Recipes
What's Cooking Good Looking?
A few weeks ago Butch went off to the butcher to see what we could braai (barbecue), we regularly enjoy a steak, especially on Fridays. This time he returned with a Brazilian cut, PICANHA, recommended by the butcher. Tender, packed with flavour. Really hard to beat. Picanha is a cut of...
Greeky Portuguesy Chicken Espetadas
On Sundays, if we're at home and have a desire to take things easy we do chicken. Ring the changes by smothering large Espetadas in a delicious easy to prepare Greek-style yogurt dressing. Of course one can also use ordinary kebab or sosatie skewers too. Just soak the skewers in cold...
Suffusing My Senses In Siena
Most weekends, in fine weather, I enjoy a long walk along the cliff path in Onrus, I’m always touched by the names imprinted on plaques carefully laid in tiles dotted along the way. These tiles of remembrance are mostly dedicated to loved ones or pets. Sometimes it can be just a poem or...
Celebrating Effortless Summer Fare
I am so inclined to repeat my menus that it takes a luncheon with friends to inspire me to delve into old recipe books, files and faded food magazines, those I hoard. I always find inspiration as the clock ticks ever nearer and my “to do” list gets longer. Our guests arrived dressed to the...
Bang! My Bubble Burst
Like a shot in the dark. Unexpected, frightening and loud. That’s how 2017 set the standard. And look! A twelfth has almost gone, right before our very eyes. Fortunately I have no guilt feelings about not accomplishing one New Year’s resolution last year, I didn’t even try compiling a list for...
Simple Summer Salads With A Twist
When the sun beats down on the top of my head and I feel the need of a hat and sunnies know it’s time to dust off the platters and large salad bowls. I find pleasure in digging in the napery drawer, flinging out the florals, stripes and coloured linens, the worn check napkins in shades of...
Winning Winter Warmers
While we wallow with winter weather we wish-wash with water, wet, when willowy wind whistles.When we wake, winter withholds wondrously, while we wish weather would warm. Yes.I know. I'm trying my hand at alliteration. Reminds me of poetry slams with my son. This is the best I can do believe...
Stocking Up
In December all roads lead to Cape Town, Hermanus and Plettenberg Bay. But, in July, we take revenge and as soon as the school bags slam shut we flip our lids and head north to warmer climes, crossing the Orange River in droves as we migrate. Planning and packing the Engel (camping fridge) is...
Around The World In A Coffee Cup With A Storm Brewing
A whirlwind weekend wandering is possible from home, one just needs to know how. When the seasons change as they do every Easter weekend we have four seasons in a day. It’s hard to pack considering the weather. The only certainty is that it’s time for comfort food. We travelled the world...
Hot Chick Spicing Up The Kitchen
Winter food to spice up your life, add heat to your menu with colourful spices, bring out the tartness of Citrus with a saucy pudding, go tropical with a pod of Vanilla and pick up an exotic thread of Saffron. Wrap up snugly in rice paper and fry up some Spring Rolls. These multinational...
Lemons Lavender and Limoncello
Lemons are abundant now. Juicy, tart and full of goodness only knows how many Vitamins (I know C) to ward off winter coughs and colds. I’ll squeeze them, cut them, peel them, store them, preserve them and our house will be filled with that fresh, lemony sweetness. No garden should be without...
Tittilating Tantilizing Teasers
Are the delicious dishes that came out of our kitchen this weekend. Besides the spicy, fruity, home baked Hot cross buns I gobbled up as soon as the oven door opened and the dozens of Easter eggs that disappeared down the hatch we also enjoyed delicious starters, salads and desserts. Precious...
Beach Bunnies Make Waves
The sparkling wine on tap which has just been installed in Breë Street is the one I like best. For some reason I don’t fall for it but, this year I fell hook, line and sinker for a few April Fools jokes. Imagine the genius who could put DSTV out of business with his R99 subscriptions and...
Move Mundane to Make Magic
Easier said than done you may say. It takes a mind shift and will power to move something from mundane to magic, but it’s not impossible, look at the guy on stage, he uses a plain white handkerchief to produce a beautiful white dove. It's all in the magic we hold in our hands. Just read...
Friday My Day
The clock ticks, January draws to a close, not a day too soon either. It’s been a long month. A fortnight ago my bank balance passed zero. My tan’s faded and I’m not as diligent about counting calories anymore. Thank goodness its Friday my favourite day. To celebrate we’ll have dessert....
Scintillating Sunny Salads
It’s a mellow-yellow Saffron day, it’s hot, sticky and slightly sultry. I awoke with melons, songs and nasturtiums on my mind a Yellow song and it was Coldplay! A good theme for Thursday. This is a pedicure and cafe day. Provence is yellow, reminding me of Les Girls, pottery and...
Tuesdays are for no ordinary fish
“I love the way the color lavender smells, and the way the color salmon tastes. And if there were a color called “fur”, I’d like the way it feels”!–Jarod Kintz, This Book is Not FOR SALE Painting of Fishmonger at Fishmarket: Bartolomeo Passarotti - The fish stall If you’re a fisherman and...
Rhubarbs reign here, Miss Figgy and Aubergine - Plus Leg of Lamb on the barbecue, Roast Pork Belly, Seafood Salad
People very rarely change, and our nearly neighbours moved after a lifetime on the corner, quietly without making a fuss, not the slightest ripple on the pond, the only sign of their departure is their absence and the sense of loss the stately old homestead has taken on! No one is doing Thai-Chi...
Figs, Frogs and Red Onions
The countdown has begun, only seven sleepies to go! If the dining room is anything to go by, we’re going to need a pantechnicon to get us to Tofo. There's no doubt we're all fatigued at this time of the year, although it’s gone like a flash, and the year is just a memory. We’ve all had...
Ta-Ta-Ra-Ta Tarte Tartin
“A party without cake is just a meeting” ― Julia Child. Tarte Tatin is a classic French upside-down apple tart with caramelized sugar and flaky pastry, perfect for impressing guests or for enjoying at home. Every cook should take a cooking class at least once a year. Beyond being...
Open Secrets, Closed Books, and Fishy Tales
Speckled eggs, peanuts, and raisins with Mustard leaves and ginger are my new addictions; if I didn’t know better, I’d think something fishy was going on! I juggle the three, in no particular order, while I make a salad and think about Village life on a Saturday morning. I love the bunch...
Hydrangeas, Hot Chicks, and Old Favourites – Easy Chicken for the barbecue, Cheesy Garlic Bread, Marinated Red and Yellow Bell Peppers, Sandi’s Oriental Cabbage Salad
Hydrangeas are blooming in cotton-candy pink and lacy blue. My pecan tree is shedding its flowers, and my garden is swarming with bees, dragonflies, and frogs. It’s the old summer magic, and there’s no time to waste experimenting with new menus, which suits me just fine. Last night, the Queen...
Chocolate Champagne and Caviar - Sparkling Berry Cocktail, Blini's, Chocolate Timbale, Berry Compote, Almond Bread
These three C’s, Chocolate, Champagne, and Caviar, are the star attractions that inspire wise hosts to create an elegant, memorable festive table. “Happiness, simple as a glass of chocolate or torturous as the heart, Bitter. Sweet. Alive.” - Joanne Harris, Chocolat. Don't invite the usual...
Five Fish and Four French loaves - Beef Stroganoff and Mushroom Soup
Five fish and four baguettes won't cut it if you're planning on feeding a multitude. Here are a few basic recipes for everything divine. Double them up for a crowd. My motto is: Consistency is unimaginative, dress them up or pasta it down. Girls want to have fun, and preparing a meal must be...
Curry Flavour When It Rains In November
111 years ago on this day, my Grandmama was born. How the world has changed, the only thing that hasn’t is the rain! Bob Hope was also born in 1903, and Konrad Lorenz (Austrian Zoologist 1903-1989) said: "I have found the missing link between the higher ape and civilized man: It is we."...
Fashionable Food for Fabulous Fridays - Recipes for the weekend
Those are some of my favourite F words; fortunately, it was a good week, so I have no desire to stab someone with a cake fork. To celebrate the weekend, there’s nothing better than having fab food lined up, which won't keep you in the kitchen for hours. Try these when serving sundowners or...
Pass Lee's Age Rose Merry and Time - Orange Scented Oxtail Casserole
It’s snowing in Canada, and a fine mist covers my mountain. Comfort food is called for, which is perfect because it stews in its own juices while I dig spring out of my garden and prepare for summer. Clay pots will be filled with culinary herbs, including parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme....
Fat Plump October - DD's Christmas Cake
Now’s the time to get Grand’Mere off the shelf, dust her, and riffle through her pages to the two pages stuck together when I baked last year’s Christmas cake. It’s eight weeks to go, and that’s how long a cake needs to mature. This cake is an heirloom. This fact struck me like a blow to the...
Serenading Sundays – Recipes – Smokey Citrus Chicken, Pineapple and Mint Salsa, and For Dessert, easy Lemon Filling
More lyrics have been written about Sunday than any other day of the week, from Queen to Joni Mitchell. Here, Sundays are a day of worship, thankfulness, and rest. Panama hats, cheese cutters, and blazers, the old school tie, and Church Schools are still a firm favourite in our neck of the...
Cheese Souffles
There’s nothing nicer than waking up to a freshly mowed lawn, Cape White-eyes splashing in the birdbath, and that special feeling of well-being when the sun shines. Perfect Porcelain blooms cover rosebushes; I spot the neighbour’s cat unwinding himself from his scratch-pole. All this calls for...
Green Mango Salad
The sing-song voices of ladies walking and the chitter-chatter of birds wake me up on quiet mornings. Summer's here; it's flip-flop-sunhat season, and we need refitting for the beach. Salad days are back, and the fresh summer fruits and vegetables are perfectly timed to appear on our shelves....
Lemon Grass and Turmeric Chicken Skewers
When the sun shines, and evenings are balmy we have the perfect reason to have a midweek celebration, light a fire, and barbecue something easy, fragrant, and delicious. Sip cold, crisp, green Sauvignon Blanc and listen to evening sounds. LEMON GRASS TURMERIC CHICKEN SKEWERS (This recipe has...
Be Thankful it's Baked Pumpkin Pie
Here, it's summer blue, sun-yellowed, gentle days, which is a reminder of the harsh weather many ex-pats are going into. Celebrate a table laden with the essence of summer with a joyful Thanksgiving. BAKED PUMPKIN PIE - South African style. 125g butter 200ml sugar 3 eggs, beaten...
Zucchini and Oregano Quiche
Celebrate the days getting longer and warmer with a family favourite. Serve a crisp green salad and Citrus Vinaigrette Dressing. Don't forget to pack a bottle of Bubbly and Strawberries. PASTRY 500g Flour 2,5ml Salt 1,2ml Paprika 250g Butter 250ml Cheddar Cheese, grated 125ml...
Meditteranean Baked Tomato Salad
Nothing beats a beautiful, plump, sun-kissed, bright red Rosa Tomato. Using fresh, high-quality tomatoes ensures the best flavour, which is key to making this recipe a success. In our house, they're a staple, and this recipe is a winner for its versatility and simplicity. Use a variety of...
Herb Crusted Pork Neck
Be bold and ring the changes with this simply delicious de-boned Pork neck. The fresh herb crust is versatile and can be used successfully with either fresh fish or chicken breasts. Lemon zest adds zing. I have used this recipe for pork chops, and the coating is perfect for the meat side of a...
The Best Carrot Cake Ever
This cake has been a favourite for 30 years; I baked it for church fetes, school bazaars, birthday parties, tea parties, and family get-togethers, and it was a staple in our home. It's comforting and brings back fond memories, encouraging you to try baking it yourself. 3 Extra-large eggs...