What an eye-sore!

All has not been well in the Abrahams household. We have unfortunately had a bout of conjunctivits a.k.a pink-eye doing the rounds in our house. It started with Bilaal 2 weeks ago. It starts with a little discharge from the inner corner of the eye, then slowly progresses to itchy, dry red eyes that constantly feels like you have a hair or a tiny stone in your eye. But the worst is when you wake up, because the eyes cleans itself best when you sleep so you wake up all crusty-eyed. The good news is that it clears within about 4 to 5 days and you can get over the counter drops or ointment for it. It becomes a problem when you have to put the ointment in your 2 year old toddler's eye! Bilaal was totally cool, he's old enough to 'be brave', but madame Sumayah! Let me describe what I had to do to get the ointment in her eyes. I literally had to pin her down. At first I held her on my lap, but soon realised it was pretty much impossible to hold her hands down as well as her legs while simultaneously hold her head still enough to get a tiny amount of the stuff in the inner corner of her eye. But I became an expert and soon figured out the best method to pursue mission eye ointment 3 times a day nogal! I lay her on the bed sitting lightly across her chest with her arms tucked securely under my legs, this way I had both hands free to hold her head with one and expertly apply the ointment within seconds. Sounds like torture right? Well actually this method proved to be far less traumatic for her that when I was fighting with her for 5 minutes only to get ointment all over her forhead instead of where it was meant to go. Needless to say I am glad that ordeal is now behind us, only to be the next victim of the virus. With me it started in one eye first so the first day I was driving around winking at everyone. Then when it was full blown pink-eye in both eyes I just looked like I had been bawling my eyes out, quite embarrassing. Today my eyes are feeling much better although still very red. Only Yaasier managed to remain untouched so let's hope it remains that way!

Not a wordless wednesday

I realise that today is supposed to be picture day, but I have been neglecting my blog for a while now so I thought I'd make an exception. I have been very busy lately but mostly I just haven't had the creative energy to express my self verbally so blogging has taken a back seat. In the mean time the kids have grown so much in such a short time. Sumayah has had her 2nd birthday and we recently had to put in our application for Bilaal for Grade 1 next year! I just cannot believe how quickly this year is going!

Sumayah continues to be a whirlwind of energy and Bilaal's calm and charming nature just seems to provide the perfect balance. He said to us the other day, "when I asked Allah for a sister, I didn't think she would be like this!"

They are at that age now where they actually play well together so it gives us a chance to have a bit of a lie in on weekends. They will happily entertain each other in their rooms while we catch a few extra winks. Of course they have their moments where you hear crying or screaming as they fight like all siblings do, but we don't get up and intervene unless they come complaining that someone got hurt. I have learned a while ago that as a parent you sometimes you just have to chill and let them figure it out by themselves. And believe me after less than a minute we hear them laughing again. Another thing I am totally chilled about compared to when Bilaal was a toddler is the morning routine. On weekends I have no guilt letting them wait till 10.30 sometimes 11 for their brekkie, because guess what?... They survive! If they are busy having fun and haven't come to tell me they're hungry yet (and I assure you Sumayah Will come and tell me), why should I stress? I have far fonder memories of my sister and I playing in our pjs till late on a sunday morning and my dad having a good chill in bed, reading the sunday paper than remembering having breakfast before a certain time. So here's to happy childhood memories.

Wordless wednesday 53

Playing dress up early in the morning...

Foody friday: yummy coconut filled pancakes

Since it is Ramadaan I thought it only fitting that the recipe for todays foody friday is pancakes; traditional cape malay style coconut filled pancakes which we break fast with almost every single night of Ramadaan.

Ingredients:
11/4 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
1egg
1cup milk
1/2 cup water

For the coconut:
3 cups coconut
1 cup sugar
3 stick cinnamon or 1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup sugar
5 cardomon pods

Method:
Whisk egg in milk/water mixture, add flour, baking powder and salt and whisk till well blended and smooth. To fry, melt a little butter and mix with some oil and heat the pan to medium high. The butter/oil mixture should sizzle and when the pan is ready. Pour batter in and swirl to cover the base of the pan and fry on both sides till golden. I must stress that this recipe is pretty flop-proof ONLY if you use a non-stick pan. I have used old battered pans where the non-stick was all worn off from years of use before and have usually managed to adjust the batter (after the first few pancakes broke) so that it would flip nicely. So if don't want to go through all that DO use a non-stick pan! The amount of batter you pour in also just depends on how thick you like it, and then of course to get a nice smooth even pancake...its all in the wrist ;-). If you're brave you can even try flipping in in the air.
For the coconut add all ingredients to a pan and heat till the mixture boils, then simmer to form a slightly sticky, moist consistency.
Spread generous amounts of coconut onto each pancake and roll up. Enjoy!