Sunday Summery Week 21

Hello Bloglanders

Today I'm here to share the recap of my Week 21.  I baked and I cooked!!! One of the things I'm trying to do this year is to try out more new recipes.  At LEAST once a week I page through magazines and cookbooks to find something new to try.

As I have a LOT of birthdays coming up, I decided to use my baking skills to create edible gifts. My sister's twin boys are turning 14 and as they both love coconut, I made tubs of Hertzoggies for each of them. Of course the third boy is getting one as well!!!!!!!

I even made customized tags with a rugby theme. I think this would be as much "gilyness" a 14-year-old would tolerate from his aunt.

I've put their names on the front of the "rugby shirts" and on the back it says "happy birthday".  I does look like real rugby jersey's doesn't it?

Here you can see it on the cookie tub:

My  mum is turning 77 on Sunday and even though she is getting a non edible gift, I did some cookies and rusks for her as well. Have a look at my cookie stash:

And I owed a friend of Wernich's a "thank-you-gift" and when I heard she wanted a water bottle for the office, I got hold of one immediately.

We have a glass factory in Stellenbosch and as I had to get some more solar lamps, I got the water bottle as well. It's beautiful, isn't it??

And the factory shop wrapped everything in white tissue paper, making it easier for me just to add a belly band, some twine and a handmade card. I used the inspiration from SimonSaysStamp's Wednesday Blog for this pressie.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

For the belly band, I used scrap copy paper from the office, black spray paint from Wynand's workshop
and a houndstooth stencil from my stash. I love how it turned out and it didn't cost me a thing!! Better even - I plan to use the same stencil on a layout SOON ................................ watch back and all will be revealed.

And the layout it's going on???? It's a free download from Amy Tangerine as part of her Design on Time series. Hop over and get one for yourself. Maybe we can compare notes .......... or rather - layouts!!

I'm off to get some work done. Next week I'm going on holiday and there is a LOT to be done before that. Thankfully, all my baking is done! Thanks for looking at my blog and please come back to play.

In a Jam

Good morning Bloglanders

 I had a wonderful long weekend.  Now I'm trying to finish off my Christmas prep and then I want to give my house a facelift.  It's long overdue but I couldn't decide what to do so I just left it BUT that is about to change ....................................... watch this space and all will be revealed.

In the meantime, with two big boys at home. It's food, laundry, food, laundry, food, laundry 24/7. To top it all, it's summer in Sunny SA so I got hold of some apricots - Wynand's favourite and I had to do my December routine - cook apricot jam! Her they are:

Once again I made my own labels and this time round I used my very own font - Hazel Nut, If you missed out, read about it here.

And here they are before I started giving away and using:

It does look like a lot but I do give away to family and friends. I also use a lot for my family's favourite cookie - Hertzoggies. 

That's it, another December project done and dusted!!  Thanks for looking at my Blog today and please come back to play as I have lots more to share right here.

Have a Terrific Tuesday!

Hazel

Cutting Cookies

Hallo Bloglanders

NO!!! Not with my new Silhouette!!  I hope you are well and today we will skip back to one of my previous posts. Remember this one? Here is the link is you want to check back.

They are my family's firm fave and I love to bake them at any occasion.  Don't they look festive to you?  I always use the same recipe but since girlfriend #1, the Princess is wheat intolerant, I adapted the recipe and it tastes even better. 

This is a very old South African recipe. It was named after General Hertzog who was the prime minister from 1924 to 1939. My original recipe came from Annette Human's "Huisgenoot Wenresepte 2" but please, .......... don't blame her, I did adapt mine!

Want to make them yourself?  Here is my adapted recipe.

For the Dough:

250 g of  Flour (I use a shop bought gluten free pre mix)

25 g of Castor Sugar

10 ml Baking powder

1 ml Salt

125 g of Butter / Margarine (room temperature)

3 Egg yolks (extra large eggs; keep the whites for the filling)

I blend everything together in my food processor.

Add 30 ml ice water and pulse until it starts to form a ball. 

Put the dough in a plastic bag and leave to rest for about an hour. 

Roll out the dough (about 3 mm).

Cut into 8cm circles and put into cupcake tins (the flatter ones)

Use the scraps, form into a ball and roll out again - it works fine for me.

Add half a teaspoon of apricot jam to each and then put in the freezer until the filling is done.

For the Topping:

6 Egg whites (use the 3 left from the dough)

500 g Sugar

320 g Desiccated Coconut

Beat the egg whites until stiff. (like meringue) 

Add the sugar gradually.

Add the Coconut and mix.

Just spread your topping (it's sort of like a coconut meringue) over your dough and jam. I use about a tablespoon per cookie as I love lots of it.

Make sure the jam doesn't peek out - push the topping to the dough with your finger otherwise the jam will cook out.

Now bake for 20-25 minutes at 180˚C (350˚F).

Leave to cool in the pans.

Take out and ENJOY!

With 3 family birthdays within half a month, I'm baking my 3rd batch today.

OH!!! Before I forget - I get 48 cookies from the recipe.

I'm off to the kitchen. Thanks for looking at my blog today - I'll probably take some more pictures and add them to my post.  If you would like to have a look, please check back.

Have a great day!

Hazel

Hertzoggies - that's cookies!

Hi there Bloglanders

I joined Wynand on a road trip over the weekend to Port Elizabeth. That's about 750 kilometres north from Stellenbosch along the East Coast. Lucky for us, it's a long weekend in Sunny SA so we only returned today. I took this picture with my iPhone to show you what a typical winter day in Sunny SA looks like.

I'm actually wearing a summer shirt today - 27 degrees Celsius!

And then I baked my fave cookies. Hertzoggies!  They are very traditional in SA - named after a former president  as they were his favorites as well. I'll translate my recipe some time and you can try it yourself. The pastry is light and flaky and the top is a meringue and coconut mix.  This is what the ones looked like that I gave away:

I used an old book page, folded it over the cellophane bag where I sewed it shut, added a die cut scalloped circle and heart and it was ready for delivery. The Princess is wheat intolerant so I adapted my recipe to bake a wheat free version for her.  I must admit, they are wonderful as the crust was made with a combo of potato, pea and rice flour - extra short. And this is what they looked like ready to be picked up.

Normally I would bake dozens of these over the Christmas holidays as they just look Christmassy to me BUT there is no rule that says they can't be baked in between. The whole family loves them and I love the idea that there are freshly baked cookies in my tins.

That's it.  I'm off to do some more prep for our upcoming holiday. Have a great day and thanks for visiting my blog. If you want the recipe urgently, let me know in the comments and I'll hurry up my translation. Otherwise, please check back because it will be coming soon.

Hazel