I always host birthday parties at home. Child- friendly venues with wonderful food, AND service AND decor AND reasonable prices or value for money are really hard to come by and I refuse to pay hiring fees for a party venue only to have to do most of the work anyway. Birthdays are also special and child friendly establishments have lost their touch to the commercial rat race.

Unfortunately we have painters in our home and my dining room table is filled with a COOK craft theme and I really did not want to have a party at home this month. I spent 3 weeks searching for a venue and almost gave up until one morning my mother-in-law took me to breakfast at a little coffee shop called Cherry on top in Krugersdorp ( I mean who goes there-ok besides to the wonderful Anna Paulas) and I made a reservation immediately.

The coffee shop is in Kenmare, Krugersdorp a 20 minute drive from Eagle Canyon and is situated in a lush garden of a  beautiful colonial style home with little rooms and venues around every magical corner. In fact when we were there for breakfast a morning wedding took place with the ceremony under a large oak tree. Dog’s roam the garden, bird houses and hearts hang from every tree and the kids get lost in garden and insect adventures.

Don’t mail the venue they are slow to respond electronically, I was initially frustrated but eventually it dawned on me that the staff and owner do things the old fashioned way, on the phone, with a pen and on their word and they deliver. You do not have to follow up or double check. For the first time in my controlled life I did nothing for my party and I could not fault a thing.

Read on to see the beautiful venue and then go to http://www.cherry-on-top.co.za/ or phone Loukie on 082 820 6095 and book your birthday, baby shower, wedding or bridal tea.

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I made my favourite sponge cake for my baby’s  first birthday as her party is only next week. http://www.cookstudio.co.za/my-favourite-sponge-cake/

Much better than chocolate or vanilla…

For those who have purchased a file and know the password, these illustrated recipes are ready to download. All three salads are absolutely delicious and include an autumn salad with fresh figs and goats cheese, a roasted baby aubergine salad with pistachio dukkah and a butternut and sweet potato salad with a sweet curried dressing and toasted pine nuts

OK this is my new favourite hang out: TYPO.

I did go a wee bit mad in the shop, especially when I heard they do not even have shopping baskets but the  shop assistant said “calm down I’ll be your shopping basket” and followed me around the shop while I darted from one shelf to the next screeching.

These gorgeous lucky lanterns are R179 and come in all colours and patterns and take minutes to assemble.

The coolest vintage scissors since, um, real vintage scissors

I LOVE these lunch box notes the most because they are for my daughter Alex. Years ago I printed some Martha Stewart lunch box notes and slipped one into her zoo outing lunch and they became a tradition. Even though she has outgrown them, she always reminds me to “slip a special note in her lunch” whenever an outing crops up. Thankfully there are zillions of notes in this pack for R119 so she will get one every Friday or after a good test result or school achievement! What a sweet memory for a child to have and love.

These are my new kick boxing water bottles. Enough said.

PINK staples to punch my COOK notes. Tra-la-la-laaaa

Beautiful stamps (some self- inking and some rude and naughty) not to mention the beautiful packaging all the goodies come in

Beautiful pens, zillions of patterns, shapes and colours, the more you buy, the less you pay.

SIGH. I’ll be back….

These party treats are so simple to create and involve no baking.

Simply purchase the pompoms from the craft section at Wespack, the cupcake wrappers and matching flags from In Good Company and the Cutie Pies from Woolworths (I find the Sweetie Pies are often stale).

Heat up your glue gun, arm yourself with a toothpick, and just add a carnival or circus themed party!

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Join me for an evening of Birthday Bash & Book Club dining and discover how to “spice up” those special occasions where food needs to be high on impact yet short on preparation.
Make from scratch or cheat your way through simple dishes with exotic spices, seeds and nuts to add a sumptuous touch of Middle Eastern magic.

‘Addiction’ cocktail to get the party off with a buzz
Spicy tomato shots with a dash of cooling yoghurt
Avocado hummus with pistachio dukkah
Caramelised onion and creamy goats cheese dip
Tagine-style chicken with honey and saffron
Cheat’s couscous platters in a dash, with cumin crunch and other topping ideas
Make-ahead nutty carrot mini cakes iced with home- made caramel and adorned with shards of golden peanut brittle
Add to this a magnificent ‘ Animal Parade’ party themed table for boys or girls, filled with clever crafts, fabulous favours and washi tape and your reputation as ‘ the hostess with the mostest ‘ is complete.

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This dish is Valentine’s heaven. Retro, cheesy, easy and delicious. It takes minutes to prepare, in fact you could get everything done on the morning or night before and just pop into the oven 20 minutes before serving leaving ample time for canoodling.

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Looking at Facebook, it seems everyone is up to their eyeballs with labels, lunches and books  for the start of school tomorrow. Suddenly school lunches have become a chore. I know this as I too have a tactile defensive 9 year old who hardly eats (fortunately I have a 10 month old guzzling monster who I know will become my future food muse) .

But today I found my way to inspire her and we are off shopping to prepare (together) her first lunch box for the new year. This may not last but I know that I have made the effort and I have created another memory for her.

She remembers these little things. Like when she was 5 and  I printed silly lunch box labels from Martha Stewart and popped them on all her field trip lunches. Even though she has outgrown them she sometimes  asks for them to be “hidden” in her lunch box as a surprise.

Take a breath and read this.

Then slow down, make silly jam sandwiches and  make your memory.

TESSA KIROS APPLES FOR JAM, RECIPES FOR LIFE 

As a child I wanted fizzy orange and special sandwiches held together with mystery. I wanted tiny coloured cakes and other things that I’d read about that impressed me. these are the things I want my children to have now-now, as I watch them lying in the grass hugging only this moment, while my mind is spinning with the washing machine and wondering what school lunch should be tomorrow.

For a lot of the time I feel as if we are in a relay race, swapping batons just in the nick of time, trying to get it all going a little smoother. But children are just so now. I try to take lessons from them-they want it now, to eat what they want now, to have fun now.

I will not force them to like the smell of boiled cauliflower, but I will paint better pictures in their bowls, let them make their own sandwiches, have apple bread when they come home from school, ratty and ravenous, and tell stories while we eat, and love them all the same whether they like meat or not. I will try to compliment them on their differences and insight and hold them up to the light of other moons, and maybe hand sew their marble sacks if they will have them in florals-just like the dresses I wanted to sew for my dolls, while I made mud pies and dreamed of being part of the circus.

And now I carefully weave things into lunchboxes: I give them chocolate bread with butter, fish pie and bright coloured fruit salad, roast chicken and crumpets. I will give them the things I dreamed about on my walks with my brother and sister. It is what I can give them from the depth of me..because I want to give them my best. My BEST chocolate cake.

I want to wash their sheets so they smell of tumbling hills and blossoms, and roll out crisp beautiful pastries; boil up bright and floral strawberry jams.

Let me forget and giggle with them, and leave apples lying around the house, with just a couple of bites taken out, and fly with the winds of now as I collect the pearls that spill from their mouths.

Let me scatter some inspiration onto them and hope to see it in their drawings-hope their suns are smiling, and that I am always drawn next to them.

Let me sprinkle some more cinnamon sugar on their paths, and hold hands as we collect apples and bright berries and watch them all joining together in the pot for jam.