52 lists – nice walks

There’s lots of nice walks around Sydney & the Blue Mountains. Next year I want to do a lot more. My current favourites are:

– Bondi to Bronte for ocean views
– The Bay Run to Iron Cove for harbour views
– Spit bridge to Manly for a bit of everything. You can do both beach and the bush in 10km
– Around Govett’s Leap, up near Blackheath for spectacular mountain views!
– Around Lake Parramatta, the Nepean River or Lake Macquarie for glimmering water
– Campfire Creek to the Red Hands Cave, Glenbrook for some indigenous art.

What about you? What are some of your favourites? 

Bondi to Bronte, from Waverly Council website

52 lists – blogs I’m loving right now

I’ve been on a little blog reading hiatus. I rarely open Feedly these days. But there’s a few places I’ve been visiting a lot that I thought I’d share.

• 3191 miles apart which is the blog of two friend who live (yep, you guessed it) 3191 miles apart. If you love nicely styled blogs, this one’s a beauty!
• A country farmhouse which always makes me want to move to my own country farmhouse!
• The wild and wily ways of a brunette bombshell. I love Meg’s writing more than almost anyone’s.
• The Langs because I love their photography and they have two seriously cute kids!
• The workout room. This blogger hasn’t written anything in awhile but I’ve only just come across her blog and there’s a great back log of exercise related posts. Write again soon Mel!
• Selina’s blog. Because I love that she’s now writing little stories. This stands out in my usual sea of personal blogs.

Tell me your favourites too!

52 lists – things that remind me of being a kid

I hope to always see the world with childlike wonder. Some things that remind me of being an ACTUAL child and not just one in a grown up’s body are:

– Choose your own adventure novels, or pick-a-paths
– Cottees Cordial
– Scratch and sniff stickers ( I LOVED THESE!)
– Hot lips lip gloss
– Lock up diaries
– Roland Harvey calendars
-Srunchies
– Enid Blyton
– My sister

 

What reminds you of being a kid?

 

52 lists – candy cane recipes

It’s the time of the year where red and white striped treats are flooding your Pinterest and Instagram feeds. I’m personally not that enthused about eating a candy cane by itself. But worked into another dessert, things begin to get a little more exciting.

Here’s my pick of the stripey dessert bunch:

1) Dark chocolate espresso shortbread bites with peppermint buttercream from A farm girl’s dabbles

 

2) Chewy double chocolate peppermint cookies from The Minimalist Baker

3) Chocolate peppermint cupcakes from  Glorious Treats

4) Candy cane chocolate cookies from Call me Cupcake

5) Christmas tree brownies from Betty Crocker

6) Marshmallows dipped in choc and rolled in candy cane from Bon Appetit 

7) Candy cane marshmallow pops from Liv Life

8) Peppermint crunch truffles from Bakers Royale

 

And while it’s not a candy cane related treat, I also think that Gingerbread spice marshmallows from Joy the Baker would be amazing!

 

 

 

52 lists – apps I love

Are you an app person? I always like to try out different apps but I’m quick to delete if they don’t offer me anything I really need. My favs are:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• Etsy
• Trip view – a must if you commute using public transport in Sydney
• Trip adviser – a must if you’re travelling overseas
• Shazzam – the most clever of all the apps!
• Evernote – for Microsite Office on your iphone
• Spotify
• ABC iview
• SBS on demand

And for photos, I love:

• Lightpic
• BokehCamFX
• Pixlomatic
• Over
• Tweegram
• Afterlight
• Whitagram
• Instastich

How about you? What are you favs? Share with me!

Paleo chocolate crackles

Ian makes a delicious paleo version of a chocolate crackle. They are the perfect flavour combo, a mix of sweet and bitter with a nice crunchy texture. And just relax, there’s only a small number of calories in each one. 

I never remember to take good photos of them but here’s a pic I snapped quickly the last time. 

Ingredients: 

50 gms unsalted butter
2 tbs cacao 
1 tbs honey 
A cup of nuts. 

Method:
Melt the butter
On a low heat, add other ingredients. 
Stir till combined. 
Scoop into patty cake papers. 

Makes about 10. 

Eat! 

Nelson

Nelson Mandela passed away today and along with the rest of the world, I mourn him. As the daughter of two South Africans, I feel like he was a man that I have known about for my whole life. He is my Father’s hero. The first time I ever saw my Dad cry, was the day Nelson was released from Prison.

There’s nothing I can write about this man that hasn’t already been written today. But I have been thinking about the way Nelson described the loss of someone who meant a lot to him.

In Long Walk to Freedom, he explained how he felt when his best friend Oliver Tambo passed away. The way he described Oliver, actually seems like a very apt way to describe Nelson himself:

“In Plato’s allegory of the metals, the philosopher classifies them into groups of gold, silver and lead. Oliver (and Nelson) was pure gold. There was gold in his intellectual brilliance, gold in his warmth and humanity, gold in his tolerance and generosity, gold in his unfailing loyalty and self sacrifice. As much as I respected him as a leader, that is how much I loved him as a man”. 

Madiba, you were the greatest man in our life time. Thank you for changing the world. May you rest in peace.