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.

Day Seven - Fake Friday at Unity

There is only one word to describe my blogging this week - appalling. Yes that about covers it.  It seems wine evenings, hen's parties and the work have just taken over my time and brain, but this is me jumping right back onto the blogging bandwagon!  So here we go…

The S and I went to Unity last night, this time we booked a table which was a good call as it was busier than I have ever seen it.  Most tables were full with the bar completely occupied.  It's not hard to see why with the great drinks and even better food selection.  Tucked away off Silverton road next to the infamous Cafe 99 it is a place that could easily go forgotten but due to the relaxed atmosphere amidst concrete walls, hard wood floors and subdued lighting interspersed with paintings of cows and pigs on red brick walls which is completely outshone by the cocktail and tapas menu on offer.  

We started off our evening with a jug of Pimms to share.  This came served in a carafe filled with Pimms, sprite, ice and an assortment of fresh strawberries, oranges and cucumber.  There is even a suped up option where you can substitute the sprite for a Smirnoff storm.

After we found out our waitress was in fact an old student of the S, and me getting annoyed at him for not introducing me when he clearly knew this other woman, and then me feeling bad because S, well being S of course, had finally recognised her as an old student (3/4's through the conversation) but could not place her name and so had not actually been able to do the usual round of introductions.  My eyes were bigger than my stomach, as usual, and we set about ordering ourselves a feast.  After trying both the tapas eating option and ordering full on main meals at Unity, we have both decided that tapas is the way to go.  After a debate of which options to pick we went with, wait for it while I take a deep breath; salt & paper squid, potato & chorizo, spicy beef strips, a cold meat platter, deep fried jalepeno poppers and prawns!  

The dishes are served on wooden boards covered with baking paper.  This really lends to the concept of bar food and tapas with everyone at the table being able to dig in.  Or in the case of myself, eyeing out the number of prawns, seeing five and then bartering away some of my portion of the cold meat platter to him in return for the extra tiger prawn.  I did put all the prawns onto my plate, just in case he miscounted and ate my extra one!

The food is tasty and so easy to eat, all hands in! The squid was probably my least favourite, however I think simply because the other options sent the standard high.  The spicy beef was deliciously spicy still heating up in its bowl of sauce, the potato and chorizo complimented each other so well with the smokiness of the chorizo coming in through the potato.  Tiger prawns, cooked.  Need I say more?  Jalepeno poppers, the pips removed, always a good thing to do, had loads of cheese so anymore an I would've felt sick, but I enjoyed the sweet burn that comes with them.  Finally the cold meat platter was large and combined with gerkins, ripe cherry tomatoes and covered in rocket with fresh bread which you could break off and squish a bit of salami, tomato and rocket into and then quickly shovel into your mouth to start on the next one with a piece of prosciutto.

Due to complete over eating we weren't able to face a dessert, however a delicious sounding vanilla cheesecake with Guinness ice-cream almost convinced me.

Unity is a great place to meet up with friends, have some drinks, be in their own brew of beer called Cowbell or one of their cocktails chosen from an extensive list, and then of course to tuck into some pub grub of the deliciously delicate kind.  Ladies even the lipstick won't smudge, unless it's from licking your lips too much from the moreish food.  The food is locally sourced and the beer locally brewed, what a recipe for success.  Click here to find out more on their website

Day Six - Pasta

Step one: Serve pasta with light Parmesan shavings

Step two: Tuck in

Step three:  Give a satisfied sigh while patting your tummy and proclaiming; "Oh yum!"

Day five - roast chicken

Tonight was a lemon and herb marinated flattie with roasted butternut, carrots and potato.  The S was a wonderful 'wifey' and prepared the dish and left it in the fridge for me to pop into the oven when I got home.  Of course I worked later than planned and his parents evening ended earlier than planned which resulted in me heating up the oven for a grand total of 5 minutes and then, well, nothing.  All in all that was the total of my work contribution to dinner this evening.  However making up for my ineptitude the 'wifey' rose to the challenge and got the chicken and veg into the oven, timeously checked, roasted, carved on a plate for dinner by 8pm.

On my plate I found perfectly cooked chicken with soft roasted butternut and potato browned from swimming in the lemon and herb marinade.  The carrots were still crunchy in the middle which added an additional element to the predominantly soft meal.

I am definitely taking advantage of the great home cooking by the 'wifey' as much as possible while I can. There was even left overs, which of course means lunch for tomorrow!