Looking good..the Lost & Found way

ROARRRRRR

 

That's how receiving a pair of shoes or a new bag makes me feel! Tonight, I got a pretty package that my heart jump! :)

Oh happy days!!

Let's go back a bit so I can explain the excitement. There's this amazing woman who has an eye for treasures. Her name is Amy Rawhani. She is the owner of Lost & Found. An amazing concept that allows you to bid, yes bid like you're at an auction, for one of a kind timeless pieces – all from the comfort of your chair/bed/office. Whichever you prefer.

The process is as such. She buys clothes, shoes, belts and bags----> styles them----> pics of these styled items go onto FB and you have the pleasure of viewing them for about 2 weeks before the BIG day.

I must admit that I only really care about the final Auction Day – when bids close. That's the real exhilerating, heart pumping-blood flowing- white knuckle-chair clutching time because it's during this time, that you watch the minutes tick by on the screen, all the while bidding against someone else hoping to get your little hands on the item. You don't know until about 20:05 (bidding ends at 20:00) as to whether you were lucky enough to get your bids in just in time or not.

A few of the treasures that can be found at Lost & Found

It.gets.hectic. And is not for the faint hearted . BUT if you love the chase and love looking good with one of a kind items, then make sure you're online when the next bid takes place.

LOVE this belt

ANYWAY back to my excitement: For the last bid that happened, I was sitting in Paris (oh poor me I know haha) nowhere near a computer and worried that I would miss out on this bag. Luckily, my meeting finished early and I spent a couple of minutes running back and forth between drinks at the bar and my computer in my hotel room. As we neared 8pm though, I decided to stay in the room and continue bidding until 20:01.

I eventually outbid 2 other ladies and the bag was mine, allllll mine. My precious. Cue Lord of the rings guy who looks like an animal hehe

For this gorgeous bag, I only paid R150.00. Where else in JHB do you expect to get a timeless piece that NO ONE ELSE WILL HAVE for that amount?? At Lost & Found, that's where!

Just as exciting as unwrapping a xmas present

Hopefully I'll outbid you at the next event :)

My GORGEOUS one of a kind bag! *smile*

If you would like to view images from the last bid, or if you would like to read about how the entire process works, then click here and view the Facebook profile.

Coffee with your cake??

Or cake with your coffee?? Then again, why not jut mix the 2 up and have COFFEE CAKE? Licking your lips yet? ;) This is a great dessert option after Sunday Lunch. If you're like me and loveeeee coffee, you could have this cake Monday, Wednesday, Friday …you get the picture ;)

Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar (I used castor sugar)

¼ tsp salt

226 grams butter (I used unsalted)

3 Tbspns Instant coffee crystals

½ cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1tsp baking soda

2tsps vanilla

How to hook it up

Heat oven to 180 degrees and grease 2 sandwich pans. Alternatively you can also grease a 22cm baking pan.

*Mix sugar, flour and ¼ tsp salt in large bowl and set aside

*Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. While that's melting, mix the coffee granules with 1 cup boiling water and set aside.

*Once the butter has melted, add the coffee mixture to the same pot. Let it boil for about 20 seconds, then turn off the heat and set aside for a minute. Ensure that you don't burn the butter(The butter and coffee mix has an almost nutty/coffee/exotic smell while its boiling).

*In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and vanilla – mix until well combined

*Pour the coffee mixture into the flour mix and stir gently. The aim here is isn't to mix it perfectly, but to allow the coffee mix to cool down slightly. While mixing you'll notice that the colour of the mix will be a creamy caramel colour.

Add the egg mixture and stir gently until well combined.

Pour into greased baking pans. Bake for 25 minutes or until set. In my oven I bake this cake for about 45 minutes at 180 degrees celcius. At moms house, it bakes for 35 minutes so time depends on your oven, You will smell when its ready.

Allow to cool COMPLETELY!! I was in such a hurry to taste this cake that I only let it cool for about 10 minutes or so before attempting to remove it from the pan. That's not enough time as the cake is very moist and needs to be very cool before being removed from the cake pan. Trust me on this one.

The smell is sooo divine and you'll want to eat the cake straight from the pan (and lick the air!!:)), but exercise some control and wait until its cooled. It is WELL worth the wait.

I was in a rush to get to mums house for Sunday Lunch that I didn't have time to make icing for this cake, so instead we served it with custard (home made ;)) and/or fresh cream. I wasn't able to get any pics of the actual serving suggestion because by the time I looked, it was all finished (thumbs up).

Don't be afraid to have it with a cup of coffee. In my world, you can never have too much coffee!

Enjoy! :)

Colours of Autumn

I have to admit that Autumn is not my favourite season BUT I will take it...only because it's followed by my best season!

WINTER!!!
*I love the cold of winter..more reasons to snuggle up under the covers.
*Crackling Fireplace, Soft NEW blankets that are smooth and almost velvety *
*Comfort Food...bring on the oven baby! :) :)  and the slow cookers (I still need to get one of those)
* I can stay home on a friday night and not feel bad or old for staying in when others are hitting the streets. * The thing about summer is that youre almost compelled to be outdoors. Don't get me wrong., I love being out and about with peoplw, but I love the intimacy of winter more than anything else.

Come on, we can still have braais in winter!:)