Raven in South Africa

#RavinInSA - Raven is in the house

Judging by the screams of all the excited fans last, Disney Raven's Home is a much loved series in most South African homes.  Raven-Symoné was at the SA premiere of Season 2 of Disney Channel’s Raven’s Home. The series, starring Raven-Symoné, premieres weekdays on Disney Channel (DStv Channel 303) from next week Monday, 8 October at 16:50. We got to see the first two episodes, and there's going to be a surprise for the fans. A welcome surprise... (That's all we are allowed to say for now.)

Disney Descendants - new Anti-Heroes who become Heroes! - starts in September

The new Disney Descendants movie will premiere on Friday, September 18 at 17:00 CAT on Disney Channel (DStv Channel 303)

We were fortunate enough to attend the Premiere on Saturday and it did not disappoint. I was a bit apprehensive (not much) about taking Little Miss along as she is only 6, and was afraid that the theme would be over her head, or that it would be too dark!

Luckily Disney always takes the whole family (from toddlers to kids to tweens to the parents) into consideration with their story-lines and Little Miss enjoyed it as much as her Mom did! I even had to wipe away a few tears! (But that's just me!)
The whole family will enjoy this!

The characters are believable and funny and witty and charming! Their coming-of-age life encounters as well as living up to their parental as well as peer expectations are extremely well done!
I can see that Little Miss is already hooked on the character of Mal, Maleficent's daughter, who makes the choice for good (as with the rest of them) in the movie!

Disney Descendants Movie Premiere photo op earlier #DisneyAfrica - girls (2-80) love it!

A photo posted by Karen Du Toit (@karentoittoit) on Aug 22, 2015 at 8:56am PDT

"Bad Apples" 

Smoke fun! 

At Ill Grande at Montecasino

The food was divine!

(Spot the Bloggers ;-) )

The story:

The story, set in the idyllic kingdom of Auradon, playfully presents the unexpected possibilities of what happens after the "happily ever after."  As it unfolds, Ben, the benevolent teenage son of the King and Queen (Beast and Belle from "Beauty and the Beast"), is poised to take the throne. His first proclamation is to offer a chance at redemption to Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay, the trouble-making offspring of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Cruella de Vil and Jafar, who have all been sequestered on the forbidden Isle of the Lost for 20 years. These villainous descendants are allowed into Auradon for the first time to attend prep school alongside the teenage progeny of Fairy Godmother, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Mulan. Only time will tell if these evil teens follow in the footsteps of their wicked parents.

                                                                            Info: Disney


Related post:

- Win - Premiere tickets to Disney Descendants, a Disney Channel Original Movie

Winnie the Pooh coming to Disney Junior from Sunday 24 May - watch to win a Winnie the Pooh soft toy!

Winnie the Pooh to premiere on 24 May on Disney Junior (DStv Channel 309).

Who does not love the cute Bear who's tummy is always rumbling for honey?! I did not knew him when I was little as we did not have access to the Afrikaans translation at that stage. But I have been enjoying and reading Winnie the Pooh with both my daughters.

There's nothing quite like a Winnie the Pooh quote:

"Some people care too much. I think it's called love.” 

           “It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?”  

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Please watch the first episode Springtime with Roo at one of the following time slots to be able to win one of five 61cm Winnie the Pooh soft toy (teddy bears) next week. I will ask a question about the episode next Monday, and five people will be able to win.

(Open to South African readers only)

Disney Junior (DStv Channel 309):
Sunday 24 May
Springtime with Roo: 10:25 – 11:15 (Premiere)
Sunday 24 May
Springtime with Roo: 15:30 – 16:25 (Premiere)

Monday 01 June 2015: 

Back-to-back episodes will be running

 CET

12:30

12:45

12:55

13:20

13:45

Did you know the following about Winnie the Pooh?

10 Facts about Winnie The Pooh:

1.  Winnie the Pooh was brought to life on Christmas Eve in 1925 when the first Pooh story, written by AA Milne, was published in the London Evening News. (Source: approved factsheet)

2. The story was based on a bedtime story read by AA Milne to his son, Christopher Robin. (Source: approved factsheet)

3. The first Winnie the Pooh book, simply named Winnie the Pooh, was published in October 1926. Now We Are Six followed in 1927 and House at Pooh Corner was published in 1928. (Source: approved factsheet)

4. A first edition of Winnie the Pooh was sold for $13,200 at Christie’s of New York on 18 November 1988. (Source: The Brilliant Career of Winnie the Pooh by Ann Thwaite)

5. Having been published in October 1927, Now We Are Six sold 94,000 copies in England by Christmas that year, overtaking the original Winnie the Pooh story. (Source: The Brilliant Career of Winnie the Pooh by Ann Thwaite)

6. After 80 years of friendship and adventure, Winnie the Pooh has become a worldwide favourite with mothers and children of all ages, with near universal familiarity among mothers with children aged 2-5. (Source: approved factsheet)

7. The characters in AA Milne’s stories are based on toys once owned by his son. The original stuffed toys are now kept in New York Public Library. (Source: approved factsheet)

8. The original Pooh bear was bought in Harrod's department store and given by AA Milne to his son Christopher Robin on his first birthday, 21 August 1921. He was called Edward Bear at the time.  (Source: www.nypl.org, New York Public Library website)

9. Christopher Robin named his stuffed bear Winnie the Pooh after a Canadian bear that his father took him to see at London Zoo (Winnie) and a swan near the family's country home (Pooh). (Source: approved factsheet)

10. The Canadian bear at London Zoo got her name from the Canadian town of Winnipeg and was taken to London Zoo on a long loan in 1914 by Harry Colebourn, a soldier in the First World War. (Source: The Brilliant Career of Winnie the Pooh by Ann Thwaite)

Clover Little Big Cook Off launches for a second season, and meeting a Mama Afrika

I was invited to the launch of the new season of Clover Little Big Cook Off at the Longmeadow Piano Lounge and Restaurant at Montecasino Boulevard.

The Clover LBCO was such a huge success last year that they are planning to build on the winning recipe of last year!

Martin Kobald, Coco Reinarhz and Zuraida Jardine
(photo supplied by Clover)

The new season will air from June 2015 and include another 13 main episodes with celebrity chef judges Martin Kobald and Coco Reinarhz and fellow judge and host of the show Zuraida Jardine. The show will be on SABC 3 at 16:30 on a Sunday. Entries for Season 2, as well as daily cash prizes will open on 15 January 2015.

All you have to do to win a daily cash prize of R1000 is to buy two Clover products.

The show features parent and child teams competing a-la Masterchef style. Zuraida Jardine spoke about how valuable the interaction between parents and their children are when participating in a cooking process, and not only on the television show, but at home as well!

It was a lot of fun for some of the children yesterday making cupcakes, and painting their aprons.

Cupcake creations done by the children

Apron painting

Children with their snack creations

Making milkshakes

Milkshake tasting

I was impressed to hear about the Mama Afrika project. Mama Shirley was there with some of her kids and to say thanks for the empowerment the project has given them.

Mama Shirley

Clover has been running the Clover Mama Afrika project for over 10 years. It follows the spirit of Ubuntu – ‘I am who I am because of who we all are’ – and upholds the values of community, growth and mutual support. The ‘Mamas’ make up the heart of the programme and they pass on their learnings to care for the most vulnerable members of society such as orphaned and abused children, those impacted by HIV/Aids and the elderly.
“The Clover Mama Afrika programme teaches the Mamas relevant and useful skills who in turn transfer these skills to fellow community members.” says Sherian King, marketing manager for Dairy at Clover. “As of December 2014 we had 40 Mamas caring for over 15, 500 children collectively and more than 2 500 elderly. It is a remarkable success and one that we are incredibly proud of.”
The Mamas and their families learn about the importance of cooking and making food together in theirdaily activities. Adults and children alike learn about the nutritional values of food while learning to make bread, a staple ingredient in their mealtimes, as well as other great baked goodies. Each Mama learns how to make other nutritional meals to keep her families healthy and happy, with fresh ingredients pulled straight from their food gardens. The self-sustaining Clover Mama Afrikacommunity is taught to grow their own food in their food gardens, as well as other basic life skills including, sewing, quilting, flower arrangement, hairdressing, crocheting, beadwork, art, basic first aid and how to manage finances. All activities bring the community not only intellectual wealth, but also financial as each activity can bring income into the centres.

Clover is also to release the new The Clover Little Big Cook Off Recipe Book, with recipes from Season 1, tips and hints in how to make cooking easier and making the most out of Clover's products. I got one of these! (Very nice and easy recipes !)

Clover Little Bog Cook Off Recipe Cook Book
(photo supplied by Clover)

A Cook with Clover app is also going to be launched very soon:

"It will be an interactive space for consumers to search for new recipes, build shopping lists for desired meals and share favourite recipes with friends and family."

For further information visit http://www.clover.co.za/clover-at-a-glance