Robbie Cheadle's Blog, page 50
June 5, 2022
Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from around the world: Beef Stroganoff
I have always fancied making this dish, but I was a little worried about attempting it because a few people have told me that overcooking the meat ruins the dish and the point between cooked and overcooked is a fine line.
I decided to give it a go a few weeks ago and I was pleased with how the dish turned out. I arrived home on Friday to discover my Dad had gone shopping and purchased ready cut beef stroganoff strips. I was again wary because I had previously used large chunks of sirloin steak to prevent overcooking. Thin strips would overcook much more quickly. However, I cooked this version for a shorter period and it also turned out well.
Ingredients1.5 kg beef (chunks take longer to cook, strips cook quicker)
4 cups beef broth
2 cups double cream yogurt
2 teaspoons mustard powder
1 1/2 large onions, diced
250 grams chopped button mushrooms
1/4 cup plain flour
salt and pepper to taste
MethodIn a bowl, cover the beef chunks with flour, salt and pepper. In a large saucepan, brown the meat and set aside. Add more olive oil and cook the onion and the mushrooms until they are soft. Add the beef broth and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and add the yogurt and mustard. Allow to thicken. Add back the meat and simmer for between 10 and 20 minutes depending on the thickness of the meat.
May 30, 2022
Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from around the world: Ratatouille
My mother used to make a simple version of ratatouille when I was a girl and I loved it. I decided I should have a go at making it and chose a traditional recipe as my base for this dish.
My husband and sons are not keen on vegetarian dishes so I served this ratatouille as an accompaniment to a chicken stew I made.
Ingredients350 grams baby marrows, chopped
4 large aubergines, chopped into squares
Mixed peppers – large (I used 1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow), chopped into squares
8 ripe Mediterranean tomatoes, chopped
2 tins diced tomatoes
Olive oil for frying
2 large onions, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon sweet basil
MethodHeat the olive oil in a large pot and fry the aubergine, baby marrow and peppers until softened (the aubergine goes golden). Remove the vegetables from the pot. Add a little more oil and fry the onion for 5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, salt, black pepper, thyme and sweet basil and fry for another 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste, fresh tomatoes, and tinned tomatoes and mix. Add the vegetables back and the balsamic vinegar and allow to simmer for 1 hour until the fresh tomatoes have reduced to a pulp.
Serve with fresh bread or rice.
May 27, 2022
In Honor of #RRBC’s Random Acts of Kindness Day, Meet Author, Robbie Cheadle and all her #books! #RAOK @RRBC_Org @BakeandWrite @RobertaEaton17
Thank you to Nonnie Jules and the team at RRBC for this lovely post for Random Acts of Kindness Day. I am delighted to be a contributor to RRBC’s latest anthology, Memories of Mom, with a short story about my memories of the premature birth of my sister, Catherine.
I’m sure Robbie Cheadle has been at my place before, but today, I’d like to shine a light on her and her written works, in honor of RRBC’S RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS DAY!
Friends, meet my dear friend, Robbie…
Robbie is such a generous, loving and caring person, there was no way I was going to let this day go by, without sharing her (again) with all of you!
Robbie has so many books, that I can’t list them all here for you, but click…
HERE to visit her Amazon Author Central Page!
HERE to visit her RRBC Author Page
Robbie recently submitted a piece for our MEMORIES OF MOM Rave Soup For The Writer’s Soul Anthology, 2022 at RRBC, and here is just a snippet of her piece called THE NEW BABY…
When I was a little girl of nearly four years old, my sister, Catherine, was born. She…
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May 25, 2022
Dark Origins: African Myths and Legends – The Zulus Part 2 #Beadwork #Traditionalstory
This month, my Dark Origins post discusses the meanings behind Zulu beadwork and shares a traditional Zulu story. Thanks for hosting Kaye Lynne Booth.
Last month for Dark Origins, African Myths and Legends, I shared an introduction to the Zulu people of South Africa, the Great Zulu King Shaka and the legend of the Buffalo Thorn tree. If you missed it, you can read it here: https://writingtoberead.com/2022/04/27/dark-origins-african-myths-and-legends-the-zulus-part-1/
This month, I will be sharing information about Zulu beadwork and the messages contained therein as well as a traditional story.
Zulu beadworkThe Zulu people of South Africa have a rich tradition of beadwork. Originally, bone, small horns, shells and small pieces of polished wood and stone were pierced to make beads that were strung together as necklaces and belts.
When the Zulus started trading with the Europeans at the end of the 18th century, glass and ceramic beads were introduced into their beadwork.
Traditionally, both men and women wore beaded belts called umutsha to which a piece of cloth was attached to cover the pubic…
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May 24, 2022
Robbie’s Inspiration – Book review: Linda’s Midlife Crisis by Toni Pike
How does a fifty-year-old woman start a new life?
Meet Linda Lockwood: fifty, fat, frumpy and bullied by her horrible husband Ron and the vile students and principal at the school where she teaches English. But her life is about to undergo a total transformation.
Linda suffers a breakdown after a traumatic classroom incident, and that brings out the worst in Ron and devious principal, Wayne Forsythe. Then she is rocked to discover her husband has a shocking secret.
With her own determination and the help of friends and family, she starts to turn her life around. She begins to succeed, but there are still some more surprises in store Linda.
A feel-good and inspirational romance for older women who love second chances and chick lit.
Despite its heavy title and topic, this book is a fairly light and entertaining read. Linda is married to a selfish inconsiderate man, Ron, who takes great pleasure in belittling her in public. He throws a party for her 50th birthday and goes to great lengths to humiliate her in front of everyone she knows. In addition, to her dreadful relationship, Linda’s job as a teacher has degenerated over the years into an unfulfilling daily challenge to deal with unruly and rude teenagers. The principal of the school is “new age” and has some unrealistic views on discipline which has worsened the poor behaviour of some of the students. It is the last straw when Linda has a traumatic experience at school and suffers a nervous breakdown. Her neediness does not suit Ron who decides to leave her.
I enjoyed the character development undergone by Linda from the beginning to the end of this short novel. She is a bit weak and wishy washy in the beginning, allowing everyone she knows, and especially Ron, to walk all over her. After Ron leaves, Linda makes a conscious effort to pull herself together, losing weight and making changes to her life that position her to achieve some success for the first time in her life. I thought the slow progression of Linda’s changing personality and attitude to life was well done and realistic.
Ron is a dreadful man who is a bully. He uses Linda as his emotional punching bag because he is not happy with his status in life. He thinks he deserves more, but that is very debatable. He is a completely unredeemable personality and you can only feel pleased when things go wrong for him.
This book is perfect for readers who enjoy reading stories about overcoming obstacles and making the most of life. There is also a sub-theme of a sweet romance.
Purchase Linda’s Midlife CrisisToni Pike’s Amazon author page
About Toni Pike
Toni Pike is a multi-genre author who enjoys writing page-turning fiction for adults, hilarious books for children, and non-fiction. She also loves travelling and being with family and friends. She lives in Australia and firmly believes that coffee and long walks are an essential part of any day.
Do you like books that you can’t stop reading? Pike is the author of LINDA’S MIDLIFE CRISIS, DESOLATION BLUFF, DEAD DRY HEART and The Jotham Fletcher Mystery Thriller Series: THE MAGUS COVENANT, THE ROCK OF MAGUS, THE MAGUS EPIPHANY and HOLY SPEAR OF MAGUS.
The Brody Cody Series is for children aged 6-9: BRODY CODY AND THE STEPMOTHER FROM OUTER SPACE and BRODY CODY AND THE HAUNTED VACATION HOUSE.
She’s also the author of two non-fiction books. THE ONE WAY DIET is a no-nonsense guide to losing weight. HAPPY TRAVELS 101 is a short book of travel tips with advice for anyone who wants to travel overseas.
To find out more, her website is tonipike.com.
May 22, 2022
Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from around the world: South African bobotie
This is the second bobotie recipe I have tried and this one was much nicer than the previous one. I used a traditional South African recipe as the basis for this meal. The addition of the lemon gives the meat a lovely light lemony flavour which I found very pleasant. This recipe is enough for 8 adults.
Ingredients1 kilogram good quality beef mince
In a teacup mix together 4 teaspoons curry power (I used medium), 1 teaspoon mixed herbs, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric, 1 tablespoon garlic flakes, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper
Olive oil for frying
2 large onions, chopped
In another cup mix together 1/2 cup (125 ml) fruit chutney, 1 60 gram tin tomato paste, 1 tablespoon apricot jam
Zest of a small lemon and 10 ml lemon juice
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups + 3/4 cups milk
4 slices sliced bread
MethodPreheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius. In a small basin soak the bread in 1 1/4 cups milk. Most of it will be absorbed.
In a heavy-bottomed pot heat a little olive oil and fry the onions until soft. Mix in the cup of spices and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the minced beef and brown all over. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, chutney, apricot jam, and tomato paste and mix well.
Squeeze the bread to remove excess milk and mix into the mince. Cook for approximately 15 minutes.
Prepare a baking dish and layer the bottom with the mince.
In a cup beat the 2 eggs and the 1/2 cup of milk. Pour over the mince layer. Add a few bay leaves on top of the egg mixture.
Bake in the oven for 50 minutes until the top is golden brown.
Serve with rice.
May 18, 2022
Treasuring Poetry – Meet author and poet Yvette M. Calleiro and a review
Today, my Treasuring Poetry guest is the lovely Yvette M. Calleiro. Do go over to Writing to be Read and read her excellent poetry choices and my review of her book, Hype. Thanks for hosting, Kaye Lynne Booth.
Today, I am delighted to introduce you to poet and author, Yvette M. Calleiro. I have read and enjoyed a few of Yvette’s lovely books and I am also a fan of her poetry.
Which of your own poems is your favourite?This is such a difficult question because I’m quite critical of my poems, most likely because many of them come from deep within my soul and scrutinize aspects of my mind and heart which have spent a long time being hidden. One of my favorites is “The Battle Within.”
The Battle WithinI am brave.
I am strong.
I am confident.
My reflection tells me so
Every morning and every night.
I believe her
Until at some point in the day
My inner voice awakens
And slithers through the slopes of my cerebral cortex,
Seeking a soft space to enter
And inseminate her vitriol.
Her termites gnaw
At…
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May 16, 2022
Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from around the world: Hummingbird cake
This week, I am sharing a post that Bernadette from New Classic Recipe shared on her lovely blog for May is devoted to mothers. Bernadette shares lots of lovely recipes, some of which are her own and some of which are from other bloggers. If you haven’t visited New Classic Recipe blog I highly recommend it.
Thank you, Bernadette!
HUMMINGBIRD CAKE – a very special birthday cake for a very special mother
“A party without cake is just a meeting.” — Julia Child.
Hi there,
Continuing with honoring mothers during the month of May, it is my pleasure to introduce Robbie Cheadle and her mother, Elsie Hancy Eaton. Both mother and daughter are writers and co-authored a book called While the Bombs Fell. It is the story of Elsie’s experience living through the bombing of England during WW2.
Robbie Cheadle is a South African children’s author and poet with ten children’s books and two poetry book.
The eight Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions that children can make under adult supervision. Robbie has also published two books for older children which incorporate recipes that are relevant to the storylines.
Robbie has two adult novels in the paranormal historical and supernatural fantasy genres published under the name Roberta Eaton Cheadle. She also has short stories, in the horror and paranormal genre, and poems included in several anthologies.
Robbie writes two monthly posts for https://writingtoberead.com called Growing Bookworms and Treasuring Poetry and one monthly post, under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle, called Dark Origins: African Myths and Legends. Robbie has a blog, https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/ where she shares book reviews, recipes, author interviews, and poetry.
What follows is Robbie’s story:
My mom turned 80 three years ago. She has never had a party and so I decided to throw a party for this ‘big’ birthday. She chose a flower theme and everyone in the family helped with different aspects of the arranging. One sister sent out the party invitations and coordinated the responses, another brought the fruit punch, and my dad went with my mom to choose flowery material and made all the overlays for the tables. I hired the outside tables and chairs, organized the food, and made the birthday cake.
Continue reading here: https://newclassicrecipe.com/2022/05/10/hummingbird-cake-a-very-special-birthday-cake-for-a-very-special-mother/
May 11, 2022
Growing Bookworms – Setting learning goals with your child
Today, I am over at Writing to be Read with the month’s Growing Bookworms post about Setting learning goals with your child. Thank you for hosting, Kaye Lynne Booth.
Just like adults, children benefit by setting learning goals for the year or even the term. Goals give all of us something positive and definite to work towards and we feel a sense of achievement when we meet our goals.
At the beginning of the school year, parents should sit down with their child and plan some goals for the year. This goal setting process should include identifying the specific areas the child needs to work on and the setting of realistic and achievable goals in order to measure progress in those areas. If your child is struggling with maths, for example, there is no point in setting a goal of achieving a distinction in the first term of the new school year. A reasonable goal would be an increase of 5% for each term, which will allow the child to improve his/her understanding of the subject and gradually build…
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May 9, 2022
Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from around the world: Chocolate mousse and strawberry custard pie
I made this pie for lunch on Easter Sunday. I made the recipe up because I had a large tin of strawberries I wanted to use (they were a replacement item from the grocery store when they did not have the tinned black cherries I ordered) and a packet of almond flour which was going to expire within a month.
I amended the pie crust recipe from Donna Hay’s Classic Baked Cheesecake recipe which you can find here: https://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/classic-baked-cheesecake
I marginally changed a chocolate mousse recipe I got out of a Taste magazine several years ago and I made up the strawberry custard recipe.
The family raved about this rich and decadent pudding so I think I did well with this experiment.
Step 1: Pie crust100 grams cold butter, chopped
60 ml castor sugar
160 ml plain flour
80 ml almond flour
Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Prepare a deep circular pie dish approximately 30 cm round.
Mix the flour, almond flour and castor sugar. Use your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients until a stick dough forms. I only layered the bottom of the pie dish with this mixture and I blind backed it for 15 minutes and then set it aside to cool.
Step 2: Making the chocolate mousse300 grams marshmallows, halved
90 grams soft butter
500 grams 70% cocoa dark chocolate, broken into pieces
3 tablespoons boiling water
8 tablespoons cherry liqueur
2 cups cream
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 large can chopped strawberries
1 large tin strawberries drained (retain the syrup) and chopped
Place the marshmallows, chocolate, boiling water, cherry liqueur, and butter in a heat-resistant bowl and melt slowly over a pan of boiling water.
Whip the cream with the vanilla essence. Once the chocolate mixture is completely melted, allow to cool. Mix in the cream and vanilla essence. Lastly, mix in the 1/2 of the chopped strawberries. Pour the mixture over the pie crust and refrigerate until set.
Step 3: Making the strawberry custardMix 3 tablespoons of custard powder with 50 ml of the strawberry syrup. Top the remaining strawberry juice up to 450 ml with cold water. Pour into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, add the custard mixture, reduce the heat to a simmer, and whisk until the custard thickens. Add the remaining half of the chopped strawberries. Allow to cool slightly and then pour over the chocolate mousse. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve. I added a layer of whipped cream to the top of the pie to reduce the sweetness.
Kaye Lynne Booth from Writing to be Read blog shared two poems for Mothers Day yesterday. One is mine and one is her own. You can read them here: https://writingtoberead.com/2022/05/08/a-very-special-mothers-day-post/
