Day seventeen - Shongweni Farmer's Market. Crack of Dawn.

Up early on a Saturday morning, leaving home at half 7 to be somewhere, sounds important right?  Well it was, kind of.  I had finally convinced the S to come to the Shongweni Farmers Market.  I also scored massive brownie points with his rents by making him invite them to join us. Yes I did.

So after getting lost (big thanks to Google Maps for that one!) and starting out a bit late we finally arrived and nabbed a parking off someone already leaving the market.  With only one thing on our minds, after meeting the S' rents we made a beeline for the breakfast stalls.  

After shopping around and looking at the different options on offer I picked The Hearty Breakfast stall, which also happened to have the longest line.  Oh joys, always a winner on a not so early Saturday morning.  Anyway, after placing my order, which they also write your name on, great personalised element there.  Although it didn't really work as Melinda just did not come pick up her order of 4.  There was a little wait, in which I spent the time tasting the S' brekkie - french toast with mushrooms and bacon and then finding myself the smoothie stall where I ordered a mango,strawberry and banana smoothie.   Although quite thick the smoothie was delicious and instantly brought back a memory of Gili Air an island off of Bali where at breakfast (on the beach) I ordered a mango juice and the blender promptly started up and I was treated to a mango in a glass, literally the best juice I have ever had the pleasure of taking part in.  So not quite that calibre, but you get my drift how fresh it was.  Pity about the plastic cup it is served in, don't know if this is just oh so townie of me but I expected some kind of biodegradable, recycled cup of some sort.

Back to waiting in the queue for my breakfast, and feeling quite special when my name was finally called and I squeezed passed everyone waiting to claim my order.  We sat at benches with a wooden cog acting as our table, and I finally started in on my brekkie. Insert drum roll… potato rosti (this is like a deliciously warm, soft and well spiced hash brown) cooked spinach, bacon, poached egg, chives, rocket, hollandaise sauce and balsamic reduction.  My first bite was a slow warmth which started on my tongue and then quickly spread throughout my body down to my fingers and toes. I could not suppress the smile on my face or the quick shrug of my shoulders in pleasure.  All the fresh, just cooked and homemade flavours washed over me and I could taste each element separately which then stood up together to take the final bow creating a combined taste which was my breakfast.  The only downside was the lingering onion taste in my mouth which must have been used in the potato rosti, however this was quickly abated with swallowing the remainder of my mango berry smoothie.

The remainder of the morning was spent wandering the market, trying the different samples, feeling sorry for the little rescued animals, waiting for the S' dad to chat to worm farmers, water savers and herb garden builders about his latest herb/veggie garden project he has decided to embark on.

If you are looking for a fresh food experience where truly locally sourced food products are used then Shongweni Farmer's Market is it.  There are many breakfast stalls to choose from, you could even have a boerrie roll if you so desire.  Afterwards you can even do a bit of a grocery shop with loads of veggies, cold meats, breads, spreads and pastries available.  Face the cold early morning, I had a nap in the afternoon to make up for it, and head up to the Market you won't be disappointed.  Click here for more information on product offerings and directions on how to get there for those 'townies' who have no idea!

Day Sixteen - Tapas again

This seemed to have been a tapas week.  As I was sick (again!!) this week I was adamant that Friday night was for staying in.  The S cooked up a storm of tapas which we ate picnic style on the bed.  There seemed to be even more on offer than the night before and this was proven true when the S was resigned to eating tapas for the rest of the evening. 

I was treated to a warm butternut, sweet potato and chorizo dish, pepperdews stuffed with cream cheese, sautéed mushrooms, salad with peppers, lettuce, celery and feta, marinated ribs and a selection of cold meats and mini pita breads.
 

Lets face it, the S can cook and although this wasn’t all cooking, the combination of flavours pulled together beautifully.  It was the perfect meal to a Friday night in and I’m sure he didn’t complain too much about eating it the rest of the weekend!

Day Fifteen - Thursday Tapas

On Thursday Little Kim, The Spik and I held our first dinner party at home.  With tapas decided on for dinner and guest requirements allocated we set about deciding on what we would, quite literally, bring to the table.  After a quick calculation on the amount of money left in our kitty, at that stage it owed The Spik bucks, we decided on raiding the freezer for our portion.  We ended up making it all except for the hummus and bread, we vowed next time to make the hummus as well!

The Spik and Little Kim did an amazing job preparing dinner, I was stuck on N2 traffic (what’s new?) and dispatched to the store for a last minute purchase of greek yogurt for the tzatziki. I came home to the meat balls waiting in the microwave, bread ready to serve, The Spik on chicken and Little Kim on meatballs.   I quickly found myself a spot at the table and started on the sauces.

Our tapas dinner consisted of; beer battered chicken strips, meat balls, crudités, bread, tzatziki, hummus, potato wedges and a pink dipping sauce.  Mich also added to this with some yummy samosa’s which we started climbing into beforehand. 

Dinner was a great success with interesting conversations running around the table and of course the usual googling of some shady character that we heard a shady story about.  We wrapped up with dessert brought by Lily and Lolo – delicious tin roof ice cream and triple chocolate mousse that coupled with cupcakes from Mich, completed our dinner and our appetites for the evening!

Day fourteen - Meeting at Market

Last Friday I was treated to the intimately romantic setting of Market Restaurant. Little Kim's friend Cath from Cape Town is visiting and since she had a birthday earlier this week, what better reason to celebrate!

After a nightmare of trying to get home before dinner, N2 was closed from a massive accident and even after trying every obvious and secret alternate to get home I waited it out at The S flat.

Once joining the table and hearing that no orders had been placed yet I settled down to an even longer than anticipated wait.  When you tell people that you are going to Market and their reply is; “Oh their service is so bad.” Don't underestimate them, it really is ‘so bad’.  Our waitress was quite zany and off the wall, however so overworked and under supported it was frightening, when a manager is just wondering around straightening chairs while his two staff are running around serving the many tables inside and out, I do begin to wonder.


Anyway, my food was as follows: lamb burger which was a spicy lamb patty encrusted with mint and feta served on a ciabatta roll with a dressing.  And to finish a decadent chocolate torte with a sour berry coulis.  Little Kim had the same main meal as myself and we were both in agreement, it was alright.  Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I felt that Market had under delivered on its fresh and locally sourced food.  

 

Although in no way making up for it, my chocolate torte with creme fraiche and berry coulis was divine. The sourness of the berry coulis balanced out the sweet richness of the chocolate torte.  A small helping but plenty enough for me, I didn’t feel sick or needy once done.

If you are looking for a long evening spent sitting on a hardwood bench amongst beautifully romantic surroundings then Market is your place!

Day thirteen - My turn!

Tuesday night was my turn to cook, as my previous turn was an uninspired piece of frozen fish with salad I felt I needed to pull out some (not all, gotta leave some tricks up my sleeve) the stops on this one. 


Due to our massive bulk purchase of chicken breasts, none of which have been touched yet, I took on the challenge to start the demolition of our chook tower.  I started off by rubbing the chicken in garlic and then wrapping each breast in bacon and popping a piece of danish feta under the bacon in the middle of the breast.  These were then placed in a tray with olive oil spooned over them, with the three remaining pieces of bacon I placed onto the tray and drizzled olive oil over the top to ensure crispy strips of bacon. 

To accompany the chicken breasts wrapped in bacon I brought together a salad consisting of what was left in the fridge.  A crisp lettuce base, well as crisp as week old lettuce will be, topped with yellow and red slivers of pepper, chopped mushrooms, a sprinkling of danish feta finally tied together with quarters of sweet green grapes.

Due to a sicklet of a Spik and an ever so hard working Little Kim, I was treated to dinner on my own some. The table wasn't set, but I did sit down at it with my knife and fork to enjoy my meal.  The chicken was slightly dry, most definitely due to me leaving it in the fridge to defrost as opposed to a better location such as on the draining board next to the sink. However the bacon added a richer, sweeter flavour to the chicken with a great little surprise of the melting feta down the middle of the breast, tucked under the layers of bacon.  Although lacking in the traditional cucumber and tomato the salad was nicely brought together by the outstanding sweetness of the grapes, along with a well represented colour pallet the salad was a refreshing partner to the bacon wrapped chicken.


Although the company wasn't my first choice, the meal on offer certainly made up for what the conversation lacked.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken - a quick and easy Tuesday night option:


1x packet shoulder bacon
3 x large chicken breasts
Olive Oil
Garlic salt
Black pepper
Danish feta


Heat oven to 180 degrees
Rub each chicken breast front and back with garlic salt
Place an oblong piece of danish feta which stretches the whole of the chicken breast onto the centre of the breast.
Wrap each chicken breast in bacon strips from top to bottom so the entire breast is covered with the bacon.  The feta will now be secured into place by the bacon.
Place each wrapped breast onto a flat baking tray and spoon olive oil over the top of each wrapped breast.
Top each wrapped breast with a grind of black pepper
If there is any bacon remaining, place onto baking tray to cook crisply next to the wrapped chicken breasts.
Cook breasts in the oven for 15 minutes, then turn over and cook for another 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and place onto plate.
Remove the extra bacon strips after 15 minutes if crispy, leave for longer if neccessary.


These are great served with rice, potatoes or a salad.  I served with a lettuce, red and yellow pepper, mushroom, grape and danish feta salad topped this with the extra left over pieces of bacon crisped up in the oven.

Day twelve - tea time macaroons

With the burra friends visiting us I felt tea would definitely be the order of the day.  So on finding Daniela’s macaroons on sale at the I Heart Market, I could not resist.  With R10 a delicious round of crusty shell and velvety centre plus a sixth free when ordering five, I was sold and we had tea for Sunday!  I chose six different flavours so we would each be able to have a taster.  One Chai, Peanut butter and sea salt, Pistachio, Strawberry, Passion Fruit and Chocolate macaroon later we were all sighing in pleasure.  How can you not after feasting on macaroons!

We each had different views on the best flavours and a full-fledged discussion on the best flavour ensued.  With Little Kim and Bundle of Se agreeing on the peanut butter and sea salt topping the list, Miss Kirsti’s sweet tooth was sold on the Pistachio, while also finishing off the Strawberry. For me the chocolate is always a winner as it even tasted of chocolate and not something trying to impersonate chocolate, which I find is often the case with ‘bought’ chocolate treats.

Daniela’s has just YAY opened an outlet in Umhlanga and has others in Hilcrest and Capetown, with speciality cakes and high teas being their order of business (click here for a look at a brochure) along with supplying macaroons to numerous restaurants in the area, Daniela’s macaroons truly are a deliciously decadent experience.  Like them here on Facebook for more information on how to enjoy your own deliciously decadent Daniela’s experience.

Day eleven - I Heart Market and scramo's

After our first Friday function at our newly named Penthouse (although not quite one, where it lacks in looks it makes up for in height) we met up with the burra friends at the Durban I Heart Market held at the Moses Mahbida Stadium.  The Spik and I headed straight for the food section, before having a look around.  We’ve definitely got our priorities straight!  After assessing the situation at hand: various queue lengths, look of product available, and closeness to where we were standing, we landed up at the scramo’s and bacon on ciabatta stand.  The fact that this is my favourite breakfast of all time did perhaps sway the decision slightly.  We both selected the scramo’s with chives and bacon served on a ciabatta.  With The Spik in the line and me off buying our much needed red ambulance cokes we were a winning combo. With my coke in left and securely wrapped scramo’s in right hand we collapsed down on the closest piece of decorative concrete there.

The scramo’s were wrapped in baking paper and a blue and white checked serviette, after woozily watching the lady at the stand deftly, but not quite quickly enough, wrap up each ciabatta I was loathed to unravel it.  Luckily the wrapping acted more as a type of plate than much else and not complicated unravelling was required – not that my brain would have got that far anyway.  Anyway when biting into the crusty outside of the warm ciabata and then through into the soft creaminess of the chive scrambled eggs with a hint of smokiness from the bacon really brought the breakfast home.  The Spik and I agreed on more bacon needed as it seemed to drop to the sides of the ciabatta which resulted in not each bite enjoying the pleasure of the smoky bacon.  Still, the breakfast did it’s job with The Spik and I then managing to push round the entire market, buy ourselves key rings for the Penthouse, broach for me, bracelet for The Spik and even Lynn scored a Mother’s Day present!

The I Heart Market has a much larger food selection than when I started going two years ago when it was in the church hall or across the road from Bean Bag Bohemia.  Aah those days! <insert glazed over eyes and pause for memories>  There is a large selection from which I cannot wait to sample a different stall each month.  I even have my June breakfast locked in my head already! Bring on the 2.06.12.

Find our more on the I Heart Market their stalls, venue and how to become a part of it from their Facebook page here or from their blog here.

Day ten - first dinner in the new flat

The greatly awaited move has finally taken place, deep breath, finally! I write this now sitting wedged in-between my two brand new house, or rather… home mates! 


So our actual first meal was on Monday night and that was Steers because we hadn't gone grocery shopping yet, but it doesn't really count since I still felt like 90% water and Little Kim wasn't staying with us that night - these things happen when you don't have a bed to sleep in. 


Anyway as that was a bit of a fail I will rather talk about our first made meal… oh wait this wasn't really rocket science either.  The Spik, the ever resourceful farm girl who kept surprising us the entire move by screwing things back in, taking plugs off and putting them back in, drilling holes and glueing tiles back on. Had made bags and bags and bags of mince which she had cooked complete with tomatoes and mushrooms before the Easter weekend as otherwise it would've gone off.  I promise in my kitchen it probably would've gone off OR I would have eaten mince the entire week running up to the long weekend.  Anyway it ended up being our saving grace, with me on microwave duty warming the mince, the Spik cooking the spaghetti and with Little Kim rounding us off on spectators duty we produced a delish pasta dish!

Note to self bring the Spik along when stuck on a deserted island, we will most certainly find a way off and until then will have shelter and will most definitely not starve to death!

Day nine - Sunday lunch at Bud's on the Bay

Bud's on the Bay or rather now it needs to be known as Bayshak to fit in with the rest of their brand, i.e. Prawnshak.  As if we didn't all already know they were part of the same thing!  That's like calling Audi, Volks Audi just because VW owns it and feels everyone needs to know that it's apart of the same brand.  If it's not hurting it or vastly increasing its chances of success then why change? Okay that's my 'branding' rant for the day over.  Onto more important things like what I ate.

So this was a very delayed birthday celebration lunch with the S and his fam dam as it seems they are all born in March, except his mum who is all lonely way down in October.  I'm also born in March so onto this bandwagon I leapt!

Starter:  Caprese salad with x4 pestos; basil, sun dried tomato, chilli garlic and beetroot served with balsamic and olive oil and a basket of fresh crunchy bread.

My method of eating: pour balsamic & Olive oil onto my plate, swish a piece of bread around to soak up the goodness, smear basil pesto onto the bread, top with a piece of tomato & mozzarella and then smooth on a final dab of the chilli garlic pesto.  Finally, eat.

How the S rolls: Soak up as much balsamic and Olive oil as possible from what has been spilt on plate, smear some of each pesto ontop, place a piece of tomato and mozzarella over this, insert optional topping of additional pesto.  Finally, eat.  Note to do this 10x faster than Faye so to eat way more than half the plate that we are sharing.

Lunch:  I chose a 'Larney Bunny' which is made up of 'Budsmade' bread muffins stuffed with prawns and an extremely mild curry. Topped with sambles and an apple chutney.  The S went with the carpacio which came on a massive platter served with slim slices of beef carpacio topped with cheese.  The fam dam had a rare, oh so very very rare steak, beef & bringal salad and a mussel platter.

My method of eating: I did Durbs proud and ate a bunny how only bunny's should be eaten, by hand.  Although I felt it could have been spicier and the chips were completely unnecessary,it was a tasty meal for a Sunday lunch.

How the S rolls:  Go for it, finish the caprese salad that Faye never got to, however now it's topped with carpacio.  Hijack extra bread off the fam dam from all sides, even from under the mussle platter. Why not?  Hang on, Faye didn't eat her chips, chips are always necessary, I'll have some of those!

Now I did get a touch of food poisoning from my meal.  I was the only one to have the bunny, so that's where it came from.  Not to put anyone off as I have eaten at Buds, sorry Bayshak loads of times before and have been dying to blog about their great meals (now coined as Roadside Cuisine) but it was hot and I guess these things happen sometimes.  I'm not in any rush to go back as the memory is obviously to fresh in my mind, but I will definitely be back for more, just perhaps not the larney bunny!

If you are looking for a relaxed, lazy Sunday afternoon lunch then Bayshak is the place to do it.  With a large menu which appeals to most and a variety of easy drinking cocktails, many of which come in jugs to share with the table, the lazy afternoon will be ensured as service is on the slow side, however, look out onto the harbour and watch the pelicans begging food from the moored yachts by the time you've snapped back to reality you will have lost sense of time and how long your soda water has or hasn't taken.  Booking is necessary to ensure a good table on the deck, even if you do it the morning of.  Have a squizz here for more information on Bayshak and it's family of restaurants which offer some great function solutions.

Day eight - Lauren & Luke's Wedding

On Saturday 28 April I was witness to one of the most stunning, relaxed and feels-so-right weddings.  My friend Lauren whom I met in our honours year (how many years ago I won't mention - for both of our benefits!) and, in her own words, her best friend, love of her life and soul mate Luke finally eventually set the date and place for their wedding.  It was a perfect day, even by Hilcrest standards, and all the guests gathered into the Camelot Chapel to witness the union of this made-for-each-other pair.  The chapel was filled with flowers, smiles and friends and family all eager to join in the celebrations.

After the ceremony we were shown into the reception area where sangria and hors d'oeuvres were served to the guests.  The wedding cake was on show making a statement by towering over everyone in its white and gold Ferrero Rocher glory.

Once the bride and groom had arrived back from having numerous and oh so necessary photographs taken around the grounds we were ushered into the reception room where we each took our seats at our allocated tables.  The S and I were consigned to the 'work' table, after heaving a sign of relief that it was in a decent place, i.e. not in front of the door we sat down to make do.  This was in fact not the case as firstly, the table proved to be only half taken up by 'work' and secondly, the 'work' had on their best faces and dress and I found myself having a better time that I ever thought.  Who knew we actually got along so well, seeing each other for 9 hours 5 days a week certainly didn't give me any hints of that!

The starter was served in a tapas style, each table received platters consisting of caprese salad, prawn cocktail, salad, asparagus wrapped in ham, pate's and breads. I found this worked well as everyone was able to help themselves to as much or as little starter as required and select only the parts they found the most appetising.  As our side of the table dug in so quickly, you would have thought this was literally the last supper, my image leaves a lot to be desired, but hey you get the idea.

The main meal then followed, this was served buffet style and wow were there a host of options to go for. I went in for the kill, like most of our table it seemed, and had some of everything.  The 'work' seemed split on the roast lamb rating, however two of us felt it was a little dry with the Norwegian Salmon being the star of the show.  This was served in a creamy herb sauce and cooked to perfection with the flesh a, well, salmon pink colour.  A spinach lasagne, baby potatoes, roasted veg and rice were all great accompaniments to the fish.

Following this dessert was served, also as a buffet.  This consisted of a lemon meringue which seemed to have the entire lemon tree and its rind in it, a vanilla cheesecake, decadent chocolate mousse which would have been outstanding if I had not come across not one but two of the hunks of decorative water melon in my serving, the standard ice cream and chocolate sauce and finally the wedding cake.  The wedding cake was encased in white chocolate and then decorated with Ferrero Rocher's at the centre was a moist and deathly chocolate brownie cake topped with a creamy icing. What a perfect end to a marathon meal!

Lauren & Luke are currently touring Italy & Rome, I have already booked my place at the front of their photo album and insisted on photies of every meal!  

The wedding took place at Camelot where the restaurant Greensleaves does the catering, click here to find out more about their functions.