’t leave me heaving with stress.

So paging through the smelly bundle, I came across the weirdest recipes. For all I know they may be quite popular amongst people who do a lot of cooking, like dormers, macaroni custard, skate and morue.

What on earth is Skate? And in the jam recipes they just say “strawberries, granulated sugar, water” … How much strawberries? Isn’t sugar always granulated?

They tell you to pop popcorn over the fire and use a lot of animals to cook with… Weird fish things like plaice (???), eels, rabbit, wild duck, guinea fowl and loads more. And they specify in certain recipes that the eggs must be NEW laid.

I don’t know about the whole “pluck the feathers business” – gag
Think I’ll stick to store bought and pretending that it never lived.

And trying some of these recipes … Maybe not too soon in the near future.

Mind you, I might be able to make black butter – I’m quite good at burning things 😉

Hubbard Who??

Tomorrow night my brother in law is coming over for dinner.  I have this recipe for a super delicious, ultra healthy salad that I had recently at one of my book club evenings.  With determination I set off to the local fruit and veg shop as I needed to buy some Hubbard squash for the salad.  Of course I went straight to the gem squash section, looking for the Hubbard squash…to absolutely no avail… so I approached the shop assistant and asked her if she could point me in the direction of the Hubbard squash, telling her I did look at the gems, but it wasn’t there. She proceeded to tell me I must go to the pumpkin isle, after which I asked if she could just please come show me which one of the pumpkins is the Hubbard squash.  She rolled her eyes (yes … only in South Africa would the shop assistant roll their eyes at a customer) and walked over to the pumpkins, handing me a very dark green, wart covered one.  I mean, how on earth was I supposed to know that hubbard squash doesn’t resemble gem squash in the faintest way, and that it is like normal pumpkin?  At least I know now, very educational morning indeed.  So all that I have to do is somehow get it into cubes, and cook it…not in water??? Weird, but that’s the recipe.  Oh and this recipe gets roasted pine nuts…and I must admit I had to Google how to roast nuts…and yes, I would never have guessed that you don’t use any oil… but oh well… I have all the knowledge and hopefully it will not be a total super saggy, half burnt warty hubbard squash dish, but a sensational salad.

Blue cheese Chicken Delight

Out of my very extensive list of about 5 things I can actually cook with some slither of success, my Blue Cheese Chicken Casserole – sounds so professional 🙂  – is one of the favourites amongst my guests.  It is so deliciously glorious and very non-perspiring, effortless to make, with minimal ingredients, which makes the whole cooking process just so much easier as well;

1 Packet of Chicken Drumsticks and Thighs (usually 4 of each)

1 Packet White Onion Soup

1 Packet Button Mushrooms chopped into chunky bits – But I find the more the merrier and you can put in any mushrooms or a mix of black and button or whatever

1 Block Blue Cheese – This too can be more depending on your taste

250ml Cream

Red, yellow, Green peppers chopped or sliced or however it comes out of the food processor

Toss the chicken in an oven dish together with all the other chopped up bits.  Mix the soup into the cream and throw over chicken. Crumble the blue cheese over the top, cover and put into the oven at 180 ° C until cooked – usually about an hour.  Oh and Open the lid for the last 20 or so minutes so that the sauce can reduce a bit, Serve with rice.

Wha laa, Instant, glorious, deliciously creamy satisfaction all in one dish!