Table of contents for May 2016 in Ideas

I can’t understand why there are so many hotel rooms that don’t have a bath. As the proud owner of curly hair that starts to ‘mince’, as we Capetonians like to say, at the slightest hint of moisture, I really don’t want to stand around avoiding droplets from above. And after a stressful day filled with meetings and racing around in the traffic, I simply want to relax for a while in a fragrant, hot bath. Perhaps it’s a woman thing, this blissful relationship with a bath. I remember how the women in our family congregated in the bathroom while one after the other bathed, how we sat three in a row in the residence bath with our legs hanging over the edge, and how on a day of heartbreak…

We met Linda in her lovely little shop in Stellenbosch, nestled in at the top of the old wooden staircase next to Melissa’s in Dorp Street. We made our way through embroidered French linens, tapestry cushion covers and her own signature range of clothing, but you can’t miss her – she is the poster girl for Nest with her unruly grey curls and the eclectic mix of pattern and colour she’s wearing. The clothing range with its limited styles, but limitless potential for putting them together, is the latest use of her experience as a fabric designer, the trade she plied for many years in Durban, Cape Town and Paarl before having children and moving to a farm. ‘I make the clothes that I want to wear and luckily some…

Bake beautiful vintage-style cameo biscuits as a special Mother’s Day gift – and they’re edible. DIFFICULTY: medium TIME: two hours plus drying time YOU WILL NEED • almond biscuit recipe and royal icing recipe on page 40 • oval cookie cutter (or use a round cutter, as seen in step 1) • gel or powder food colouring • piping bags • nr 1 piping nozzle • ribbon piping nozzle • piping nozzle couplers (makes switching nozzles much easier) • gum paste • cameo silicone mould • cornflour • lustre dust Follow the recipe on page 40 to make the biscuit dough. Roll it out on a floured surface to at least 5mm thick. Cut out the shapes and place them on a baking tray. Bake and leave to cool on…

Just before Christmas 2014, I lost my partner, James, in a tragic accident and as I navigated my way through this loss and grief, two of the things I found most healing and comforting were writing and cooking. So, on New Year’s Day 2015 I started keeping a kind of a recipe journal, without any particular plan or goal in mind. It was nothing fancy – just an A4 soft-covered notebook with blank pages – but I started by writing out some of the recipes I had cooked for and with James. The first entry I made was my recipe for Indian butter chicken, which he loved and could eat by the bowlful. But the entry wasn’t just about food; I also wrote down some of my feelings and thoughts,…

STITCH IT PRETTY Channel your glamorous inner Italian with this beautifully embroidered dress. The thicker fabric means it’s great for winter. Wear it with trousers or knee-high boots. Embroidered dress (R1 399) from Zara. Trousers (R399) from Woolworths. Earrings (R990) from Mr & Mrs. LET’S BAKE This light, long-sleeved top with appliqué detail is perfect for the milder days of late autumn, and for baking bread in a warm, cosy kitchen. Appliqué top (R559) from Zara. Earrings (R1200) from Mr & Mrs. TIME TO UNWIND A loose-fitting top with pretty stitching teamed with lightweight trousers is the ideal outfit for a quiet weekend spent pickling and preserving. Trousers (R699) from Old Khaki. Top (R899) from Trenery. Shoes (R449) from Call It Spring. Necklace (R990) from Mr & Mrs. KNIT ONE,…

MANDALA ABBREVIATIONS beg begin(ning) 5 bobble st work 5 tr into ch-sp, leaving the last lp of each st on the hook, yoh and pull through all 6 lps on hook 3bobblest workasgivenfor 5 bobble st until you have 4 lps on hook, yoh and pull yarn though all 4 lps on hook ch chain dc double crochet foll(s) follow(s)(ing) puff st * yoh, insert hook into ch-sp, yoh and draw lp through (3 lps on hook); rep from * into the same ch-sp twice more (7 lps on hook), yoh and pull yarn through all 7 lps on hook lp loop(s) rnd round sl st slip stitch sp space st(s) stitch(es) tr treble yoh yarn over hook YOU WILL NEED • oddments of DK cotton in each of the…

The British Financial Times recently listed South Africa as one of 10 international holiday destinations to visit in 2016. Yep, our weak rand gives Brits a holiday for the same price as 10 years ago. So what about us, we want to scream. Where does this leave us creatives if we want an inspiring overseas holiday too? Well, definitely not in Paris, Rome or New York, but rather in Asia and South America. These continents offer plenty of destinations where we can fuel our creativity by combining a holiday with a short course or workshop. THE NEW GENERATION OF TRAVELLERS The global trend where experiences like holidays and courses are regarded as more valuable than material possessions has grown to such an extent that retail sales in the United States…

CREATIVE GIFTS Q What would be a good gift for my mom? She’s artistic and very fond of handcrafts. A We asked the craft supplies shop, The Deckle Edge, for suggestions and they came up with four wonderful ideas: 1 A wooden art box in which your mother can store her art and craft items. The box is pretty and stylish, and she can easily take it with her if she’s going somewhere. 2 Tackle a project yourself. For example, transfer a photo of you and your mom onto a blocked canvas or wooden block using an acrylic gel medium (Dala has such a product.) 3 Give her a DIY kintsugi set. Kintsugi is the ancient Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with powdered gold glue, reinforcing the belief that…

Sentimentally unsentimental I love spring cleaning days. That feeling of ‘out with the old, to make space for the new’ thrills me. My husband, on the other hand, dreads these days - he is always looking through the black bags to make sure I haven’t tossed out anything special. He says I am the most unsentimental woman in the world. This may be true when it comes to old clothes or shoes that someone less fortunate than me could find some joy in, or tiny figurines like those that fill our grandmothers’ houses. But the day that you see me letting go of a small piece of lace or twine or a pretty scrap of decorative paper or even a plain brown paper bag will be the day that pigs…

MARKETS • The Wedgewood Family Market Get a taste of country living at this artisanal food and fresh produce market held on the second Saturday of every month at the Wedgewood Golf and Country Estate in Port Elizabeth. You’ll find baked goods, deli meats, preserves, yoghurts and cheeses, craft beer and food trucks. Open from 9am to 2pm, entry costs R10 for adults. Children under 12 enter for free. For details, find Wedgewood Family Market on Facebook. • The Woodmill Lifestyle Market This indoor market takes place from 5.30pm to 10pm on the last Friday of every month at The Woodmill, Vredenburg Road, Stellenbosch. It offers an array of delicious food and drinks, and lifestyle products. Browse vintage clothing, leather handbags and décor items, then tuck into Indian food, Dutch…

thekatetin.co.za Katelyn Williams says food has been her passion and her escape all her life. She’s ‘one of those annoying people who insist that ever since they were eight years old, they wanted to be a chef’. She describes herself as the ultimate food nerd, with an abnormally large cookbook (and cookie cutter) collection. The Kate Tin (a play on her name) is her collection of baking recipes. It has won her ‘Best Food Blog’ in the South African Blog Awards for two years in a row. bibbyskitchenat36.com Di Bibby is a former fashion designer turned food enthusiast. Her kitchen is a ‘place where meals are shared with family and friends’. She also teaches group cooking classes. Her recipes are an exploration of foods that are vibrant and fresh. She…

Menu 1 NICE & EASY TRAY • Soft boiled egg • Home-made toasted muesli • Chocolate flapjack sandwiches BOX TRAY WITH STENCIL HEART Paint this tray especially for the breakfast. YOU WILL NEED • flat wooden box • heart template on page 37 • white PVA paint • paintbrush • medium-weight cardboard • masking tape • craft knife and cutting mat TO MAKE 1 Copy the heart template on page 37 in the desired size onto the cardboard and cut it out with a craft knife. 2 Stick the cardboard stencil onto the wooden box with masking tape and paint the heart with the white PVA. 3 Leave the paint to dry completely before removing the stencil. FRESH & HEALTHY TRAY Everyone can help to put together this beautiful looking…

ALMOND SUGAR BISCUITS Makes: 12-15 Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus refrigeration time Baking time: 12-15 minutes Oven temperature: 170o C • 200g softened butter • 200g Huletts SunSweet Brown Sugar • 1 large egg • 2ml almond essence (optional) • 300g cake flour • 100g ground almonds • 5ml baking powder 1 Cream the butter and Huletts SunSweet Brown Sugar together until light. Add the egg and essence (if using) and beat well. 2 Mix the flour, ground almonds and baking powder together. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture and stir gently until a soft dough forms that you can press together with your hands. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes. 3 Roll the dough out on a floured surface making…

DIFFICULTY: easy TIME: a few hours YOU WILL NEED • vintage wooden shutter • craft paint and paintbrushes • bamboo or wooden pegs • craft or scrapbooking paper • double-sided tape • craft knife Paint the shutter using craft paint. (Craft paint comes in a variety of colours and doesn’t require any priming.) While you wait for the paint to dry, you can work on the pegs. Cut strips of craft paper to the width of the pegs and stick them to the pegs using double-sided tape. Use the craft knife to cut off any excess paper.…

Thousands of guests visited us in our special magazine spaces and enjoyed one demonstration after another. It was such a pleasure for us to be able to transform our space into a true representation of an Ideas house. Here are a few photos for those of you who weren’t able to be there with us.…

If you are leading a creative life or run a creative business you will need endless sources of inspiration to keep you not only in the game but one step ahead. We draw our ideas from many places such as cultural traditions, the beauty of nature, or our entrepreneurial heroes. Something will spark within us, galvanise us into action and off we go. Inspiration has two parts: intangible stimulus and the desire to act. Inspiration without action is merely consumption, however. In her video entitled When Inspiration Backfires, life coach Marie Forleo speaks about how the internet sucks us in and we become the opposite of creative. A quick catch-up on Pinterest turns into a lost morning, and hours spent paging through magazines leave us with not much to show…

We contacted Nicole, who comes from Jeffreys Bay, and asked her to tell us more about her love of all things creative – and her party in particular. This is what she wrote: I’m a qualified chef; I studied through the Mills Culinary Academy and I’ve worked in the industry, mainly in catering and events, which I absolutely loved. I’m now in my second year at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, studying foundation phase teaching. Since I can remember I’ve had creative flair and a passion for entertaining. I love organising everything – from the perfect table setting to the décor, even for a more casual home-made gourmet pizza evening with my friends. Foundation phase teaching also challenges me daily to be creative in everything I do, from…

IN SEASON IN MAY: Vegetables: beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chives, courgettes, cucumber, endive, gem squash, green beans, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, onion, parsnips, peas, potatoes, pumpkin, radishes, spinach, sweet peppers, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips. Fruit: avocados, bananas, Cape gooseberry, guavas, lemons, oranges, pawpaw, pineapples. FLOWERS AVAILABLE IN MAY alstroemeria, Asiatic lilies, calendula, carnations, chinks, chrysanthemums, delphiniums, gerbera, golden rod, heliconia, hypericum, iris, kangaroo paw, St Joseph lily, Michaelmas daisy (aster), carnations, nerine, orchids, oriental lilies, roses, snapdragons, statice, strelitzia, stocks, sunflowers, sweet peas, tuberose, tulips, veronica.…

CHEAT’S CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS Makes: 8Preparation time: 30 minutesCooking time: 25-30 minutesOven temperature: 180o C • 1 roll ready-made puff pastry• 1 large egg, lightly beaten with15ml water• 125ml chocolate chips• icing sugar, for dusting• strawberries, to serve• jam, to serve (optional) Unroll the pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Roll gently with a rolling pin to make the pastry slightly larger. Put a round plate over the pastry and cut around it with a sharp knife to make a circle. Use a ruler and knife to cut the circle into 8 equal segments. Brush each segment lightly with the egg mixture. Put a few chocolate chips onto the middle of each one and then roll up carefully, starting with the wider side and ending with the point. Make sure…

Every sauce spatter, smear of butter or comment in the margin on a page of Gran’s recipe notebook hints at the story of a favourite family meal or go-to recipe. Keep this precious history together and safe in a keepsake book worthy of becoming an heirloom itself. Here’s how to make your own food journal: 1 Use the book like a photo album and glue a photo of the person who wrote the recipe on the same page as the recipe. 2 Include a paragraph or two about the person whose recipe you are featuring. 3 Use other mementos with the recipes too – it could be a pretty napkin, a piece of Granny’s dress or photos of her crockery or kitchen. 4 Get the family involved. Ask sons, daughters,…

CHOCOLATE CLEMENTINE CAKE Serves: 10-12 Preparation time: 1½ hours Cooking time: 1½ hours Oven temperature: 170o C CAKE • 10 large eggs, separated • 320g (370ml) castor sugar • 25ml lemon juice • 200g (370ml) cake flour • 40g (125ml) cocoa powder FILLING AND CHOCOLATE GANACHE ICING • 750ml cream • 250g dark chocolate • 100ml Frangelico liqueur or use brandy • juice of one freshly squeezed clementine • 30ml grated clementine zest • candied clementine slices (recipe below) • edible flowers, to decorate v 1 CHOCOLATE GANACHE Put 250ml cream with the chocolate into a glass bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Wait until the chocolate starts to melt. Stir until smooth. Remove from the heat. Cool and refrigerate until needed. 2 CAKE Beat the egg whites…

BATHROOM LABELS Copy the labels on page 78 in the desired size onto the paper of your choice. Cut them out and glue them to the bottles and jars. SHOWER CURTAIN WITH FRILL DIFFICULTY: easy TIME: two hours YOU WILL NEED • fabric of your choice • white shower curtain • matching machine thread • water soluble sewing marker TO MAKE THE BOTTOM FRILL 1 Cut a strip twice the width of your shower curtain x 14cm height (2cm seam allowances are included). Overlock all the edges and hem the lower edge. 2 Stitch two rows of gathering stitches along the top edge of the frill and pull in the gathering threads. Stitch the frill to the lower edge of the shower curtain. TO MAKE THE TOP FRILL 1 Cut…

I’ve been working on this coiled and crocheted rug slowly for months. It’s a terrific way of using up lots of scrap fabric – I used old sheets, fabric remnants and clothing. All the materials are recycled, including the crochet twine, which I picked up at a thrift store. The only crochet stitch required is double crochet, which is fairly basic. YOU WILL NEED • strong twine, thin cord or very strong rug yarn • lots of fabric remnants • crochet hook (about 4mm, but will depend on the thickness of your yarn) • scissors • sewing machine (optional) • lots of spare time • rug underlay to prevent the rug slipping once it’s finished TO PREPARE THE FABRIC 1 Depending on the type of fabric you have on hand,…