Cuter by the Day

Sumayah just gets cuter, more adorable by the day. She drives me nuts sometimes, but I love her to bits! And now we are approaching her 2nd birthday and while I can't believe how quickly the time has passed and how fast she is blossoming into the beautiful, animated full-of-life character that she is; at the same time it feels as though she has been part of our lives for much longer than 2 years. She's been singing Happy Birthday all week and when you ask her how old she's going to be she she's '4'! I find I'm actually looking forward to her party because I can't wait to see her excitement when we give her presents and she sees her cake and all her little friends. Especially because she is such an expressive little girl, yes it means she can be quite the drama queen, but its also what makes her special.

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Foody Friday: Quick and Easy Butter Chicken

Butter chicken is one of those delicious dishes that is so quick and easy to make, yet good enough to serve for a special occasion. It's a great emergency dish. I got this recipe from my mom when just before I got married and have used it many times. It is meant to be served with rice, roti or naan bread, but when I make it just for us at home, my kids love eating it with spaghetti! Talk about East meets West!

Ingredients:
Chicken breasts cut into cubes
1 onion chopped
1 teaspoon salt (1/2 if using salted butter)
1 teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon koljana (fine coriander)
1 teaspoon jeera (fine cumin)
1 or 2 teaspoons chilli powder (depending how hot you like it)
1 small tin or 1 sachet of tamatoe paste (I think tis is 4 tablespoons or 50g)
250 ml fresh cream (you can also substitute this with orley whip, I usually use half orley whip and half buttermilk, but cream is best)
Butter

Method:
Braise onion in a good amount of butter, I usually use about 3 or 4 tablespoons of butter, it just depends how creamy you want it. Salted butter is best, but since you are adding salt unsalted works too. When the onions are transparent, add the chicken cubes, garlic and ginger and all the spices and braise for about 5 minutes or till chicken is nicely coated. Add tomatoe paste and a little water and cook on medium heat till well blended (about 10 mins). Add half the cream and leave to simmer on low heat. And you're done! The other half of the cream you add just before serving when you heat up the food. Serve with rice, roti, or naan bread. For roti I usually just buy the plain parathas at Pick 'n Pay. It's in a yellow packet and you find it in the fridge aisle, usually by the Today's pastries. When serving guests it's nice to garnish with some freshly chopped coriander.
ENJOY!

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movie clip monday 13

The kids found a frog in the garden which they found very fascinating.

Foody Friday: Super Easy Mayonnaise Bread

If anybody had to browse through my phones camera album they'd think I was obsessed with food. Since I started the foody friday post I have been taking so many pictures of the recipes I want to share, but haven't always had time to post on a Friday.

The recipe I want to share today is Mayonnaise bread. I found this recipe in a magazine, it was a sort of an advert for Nola Mayonnaise. I tried it because it was so simple and have made it many times since then. It is especially useful when you forget to buy bread and if, like us you always have mayo and flour in the house.

The recipe makes a very small bread, so I usually triple or quadruple the recipe depending on the size you want to make. The recipe in this post is already tripled as this is suitable for your regular small loaf baking tin.

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 cups self raising flour
1.5 cups milk
Pinch of salt

Method:
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celcius
1. Sift flour
2. Add mayo, milk and salt
3. Pour into greased baking tin
Bake for 25-30 mins or until golden brown

And that's it! Quick, simple, and delicious B-)

'Mommy, are you in love?'

This was a question Bilaal asked me a few months back already and since then the topic has come up a few times. On this occasion, while driving home from school, the conversation went something like this:
B: Mommy, are you in love?

Me: Why do you ask? What do think it means to be in love?

B: No mommy, I asked you first.

Me: I know, but I just want to know what you think it means...

B: Mommy! First answer my question.

Me: ok, but then you must answer my question too okay?... Yes I am in love, I'm in love with your daddy... Now answer my question, what do you think it means to be in love?

B: It means when you think about a person all the time, and want to be with them all the time...

Me: Ok (in an impressed tone). So what made you ask me that?

Long pause, followed by giggly, shy body language and the finally,

B: it's a secret, I'm too shy to say...

Me: Don't be shy, just tell me...

B: (in a shy quiet voice) because I think I'm in love...

This time the silence is from me, half amused, half taken aback that this conversation was already happening at age 6!

Me: Oh ok... So who do you think you're in love with?

B: you know!

And I did know and to understand why I need to provide some background. In December last year my sister-in-law got married and Bilaal was pageboy. He took this role very seriously as did the 2 flower girls. He also spent some time with his second cousins and got along famously. If you know Bilaal or have been following this blog, you will know that he inherently is a real gentleman. This makes hime very popular with the girls, and his flower girls were no exception. So I had a suspicion it might be one of them.

Me: is it someone in Cape Town?

B: yes

Me: is it... Nafisa?

B: Yes... But actually... It's 2...

Me: 2?!

B: It's 2 that I'm in love with

Me: you mean Imaan also?

B: yes... Mommy can you love more than 1 person at the same time?

Me: well... First I think you need to know that there's a difference between being in-love and loving someone.

So I go into a whole explanation about the difference as best I can, using the example of how I love him and Sumayah and his grandparents, but that I am in-love with his dad. And then if I thought the conversation wasn't complex enough, he asks me 'so you can't marry more than 1 person at a time?'

Hmmm.. How to answer this question... Considering we are muslim where it is permissable (under very specific circumstances only) and given that our dear president has what 4 wives?

I decided to give him an honest answer, which ended up being a whole discussion about different beliefs and cultures and how the rules and laws that 'allows' us to do certain things like have more than one partner is affected by these.

In the end, I hope, he came away with the message that it is best to try to find that one special you want to have a life with and build a family with... Just like ours ;-)!

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Schools out

When children start school they are exposed to a whole new world. School is not only a place where academic learning takes place, it is also a place where a child is introduced to the wider world, free from 'parental guidance'. I have been reminded of this more and more as Bilaal gets older, especially now that he is at 'big' school. It is amazing how much he has matured this past 6 months since he's been in grade R. But the funny questions and insights keep on coming.

The other day Bilaal wagged his middle finger the way you would gesture someone to come toward you with your index finger, and asked me, ''mommy, why is this a rude sign? What does it mean?'' I was a bit stumped by the question because I didn't particularly want to tell him what it means. I ended up telling him that all he needed to know was that its a rude sign that he shouldn't use and theres no reason its rude, it just is!

Then the other day he told me that one of the boys in his class kissed a girl in his class on the cheek. I asked him why and he said that the girl told him to or she would tell on him to the teacher. Apparently another classmate saw and told everyone and thats how they all knew.

There are many other tidbits that evades my memory now, but hopefully I will get back to regular blogging so that I don't lose any more of those precious gems.

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