Liver & Oats organic dog treats

Baking is more fun if you can lick the spoon and I can guarantee you that, in this case, it is true….I have made doggie treats that will send your fur kids into pure bliss! 

Why organic?  

When Piglet (our Boston Terrier) fell ill at the age of 10 months we tried everything in our power to get him well. Plagued with vet visits and skin rashes we simply could not figure out what was causing him to be ill. We decided to do some intensive homework on the root causes of the symptoms we were witnessing and boy, was it a revelation.
The answers (and causes) turned out to be very much centered around what we were feeding him. 
My Partner and I tend to be so precious over what we put into our own bodies - Yet I’ll admit, when it came to Piglet, kibbles seemed ok. 

Of course, they were the “top of the range” kibbles – grain free, “real meat” et all and we tried them all, but ultimately, when we started down the rabbit hole that is Google – we were forever changed.
Once the journey of awareness began, and we were no longer ignorant to the giant con of the dog food industry we could never go back.

Here is an interesting read for those of you who want to educate yourself about what you are feeding your babies.  

The summary of our GOOGLE discoveries? Kibbles were the equivalent of feeding Piglet MacDonald’s everyday. How could we expect his immune system to fight off disease with that diet? Giving him medicine was fighting the symptoms and not the cause. Right there and then we then decided to move him over to organic, natural, real, food. (I must admit, I am more than slightly embarrassed that I relied on preconceived ideas and inherited opinions about pet care)

What do I mean by real food? Simple – REAL FOOD.  We moved over to a local brand that cooks organic real food and delivers to our door. All for the same price as the better quality kibbles on the market – so price should not be a factor! 
It contains veggies, herbs and real meat. We add our own extras such as grated apples. Yoghurt, broccoli or carrots and top it off with cold pressed omega 3 fish oils, spirulina and joint supplements. 
It sounds like a feast fit for a prince and it is. Prince Piglet. 

So, in the spirit of knowing exactly what your pet is consuming and ensuring they get exactly what their little (or big) bodies need; I recently decided to make doggie treats here at home. 
I know what goes into them and Pig simply loves them! 
The best part of this? He gets to lick the spoon with his friends Betty (the chocolate lab) and Basil (the labra-doodle)

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Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups oat flour
• 1 ½ cups brown rice flour
• 230 grams organic free-range chicken liver
• 1 cup oat bran
• 1 ½ cups oat bran
• 1 egg
• ½ cup water

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Instructions:

Preheat you oven to 180 degrees Celsius 

Puree your liver in a food processor. Clean out your processor immediately afterwards as the liver has a tendency to stick and can be a real pain to clean up later! 

In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients and mix thoroughly until dough forms. I used my hands and just got in there, as it is much quicker! 

If you do not have a silicon dog treat tray, roll the dough into 2cm diameter balls. Place on a cookie tray that has been covered with foil, as this will make it easier to clean up later. If you do have doggie treat silicon moulds then fill the moulds with your dough. 

Bake for 25 minutes and then turn your oven off and leave the treats on the pan/moulds in the oven overnight. This allows the biscuits to dry out and become crunchy! 

Store them in an airtight container and don’t forget the “sit”

Getting festive in Stellenbosch

Sometimes I find it slightly scary meeting new people. I am one of those people who wear their heart on their sleeve.  This is a good thing in many ways but it can also result in unwanted vulnerability.

I read this quote the other day, “If you are scared, it is because you are about to do something really brave!”

I was invited by a group of really fantastic visual storytellers recently to a tour of Stellenbosch. Young bloggers and influencers that are making waves as they go. As you can imagine meeting everyone and not knowing them from a bar of soap was rather daunting. Daunting until they shared their various handles with me. Isn’t it strange that living in a world of social media sometimes results in people knowing me more as The Truffle Journal than Melissa Delport?

Well I can’t exactly criticize because I am one of those people that will recognize you quicker by your Instagram handle than your real name. Once I had matched the "virtual persona" to all the real live persons I quickly settled in for an adventure that involved a group of really dynamic and fun people.

The hashtag for the day was #festivestellenbosch, which quickly started trending on twitter just by the influence of everyone combined. This is my photo journal. A little look-see into what Stellenbosch has to offer.

A walking tour through Kayamandi that in my opinion, every South African should do hosted by Bites and Sites.  It ended up being the best excursion of the day. Why? Simply because it forced me to look across cultural boundaries and to see that in truth as a young South African I had never actually been into a township. Yes to be honest it was out of fear. Now I see it was the fear of the unknown. To see how my fellow South Africans live was not only humbling but also enlightening.

The smiles and warm energy that we were received with was something I will never forget. To see another human being live in destitution but still smile, laugh and face each day with bravery made me feel foolish for the amount of times I complain in a day. So you will have to excuse the amount of photographs but I couldn't help but capture this experience!

Walking into a little nursery school with broken windows and worn off paint I couldn’t help but have flash backs about the privileged education I received and how different it was. I could not begin to compare.

My heart almost burst when I entered the nursery. Happy little faces greeted me with smiles and cheer. They called us Teacher, as it is a standard for anyone who visits them. They sang us songs and performed dances for us. All the while the walls covered with posters about sexual abuse and how it isn’t their fault, teaching these tiny little humans to speak up and communicate to the adults teaching them. Again it made me think of my fairy tale up bringing.

With prominent events like our #feesmustfall in headlines recently it makes me think how we as a nation need to stand together. Yes, tertiary education should be affordable to all South Africans but in my opinion every single child of our nation should have access to the fundamentals; the ABC’s.

We stopped by an elderly gentleman called Jimmy who does pottery from his shack. He was illiterate and yet had forged his own path in life the best way he could – to be honest I don’t know if I would have survived as well as he has. He worked at a pottery studio sweeping floors and one day asked his boss to teach him. He now has several spinning wheels and offers classes for those who are interested in the craft as well as selling his beautiful little bowls, plates etc. His laughter and his eager attitude left me wondering how different his world would be if education were an option for him.  I thought about how something as simple as a Facebook page and a great location would swing his life around or at least create the possibility of change.

Of course after this amount of walking I was starving – not that it was far! I am just always game for lunch.

We were whisked off to Tokara wine estate to juxtapose our township adventure. The Deli is one of my favourites. With plenty of great products on offer their Olive Oil made on site is one of my favourites. We all sat down and had a chance to finally chat and get to know one another more as fellow online Bloggers. Of course I decided to take it easy and get their burger for lunch. A giant patty of goodness served with the perfect potato fry. An ideal lunch to wash down with some of the finest wine Stellenbosch has to offer!

With our bellies full we set off to take a guided tour through Stellenbosch. It is amazing how something can be right in your back yard and yet you can have such little knowledge of it. Walking through the town and learning of its history and landmarks was just fantastic. I must admit I had house envy for some of the historical landmarks. They are simply magnificent and I wouldn’t mind moving in!

I’m no authority and it's no rule - here it is, a list of the places I went to and loved.

Stellenbosch Dorp Museum
Tokara Deli
Bites & Sites cultural food tour
Schoon De Companje
De Warenmarket
Spier wine farm & Eigh

-Melissa

Vegan Dark Chocolate Bites

I think in life you get certain people that you will encounter that just click with you. People you spend time with and that you feel you have know for a lifetime even if it has only been a day. One such person is Talya Goldberg from Shades of Gold. A fellow blogger whom I met over twitter and our encounter with me winning a Nifty250 voucher (You need to check them out here) I decided I wanted to meet the face behind the Vegan beauty and lifestyle blogger so I tweeted her that we needed coffee.

I must admit I wasn’t expecting the easy company that is Talya nor the fact that we both take coffee rather seriously. I once ordered decaf and I will never live it down! We ended up laughing and chatting away as if we had visited before and truth be told, I am a fan. She is a mover and a shaker. A young entrepreneur and co owner of Nifty250 and Talya tops it off with being vegan. All the while doing it in Prada sunglasses. I decided I wanted to do a simple vegan recipe that was both delicious and fun to make. This is the result of our collaboration!

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serves 6

Ingredients:

2 cups desiccated coconut

4 tablespoons maple syrup

5 tablespoons coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

juice and pulp of 3 granadillas

2 tablespoons of chopped mint leaves

200 grams Lindt 85% dark chocolate (or any dark vegan friendly chocolate)

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Instructions:

Line a baking tray with grease paper.

Pulse the coconut in a blender or food processor until the texture becomes like thick flour.

Add this to a bowl and mix in the maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla. Mix until a thick paste forms.

Half the mixture and add the mint leave to one half and the granadilla pulp to another.

Using your hands, squeeze the mixture into about 18 small balls. The mixture should be sticky enough to roll into balls but if not squeeze between your palms and then shape them from there into rounder balls. Place the coconut balls in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or until firm. If you can see a small white ring of coconut oil at the base then you know they are ready!

Melt the chocolate in a bowl placed over some hot water. Do not let the water touch the chocolate as it can seize. I find it best to put the chocolate in the bowl and let it sit over the heat for at least 5 minutes before stirring.

Next is the fun part! You will probably get best results using two forks. Drop the coconut bites into the chocolate and roll them around using forks. Once completely covered in chocolate lift the balls out with the fork allowing excess chocolate to drip off. Place them on the grease paper and allow them to set. If the chocolate cools too quickly just pop it over the steam again.

Once all your balls have set they are ready to be enjoyed!

-Melissa

Granny's chocolate cake

Did you ever bake when you were a little girl? When I was young I used to hover around my mother in the kitchen. Watching her as she cooked or baked and listening to the information she would share with me. It was no different when I visited my grandmother's. She was always so patient with me and started teaching me how to bake from my earliest memories. It is something I am so grateful for. Coming from a long line of family cooks is a special tradition I hope to always keep alive.

I remember starting out with pre mixed box cake where you just add the wet ingredients. Now, if anyone knows me this is something I frown upon, however for a seven year old me it was the perfect way to learn how to bake. By the time I was eight I had progressed to the level of sifting my own dry ingredients and starting to frost two tiered cakes. Under my mothers ever-watchful eye I took on harder recipes and challenged myself constantly.

This chocolate cake is the cake that I practiced on at my mother’s knee and you will love it because it is fail proof. It’s been in my family for five generations. This cake laid the foundation for the baker that I am today. I have so many special memories of making this cake time and time again. It is the cake that you save for that special someone’s birthday or that you bake with a friend.

And most importantly, it is about memories and making them!

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Ingredients:

Cake

1 cup cocoa

2 cups boiling water

2 ¾ cups sifted flour

2 teaspoon bicarb

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup soft butter

4 eggs

2 ½ cups castor sugar

Buttercream

1 cup butter

2 cups icing sugar, sifted

¾ cup cocoa

2 eggs

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze

2 tablespoon cocoa

250ml fresh cream

125ml icing sugar, sifted

200 grams Lindt 70% dark chocolate

Chocolate shards

300 grams dark Lindt chocolate 70%

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius

Grease two 26cm tins or three 20cm tins

Line a small baking tin with wax paper (roughly 20cmx30cm)

Mix 1 cup cocoa with your boiling water and allow to cool to ice cold

For the chocolate shards:

Place a small pot filled with water on a medium to high heat.

Put a glass bowl on top of the pot.

Make sure the glass bowl is dry and that no water gets in as it can seize the chocolate. Bring the water to simmer and turn off heat.

Break in 2/3 of the chocolate into the glass bowl and let it sit for about 5 minutes or until 2/3’s of the chocolate has melted. 

Once you reach this stage you can stir the chocolate until it has all melted.
Now you are going to let the chocolate re solidify. DO NOT get any water into your bowl!

To test if your chocolate is tempering without a thermometer lift a spatula up to your lower lip and dab a little bit under your lip. This area is very sensitive to heat. If it stings a little it’s correct! It should not sting too much.
Remove the bowl off the water and dry the bottom.

Add the remaining chocolate to the melted chocolate and fold in gently until it is all melted. 

The chocolate will begin to thicken and cool. This is part of the process and you will have to be patient. It can take up to a half and hour.

Touch the chocolate to the bottom of your lip again. It should be just cooler than your body temperature.

Your chocolate is now tempered which means it will have a great snap and dry glossy.

Pour your chocolate into your prepared baking tin lined with wax paper and set aside to solidify completely.

For the cake:

Beat butter and sugar until creamy.
Add eggs, one at a time mixing well after each one.

Add vanilla

Sift the flour, bicarb and baking powder into a separate large bowl

Add your dry ingredients alternatively to your cocoa mixture. Mixing well after each addition.

Pour an even amount of cake batter into your tins.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean

Once baked allow to cool on a cooling rack.

For the buttercream:

Beat together butter, icing sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa until a light and fluffy consistency is reached.

For the glaze:

Temper your 200 grams dark Lindt chocolate. Keep it over the simmering water and add the icing sugar, mixing until it is fully combined. Add the cocoa powder again mixing well after each addition.

Warm the cream up in a small saucepan. Once warm add it to the chocolate. The chocolate shouldn’t seize because both chocolate and cream are warm. However if it hardens do not panic, just keep mixing. Remove from heat and keep mixing. The chocolate glaze will come together and become a thick running consistency.

Remove your chocolate sheet from the wax paper and cut into even strips. You should have enough if you cut them about 5cm thick length ways. 

Ice your cake using the buttercream and an icing or butter knife.

Pour the glaze slowly over the top of your frosted cake. 

When the glaze has set decorate your cake with the chocolate shards!

-Melissa

Blood Spatter Cookies

When I was younger we never really celebrated Halloween. I lived on a smallholding outside of town and trick-or-treating was simply not an option.

As I have gotten older however I have embraced the celebration. Why not? After all it involves candy and a lot of it.

My favourite thing about the holiday is imagination. I love how children truly believe they are fully transformed into a character when in costume. The commitment is priceless. You could stick two socks on either hand, draw on some whiskers and tell them they are kittens with mittens and they would whole heartedly sell the story to any passer by. It is something wonderful.

This recipe will use all imagination and when it comes to the children, I know they will be blown away! If you don’t change after baking then you could go as a ghost as this recipe uses a lot of flour and if you are anything like myself, flour gets everywhere when I bake.

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serves 8

Ingredients:

• 375 grams of butter
• 1 cup of white sugar
• 1-teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 ½ cups of cake flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 60 grams of whole raw pecan nuts
• Three tablespoons of castor sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup of icing sugar divided into two half cups (one for each colour)
• Red gel food colouring

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Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius

Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment add your butter and sugar and beat until just combined. Add your vanilla and beat again.

In a separate bowl sift your flour and add your salt.

Add your dry ingredients to your butter and mix on a low speed until the dough starts to come together. It should be a pale yellow colour.

Dust a surface with flour and dump the dough onto the flour. Fold into a ball and wrap in cling wrap. Pop the dough into the fridge and let the butter cool for about half an hour before rolling it out.

Once cooled remove the dough and put it onto flour dusted surface. Using a rolling pin roll the dough out into a rectangle. You want the biscuits to be about a 1cm thick. I have cut mine into soldiers but you can use any cookie cutter shape you would like.

Put the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet or tin (the butter in the recipe will make sure they do not stick)

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the edges start to brown.
Allow them to cool to room temperature.

Mix ½ cup of icing sugar and one egg white. This will be your white royal icing. Using a brush, paint the cookies white. I gave about 20 minutes between white layers and did three coats. I really wanted to white to stand out.

Let the cookies stand and set for about 5 hours or over night.

In a small saucepan add your castor sugar and a drop of red food gel. If you want you can add a teaspoon of water. This will prevent the sugar from burning. Melt the sugar over a low to medium heat. As the water evaporates the sugar will become sticky and coat the pecan nuts. Remove them one by one and place them on some wax paper to set.

Once your cookies have set mix the other half a cup of icing sugar, one egg white and some red colouring. This is going to be your royal icing for the blood spatter.

Using a whisk flick the red icing over the cookies.

Decorate your cookies with your pecan nuts and leave them to set until the icing is hard.

Happy Halloween!

-Melissa