#chefli

1 pack Tennis Biscuits (finely crushed)

1 can Caramel Treat (lightly warmed)

6 Fresh Bananas

250ml Creme Chantilly (sweetened whipped cream with vanilla)

1. Lay whiskey glasses out. Place 2-3 tablespoons of Tennis Biscuit crumbs at the bottom of the glass. Followed by the slightly warmed Caramel Treat then the banana then the creme chantilly.

Definition of intention - a thing intended; an aim or plan, the healing process of a wound, conceptions formed by directing the mind towards an object.

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about intention and the actual power behind it. I know we’ve probably all heard of the concept of the power of the mind which is great, but what is it really about? Not many actually understand what all that means, so I’m going to try and break it down according to my own understanding. Firstly, I believe that vision and intention go hand in hand, it is paramount to establish what your vision is so that you can marry it to the concept of intention. Simply put, when you know where you are going, it’s easier to lay out the blue print for the foundation phase. Once your vision and intentions have been set in place in your mind, you will start to find yourself in the right places at the right time, attracting the right people to help your vision come to pass. 

I can definitely attest to this theory because when I was younger, I had no cooking clue who I was or what I wanted and as a result, I ended up lost and confused. I got caught up in so many things trying to navigate through life, I went through all sorts of growing pains, depression, anxiety, anorexia & even contemplated suicide. It actually breaks my heart sometimes when I think about the intricacies of the human spirit. If you don’t know what you’re here for, you end up getting lost in all your thoughts and end up being dissatisfied and indifferent about everything. I don’t know what it is about the human psyche that has us craving for something more, something beyond here & now. We crave to know the magic & mysteries of our existence. We crave to have something to live for, something to worship and its a beautiful thing. I am so grateful that I live in a country where I have the freedom to explore who I am in every way I can. 

There’s so much to learn out there and I want to encourage my readers to be brave, do not be afraid to search high & low until you find yourself. We all come into this world pure & fearless but because of circumstance, we all end up broken & incomplete. However, I’ve got some good news for you, there IS HOPE & you can overcome every insecurity, every weakness and every short fall that you have to face, we were made to win and lose some of our battles but the war within yourself is meant to be won. Its all up to YOU child of the earth, we all have a choice it’s either you get burned by the fire or you become the fire. Find that thing that fuels you and constantly feeds your soul, that’s when your true power will begin to manifest. 

Many of you don’t know this but I am actually half Malagasy (Betsileo) and half South African (Zulu). My mother is native to Madagascar and my Dad is a South African. I was born in Madagascar and I that’s where I actually started learning the art of culinary. The Island is so beautiful, filled with hundreds of types of precious stones but its literally forgotten by most of the world. I kind of like it that way, its peaceful and untouched by the greedy hands of mankind. The only thing that makes me uncomfortable is the political turmoil that the country has been going through for over a decade now but I believe that things will work out some day.

Life was great but one day, my dear Father said that we had to leave Madagascar to come and live here in South Africa, I must have been 6 years old at the time. I was distraught because I had to leave everything I loved behind but I was excited at the same time, I was looking forward to my new adventure in the City of Gold. Yes these were my thoughts as a 6 year old, I’ve always been an imaginative person, I have always loved literature (Malagasy & French) and learned how to read at age 3 according to my awesome Mother. We arrived a few months after my Father’s announcement but my excitement soon died out because when I started going to primary school, I had to start from grade 1 because I could not speak a word of English, I was so mad but I was determined to learn, thank God I was at the right age for grade 1 though.  

Primary school was really tough for my sister and I, the children were so nasty and mean to us because we weren’t fully South African and could not speak the language. We were constantly being bullied and humiliated for being different, I couldn’t understand why. But God blessed me with two wonderful friends called Thuli Mathabela & Lerato Boikanyo, they were the only ones who accepted me the way I was and helped me learn English so that I could communicate. I got so inspired that I began reading every single book I could get my hands on and I also watched Generations for the subtitles! LOL, those were the good ol’ days. I am still very good friends with Thuli to this day (21 years later) but we lost contact with Lerato along the way.

As the years passed by, we got to grade 4 and they started teaching us about apartheid and the history of South Africa, I got the shock of my life because I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as race. My whole world changed in one moment, I started to see people differently and I began to understand why the other children could not accept someone who is different from them. Our history is full of darkness and the mentality that their parents formed as a result of their despair got passed on to the children. 

Life got less depressing as time went on because I began to understand certain things a lot better, I became immune to the teasing and I also earned my title as one of the top scholars in school. I learned that there is always at least one person who will love and accept me for who I am. No one could tear me down anymore because I became strong on the inside, I finally understood that there is so much more to me than meets the eye. The same applies to YOU.

Hope you enjoyed this post! 

Freshly baked Sweet Potatoes garnished with Alfalfa