The other day I took a drive to Parys with a friend for the day. We saw some really cool things, but sadly we didn’t buy a lot. At all. Which is really not like me, at all. There were things I desperately wanted, like the vintage plastic brooches below and the toy metal typewriter, which I have never seen before, but the man who owned that particular shop was not selling much of his precious loot and he was no where to be seen, so I couldn’t even cry like a baby to try change his mind. Half his stock wasn’t ‘for sale’ it was just on display, which was very frustrating, to say the least.

But anyway… if you have never been to Parys, I would suggest taking a drive out there. There are quite a few very cool little stores packed to the rafters with antiques. Some of the stuff  isn’t badly priced, some of it is unfortunately pricy, but it’s a nice afternoon out, if you are into that sort of thing.

I took some photos of some of the stuff and people we spotted along the way…By the way the Titanic compact below, is an original and it’s price tag was R4500. Yikes!

I did buy one piece of furniture, which I still haver to shoot. I will do a seperate post on it, so you can tell me what you think of my idea for it.

Today is Shane’s birthday and I know how much he loves banana bread, so I finally got to bake the peanut butter banana bread I blogged about the other day and I’m really happy to say that he came out brilliantly! It was the right colour, it was moist and there was just the right combination of banana and peanut butter. I left the peanuts, flaxseed meal and  ground allspice out of the recipe, because I didn’t have any of these things, but it still came out super nice.

This is the first time ever that I would be proud enough to take my banana bread to a bake sale. Thank you Joy for giving me some banana bread cred.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Makes: one 9×5-inch loaf. I copy pasted this recipe from Joy the Baker and she adapted it from CookingLight.

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas

1/3 cup plain or vanilla fat free yogurt

1/3 cup creamy all-natural peanut butter

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 large eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, flaxseed meal, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon and ground allspice.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, yogurt, peanut butter and melted butter. Whisk in eggs and sugars. Blend mixture until no sugar lumps remain.

4. Pour the wet mixture into the larger bowl with the dry ingredients. Fold together with a spatula until no more flour bits remain. Fold in the chopped nuts as well. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and cake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before running a butter knife along the edges of the pan and inverting the bread onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Here are some of the things I bought Shane for his birthday. If you are looking for some nice presents for your male loved one, I would check out Feiyue’s new line of sneakers. They have some damn cool styles floating around. I got Shane the leather wool felt pair above and if they came in semi-midget size (size 4) I totally would of nabbed a pair for myself too. I also got him a ver nice green sweater from Country Road and some t-shirts, because a man can never have enough t-shirts – I’m sure that is part of an ancient wise saying from the 90′s or something.

Last night we went to go watch Dark Shadows which is a remake of an American gothic soap opera that originally aired from 1966 to 1971. The show was hugely popular back in the day, until Jonathan Frid the man who originally played Johnny Depp’s part refused to renew his contract after 5 seasons and so the show came to an end. Then Tim Burton decided to resurrect it. I was really excited to see it because I love Tim Burton films and this was no disappointment. The art direction and sets were magical, the costumes were beautiful, in fact everything was so beautifully put together and thought out from the soundtrack to the make-up, that  it really made you feel like you were in a fantasy world – Mr Burton’s specialty.

Everyone in the movie had almost airbrushed skin, it was amazing. It made them all look almost too good to be true. And Johnny Depp still looks like he’s in his 20′s, I think that guy is really a vampire. For real. Eva Green and Michelle Pfiere were flawless and then there is this new girl that I have never seen before, Bella Heathcote - she is so beautiful she almost makes you want to hold your breath when you look at her. She plays Victoria Winters who comes to Collinwood to start a new life. Below is a picture of Alexandra Moltke who played Victoria in the 60′s and one of Bella who plays her now.

I think this movie was a whole lot of fun, even though I have read a few reviews by other people saying that they don’t like it and the comical spin that Tim Burton has taken on it – to that I say “get over yourselves”. It’s a visual treat for the eyes and something to get lost in for 113 minutes in true Burton style. Let me know if you have seen it and what you thought of it…

Don’t forget to enter the Après Ski giveaway that is currently happening on my blog. I will be drawing a winner on the 23rd of May and the prize is really something wonderful. You can pick a piece that you fancy from their new collection, see some pieces below. All you have to do is visit their site and then leave me a comment telling me which 2 you like the most. You also have to like their Facebook page – you can do that by clicking here.

If you enter ths competition, please leave your comment on the original post - just click here.

Good luck guys.

So on Saturday the 26th May the very first Jozi Craft Beer Fest is set to take place at Pirates Sports Club in Greenside. Fun hey? There will 18 craft breweries from all over South Africa who will be offering Jozi folk a chance to taste the finest craft beer available in SA. Doors open at 10am and the festival will run till 7pm AND Shane and I will have our very own Good Luck Club mini stall there selling some of our stirfrys, so you must come past and say hi and maybe enjoy a box of luck from us.

It’s going to a very cool day, let me tell you a bit more about what’s happening:
The 18 different micro breweries that are going to be there are:

Darling Brew °Copperlake Brewreries °3 Skulls Brew Works °De Garve Brewery °The Cockpit Brewhouse °De Garve Brewery °Jack Black Brewery °Clarens Brewery °The Dog & Fig Brewery °Citizen Brewery °Boston Brewery °Devils Peak Brewery °Draymans Brewery °Mitchells Brewery  °Eversons Cider °Mogallywood Brewery

And to make the day go down even smoother, there are going to be some very cool live acts performing:

11:30 – Shotgun Tori

12:30 – Gil Hockman

13:30 – Eddi Privat

14:30 – Float Parade

15:30 – Bongeziwe Mabandla

16:30 – Yo Grapes

17:30 – Shortstraw

Tickets available on Webtickets and at the door. It’s R100 person, this gets you in a gets you a branded beer mug. Kids under 3 years old are free and 3-18 years old are R50. There will also be a  Kiddies entertainment area with qualified child minders.

I think this day is going to be loads of fun and I think it’s cool that there is something happening that is celebrating some local beer making talent and musicians, so hope to see you all there…x