All the others

And the winner of ‘Top of the Props’ is…..

…..#28!

At the end of the competition, I had a total of 67 comments. I took away 4 because 1 person didn’t want to be counted ‘in’ and 3 comments were from my friends who aren’t into blogging…leaving me with 63.

Off I headed to Random.org….and the number generator chose….#28, which is Aoife of The Daily Spud.

Giveaway_Top of the PropsCongratulations Aoife, please send me an email at kitchenbutterfly.giveaway@gmail.com and I’ll pop your box in the mail ASA….

Some top prop secrets? Here they are, a selection from the comments:

  • Using giftwrap as nice backgrounds
  • Ikea….hold lots of promise for some (me included!)
  • Use props from your home…
  • ….and collect from (extended) family….!
  • Look in the remnant bins at fabric/craft stores and at secondhand stores
  • Some ‘scour for mini pots and cutlery they serve inedible airplane food in for bento making props…and eco foodstalls for pretty wooden sporks’
  • Dried leaves and twigs from the park
  • Tea towels and place mats are super useful too

Thanks for joining in the fun!

Have a blessed ‘new’ week and join me tomorrow for some Empanadas….♥♥♥

Top of the Props….and my first GIVEAWAY!

Hey Houston, we have a PROPLEM…

Too much of a…For when it comes to the acquisition of props…..I am shameless.

Read more…

My All-American food box and awards….

My Foodie box

IMG_1126I first met Velva of Tomatoes on the Vine when I was weeks old into blogging. I did a Google search for Dutch Delights…..or something similar and found her and we became ‘friends’, kidding about how we could have walked past each other on Dutch streets without knowing it for only a few weeks before, she had been over to the Netherlands from the US on holiday. Read more…

‘If’ Rudyard Kipling were a foodie….

…..what would ‘IF’ be like?

I have a passion for writing poetry, albeit it completely overshadowed by my love for cooking.

One of my favourite poems ever is ‘IF’ by Rudyard Kipling. I can still remember clearly a teacloth we had growing up, which had the words on it (thanks to my English teacher of a mum).

Nested citrusThe words fill me with hope, with courage, with zest and zeal. Portions like this comfort me and strengthen me and I think and wonder…..

If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

…what he would have written had he been one of us?

Read more…

Minced Chicken Satays with the Daring Cooks

The January 2010 DC challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppylicious and she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for (Pork) Satay from the book: 1000 Recipes by Martha Day.

We, cooks had the options of doing what we wanted as long as we marinated the chosen meat or veg!!!

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Can you believe it is already the second week of January and this is my first ever contribution to the Daring Kitchen.

Before we proceed though, I must share my shock and surprise of this week with you, and nothing to do with this challenge! Read more…

Sometimes, we propose….but computers think differently.

For a few weeks now, we’ve been plagued with computer woes. Finally, after numerous repairs and re-installations, it died on us. Literally. But that was fine, we still had have a desktop, whose former residence was the study….upstairs.

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Now, it sits in the living room, next to the kitchen and all was going so well, till this evening when I tried to load my photos from the New Year’s dive at Scheveningen beach (as promised).

In minus degrees Read more…

2009…out with the Old, 2010….in with the New!

A very blessed and happy 2010 to you. A new year, a new decade. New hopes, dreams and desires……

New Years

I so wanted to write a long post today, complete with Oliebollen recipes, my New Year’s resolutions and more….. Read more…

Yo…sushi up!

This is my tasty serving….on auto-publish while I make my way back from what should be a great weekend in Copenhagen – my first visit ever to a Nordic country!

I made this video a few weeks ago, when I was in London for the FBC 2009.

IMG_0895 Read more…

Marylebone farmer’s market…and lunch

I speak English….I grew up speaking English. Yes, born and bred in Nigeria but we always spoke English at home.

Long story? No not really. Both parents spoke different languages so the whole family communicated in English!

IMG_1252Monopoly….my childhood was spent trying to acquire property in Mayfair and Park Lane….and of course Bond street. Amazing just how much my knowledge of popular London street names was shaped by the long, hard hours my sisters and I spent sweating it out, trying to avoid going to jail and paying tax!

Read more…

FBC, Part 1: Thank you LORD, I’m not a freak!

And neither was the group I spent the weekend with. If you saw us having the ball we did, you’d be thankful too!

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32 hours in London. 8 locations. Everywhere from Abbey road to Marylebone farmers market, the food hall at Selfridges, Waterstones, Sherlock Holmes museum, La Fromagerie, the Natural Kitchen and even Boots!

But truly, those were all the legs of the spider. It’s body? The FBC ’09. Food Blogger Connect 2009. Read more…