Christmas Jumper Day or T shirts in Dubai

I didn't realise Christmas Jumper Day was a thing for Save the Children in the UK and around the world. I've seen a few FB posts from friends in Dubai of their kids wearing festive clothing, but I've mainly seen negativity around retailers cashing in more than the charity itself over on the BBC and Mumsnet.

I almost bought a new one when I was in the UK end of October but decided this collection is enough, I'm not growing anymore and I can only wear one at a time anyway.

Help me choose which one I should wear for Pub Quiz night on Wednesday

1 Christmas Jumper from Tesco and 3 Christmas T Shirts from Primark.

What goes on at a food event?

Don't know whether I should call this a 'sponsored blog' or not. I wasn't given any directives. I was a plus 1 to an evening at Tesco in Hatfield. It was a foodie thing, for bloggers to sample foods and give an opinion....or something like that.

I'm not a food blogger, but there are a few food posts on my blog. Anyway I went along not really knowing what to expect, had a glass of bubbly on arrival, chatted with a few people before sitting down to a presentation on Berries. Strawberries......did you know there are 35 varieties? an average of 200 pips on one and that Tesco finest, standard and value all come from the same growers and are boxed according to size, colour and taste? the only other thing that really stuck in my mind was the new Kiwi berry coming soon, complete with edible skin.

There was a taster session and to be honest I ate more of the clotted cream than I did the strawberries and therefore wasn't able to play the 'was A, B or C the finest, standard or value range' game. I thought the balsamic vinegar dip was an interesting combination and the blackberries were a bit sharp.

A bit more talking another glass of bubbly, a questionnaire and then the bit it appears everyone had come for....the freebies. Can't seriously believe how far some people travelled for this event.

I cannot give you a cost for this recipe as one wasn't provided and I'm not really sure what Tesco wanted from this event. I'm put off trying new foods due to costs, I'm not a big fan of tasters in supermarkets as you never know who's grubby hands have been handling the food (customers that is) I like the idea of the ready prepared pots where you can taste a variety of fruits but they are so expensive.

For me to try something new, the event was the best way of doing it, unfortunately the kiwi berries weren't available to taste so I can offer no opinion on them, which is a shame. But I can offer an opinion on the taste, which was lovely and I'll let you know about my opinion on the price when I next buy the ingredients, but that will be back in South Africa.



 

I had to google the recipe for the Summer berry tart with lemon cream that we had sampled. You'll have to excuse my methods as I was using someone else's kitchen and couldn't find anything, but it was simple to make, infact so simple after I'd used her goodie bag to make theirs, I took my ingredients on a train and tube to Wimbledon to another friends house where I stayed last night and with the help of her 10 year old son, made another one.

 

Couldn't find a whisk, so used the blender attachment (It worked)

 Tesco provided the pastry case, so no need to make one

 When it says 'warm the redcurrant jelly' it means DO NOT BOIL IT or you'll spend half an hour cleaning the pan

 

Tah dah and tastes as good as it looks.......yummy

Sun hats and sun cream

What is going on, people of South Africa?

Do you not know how hot it is?

Do you not realise that people can get cancer from sun damage? let alone the scrawny, leathery skin.

And why are there tanning machines in my gym?

The selection of suncreams in the supermarkets is poor and the prices are very high. How do families on low incomes here afford to buy it?

I find my skin is in poor condition and my face is really dry. I can't afford to test every product on the market, especially the water resistant ones, to find one that actually works. (We were all badly burnt in Durban 2 weeks ago) As a family of 4 we use sun cream every day, even just getting in and out of the car, popping to the shops, moving from class to class the sun 'gets' you.

And hats? I'm starting to see straw boaters in Mr Price and most of the camping/walking/outdoor shops along with baseball caps, but again they are few and far between and around R50+. The kids of course won't wear 'floppy' hats and are constantly losing their baseball caps and getting burnt on the back of their neck.

Has anyone got any suggestions? Know the best places to buy hats, suncream that they'd like to share with me?

Differences between UK and SA

It doesn't look like anything has changed in the UK since I left in January, but my trip back last week did highlight the differences and all of them were negative...OK so I arrived back to the riots, seriously nothing to do with me.

I'll start with the media...all doom and gloom, newspapers and the TV describing Broken Britian,almost condoning the riots and the looting, with their explanations and reasons as to why these people were behaving the way they did...they have nothing...yeah so what...come to South Africva and see what NOTHING really looks like and the vast differences between rich and poor..you see here in South Africa if you don't have a job, you don't have money, therefore you don't have a house to sit in and watch SKY TV all day, complaining how the government and education system have failed you and absolutly no benefits...

People...How rude? and as for queing, the English say they're good at it...no they ain't..they're good at moaning about it, complaining if you're taking too long or if someone dares to push in...kids screachingin the supermarkets, parents ignoring them or screeching back, snide looks and heavy tutting, no patience, no waiting...here you have to queue for everything, for hours, only to be told to come back another day...very few tempers flare up.

Everyone in the UK feels they have a right to comment on everything, yet do nothing about it...mutter under their breath, snort and tut heavily but that's it...no offers of help when struggling with 3 cases, 2 hand luggage and a child with his arm in a cast, the bus driver and the passengers tutting as I try to get on the bus...I'm more than capable of lifting and moving the said luggage, just not in one bloody go.

South Africa is aclean place, I didn't realise how clean till I went back to the UK. I even tweeted Tesco with a picture of the mess outside the front of their store in Newport, all the public toilets weren't clean.

Everyone moans about the state of the roads in SA, the pot holes in particular, but the UK was just as bad, if not worse...the major roads in SA are 4-6 lanes, they resurface them regulary, they don't shut the whole road down and take several months, they resurface lane 2, you still drive on lanes 1, 3 and 4.

I don't know who it was but somesome said the 'whites in the UK were behaving like the blacks'..try being Black here...mind you if you're white it's just as hard...yes there are violent crimes, hijacking, armed robbery, but you don't see fights in the streets, drunken behaviour, people don't swear at you if you accidentially bump into them, kids don't hang round street corners scaring people and preventing them from walking past, the streets aren't full of litter, the toilets are always clean.

Racism is still an issue here, but there isn't an obvious class system, you're either black, white, rich or poor.