Expat Mommy In Angola

My  Ailurophobia  -persistent and irrational fear of cats- has been there for as far as I can remember! I cannot stand being around cats, hear the sound of cats and even their sight on tv or even in pictures is unpleasant!! And no it's not all animals, only cats! I admit I dont have a passion for animals but we've had a dog around the house and i lived with it. But when we visit friends that have cats in their houses , it's either me or the cat in the house!  Last month, I was saying good bye to my neighbor who's leaving Angola to her  home country to go deliver her second child, as I opened the door of their door to go out of the house I was surprised by the sight of a cat standing on the door, automatically I tried to shut the door to avoid any me-cat confrontation, oblivious to the fact that my son has already passed through the front door and started screaming at the sight of the cat. Thank god my husband was there to the rescue! And this became my h

Since my mom came to Angola and stayed for about three weeks, her visit was centered around two things, Karim, my son, and food! As if we were starving before she came :)) And since she's a pro in all things sweets, chocolaty and packed with fat, am sharing with you the recipe of this cheesecake we made together before she left. I will not babble a lot about how yummy, decadent and scrumptious it is, I will let you look at the pictures and save the recipe and try it out! If you do not have Mars bars on hand, try it out with twix bars or even snickers bars, you can even mix all three bars together, Heaven on a dish! Recipe from http://aww.ninemsn.com/food/8376077/mars-bars-cheesecake INGREDIENTS 310g chocolate chip biscuits (I used digestive biscuits) 75g butter, melted 2 tablespoons brown sugar 20g butter, extra 11/2 cups (375ml) cream 11/2 teaspoons gelatine 1/4 cup (60ml) water 500g cream cheese, chopped, softened 1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar 2 x 53g Mars Bar

A perfect way to learn face distinction and parts of the body, this puzzle only involved the parts of the face because the pictures I had were two portraits of me and my hubby. It was so much fun to watch my son try to put mommy's eyes and nose and mouth together to form the picture. The thing that was even funnier was how much he got mad when we were playing with the puzzle and I tried to put my eyes on daddy's nose :) "No that's daddy nose!". Try it out with old pictures you have, (I had two copies of these portraits) or if you don't want to cut your pictures go through your magazines and cut faces from there. Then take pieces of magnetic and place one of each piece of picture puzzle! Just give them a cookie sheet or even let them stand on the fridge and put the pieces of your face back together.

Here's a few shots of my baby's 2nd birthday party this last week! Will be coming back for a full post of the recipes and decoration tips just as soon as i get five minutes to sit down :D

You know when you crave cinnamon rolls, but not the hours that it takes to make?! well someone came up with a solution, not only super easy to make, but super yummy as well! I did not do the baking, and will not for the coming month since mommy is visiting in Luanda! She made this cake from the recipe over at  Chef in Training.   You will need: 3 cups flour 1/4 tsp. salt 1 cup sugar 4 tsp. baking powder 1 1/2 cups milk 2 eggs 2 tsp. vanilla 1/2 cup butter melted - TOPPING - 1 cup butter softened 1 cup brown sugar 2 Tbsp. flour 1 Tbsp. cinnamon - GLAZE - 2 cups powdered sugar (we only used 1 cup and it was more than enough!) 5 Tbsp. milk 1 tsp. vanilla Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 glass baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside. In an electric or stand mixer add the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Once combined well , slowly stir in the melted butter. Pour into the p

            March is here and it's packed with celebrations! My baby turned two last sunday! Mother's day and my mom is coming for a visit to Luanda!! Woohoo! So since my mom will be here later this month we decided to postpone his birthday party a couple of weeks, and I did a cake to celebrate on the day of his birthday. I made a number 2 cake, with a giraffe print, since he's all into animals and since he recently experienced a safari trip. We started off his day with a stack of yummy pancakes with sprinkles! For the number two cake, it's really simple, this is how I cut it out. I made two cakes, a round one and a loaf cake. I will post the recipe of the chocolate cake, because this is by far the best chocolate cake recipe you can have your hands on, the hersheys perfectly chocolate chocolate cake! So for the chocolate cake you will need 2 cups sugar 1-3/4 cups

  I think it's Luanda's only outdoor play area for kids of all ages and it is definitely worth a weekly visit from you no matter where you live in Luanda. The parc located in the Miramar area has an entrance fee of only 5 dollars and is suitable for kids of all ages.     It is equipped with outdoor play area for young children- the plastic houses, slides,.. - and for older kids you can find several jumping castles and an arena for renting electric cars.   Other options for rent for 5 $ for half an hour are small bicycles and cars. If you are in Luanda and have kids please do visit this park and I am sure you will be visiting it again and again. All the toys and the park all in all are very well maintained. A large seating area for parents with a café that serves refreshments and sandwiches is also available inside the park. And if you find any other entertainment for kids in Luanda, please share and let us know :)    

Write on someone's fcebook wall for their birthday or to congratulate them on any other occasion?? Thats so last year! Here's what we did this weekend since it was my sister's birthday, and since we are so far away , we sent her a personalized wall message by writing on our own backyard wall our wishes for her! How cute is that picture?? And it can work for any other message you want to send a special one, just write the message , take a picture and hit send!