2017 May 31
This issue
is specialized ... not everyone will like it ... some are allergic to it ...
but if you do like GINGER ... this is an issue to print and keep.
One of my friends
Rosa turned 83 in May ... and she absolutely adores ginger! Friends were
invited to a decadent tea party at her house ... petit fours, scones with cream
and jam, hummingbird cake (unfortunately I discovered that too late ...
apparently it was real mouth-humming), white crust-less cucumber sandwiches,
miniature milktarts made by another friend Pam, sausage rolls and a few other
yummies. I usually try to make a small gift basket for Rosa with all
things ginger ... this time I bought a gingerbread candle (smells divine!),
lemongrass and ginger hand wash and hand cream, Dischem gluten-free miniature
ginger biscuits, a small jar of my homemade ginger jam and I topped this all of
with a GIGANTIC fresh ginger root!!!
The ginger
jam is fabulous! And easy to make ... and a perfect gift for a
ginger-lover. There’s some cookies, a ginger loaf and muffins.
Remember if
you’re gluten-intolerant ... PLEASE do not just discard my recipes that used
normal flours. Just use the gluten-free ones.
If you’ve
run out of ideas for the guy in your life - http://www.xcentricideas.co.za/images/2006/XCentric%20Ideas%202006%20Issue%206.pdf
We are
almost halfway through this year ... and I do think in South Africa we’re in
for a brrrrrr winter .... although our days in Johannesburg are fabulously
sunny and bright, the mornings and evenings definitely force you into jackets,
jerseys, coats, scarves and gloves.
Thanks for
all your emails ... always love to hear your stories and news.
Keep warm
in the month of June – Woolworths have bottles of Gluhwein with a little red
scarf around the bottle neck ... soooo cute!
CHATTIER VERSION ..
Thanks for
all the lovely compliments about my more chattier email version!!! I
always love to share our experiences with you all ... and to inspire you to try
new places and food. Remember if you share a computer, print out this
email so that you can read it at leisure. And honestly ... maybe you
should print this anyway cause I think this will be really really chatty ...
So ...
nestle in among blankets, hold onto that warm drink and travel with me
through our month of May’s experiences:
On Sunday 7
May 2017 we had lunch plans in Centurion ... but luckily realized that a bicycle
race will have most roads closed. Quickly thinking of another venue, we
decided on Die Ou Pastorie, Hartbeespoortdam (the old rectory) - https://www.dieoupastorie.com/ - it’s quite close to the Van Gaalen cheese
farm. An old farmhouse settled into lovely gardens with huge trees, a
verandah that wraps around the house and another area for parties. It was
the most glorious day in Johannesburg ... open skies, bright sunshine and we
relished driving out to Hartbeespoort.
Most tables
were underneath the trees and what a surprise ... live music! And not
just any ole music ... Philippe Abalovi. A guy playing the guitar and singing French songs ...
my goodness, he is seriously good!!!!!!!!! It was just the perfect
background to our lunch. Service was a bit slow and our tummies were
rumbling, but the food arrived and we tucked in. There was beef and wine
pie ... real good, but with only a small side salad and no starches, a bit
pricey.
The pork belly was served with wonderful-looking vegetables, but
also a bit pricey.
Hein had the Gourmet Steak Roll ... it was good.
I had the ‘Chilli Bomb’ – chicken livers in sauce with chillies and toasted
baguette slices. Divine! We had ice cream with chocolate sauce and
I had the Mozart Cake ... really really good!
Everyone was so relaxed with the French songs and yummy food.
Check their website ... they have special accommodation rates upcoming.
Also they have different musicians performing on a regular basis.
On 12 May 2017,
a few lady friends had lunch at Ocean Basket (Brightwater
Commons). Luckily it’s still one of the few places still open at the
Brighwater Commons, although I heard that a movie crew is opening offices
there, so maybe that will inject some new life into that center.
But back to
Ocean Basket ... they are constantly updating their menu ... I really liked the
look of Trout with clam sauce ... the battered prawn tails was yum ... there
was a Halloumi vegetable salad ... blackened fish (it looked amazing). I
had veg fashion sandwishes from the Sushi menu. I also really liked the
‘tiny treats’ on the menu ... no, it’s not for the kids ... it’s desserts
served in a glass and it looked great ... sadly between glasses of wine and
soft drinks and fabulous food we didn’t find space for the
treats. I’ve also got an email from Ocean Basket and
now they have ‘smoked snoek soup’ as a starter!!!! My goodness, cannot
wait to try that!!!!
Empty
the freezer and pantry ... on a regular basis Hein and I decide we will empty the freezer and
pantry. We buy staples like bread and veg, but the main dish has to be
from the freezer and/or pantry. And it really is amazing how often you
forget what’s in your freezer/pantry! I got quite creative with the meals
and at long last we saw the bottom of our freezer trays. We had some
frozen pofadder (chopped and spiced liver in a sausage casing) but we didn’t
feel like bbq-ing it. So I defrosted these ‘pofadders’, removed the
outside casings, mixed the chopped liver with egg, bread crumbs and a bit more
spices, formed balls and baked it in the oven.... sort of like liver cakes
(lewerkoekies). It was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last week
Hein went to Cape Town for business and on Wednesday I decided to drive to Fournos
Dunkeld West (http://www.fournos.co.za/find-us-map.php?id=6) for lunch. I absolutely love
this Fournos ... there’s always a real good vibe and its always busy ... in a
good way. You walk inside and the tables with sweet temptations are
begging you to grab one ...
but I was strong. I like to sit inside (next
to the freshly baked breads ... yeah, I’m so not on Banting)
and I couldn’t
decide between pancakes stuffed with duck and served with orange sauce (had it
before, delectable!) or a breakfast item of “Mustard Chicken Livers”. I chose
the latter ... had it before and it was sooooooooooo good!!!!!
Chicken
livers smothered in a creamy mustard sauce with dots of basil pesto and served
on your choice of bread (I chose a toasted croissant). Their cappuccinos
are also strong and with a nice velvet top and are served with a tiny
biscuit.
My
jersey ... yes I
finished it but I really didn’t like the pattern the wool created ... a mixture
of cream, brown and olive green, but it came out ‘stripey’. The pattern
was in stocking stitch and I also didn’t really like it ... overall I found the
jersey to be a bit ‘manly’. But when I finished the sleeves (or I thought
I did), I took it back to Kismet Yarns (Deco Park) and the really helpful lad
‘Petros’ saw that I didn’t shape the sleeves at the top (they call it raglan
... but they didn’t say sleeve raglans) .. anyway I did that and then it was
the task of sewing the sides together and the sleeves ... yikes!!!! I’m
not a big fan of that, I can tell you.
I gave the
jersey to Ann Harding Home and started another jersey ... using thinner yarn
and thinner knit needles. The yarn was on special at Kismet Yarns (500g
for R100!) and it was a riot of bright colors – think Joseph’s coat. I
also decided I’m just going to use ‘knit’ stitch ... knitting it went quite
quick and then I had sewn up the sides of the jersey and probably took a day of
figuring out how to fit the sleeve into the hole! Also I had to think of
‘inside’ and ‘outside’ ... but I managed. Because I’ve used a thinner
yarn and needle, the jersey fitted much better than the 1st
one.
I knitted
with these blue needles ... can’t remember what they’re called, but they’re
really ‘slippery’ and also 35 cm long, not 30 cm. And makes this annoying
click-click sound when you knit. I bought the needles the Wednesday and 2
days later on the Friday, I took them back and asked if I could just replace
them with normal aluminum 30 cm needles. No. No way. I was
absolutely flabbergasted!!!! I had the original package the needles had,
the slip ... I asked why and they couldn’t give me a good answer. I said:
‘well, its not like its underwear that I’m returning!’ heehee. So I
gave the needles with the jersey to Ann Harding Home too. I’m busy with
another jersey ... this one in shades of olive green and had to finish the last
sleeve and neck. It looks really good so far, actually the colour I
wanted from the beginning. Another 5-pack of yarn is waiting for me too
... dark red and black ... busy, busy, busy.
Smoking
on the weber ...
yes, the Weber normally does smoke your food, but we wanted to experiment with
wood chips ... So last Saturday Pork hocks was put into a casserole with baby
potatoes, carrots, onions and tomatoes and steamed for 2 hours in the
oven. Then we took Hickory chips, soaked them in water and threw them on
briquettes on the sides of the Weber – not the center part. Removed the
pork hocks from the casserole (kept the veggies in the oven) and smoked the
pork for another hour. It was meltingly soft and the smokiness was
awesome! The next day we put hickory chips on briquettes again but this
time had a whole chicken on the Weber. Although the smoke does make the
skin real dark, the smokiness is not overwhelming but is really good.
Hein
sometimes pop up with some ‘craves’ ... aniseed rusks, but soft
(mosbolletjies) ... I had a look at our local Pick ‘n Pay but their
‘mosbolletjies’ was looking real sad. Luckily I had a glance at the
recipe so I thought I’ll just make some. I halved the recipe ingredients
and when it was all mixed up, I pinched off a small piece and ate it ... and it
was EXACTLY how I remembered it to be. Baked it and wow!!!!
Unfortunately Hein was still at work, but I had a piece of soft aniseed rusk
with butter.... fantastic!!! Crusty outside and soft inside. I
wasn’t planning on drying the rusks, but then Hein left for Cape Town the next
day and I thought ... let’s just dry them. They were a little bit darker
than the ones from the shop, but crispy and that taste ... priceless!
If you like
strong Cheddar cheese ... Checkers has this AMAZING cheese ... its
from England, called Wyke Farm cheese ... this one is Smoked Mature Cheddar
with Paprika (but one can’t taste the paprika), but the cheese is strong and
smoky .... absolutely fantastic!!!!!!!!! And not pricey at all.
Checkers is the only shop that stocks this cheese ....
Also Mrs
Balls has a new product ... Jalapeno Chutney. A sweet chutney with
a nice kick to it. You’ll find this at most Pick ‘n Pays, Spar, Checkers.
Boskruin
centre has this restaurant, Nineteen69 – it’s decor is classic!
All the walls are papered with newspaper articles from 1969 ...
it really is
interesting sitting there and reading it all. But if you like tapas-style
food ... this is the place to try. Really really reasonable prices, good
portions and fabulously good! They have a ‘build your own platter’ on the
menu .. most of the items are priced between R40 and R50 ... 6 sticky
chicken wings; potato skins with cream cheese, cheese, guacamole; pork
ribs; meatballs; halloumi; chicken livers served in a focaccia
basket! I mean really? Their food is different and fantastic!
They also have jaffles! It was goooooood! And for sides ...
zucchini fries. It really is worth it! https://www.zomato.com/johannesburg/nineteen69-boskruin/menu#food
Pizza
del forno has a few
branches, but not over the country ...( http://www.pizzadelforno.co.za/#home.html) I’ve had their Oreos Nutella
pizza before, but I also had their ‘forest berry shortbread sundae’.
What a clever way for a real quick dessert!!!!!!! You need vanilla ice
cream (frozen yoghurt), berry sauce (or jam) and broken pieces of
shortbread. Layer it in a glass and top with whipped cream if you
want. It’s not overly sweet, but soooo good! Of course you can do
this with Greek Yoghurt too.
Peppermint
Crisp tart was
another one of Hein’s craves the other day ... but I wasn’t going to make a
WHOLE peppermint crisp tart (who will eat it?) and I couldn’t find a single
portion at our Pick ‘n Pay (yes, I know Woolworths has them, but I didn’t pop
in there). So Monday night Hein went to gym after work and arrived back
with a steaming cappu for me and a piece of cake ... Mugg & Bean.
And what was the cake you ask???? A Peppermint Crisp Cake! Its
actually really clever (and of course immediately my brain was thinking up more
ideas ...)
This
creation had a cookie crumb base, then layer of Peppermint Crisp Tart filling,
a layer of vanilla cake, more Peppermint Crisp Tart filling, topped with
caramel and pieces of cookies. Not too sweet at all!!! And
delicious!!! So now I’m thinking ... what if one does the same with lemon
meringue filling and vanilla cake .....
So many
ideas ...
And lastly
... if you’re having an upcoming birthday and you really really don’t want any
gifts, this is what to do:
Go to your
local retirement home frail care / orphanage / SPCA .... ask them what they
need ... and ask you guests to donate that for your birthday party. On
our 45th bday we did that ... I talked to the matron of Golden
Harvest no 2 retirement home and she said: knee blankets, socks, scarves,
etc. We received so many knee blankets, chocolates, socks, scarves and
plants ... it was a brilliant donation to the retirement home.
I do
believe I’ve finished all my tales ... will probably remember something else as
soon as I send this email ... hope you had a lovely read and that you’re
jumping in your car to buy some of these amazing goodies!!!
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