Hot Buttered Rum

Serves 3

I first became intrigued with “Hot Buttered Rum” during an episode of Frasier where Martie makes a batch for the lot at a ski lodge. There’s no hard science to this recipe though. I’ve made a couple of variants and it all depends on how creamy or unhealthy you want it. Also, I’m a massive believer in units of measure such as “glug”, “scoop”, “pinch” and “shake”. Have fun with it till it suits your palate.

Twelve Plus One Tiger Christmas Tales: Part 2

Advent

Date: 31 November 2014 – 24 December 2014

Gift: Advent Calendar

Price: R70 – R170, depending on whether or not Lindt made the chocolate in your advent calendar

Food: HotButtered Rum and the chocolate from your advent calendar

Saint: Andrew the Apostle

Scripture: John 1 (you can get a free copy of the English Standard Version Bible on Kindle)

Activity: Preparation

A large part of the excitement of Christmas is the preparation time leading up to it.  Putting up and decorating of the tree, baking cookies and fruit cakes, singing carols and shopping for gifts in the festively decorated stores.  Retailers are particularly fond of promoting certain gifts as appropriate for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas.  All of this leads up to the wonderful day filled with strewn wrapping paper and stuffed stomachs… and then it’s all over.

Twelve Plus One Tiger Christmas Tales: Part 1

Advent and the Twelve Days of Christmas

Grinch Alert: This post and the ones to follow is all about Christmas. Proceed with caution!

Most humans love to fill their lives with traditions and stories - whether they’re passed on from ancestors, great grandparents, or new creations. Stories about how things came to be the way they are or about significant events and how we remember them. Consider any dinner party and you’ll find it stays alive through an exchange of stories – picking up an element from one and adding your own story containing said element. The conversation often lands up in a complete different place to where it started without someone having drastically altered the direction.

One particular story filled to the brim with traditions, and growing variants every time it comes around, is the story of how Christmas came to be. From the pagan solstice festivals, Yule logs and gifts, to the birth of Jesus, Midnight Mass and turkeys; Christmas has become a jolly old mix of religions and cultures, as well as the cause for much controversy, cheer and charity.

It’s the cheer and charity of it I'll be focusing on in Twelve Plus One Tiger Christmas Tales from now until the 5^th of January, also known as the Twelfth Day of Christmas.

*This blog has grown into a company with its own website: Tassels & Tigers Themed Writing and Interiors. Please visit my website (www.tasselsandtigers.com) to view my home decor work, get a quote and read my decor articles.*

You may be wondering what "Book Notes" are as opposed to "Book Reviews". Allow me to explain.

Because I know how much of yourself goes into writing a book; because I am yet to publish a book myself and because I haven't read nearly enough, I felt that I was not qualified to review and pull apart other authors' works.

So instead, I am writing short notes on what I found interesting in the books I read.

French Women Don’t Get Fat – Mireille Guiliano

Book: French Women Don't Get Fat

Author: Mireille Guiliano

Year: 2007

Kindle Price: $12,79

Pages: 304

Two matters left me just a tad embarrassed every time I told someone I was reading “French Women Don’t Get Fat”.

Harry Danced Divinely – Marian D. Schwartz

Book: Harry Danced Divinely
Author: Marian D. Schwartz
Year: 2014
Kindle Price: $3.99
Pages: 247

Book Club Pene

Serves 4

This recipe is really simple and the best part is that you can use your hands and healthy judgement as measuring tools. It’s a mix of what I had in my house and garden, and something I had in a restaurant.

I’ve Started a Book Club: Part Two

Harry Danced Divinely… and he ate and he drank wine

Not quite, but almost a month ago, I hosted a book club at my house in the hope that it would inspire a group of interesting ladies to read and also give them a real excuse to get to together for a fattening meal.

“I’ve started a book club”

Say that at any worthy social gathering and you’re sure to get at least one envious response, “Oh, I’ve always wanted to be part of a book club.”

The trouble usually is there aren’t enough interesting people who are interested.

The Thieving Crows

Cold bodies inside

Looking back, a few things should have alerted me to the fact that a single and frightening story was hatching in two different worlds simultaneously. Linked by a dweller in both. 

The very end of the month petrol stop

I zeroed the odometer. Apparently any good car has 40 k’s left in the reserve when the light goes on…. A proudly South African story of how Ubuntu beat payday to it.

Why was everyone complaining about the price of petrol?

Cloistered Reality

“Pliz press the bell inside de gate opposite 2 de shop,” Sister Winnie SMSs me.

Where Does Kudos Go?

I heard an interesting story the other day about where kudos comes from.  

“How would you spell ‘kudos’?” someone asked.  I was both on the spot and the defence.  It wasn’t a question – it was a challenge.  If I didn’t get this right she would forever doubt my credibility as a writer.