Our Engagement Shoot

I know so many people say, in terms of Wedding Photographers, you get what you pay for etc etc. And don't get friends to do your photos, but my best mate Tanya, has the most amazing person as her brother, Steffin - who takes wicked beautiful photos too, so I think we'll be blessed to have him shoot us. Rich has set up an engagement shoot with him for this weekend, so we can test each other out. It was meant to be as a surprise for me, but then I started stressing about a photographer, and that I had a whole bunch of names and that we need to look at their portfolios soon and make a decision, so he  had to do some damage control!! Check out his link, and I shall let you know how it goes!

Steffin Greyling Photography

For the Love of Cake...

So if there is anyone reading our musings, I'm sure you've realised I love baking. So much so that I do it professionally. Rich and I both work at a Superspar in Kloof, Durban, he is the store manager (I love saying that I'm sleeping with the boss... Well as a joke to friends really only as we do actually have a boss, who's the store owner, and is married with kids, so I don't go around saying that, but you know what I mean!) whilst I am a departmental manager, the bakery being one of the departments I run, however I started there beginning and building a gourmet bakery. It is my dream to have my own bakery one day (Annabelle's - Bakery & Cake Shop most likely) but it is a terribly expensive start-up business, so right now......

Here are some pics of things I do on a regular basis, I have 3 ladies who bake with me now, and we struggle to keep up with demand. Before working in a large retail store, I was more used to smaller scale bakeries, and the volumes one pushes out there are nowhere compared to a store like ours. I sell thousands of muffins each week. Am really proud and yes, secretive about my recipes as most of them I have made up myself, I think once I have a successful bakery in my name I will be more open to sharing recipes! So below, tower of cookies: double chocolate chunk and white chocolate & macadamia nut; friands (an Australian cake based on the French Financier - made with mostly ground almonds, very little flour, melted butter, egg whites & icing sugar) I do a white choc, coconut, peach & pineapple, an orange poppyseed & a blueberry lemon. They are so so good! The muffins (I do about 18 different flavours) below are banana, pecan & caramel; blueberry with white chocolate; spiced apple and spinach, onion & feta. Then there are my frangipane tartlets, one's with apple, the other with mixed berries. And Millionaires Shortbread. Hope they get your  mouth watering!

Spelling

As i thought, Anni not very happy about my spelling and grammer... it will be re typed no doubt

Love you babes!

Another weekend bites the dust

So, overall it has been a good (productive)  weekend.  We both worked on Sat morning but where home by 1pm, so not too bad. We had plans to just chill at home and go out in the evening for a bite and movie.  Our good mates Tanya and Leigh called us and invited us to there new home in windermere, and to meet the latest edition to their family, Molly ( the most gorgeous pug puppy!).  We had some wine and chattered for a couple of hours then left to the gateway for our evening of togetherness.  Had some really cool pizza at a place we had been to camps bay (cape Town) but i cant remember the name of it sorry ( sure anni will come and edit my spelling and grammer - so anni please put it in)

We watched the latest X-men movie, and can i just say what utter rubbish it was!  If you are like me and followed the X-Men in your earlier years, dont watch this rubbish!  I swear that directors and producers are loosing the plot with regards to movie making, or they are fresh out of school and just want to blow shit up!  The only good thing about the movie was Kevin Bacon's russian/polish accent (big up Kev)  Saw the trailer for the next Planet of the apes - The rise of the planet of the apes, although you might be going "not another" let me tell you the graphics were done by the Avatar guys and it clearly shows in the life like apes on display.

I think i should start up a blog for movie critting, but only negative comments as majority of big budget films these days are dissapointing.

Hope you all have a good week to follow and always remember "life is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you going to get, although these days they have pretty well designed boxes with pictures and explanations of every chocolate in the box - soon the lid of the chocolate will be an ipad and will have hd pics or 4d rendering of the chocolates you may want to endulge yourself in"  It is true that nothing in life is a surprise anymore, so google something and hit the i'm feeling lucky button!!

Go speak to a chimp, those little bastards will blow your mind!!

or a parrot i am told, they have the potential to learn and understand, not just mimic you (not sure on that spelling)

Out

R

Domestic un-bliss

My Mother Aah, to say. She's special. And, she's just moved in with us. It's a temporary situation, we very strongly need an extra boost in The Wedding Kitty, my mom wasn't happy living where she was. So....

Here we are, she's moved into one of our spare rooms, with all her belongings pretty much taking over our other spare room, and encroaching into various parts of our place. Now, I'm rather, let's say particular in how I like my home organised, set up etc etc. First day she'd been here, my kettle, toaster & cutlery stands had been MOVED AROUND!!! And that was just the beginning!

She couldn't even understand why I didn't want her old white and yellow checked dish towel in my kitchen. I tried to explain that if it's not in any shade of red, not pink, but red, then it's not allowed in. I think after that she began to understand my pseudo OCD complex. Coz I don't think it's actual OCD, I'm not that bad. But I'm sure everyone has colour schemes their adhere to in their various rooms, and in the structure of things placed around the home. Otherwise there'd be no order,  and who'd want that!!! And, no I am not getting mildly hysterical, although I know that multiple exclamation marks are an indication of such.

Anyway.

Today, she took 2 hours to do the dishes. TWO. HOURS. It's not even something my brain can comprehend, but alas, I work on my breathing techniques. Or does anyone have any other techniques in dealing with their moms?

So today Rich and I finally got around to watching The Hangover 2, with Storm, my sister. Tho whilst we were at the cinemas I saw the poster for Bridesmaids, and got me thinking about my bridesmaid's dresses. I always had the inclination to do same styles but different colours, to differentiate maid of honour from bridesmaid etc. But  now am thinking of doing all the same colour but different styles. My best friend Tanya is my maid of honour but then my sister Helga who's in London is a maid of honour bridesmaid hybrid. Then my sister Storm is also my bridesmaid. Think it will be best to work with each body type instead of getting one style to suit all 3.....??? I would love to do something wildly horrendous involving peach and meringue style creations just for Storm, coz she's been on my case for years and years that if she ever gets to be my bridesmaid I cannot put her in anything what I've just described. Of course I wouldn't, I'd want them all looking beautiful, but it is a HUGE temptation! Along with that she's been badgering us (Do badgers really "Badger" or do they just have a bad rep? Some other animals can be really annoying to the point that they start to badger but you don't hear people say "He's really been dogging us" Well maybe that's a really bad example... And with some slight sexual connotations. But you get my point) Where was I, oh yes, she's been pestering us on all things related to why we aren't married with lots of sprogs yet. This has been going on for the best part of 11 years, coming up with different and varied responses each time actually causes Rich some amusement. Coz he can have quite a dry dark sense of humour at times.

The pic is of me, my mom in the red, Sue (my stepmom) and Storm. At our engagement party.

Goal for this week, or should I say Wedding Goal for this week: To get a photographer, am stressing about that. April is huge wedding month and we need to get our asses into gear! That and to try deal with my mom better, coz I do love her lots, means so well and has good intentions. And yes, there is a proverbial but there!

My Cinnamon Buns...

... are just amazing. Herewith picture. I don't mean it in a full of myself or my capabilities way, but they are just so good. Better than my singing (very kind fiance I have!) at least! I meant to take a picture of the brunch table, but I think in the process of  needing to taste the fruits of my labour all my other thoughts flew out my head. In the risk of this sounding like a food blog, they were half plain plain cinnamon, half chocolate & pecan - with a cream cheese frosting. Mmmm! And in true Annabelle style, with just 4 people at said brunch, I made enough food for maybe 8 or even 10 people! Spiced Apple Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel Topping, Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes, Breakfast Skewers of Cocktail Sausages, Bacon & Mushrooms, Scrambled Eggs & a huge fruit platter. Sparkling wine with OJ & good coffee. Who would want to begin a sunday any other way. I just can't believe how quickly another weekend has come and gone.

The day after the bday

Had a cool evening with Tanya and Leigh, although i confess i drank to much red wine.  All in the name of celebrating my Anni's Bday.  Durbs still really cold at the moment, currently at about 8 degrees, would like to go up to the Berg 2m to see if it snowed as forecast but my Dad and step-mother Marlene are coming over for brunch.  Anni in the kitchen now preparing for the feast and listening to the iPod.  I dont think she realises that she is singing out loud, i should film it and put it on here for all to see.  Lets just say it wont get her on to idols!

Enjoy your weekend people

My Birthday

Right, so didn't make a cake... But had the bestest (my own!) blueberry with cinnamon streusel muffin for breakfast this morning. Pity, didn't take a pic. But am having enough red wine tonight to make up for lack of said cake. My best friend and her hubby are over (see pic below right) - got our local amazing thai food for takeout, so didn't have to cook. (BTW - it's Wai Thai on Old Main Road in Hillcrest... lucky people whom live in Hillcrest for this awesome Thai restaurant)

Was on my way on planning a super cool Middle Eastern night. Have a sun-lounge, so am wanting on doing blankets & big cushions on the floor, lots of heaters (by the way, Durban gets really really cold. Yep it's true. People in Joburg & Grahamstown may try and argue this, but Durban has it's own special kind of coldness. Really!!) & fairy lights along the tops of the windows. With Jamie's Mad Moroccan Lamb, some frijolemole (pls pls google mole frijole!!! I was advised not to when googling recipe for frijolemole, so of course had to!) And lots of booze, and a few hubblies. And my most special special chocolate cake for afters. But haven't been feeling too good this past week, and our very good friends James & Charms are going to Kruger for 10 days (Kruger National Park) so will do it when they're back. So right now my fiance and best friend are out conspiring about something that he's planning on for our wedding. Am the most inquisitive person in the world, so am holding myself back to not go and inconspicuously eavesdrop. Though right now I'm so cold even with a heater in front of me and wrapped in a blanket I'm not going anywhere! And the wine that I may have mentioned I'm having is warming me up nicely. Was a Wolftrap, no two of them and now is a Nederburg Cab Sauv. My hubby to be proved he does listen more then I thought... he gave me an amazing huge light greyish silvery handbag and a beautiful recipe journal. Tan and Leigh also gave me a lovely deep purple leather bag. So yum both of them. The bags I mean. Love the bags.

My beautiful sister, Helga, just phoned me from London. Was so good to talk to her. My dad passed away at the end of 2009, so I always get a bit nostalgic for birthdays past, where family was all together.

A Self-Confessed Cupcake Lover

I do love cupcakes... they make me nearly as happy as Muffins do! I just find something so delicately exquisite in a pretty pompous way about them. The first has to be a lot of women's absolute favourite combination - peanut butter & chocolate. My chocolate cupcakes are dark, moist and rich. With a peanut butter frosting, melted chocolate drizzled over and crushed toasted salted peanuts. Aghhh! The second lot are cupcakes I made for my sister's (Storm) boyfriend's (Lloyd) 23rd birthday. They're nearly as much in love with their Blackberrys (Or is it Blackberries...?) with each other, so hence the faces! I must say, not having a Blackberry myself, I do feel I am strongly excluded from some sort of special social 

club!

Eeek!!

So... after days of searching, have finally got my hands on a Come Dine With Me application form. I've wanted to go on this show since I first saw it when we lived in London, and it would DEFINITELY help our wedding kitty. (Hereforth known as Wedding Kitty) It's new to SA, however it is still in the pending status. Apparently they are waiting to see the amount and the calibre of entries. App form is a gazillion pages long, with annoying questions like "Describe your Personality"... and they've left 3 short lines??? I know everyone will tellme to just be myself. But, I mean, I don't know about anyone else, but my personality has so many opposing facets to it, not that I need a padded cell or anything, but I'm giving myself a decent depthed furrow between my eyes in deciding which angle I need approach this with. Are they looking for a Nigella-esque oh so not pretentious with inner feline skills or a wild lover of hedonistic pleasure with no brain to mouth filter with impressive get foot out mouth abilities................. I'm so going to have a sleepless night over this! Anni x

Pressure

Come on guys,

Anni needs to get into gear and post some recipies, start asking!

Another day gone

Another day just finished, had a long hard day at work as usual. Anni and i just had a lovely chicken salad for dinner (were'nt in the mood to cook properly). Sitting and watching discovery channel, awesome.

Helga, yes you, i am sure you will be able to post comments now.

Have a wonderful evening all.

Some more venue pics

A few more shots of the Windmills. These shots have be taken in winter and we have been told how beautiful and green the surroundings are in April.

The Sillo Girls

Are these not the cutest little girls you ever did see!

Anni's nieces Isabella and Sophia

The Engagement Ring

Here is the picture of Anni's ring - We looked for ages for a ring that suited her taste but could not find anything or the price was just ridiculous! We eventually designed our own and had it custom made. Unfortunately our jeweller has emigrated to Australia so will have to look elsewhere for the wedding bands.

IMDB

Cool site, if you into movies and stuff.

The Wedding Chicks

Hey guys,  Rich here.

Please check out this cool site, if you are getting married and need ideas or some inspiration this is the place to look.
Also this site contains some cool freebies on the invites, save the date etc.

Check it out!

The wedding chicks

Marriage Meander

For all those people in KZN looking to get married, we suggest you guys contact the marriage meander guys and get on a meander trip.  Really cool, even i enjoyed it!

The Marriage Meander

The venue

Please check out the venue, most beautiful place we have seen.  Fits us perfectly and cant wait to do it all up.

Thanks to the Windmills for all their help and generosity thus far.  It's been great

www.thewindmills.co.za

The new age...

Hello the world!!  This is the first post on our blog.  I feel that this is the way the world is going so here i am starting my rise to fame.  I am sure the world of bloggers will be extatic that a person of my intellect and charisma has joined this blogging forum.

This is actually a running feed of our upcoming wedding in April 2012.  Hopefully friends and family will enjoy this...

Wish us luck!