MOTHERS DAY WISH LIST

When my "Kiddiewinks" were younger they always looked forward to trundling behind mum around Woolworths Gateway, usually in the lead up to Christmas or Mothers Day, as this "follow" was always different to the others.On these two occasions it was not the normal follow mum story, as it was the time where I was instructed to walk around and touch the items on display that I would like to receive as a gift. The "Kiddiewinks" had to remember, not only where the gifts were in the store, but which gifts they were, allowing them to go back later with dad and decide which they should buy for me their mummy! 

(Occasionally they did get it wrong much to our amusement)

Now that these "Kiddiewinks" are all grown up, social media has moved this tradition along a little and I now showcase my desired gifts on my blog, so here is my Mothers Day Wish list for 2014, which by the way in South Africa is this Sunday 11th May.

1.

 Fleece Boot Slippers 

R140. 

Available at Woolworths countrywide

2.

 Any chocolate slabs from The Drakensberg Chocolate Memories..Delish! 

Order online 

www.chocolatememories.co.za

3.

 Natural Soap Making book by Bev Missing (founder of rain)

 R220. 

Available in all rain stores around the country 

order online

www.rainafrica.com

4.

 Nails inc. nail colour Brompton Place

 R110.

 Available at selected Red Squares and Edgars.

MONTHLY FAVOURITES {MARCH 2014}

There were so many lovely things that I tried in March, so this is a hard month to decide on which were my favourites.
As usual food and chocolate make an appearance.
Enjoy!

1.

I love my L'Occitane Divine Skincare

To read my review

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2.

I was very proud to be awarded with the 1st RainRanger Badge from the good people at Rain during their first Blogger event in KZN.

To read review

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3.

I ate some very yummy Asian Fusion Tapas style food at the Greedy Buddha during March.

To read my review

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4.

Another great "foodie" find in March was Afro's Chicken.

To read review

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5.

I also discovered a very good locally made chocolate during March and have really 

eaten far too much...but it is "delish".

To read review

CHOCOLATE MEMORIES

I came across Chocolate Memories whilst visiting the Decorex Durban recently and even though I profess to be a chocoholic I hadn't heard of them, but like many good success stories, a passion and desire for a change of lifestyle resulted in the creation of something sweet!

It was started by husband and wife team Tammy & Edi who started the business after leaving their careers behind in search of a quiet,simple life. They moved into a tiny mountain cottage in the foothills of Champagne Valley in the Central Drakensberg and started making chocolate.

Learning to make chocolate was not without its challenges, but after some time they perfected the art and started to make chocolate bars that are etched with the surrounding mountains.

          These artisan chocolates are made using only the finest ingredients - pure cocoa butter & natural                                                                           bourbon vanilla. No modified fats or palm oil are used!

The slabs of chocolate are hand wrapped in gold foil and rustic brown boxes which makes for a very reminiscent and refreshing form of presentation.

Simple packaging

Gold foil wrapped chocolate

I decided to buy and try the three types of chocolate below:

80gms Bar R40

1. The "Milk no added sugar" intrigued me, as all previous attempts of trying to find a decent slab of chocolate, that has had no sugar added, have failed miserably. Finally I have found not only a decent bar but a good bar!

2. Having a weakness in particular for "White" chocolate I was really impressed with Chocolate Memories version. It wasn't sickly sweet as white choc can often be and this was my "fave" of the three.

3. The slab of "Milk" was also a good smooth chocolate, with good taste. The exclusion of modified fats was evident, as you were not left with any fatty residue in your mouth, which is normally a tell tale sign of a poor quality chocolate.

They also make a "Dark 40%" and a "Dark 70%" and new varieties are in the pipeline.

My overall impression of this chocolate range is one of surprise, as it just goes to show that locally there are artisans that can produce, in this case a chocolate, that can hold its own amongst some of those Belgian and Swiss chocolatiers.

You can visit their website for more info and to order online

     www.chocolatememories.co.za