My stuff your face weekend

A weekend away for me = A weekend of me eating non stop. It's quite amazing actually. From chips, to braai food, chocolates, biscuits, sweets, fruit and marshmallows, it's like I'm a completely bottomless pit.

This weekend a few friends and I went to a farm just outside of Bonnievale along the Brede River. Needless to say it was absolutely beautiful there, but the thing that excited me most was not the view, it was all the food I brought with!!

The beautiful views from our cottage and Chips braving it out on the water

The best part- a well stocked fridge and alcohol cabinet/table

We arrived quite late on Friday evening so we set up a fire and I ran strait into the kitchen to make a potato salad. This is a complete necessity for me at a braai. One must have potatoes, and the 2 best forms of potatoes are....

The best 2 forms of potatoes

 CHIPS AND POTATO SALAD!!! Of course both made an appearance at the first nights dinner. I know potato salad can sometimes be a little boring- Mayo, Eggs, Chives... But I came up with this absolutely amazing version of potato salad which is sure to impress your guests at your next braai!

Posh Potato Salad

Other than the fact that I needed to have potato salad, there is one really really really great thing about braais... It's the one time where the guys will actually cook, and the girls can just kick back and drink their wine. 

Over the 2 nights we were there, were braaied delicious, a little under cooked ribs ;) and prego chicken.

Boys Braaing and Yummy food

Ineke and I even attempted catching our own lunch/dinner, however it seemed that the fish there are fussy and they were not interested in our corn :)

Catching Dinner

 Of course breakfast consisted of another of my famous fry ups- Bacon, eggs, toast, beans and mushrooms... Why does food make me so happy???

Lunch consisted of pick-nicking in the beautiful sunlight, which hadn't been seen for days in Cape Town. Sandwiches, Chips and Biscuits were to be considered a healthy meal. Luckily I brought those apples and oranges along so we didn't feel too guilty.

Pick-Nick lunch

Aaaaaannnnnnddddddd then.... To top it all off, the best best really really best part of the braai- MARSHMALLOWS!!

The really really best part

  YUM YUM YUM 

   

Unfortunately I am now back at home, back in the real world, and avoiding my scale at all costs!! But WOW what a fantastic food filled weekend!! I can't wait to go back :)

Special Occasion Breakfast

As most people probably know by now on Sunday is father’s day. And I don’t know about anyone else but whenever we have any special occasion in our house, we pretty much always have a big breakfast fry up. Now as amazing as that is, being the chef in the family no matter how late I arrive at these events, or how good my excuses are, I usually end up doing the cooking-even if that means we are having lunch instead of breakfast... and  well - It's more work than one imagines (especially with my family, when if my dad had his way he would be receiving and amuse bouche and sorbet at every meal ;)) 

On mother’s day which was bb (before blog) I decided to make crumpets instead. You can do so much with them, and you can even make the mixture the day before!! They are so easy to make (I know this mainly from my childhood experimental cooking, where I had my own “cooking show” in my Kitchen and I would make multi coloured crumpets and microwave cakes) and they are so yummy, and for some reason they just feel like you’re eating something special. 

Mixture Made Before Hand

  Find the recipe for the crumpet mixture here: Crumpets

 Then just add your favourite toppings :)

Feels Kind of Special

Some of my favourite toppings for Crumpets include fresh berries, BACON and golden syrup (this may sound weird, but you will so not regret it if you try it), NUTELLA, jam and just plain butter. They also just taste great on their own or dusted with icing sugar. And the best thing about them is that, unlike a fry up most people have the ingredients to make them in the pantry, and hopefully there are one or two good toppings lying around too - which means no trip to the shop.

YUMMY

Luckily for me, we happen to be going out for father’s day, but you should totally try it for father's day, or your next special occasion, or any day really. It’s easy, fun, and yum!

Get in my MEOWTH!

The most beautiful winter day, and a perfect day to spend at the Cape Point Vineyards Market in Noordhoek. And I mean could there actually be a more beautiful place to spend a day like this??

Beautiful views, any where you look

 Good food, Good wine and Good Company.

 Needless to say it was unbelievably difficult to decide what to eat!! The look and smell of some of that food was just incredible. And there was so much to choose from. Flat breads topped with Parma Ham, Rocket and Parmesan, and Pastas of all sorts. Sandwiches, Felafels, Shwarmas, Calamari with Aioli, Pizzas, Cakes, Sushi and much much more!! Never mind all the preserves and other delicacies that were on sale.

The bar, and the most amazing looking flat breads I have ever seen!

In the end I went with a bottle, yes a whole bottle, of Splattered toad white and an AMAZING slow roasted pork belly sarnie from non other than Pete Goffe Wood's Kitchen Cowboys.

My already half empty bottle ;)

A delicious fresh ciabata roll topped with slow roasted pork belly basted in jalapeno sauce with Dijon mustard, rocket and caramelized onions. Drooling yet? I am.. again.... hmmmmm :)
 

Having a great time in the sun

And it seems like I am not the only one who enjoyed it...

NOM!!!

Sadly though at some point the sun went away, the people packed up their delicious food, and we were left with nothing but the road home in front of us. But as they say all good things must come to an end, luckily there will be another Sunday and another Market day.

So thanks my people for a wonderful day in the sun! I couldn't think of a better way to end off the weekend and start a new week:)

Chocolate, Chocolate and more... CHOCOLATE

The other day my friend and photographer Sadiqah Assur asked me if I would like to do a shoot with her to update our portfolios. Well more for her to update hers- because mine doesn't actually exist. We thought for a while about what to shoot until we came to the most obvious conclusion- CHOCOLATE!!
Because well, as much as they might say 'diamonds are a girls best friend' we all know its really chocolate. And well after cupcakes and bacon, chocolate is the next great love of my life.

Needless to say we had the most amazing morning shooting... and eating our chocolate goods.

Check out the awesome pics we took!!

Chocolate cookies and milk

Home Made 'Crunchie'

Check out the recipe for these here- they are super easy to make if you have a few minutes and soooooooooooooo delicious!!!

Home Made Chocolate 'CRUNCHIES' 

Orange and Chocolate Mousse

This is very very rich and delicious! The recipe make 4 small portions, but believe me they will be enough :)

Chocolate and Orange Mousse

Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter Icing

Lisa and I first developed on a shoot for our mailer, and it has become one of my absolute favorites very quickly- try this amazing peanut butter icing recipe on your chocolate cupcakes!

 Peanut Butter Icing

Super Decadent Hot Chocolate- No Marshmallows required!

Just put some of your favorite dark chocolate in a mug, and top with hot milk. Let the milk melt the chocolate and top it with foam and some more chocolate, you can never go wrong with more chocolate!!

Please have a look at Sadiqah's Facebook page to see more of her awesome pics!!

 Sadiqah Assur

Dont forget to try the recipes and let me know how they turn out :):)

Winter Food

As the days get colder I find myself with nothing but soup on my mind, but I'm trying not to kill it too quickly like I did last year. So trying to steer my mind away from soup and finding inspiration in all the delicious Asian sauces and spices I have in my pantry this is what I made for dinner the other night.

Asian Pork and Glass Noodles

Its so unbelievably quick and easy to make and it was so delicious (and it wasn't soup). This dish is just as yummy with chicken instead of pork and even though for me the chilli is the best part it can also be cut down or left out for the sensitive pallets. Try it, you will LOVE it :)

Asian Glass Noodles with Pork

A good kind of OOPSIE!

Gordon Ramsay may have been a big fat fail, but nothing but good has come out of it. Maybe I should be thanking checkers and the good food and wine show for being such a rip off, because otherwise I may never have tried selling cupcakes to raise the money.

Chocolate, with Chocolate and more Chocolate, dusted with gold

 Annnnnnd... If I didn't sell cupcakes to raise the money, I probably would never have started selling cupcakes. Apparently I'm not the only one crazy about cupcakes because it seems to me that people are loving it. And I'm loving it, I haven't baked for so long, and I almost forgot how much I love it, and how much I enjoy making things look pretty, and of course how much I LOVE eating cake :):)

Cupcake number 53789023 for the day

 Now a week and a lot of cupcakes baked, decorated and eaten later, I'm well on my way to being the owner of a brand new precious (Kenwood mixer) and the orders are still rolling in! Couldn't be happier!!

Messing Around with Some Idea's