JFC (Jwara Fried Chicken)

First time making my own bread crumbs👏👏👏👏. I knocked over the first batch and my niece had to clean the floors for me. I was a mess, I legit wanted to cry.
So I had to dry the bread slices in the oven and then grate them into smaller pieces. I then added aromat, cumin and coriander powder and crushed it further in the food processor. I seasoned the wings with salt and pepper.
I then egg washed the chicken wings and crumbed them. Let them sit for a bit and then deep fried until they looked and smelled like perfection.
Oh so yum! Even my picky eaters (mommy and Mbelukazi) wanted seconds. I count this as a win!!!
#feelingchuffed #freerangechicken #deepfried #yummy #yum #yummyeats #chickenwings #chicken #yummylicious #deliciously_sa #delicious #foodbloggers #tastyfoods #foodgasm #instaeatssouthafrica #southafricanfoodies #food24_sa #icook #homechef #cookathome #foodies #foodiesofinstagram #foodgram #foodiesofsa

Lot number 3, my childhood home

My childhood home. My dad's grandfather uSampula (Mgwabashe's last born) decided to give him this site, coz the 'powers that be' had refused to give my dad a plot.
In the days that followed, a group of men came to confront my dad about his new stand, wanting to give it to someone else who had asked for it previously.
Seeing this whole thing unfold, khokho Sampula joined the discussion and put his foot down and nobody dared to challenge him.
That's why gogo MaCele, mkhulu Menzelwa, Mkhulu Merco, Auntie Bongiwe, Bab'Busani will always be in our hearts.
We used to endure the singing and drumming of amazion for the entire Easter Tridium when Mkhulu Menzelwa was still alive. He was a giant, enebandla elikhulukazi!
#Jwara #Sjekula #grateful #family #land #Lot3

Happiness is an inside job

For the longest time I was extremely unhappy and in my head, everything had to line up perfectly and go smoothly before I could afford myself the indulgence of happiness. Looking back at this now I see how foolish I was to think and even believe such.
When my life was 'holistically' falling apart, work was a battlefield, church was unfortunately where I worked, home was even worse, money was beingssucked into a bottomless pit (aka a penthouse flat, which I had bought as an investment), love life was a stress I couldn't fully commit myself to on top of everything else. So, I found myself having to divorce God from the church and push away the love of my life in case he couldn't support me in the way I expected him to. I am a complicated person or as my former friend and former mentor Tshepo would say, I am indeed 'hectic'.

When I thought I had hit rock bottom, I soon discovered that I could still plunge deeper, and even deeper I plunged. Until one day I decided that I was just gonna be happy or at least pretend to be. Armed with my antidepressants and verbal diarrhea I became louder and I laughed deeper. I ditched my introversion and acted extremely extroverted. I focused on my work deliverables and tried daily to dodge trouble. Oh but trouble followed me, it loves me. I prayed harder. Enlisted the support of colleagues and friends.
We would have our own morning prayer upstairs in our office whilst the whole building went down to the chapel for Holy Mass. We didn't care for the snares, judgements and scoffs. We ate out almost everyday. Donuts, fried chicken and pizza were our preferred poison.
I must say though that during this time, I knew I could count on Sr Phuthunywa Siyali to listen to my many problems and give wise advice and we often found plenty of tissues and words of encouragement from Fr Paul Tatu. I honestly don't know what would have become of my faith had these two angels not been there.
I also found that a glowing skin and bright lipstick did wonders to uplift my mood, so I went crazy with my skin care routine and it showed.
I got inspiration from Cece Olisa to join airbnb as a host and make money on the side from my oh so expensive property. To my surprise, it worked. I got some financial relief. I remember when I was renting out my own bedroom and would have to store my personal belongings in Ntlantla and Sihle's room and I often asked Sihle to co-host guests as I would maje myself scarce during the days when my room was booked. I quite enjoyed this actually!

I was able to create a new normal, where I focused on the task at hand and on finding solutions without getting too emotional about the problem and focusing on the cause. I still could and often did throw my toys out of the cot when the situation warranted. Make no mistake, this Zulu woman from rural KZN is nobody's doormat.
At the beginning of this journey of finding or rather creating happiness within, I recorded this video, which I am very glad to share with you: https://youtu.be/k77CTF4hK58

Until next time.
Ciao! 😘

In Studio with my niece

She's standing right next to me as I type this, and her words are "don't write about me". Ok then lil' girl. I won't write about you. I'll just upload this video. Please click on this link (https://youtu.be/XhRVQpdH16w) if the video doesn't play automatically.

Ciao!

Stay at home and sing along with my brother Mthobisi Owen Jwara

My Childhood BFF

This post is long overdue!

I wanna do shout outs and dedications as and when I feel compelled to. So, a few weeks ago there was a news story about a teacher that smacked a black girl across the face in class. A lot transpired as one followed that story and for me it brought back memories of my childhood that I would much rather forget.
This got me thinking about the people who were there for me, who were able to nurse me to wellness when I was going through abuse. If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw the story below already but I wanted to share it here also. @meujwara is my Instagram and twitter handle, just FYI.

I posted her in my IG story and touched a little bit on my 7 years of hell(I mean top notch education).
Her name is Sphindile Msane, she is a gifted vocalist (google iThemba LamaKhatholika). She is a kind and caring person. An extrovert with a heart of gold.
She is a child of God (a born again mzalwane), I only wish I could be brave like her.
She is out here saving souls.

She was my shield for the entire duration of our sisterly friendship.
I honestly cannot remember how we became friends, all I remember is that we were inseparable.
I always had my elbow on her shoulder. One time I cracked a boiled egg on her forehead (true story!).
We always celebrated each other's birthdays together, just the two of us under those big blue gum trees at St Nivard's Combined Primary School.
She was always neat, clean and on point, the same cannot be said about me unfortunately.
I remember, she always had those colorful soft facial tissues in her pockets...

She would start hymns at assembly and save us all a beating. If she was absent from school, we all just knew that we had beatings coming our way, because nobody else was brave enough to start songs in front of the whole school.
Our circle gradually grew as we entered senior primary.

It was a rough time for me, from verbal abuse because of my weight and skin tone (mostly from teachers) to being denied the opportunity to participate in the Olympiads even though we qualified (simply because we didn't look the part, we attended school barefooted... A story for another day), to being asked to go from class to class to show teachers my infected burn wounds and to the minor and major physical assaults I endured at that God-forsaken school.

This girl was there by my side. Even when a 15 year old classmate had threatened to beat our 10yr old asses up after school, we ran from her together.
What was even sweeter is that even on weekends, we would see each other at church. On occasion we would have church outings, oh those were some fun times.
I just wanted to honor my dear friend today and thank her for being who she is and for allowing herself to be used by God.

Fascinated by Christmas decorations!

I must say that thee best part of the festive season for me was all the wonderful Christmas decorations and lights!
I had wanted to share these on this blog earlier but I was not in the right space to do it...A topic for another blog post!

The Pavillion Shopping Centre in Westville, Durban did not disappoint! The bows did it for me!

These cute glasses were at St John's Centre, the optometrist there had the best decorations in the whole of Pinetown. I did the legwork, trust me!

King Shaka International Airport!!!

Bursting with Zulu pride, the decorations at my hometown airport were the best I have ever seen. This is a bold statement and I stand fully behind it.
Zulu-pride aside, just look at how gorgeous it was: