Follow these links to the Index Blogs:
Blogs 1-50
Blogs 51-100
Blogs 101-150
Blogs 151-200
Blogs 201-250
Blogs 251-300
Blogs 301-350
Blogs 351-400
Blogs 451-500
Blogs 501-550
Blog 501 - A Summary with References of Blogs 451-500
"A number of people have mentioned that they find it difficult to find specific blogs among the growing list of published blogs. This gave me the idea of publishing a summary of previously published blogs, with links and photo references. This way you only need to save a handful of blogs which can easily be accessed to navigate to the blogs you are looking for. This is the tenth of these Index Blogs."
Blog 502 - School Holiday Project 31: Making A Fly-Catching Frog
"The two toddlers unexpectedly came to stay for the afternoon. This meant that I had to come up with something for them to do in a very short time. I always keep a couple of empty toilet rolls ready and a quick look at ideas on Pinterest, gave me this cute solution. We made fly-catching frogs!"
Blog 503 - Park Your Lawnmower In The Shed Birthday Card
"My 6 year old nephew is quite obsessed with lawnmowers. So much so that he has chosen this as the theme for his bedroom. It did not require brain surgery to figure out the theme for his birthday card then. You can adjust the theme of your own card easily enough, but let me show you how to create a shed to hide away the surprise on your own card."
Blog 504 - Making Green Curry Mince
"I love a good curry and have blogged about a number of curries before. Yet, I have not shared a recipe for a quick mince curry with you yet. I start this one in the morning before work, allow the meat to marinate during the day, and cook it for supper. Aside from the marinating time, it is a quick and easy dish to prepare that is ready in minutes."
Blog 505 - Sewing A Fringed Scarf
"Who has not discovered the magical power that a scarf has of transforming an ordinary outfit into a smart one? In today's blog I show you how to sew your own scarf from leftover fabric after a big project. I then add some fringe to it for the fun factor."
Blog 506 - Art Therapy 6: Confrontational Communication
"It is inevitable that we will have to confront people in this life. How we do it determines whether we damage our relationship with that person, or whether we create a platform for future open and honest communication. The topic of communication is too wide and diverse to hope to address all the issues in one short blog, but we will take a hard look at some common communication mishaps in today's blog when we invite the person we want to confront to sit down for a cup of coffee."
Blog 507 - Draw & Paint A Cafe Scene Step By Step
"After yesterday's Art Therapy Blog, my hands literally itched to paint a cafe scene. So, first thing this morning I got up and organized my ideas. I show you how to draw and paint your own cafe scene step by step along with me in today's blog. Have fun!"
Blog 508 - Baking Wholewheat Buchy With A Sourdough Starter
"This popular breakfast bread originates from the regions of Poland and Germany. It is slightly sweet and makes for a wonderful meal with an early morning cup of coffee. Traditionally it is baked with White Bread Flour only, by I add a cup of wholewheat flour for taste. This way I loose none of the tender softness of the bread, but I gain loads in flavour. As always, I bake it with my sourdough starter as raising agent, but I'll give tips for using alternative raising agents in the text."
Blog 509 - Embossing Kitchen Foil For A Birthday Card
"When making cards for men or, in this case an emerging man in his mid teens, it can be slightly tricky. I want to keep it funky enough to incorporate his youthfulness, yet mature enough so as not to seem demeaning. Glitter paper is acceptable, but I don't want it to dominate. That is why I decided to use kitchen foil to add the metallic sheen I was looking for."
Blog 510 - Sewing Pajamas Part 1 of 2 - The Pants
"Today I will show you how to sew yourself a comfy pair flannel pajamas.The pants are some of the easiest bottoms you'll ever sew and the top gets slightly more difficult as it requires more detail. We'll kick it off with the pants today and work our way through to the top. Don't fret. The step by step directions will make both items easy as pie to sew yourself."
Blog 511 - Sewing Pajamas Part 2 of 2 - The Top
"We started off sewing ourselves a pair of flannel pajamas in yesterday's blog. We covered the lay out of the pattern, cutting out the fabric and sewing the pants. In today's blog, we sew the shirt. We will be adding pockets, buttons and a collar. Step by step instructions will make these easy to master."
Blog 512 - Making Delicious Cheese & Corn Flapjacks
"I had been sewing all day and did not even look in the direction of the kitchen, when it suddenly dawned on me that it was time for dinner. It was a wild scramble deciding what to put on the table that could be achieved in a very short time. My mom suggested flapjacks and we brainstormed until we settled on cheese & corn flapjacks. I grabbed the camera to record what we did in case it worked out brilliantly and we wanted to do it again. It did! And we will! Fortunately that means I can now share this brand new family favourite with you as well."
Blog 513 - Starting Your Own Wellness Journal 1
"When visiting a friend recently, she gave me a very pretty notebook. I immediately knew that I would be using it for journaling and writing. As my friend was going through a tough time, having lost her husband to cancer a few weeks before, I naturally steered towards creating a wellness journal, realizing once again how important it was that we should all work hard at finding the right words to express our feelings in order to deal with our emotions. I decided to share the journey with you, hoping that someone will benefit from the ideas contained in it."
Blog 514 - Baking Kachakuri With Chakalaka Using A Sourdough Starter
"Kachakuri is a traditional Georgian bread parcel filled with cheese. However, down here in the South of Africa, we like our meals with a bit of zing and what better way to add it than to use good ole traditional Chakalaka? I show you how to give this ages old tradition an African twist in today's blog. As always, I use my Sourdough starter to give rise to the occasion."
Blog 515 - Making A Pop-Up Birthday Card For An Upside Down Girl
"I have an upside down niece. I am more likely to see her feet than her face. The reason for this is that she loves doing cartwheels. As a matter of fact, this is her favorite mode of transport and you will frequently see her cartwheeling the distance between our house and hers. This is why I decided to incorporate a figure doing cartwheels on her birthday card. However, as she is also my assistant baker, I decided to include a three layer pop-up cake inside the card."
Blog 516 - Baking A Sicilian Scroll With A Sourdough Starter
"The Sicilian Scroll is baked with 80% Semolina and only 20% White Bread Flour. Semolina is slow to digest and therefore you will feel full for longer. This is truly a natural Los GI bread! As Semolina is derived from Duram Wheat, you sacrifice nothing in taste. Use this same recipe in a traditional bread pan, and you will have a wonderfully tasty Low GI home-baked bread."
Blog 517 - Art Therapy 7: Relationships Following The Primary Command - Love God (Part 1/3)
"There are so many of who are struggling to maintain healthy relationships that we thought it a good idea to do a blog series on relationships. We take a Biblical perspective, using Jesus' teaching on what the greatest command is in Mark 12:30-31. In the first blog of the three part series, we look at the greatest command, namely loving God. This may not be the easiest thing to do and so we explore practical ways of working on having a personal relationship with God."
Blog 518 - Art Therapy 7: Relationships Following The Primary Command - Love Your Neighbour (Part 2/3)
"There are so many of who are struggling to maintain healthy relationships that we thought it a good idea to do a blog series on relationships. We take a Biblical perspective, using Jesus' teaching on what the greatest command is in Mark 12:30-31. In the second blog of the three part series, we look at the second command which Jesus put next to the primary one of loving God, namely loving our 'neighbours'. This is seldom easy and we explore alternative approaches to this very common problem."
Blog 519 - Art Therapy 7: Relationships Following The Primary Command - Love Yourself (Part 3/3)
"There are so many of who are struggling to maintain healthy relationships that we thought it a good idea to do a blog series on relationships. We take a Biblical perspective, using Jesus' teaching on what the greatest command is in Mark 12:30-31. In the last blog of the three part series, we look at the second command which Jesus put next to the primary one of loving God, namely loving ourselves. This part of the command is often overlooked and yet it is essential to the success of the other two. We take a hard look at this aspect of the command."
Blog 520 - Baking Mallorcan Ensaimadas With A Sourdough Starter
"Ensaimada is Spanish for cake made from sweet coiled pastry and it originates from Mallorca. I have shared a number of sweet bread recipes with you, but none is such a firm favourite with everyone as this is. It is a deliciously soft pastry that seems to melt in your mouth with a feint hint of caramel due to the use of sugar and butter. Irresistibly good!"
Blog 521 - An introduction to Dala Chalk Paint
"I recently received a surprise parcel of Dala Chalk Paint. This was waiting for me at home when I returned from a dream holiday with a friend. Sheer joy! I was excited about dipping into my paints again and there is nothing to fan that flame like brand new products! Upon opening the box I found a selection of 12 bottles of Dala Chalk Paint inside, along with a can of Dala Furniture Wax. Lovely! I have been wanting to put these to the test for a while and now I could exactly that. And you, my readers, get to come along for the ride. This is going to be fun! Chalk Paint, is a water-based paint that adheres to almost any surface and is frequently used for treating furniture. It derives its name form its chalky finish. It is not to be confused with Blackboard Paint (sometimes called Chalkboard Paint), which is for painting writing boards."
Blog 522 - Summary of Food Blogs 51-100
"I have had numerous requests from individuals for recipes that were published in the past. A couple of people have asked that I publish all of them in a book, and others have suggested a compilation blog, with links to the kitchen blogs only. I'll keep the book idea on ice for now, but here is the second installment of the summary blogs in the meantime. Links, photos, and introductory paragraphs all included. Enjoy!"
Blog 523 - Using Dala Chalk Paint To Paint A Picture Frame Using A Sponge
"For today's blog, I am going to take an untreated wooden frame and paint it with Dala Chalk Paint. What I love about this paint, is that you can use it on a variety of surfaces without having to bother with treating the surface first. I start with a base coat and then show you how to apply top coats, wiping away most of the paint with both dry and wet sponges."
Blog 524 - Baking A White Bread Using Your Sourdough Starter
"I have shared a previous recipe for baking white bread using your sourdough starter. However, I have developed a much simpler recipe for this common household bread and share this with you in today's blog. As always, I will give advice for the use of alternative raising agents as well."
Blog 525 - Wellness Journal 2: Considering The Broken Pieces Of Your Life
"I decided to work some more in my wellness journal today. Truth is that those blank pages at the reverse of the front cover was begging me to do something in all that space. To me space means potential. I had a conversation with someone recently about the broken pieces of their life and about how God did not see them as broken pieces. Once we have asked God's forgiveness, He moves in with His creative power and He heals, restores and erases those things that testify about human inabilities to cope with our own lives. I decided to do a journal entry on this concept."
Blog 526 - Deep-fried Viskuite in Hondeklipbaai
"If you find yourself in idyllic Hondeklipbaai in the Northern Cape of South Africa, you have to make sure that you wait at the docks for the fishermen to return with their catch of the day. You can buy a whole snoek for the price of two meals at a cheap restaurant! They will clean and salt it for you while you wait. If you are really clever, you will ask them to collect some viskuit (spawn) in a bag for you. Ask them nicely, and they will clean that for you as well. This was my introduction to viskuit and it was prepared by a friend, but let me share this Coastal delicatessen with you today."
Blog 527 - Baking a Western Cape Loaf With A Sourdough Starter
"Today's loaf is a lovely White Bread Loaf that is good on its own. However, I add a twist to the loaf when I add some leftover goodies from my trip to the Western Cape to the dough. We all have things like these around the house, though they may differ from the ones I used. I'll walk you through some options when we get to it in the recipe."
Blog 528 - Wellness Journal 3: Dreaming Godly Dreams For Your Life
"I doubt that there is a single person who has not known disappointment in life. We are fortunate if it does not take on overwhelming proportions in our lives. When it does, as we so often see demonstrated in the lives of others, it can have devastating results on marriages, families, and even lives lost. For today's journal entry I sat down and simply started writing and this poem emerged in no time at all. It probably has very little literary value, but I hope that it has the ability to add value to your life in coming to terms with those lost dreams you used to have when there was still hope. Perhaps, not unlike myself, you too can learn to find new dreams and hope in God."
Blog 529 - Baking Parker House Rolls With A Sourdough Starter
"Today's delicious buns has their origin in the famous Parker House Hotel of Boston. It is a rather ordinary white bread bun, but what makes it very intriguing is the fancy way in which it is folded over. We add a bit of a twist when I show you how to use your sourdough starter to give rise to these rolls."
Blog 530 - Using Dala Chalk Paint To Paint A Metal Egg Box
"My grandmother used to have this old metal egg box next to the stove and this was passed on to my mother. It is not the prettiest of items, but it has great sentimental value. When I told my mom about the Chalk Paint that Dala sent me, she immediately suggested I use it to pretty up the old egg box. Dala Chalk Paint is ideal for this kind of project, as it adheres beautifully to a variety of surfaces, without any need for sanding or primers. I show you what I did in easy steps so you can do the same with your own tired looking kitchen nick knacks."
Blog 531 - School Holiday Project 32: Making Sea Fairies
"We have a lot of fun with the kids today when I show you how to teach them to incorporate found items from their surroundings in their crafts. I collected some shells and sea sand on a recent trip to the coast and this is what we will be using, but you can achieve similar results with sand/soil you have at home and special fall leaves, as well. You may want to call yours forest fairies instead. Let me give you some tips on what to do."
Blog 532 - Wellness Journal 4: Making Time For Quiet Time
"We live such rushed lives that the time we have left over to spend with God is either completely exhausted, or there is so little of it left, that it begins to resemble somewhat more of a take-away dinner, than a three-course meal. For today's entry of my Wellness Journal, I address this issue while exploring choice of words and phrases when writing your journal entry in the form of poetry."
Blog 533 - Making Creamy Garlic Snails
"Snails may not be everyone's idea of a delicious meal, but those of us who enjoy it are usually sold out lovers of the dish. I share a friend's recipe for cooking creamy garlic snails in less time than you could imagine in today's blog. This is truly an incredibly delicious meal served with any of the freshly baked breads I have blogged about. My preference leans towards a plain White Bread Loaf."
Blog 534 - Baking a Quick Milk Bread Loaf Using A Sourdough Starter
"There are times when I have very little time to bake a loaf of bread and at those times it is necessary to know how to approach the art of bread baking in a way that allows for a much shorter time span. In today's blog I show you how to cheat time and still deliver brilliantly home-baked bread to your guests. I bake a Milk Bread Loaf in this blog and then adapt the same recipe in tomorrow's blog to bake a Wholewheat Loaf as well."
Blog 535 - Baking a Quick Wholewheat Loaf Using A Sourdough Starter
"In the previous blog I showed you how to 'cheat' at baking bread when you are pressed for time so you could deliver a delicious home-baked bread in half the time. I use the same recipe that I used to bake yesterday's Milk Bread Loaf, to bake today's Wholewheat Loaf, swapping out a couple of ingredients only."
Blog 536 - Wellness Journal 5: Remaining Present In Your Own Life
"If there is one thing we are all good at, it is imagining a future. There is nothing wrong with that, but when those dreams of a future stops us from living life in the present, it can become a problem. Today's entry into my Wellness Journal is all about choosing to live life in the here and now with what is real right now."
Blog 537 - School Holiday Project 33: Baking Fruit & Nut Scones
"While waiting for the glue and paint to dry in the previous project, the kids asked me of we could bake something. I figured this was a fun way of passing the time and agreed that we could bake some quick and easy scones. To make things a little more interesting, I decided to add some fruit and nuts and this turned out brilliantly. The whole batch disappeared within seconds of coming from the oven and I was lucky to be able to grab one to photograph before it too disappeared. You really have to try these!"
Blog 538 - School Holiday Project 34: Baking Lemon Meringue Pie
"In yesterday's blog I showed you how to do a very quick and easy baking project with the younger kids. In today's blog, we do something a little more tricky with the older and more experienced kids when we bake a delicious lemon meringue pie. The only reason this project is a little more challenging, is because it requires of the child to make a pastry, a filling as well as a meringue. The techniques, however, are as easy as ... well ... pie!"
Blog 539 - Cardmaking: Using Transparent Layers To Build A Card
"There are so many pretty transparent papers on the market these days, but it is not always easy to know how to use them in our crafts. In today's blog, I make use of a number of transparent layers to build a card, using their unique qualities to add even more nuances to the card, than I would be able to achieve with opaque papers."
Blog 540 - Discovering Derwent Natural Graphite Bars
"What if your favourite pencils could come in the form of a solid graphite bar? Ever thought about it? What new possibilities would open up to you! Derwent has thought about this and they brought out three splendid graphite bars in soft, medium and hard, in answer to this yearning. If you are not sure whether this is something you need to your stash of art products, then today's blog is for you. I put these bars to the test to see what they are capable of, and at the end, I do a quick sketch using only these three bars."
Blog 541 - Making Bottled Curry Beetroot
"I love vegetables and can not imagine cooking for anyone who is not as sold on the idea of fresh veggies as I am. However, sometimes this quest for making fresh veggies land me in hot water when I buy too much at the local vegetable market. This is what happened recently when I got beetroot at an incredibly good price! Has that ever happened to you as well? As beetroot does not have a very long shelf life there was nothing else for it, but to bottle the excess. I share my recipe for bottled curry beetroot with you in today's blog."
Blog 542 - Baking A Quick Light Rye Bread
"It is true that we don't always have time to bake a proper bread where we wait for the sourdough to develop, knock back the dough and start the waiting all over again. Life gets rushed and we need to find quicker ways of doing the things we like. This is why I have started sharing a couple of recipes with you for baking your own bread in a fraction of the time required for proper sourdough bread. In today's blog I share one of these quick recipes for baking a light rye loaf."
Blog 543 - Cardmaking: Making Effective Use Of Layers In A Card
"To make today's card, I am going to be using off-cuts from previous projects to try and reduce costs. I make a point of always keeping off-cut pieces and today I will show you how to build a beautiful card using only your discarded items laying around the craft room. This is so much fun, you may never make another kind of card ever again!"
Blog 544 - Baked Spinach & Feta Pie
"I had bought a huge bag of Spinach at the market and we all loved it, but after eating about half of what was prepared it was time to do something new with the leftovers. This was the perfect time to bake a Spinach & Feta Pie. I show you how easy this is to do in today's blog. Best is that this is extremely healthy as well!"
Blog 545 - Painting A Blackboard Turtle
"I have a birthday for a little boy coming up and this is always an ideal time to get into the mind of a young child. This boy loves drawing and has recently become enchanted by turtles. Well, I knew just the trick for combining these two loves into one project. I would use the turtle wooden cut-out I had in the studio, gather my Dala Blackboard Paint and turn this turtle into a lovely and fun blackboard for him to draw his own art on."
Blog 546 - Baking A Kumquat Marmalade Butter Cake
"This recipe happened as a result of having bought some kumquats that were too sour to eat. I played around with a number of ideas and decided to turn the fruit into a lovely marmalade. However, as everyone was begging me to bake them a cake, I decided to bake a plain butter cake and to use the marmalade as a topping for the cake. It turned out beautifully and this may very well be my new favourite marmalade. You can, of course, use the marmalade on toast as well!"
Blog 547 - Cardmaking: Combining Odd Patterns Into A Single Card
"Most of us have been raised to believe that you can not use two floral patterns together and that if you have one strong dominant pattern, that you should use plain colours with it. This is a good general rule of thumb, but it is possible to combine a multitude of patterns successfully if you keep certain design principles in mind. I show you how to do this in today's blog when I make a multi-patterned card."
Blog 548 - Baking A Moist Carrot Cake
"I have been craving a deliciously moist carrot cake for over a week. Normally I would wait for such a craving to pass, but when this one didn't I decided that there was nothing else to do, but to bake it. I have been wanting to experiment with my proven recipe for a while and today was going to give me the opportunity to do so. It was everything I hoped for, satisfied my craving, and was such a hit with the family that I decided to blog the recipe for your benefit as well. Fortunately I had gotten into the habit of taking photos of everything I make or bake, making it easy to blog about those things that turn out too good not to share!"
Blog 549 - Painting A Caddy Using Chalk Paint With A Wax Resist Technique
"This caddy ended up somewhere in the back of a closet where it was forgotten. When it was finally rediscovered, it was evident that it had become shabby and was badly in need of a few fresh paint layers. Dala's Chalk Paint is just the right product for this kind of project. This also gave me a brilliant opportunity to demonstrate the wax-resist technique to create a shabby-chick finish."
Blog 550 - Baking An Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake
"I am sure that if you have been following my blogs regularly, you will know that I am always open to new ideas and influences and I share these with you. However, every so often, I long for something from my childhood years and I recently got an urge to bake a typical old-fashioned chocolate cake. To do this, I went back to one of the very first recipes I ever baked and this is what I share with you in today's blog."
Melette Els (Clinical Social Work) can be contacted via the webpage www.m-e.co.za, or by email at info@m-e.co.za, or by phone at 082 776 1536.
Melette Els B.A. (SocSc) M. (Th)
BHF Pr Nr.: 089 000 00 28754 SACSSP Reg.Nr.: 10-17310
Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.Melette Els B.A. (SocSc) M. (Th)
BHF Pr Nr.: 089 000 00 28754 SACSSP Reg.Nr.: 10-17310
Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
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