Ten weeks to Christmas, can you believe it! From next week and up to the festive season I’ll be browsing for Christmas gift ideas for the family, sharing delicious recipes and looking at the latest décor and colour trends for your home.
Citrus the “in” colour
Orange, lime and lemon are the trending colours for this summer season and they look so fresh and beautiful. Woolworths has a gorgeous selection of dresses, as well as Poetry, and of course one of my favourite shops, Forever New.
Nan Hua Temple
A few weeks ago, on Heritage Day actually, we visited the Nan Hua Temple in Bronkhorstspruit. I have to say I’ve never really felt a yearning to visit, but Colin, my husband, has had it on his bucket list for years and we had friends over from England who wanted to see it.
The drive wasn’t long from Joburg and I have to say on entering the gates it looked very impressive. It offers many attractions, with the most popular being the main shrine, the museum and the curio shop among many others.
The main shrine is the most important building and is also called the Great Hero Hall. The steps in front of the shrine are to remind us of our aim to gain enlightenment. There are three large Buddha statues in the main shrine, commonly referred to as the Triple Gem Buddha.
The curio shop provides all kinds of different Buddhist items, including Buddhist statues, prayer beads, Buddhist and Chinese music CDs, some exquisite Chinese trinkets, clothing and incense.
After we had taken a stroll around, we went to the coffee shop and had some light refreshments.
Entrance is free, the buildings are really impressive and I particularly enjoyed the peace and tranquillity. Well worth the drive!
Nan Hua Temple, 27 Nan Hua Road, Cultura Park, Bronkhorstspruit. Phone 013 931 0009, email info@nanhua.co.za or visit www.nanhua.co.za for more information.
Time for tea
Try this delicious cake, easy to make and it tastes so good.
Apple Cake
Ingredients
225g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon salt
100g butter
450g apples, peeled, cored and chopped
100g caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
25g soft brown sugar
Method
Sift the flour and the salt into a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into the flour and rub into a bread crumb consistency. Mix in the peeled and chopped apples, caster sugar and eggs. Turn into a greased 20 to 23cm cake tin. Level the top and sprinkle with the brown sugar.
Bake in a preheated oven 200ºC for 30 to 40 minutes.
Allow to shrink slightly before turning out onto a serving platter. Serve hot with thick cream, or cold, slice and butter.
That’s it for this week. Shop till you drop!
Julie
