Dizzy-Dee's deliciously delightful, dainty and dangerous, daring and dazzling dark dungeon…

Note the photo in the article above shows South America, while the heading over the image reads “South Africa“. Seems like there is some confusion in the US as to which continent exactly hosts the Soccer World Cup during 2010. Please be sure, if you do attend, that the plane tickets you buy takes you to the correct continent… Note: South Africa is a COUNTRY in the continent AFRICA. South America is a continent, which doesn’t have much to do with the soccer world cup hosting during 2010, except that some of the teams in COUNTRIES of that CONTINENT will be attending, and that perhaps a few American citizens might wind up there searching for the world cup due to this news report

To rub it in a bit more, here is a map showing the difference between AFRICA (On the right) and SOUTH AMERICA (On the left). Note again, South Africa is a COUNTRY, not a CONTINENT!

Original article can be found here

Its quite obvious that the companies that picked these names didn’t think about it twice, and most certainly did not consider the meaning it would have in other countries than their own!

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I recently got a comment on my post about the 5 minute chocolate cupcake, asking if I know of a substitute for egg. Although I have not tested this myself, I found the following options around the web. If you’re familiar with any of these please let us know whether they are successful or not!

What is a good substitute for eggs? Have a look at the options below – each option is equal to one egg. There are some of these which I would not recommend for microwave cooking. See all marked with * which are recommended.

• 2 tablespoons water mixed with 1 tablespoon oil, 2 teaspoons baking powder and 2 tablespoon cornstarch *

• 2 tablespoons arrowroot flour

• 2 tablespoons potato starch

• 1 heaped tablespoon soy powder, 2 tablespoons water

• 1 tablespoon soy milk powder, 1 tablespoon cornstarch & 2 tablespoons water

• 1/4 cup Apple / Banana puree (or any high pectin content fruit) *

• 1 tablespoon milled flax seed and 3 tablespoons water

• 1/4 cup tofu

If you have any additional suggestions which you know work well, please let us know!

I have been meaning to post for so long, and each time I start with something personal, but end up with something completely the opposite.
These days I find it so hard to share my real thoughts and feelings, since I know there are so many people reading this. People who know me! :O I probably don’t know about half the familiar faces which scan through h
here every now and again, and I have to admit its quite a daunting thought: writing things which are read in a spying type of way. I don’t like it at all
Sometimes I consider jotting down a proper rant about someone who sooo irritates me, but what if you will read it? What if you are reading this, and you know that I am talking about you?
I guess its a bit late for stage fright here, but I can’t seem to shake of the eerie feeling. The same feeling I get when I walk down the street by myself and feel like someone is watching me, following me. Creepy.
I’ve been encouraging people to blog the last while, but if I can give you any advice, do it anonymously – find some clever alias. Until you’re very very sure, don’t give away your identity, and don’t share your blog with too many people you have to face.
You may just one day want to write about them.

I am considering trying out a new theme for this blog. I know, I know, I should not, but I can’t help myself. I get bored with a theme really quickly. As soon as I can’t find anything more to improve on it, I grow tired of it

Anyone got any advice / suggestions? Vote on the poll in the sidebar

Sorry, but just a quick post today

Ingredients:

3 cups nonfat dry milk
4 cups sugar (if making butterscotch instant pudding mix, use packed brown sugar; otherwise, use white)
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups cornstarch
Flavoring (high-quality unsweetened cocoa, vanilla extract, lemon extract, etc.)

Instructions:

Mix dry ingredients (If you’re making chocolate pudding, add 2 1/2 cups of the unsweetened cocoa powder.  For other flavours that you’ll use liquid flavoring extracts, don’t add the flavoring now.  Add 2 table spoons cinnamon to instant pudding mix now, if you want to make Vanilla Cinnamon pudding

Store in an air-tight container until you’re ready to use (Zip-lock bags work well – just make sure you label it!)

To prepare, add 1/2 cup mix to two cups milk, mix in a saucepan over low heat, and stir constantly while boiling.

Once cool, add liquid flavouring extracts if needed, for instance 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract. (You could even add coconut extract)

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Homemade instant pudding mix is especially delicious with whipped cream on top!

I got new boots! How nice are they? You may wonder why the heck one would need furry boots in South Africa.  It never gets cold here, right?  WRONG!

I was on a call to someone in the UK recently, and she was so surprised to hear that the weather was miserable, cold & rainy last weekend.

For those of you who think we have sunshine and warm weather all the time, we don’t.  Our winters are not nearly as cold as in the UK, and we don’t get snow in Gauteng really, but other parts of SA get snow every winter!  Another reason why we dress a bit warmer than people in abroad is because our homes and offices are not nearly as well isolated, plus we don’t have central heating.  Resulting in very cold winters, indoors, and hot summers too.

We are lucky to have an aircon in our home, and obviously in the office too, which takes out the bite of winter and makes it much more bearable.

Still, I am ALWAYS feeling cold, so I needed nice warm winter boots, and I picked these with the help of hubby!

I found this handy tool which helps you locate images on Flickr of the same colour. You can choose one or more colours, and the images are then displayed according to your selection.

Start with a cage containing five monkeys.

Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water.

After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result – all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him.

After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.

Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that’s the way it’s always been done round here.

And that, my friends, is how company policies are made.

Original source unknown

I found this story so entertaining, and so very true. Probably the best explanation I’ve ever heard.