Halfpom

More produce...

Summertime = allotment time

First up, apologies for the loooong absence but I have been here, there and everywhere in the last couple of months and only just able to draw a breath......

From the picture above, you'll be able to deduce that I've been in the northern hemisphere.....the UK to be specific. For a whole month....so there was no way I could miss visiting some wonderful allotments. It's a good time of year to visit - weather wise you have an average chance of decent weather....that's also why you go for a month...your chances increase the longer you stay....

It is also a brilliant time of year for anyone who loves gardening - every growing thing is doing it's level best to exceed expectations - you can literally hear the plants growing if you keep very quiet. The season is ahead of itself this year as I was invited to pick blackberries on Mac's allotment in the first week of August.....normally they only start making an appearance in September.

I think Mac has had his allotment for over 20 years....if not longer! His allotment is so prolific that neighbours (and the rest of the Ilkeston) start hiding when they see him bearing gifts of baby marrows, chard, beans, peas, raspberries etc. Trouble is, everyone else has the same glut as Mac..

I was only to happy to start the blackberry picking sesaon off and managed a fairly decent haul.....the only negative with this crop is the thorns but so worth the pain in the end..

We turned the blackberries, along with some apples, autumn raspberries (also early) and some strawberries into a crumble.....delicious...& then froze the rest to used at a later date. It is very satisfying being able to use homegrown produce..and free too! In fact, you're doing someone a favour by taking their surplus off their hands....so a win-win situation really!

I was ably assisted in my duties by Montagu Tucker who kept an eagle eye on the proceedings....boy, I've missed that cat! The rest of you too....but the cat, in particular! 

And once all the hard work was complete it was time for a nap in the sunshine....sometimes all the excitement life has to offer is just too much for one cat to cope with....

 
 

Chiffon cake......

Any excuse is good enough - birthday, christening, a day of the week....but this time it was for my mother who has just moved into her new home...I thought I would christen the chiffon cake tin that I'd bought a few months ago - got to buy it when you see them as they don't come along very often!!!

What makes a chiffon cake tin so special? The short answer is the little 'legs' along the top of the the tin as you cool this cake UPSIDE DOWN....you could always use a normal bundt tin (cake tin with a hole in the middle) & invert it over the top of a bottle of wine but I like to do things properly so a chiffon cake tin with legs it has to be...& besides I've always wanted one...

I used a recipe from a lovely South African book called 'A Farm in my Heart' by Emilia le Roux & Francois Smuts - got it for Christmas & have spent many happy hours going through it. You can just tell that this is written by someone who likes to cook & that all the recipes are going to work. Nothing more frustrating than a recipe that doesn't work....'celebrity' chefs take note!!! Besides the recipes the book also contains advice on various matters - garden, fruit trees, chickens, the smokehouse, wine etc so right up my alley.

It was really easy & turned out perfectly - you can either decorate with a butter icing or whipped Chantilly cream with fresh fruit (am thinking berries of some sort - raspberries, strawberries etc) but I just used some plain icing sugar mixed with lemon juice to compliment the lemon zest & lemon juice already in the cake and good old sprinkles for a touch of colour... 

Having done the taste test I can honestly say this is one of the nicest cakes I've made - soft, fluffy & moist and have added it to my list of 'regulars'. I'm embarrassed to say that we made real pigs of ourselves & managed to polish off most of this by the time Sunday evening came round....it was THAT good.  

Sunday breakfast...

Weekends are the ideal time to meet up with friends and family.....everyone (including me) is just so darn busy during the week that we barely have time to breathe let alone anything else. But weekends are different..the clock seems to tick a bit more slowly and a bit of me time is on the cards. This weekend, while all the keen cyclists were gamely tackling the annual Argus Cycle Race our family sensibly met up at the newly refurbished Petits Fours in Bloubergstrand for a leisurely breakfast & a catch up...

Those classic photo's of Table Mountain that you see in all the coffee table picture books are always taken from this side of Table Bay...I took this photo outside the restaurant.....that ozony ocean smell is uniquely Capetonian...

 
On this particular morning we introduced the youngest member of the family to the joys of the cappuccino...only in his case, being 21 months old, it was a babyccino which is essentially a small cup of frothed milk with a bit of chocolate powder sprinkled on top....just so that he didn't feel left out...

Well, he was so pleased with himself you would have thought we'd given him a van load of toys & it kept him occupied for hours....what can I say, he's a natural.....don't you just love the bit of froth on the upper lip...

 
Loads of yummy looking cakes & pastries kept making their way from the kitchen to the counter behind us...you can either have them with coffee or to take away for tea later that afternoon if you are there for breakfast. The only downside to Petits Fours at the moment is that they don't do a good old English fried breakfast...but apparently that is being rectified (...feedback from customers is soooo important....well if you don't tell them, they'll never know, will they....) as a lot of men have been complaining about the lack of serious protein on the breakfast menu....a bit disappointing as I reaaaally wanted bacon & eggs. 

 

 

Neighbourhood Goods Market on Saturdays

I've briefly mentioned the Neighbourhood Goods Market earlier in this blog and had an opportunity to go again this weekend as a dear friend of mine was down from the eastern Cape & hadn't yet been to the market. Special tip....get there early as parking in Salt River is a nightmare....I got there just as the market opened at 9am & took a chance by parking on a yellow line. As sure as God made little apples there was a pink ticket fluttering on my window to welcome me back....I really should have known better!!

Other than that, it is one of the nicest ways to get your weekend in Cape Town started....loads of stalls selling the most delicious looking food - all very tempting!! There are also stalls selling flowers and plants but mostly food and then drink. Foodie mags and various blogs in the UK have been raving about these French macarons & the trend seems to have caught on here in South Africa, so I decided to live dangerously and buy some at the market....

There was a whole range of flavours on display so I opted out of any decision making (having had a fairly late night the evening before with abovementioned friend) & asked the stall holder to choose for me.... and ended up with a box full of very prettily coloured macaroons. I organised a number of taste testers to see what they thought and the verdict was fairly unanimous - the best things about macaroons are the colours. Flavourwise okay.....but nothing spectacular. Reminds of the children's story about the Emperor & his new clothes....but each to his own! 

Delicious double velvet....

I'm still on the cake trail....I've been meaning to try making a red velvet cake (from the United States)  ever since I saw the recipe used for cupcakes at the Magnolia Bakery in New York and what with one thing and another just never have got round to it. Then I had a slice at the vintage fair last Saturday and was inspired to give it a whirl.....what fun it was to make. You use a whole two tablespoons....yes tablespoons!!..of red food colouring mixed into the buttermilk so the whole experience was slightly halloweenish but the end result was delicious and looked totally amazing...

I used the recipe from Rachel Allen's Bake book and it turned out exactly as planned. I also used her recipe for the marvellous meringuey icing.....and the fresh raspberries were from the allotment.  Yum yummmm.....will definitely add this into my repetoire!!

Light Chocolate Cake..

The baking urge struck me again this weekend......it's been a while...I think it is being unsettled and not having my things around me. This, however, has not stopped me buying books about baking....my latest acquisition is Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache by Harry Eastwood. Her recipes all contain a secret ingredient (a vegetable), use rice flour (so good for people who are gluten intolerant) and much less sugar than your normal cake recipe. I was was intrigued so gave it a bash.....another plus is that the cake only took 30 minutes to cook instead of 45-50 minutes......so green as well!!! I was quite taken with the result & nobody could guess the secret ingredient......butternut!

 

Fresh Goods Market - Stellenbosch..

By now you all know my penchant for a good market. Another one to tick off (and go back to in the future) is the  Stellenbosch Fresh Goods Market at Bosman's Crossing behing the Oude Libertas theatre. An amazing vibe....everybody chilling out in the winter sunshine with steaming latte's or cappuccino's and tucking into their preferred breakfast...from suchi to crepes filled with Nutella & bananas. No prizes for guessing which option I chose.... Nice music too!

 

 

And then back home for one last braai with the family! I can't believe my 6 weeks in South Africa are nearly over...& i've still got so much I want to do.

My new nephew (okay nearly new) is displaying worrying tendencies - the change that came over him the moment someone points a camera in his direction...definite camera tart....maybe practising for later in life???

 

And his big sister is no slouch either..

The good life....in Calitzdorp

Oh dear - the weather followed me into the interior.I've come to visit Peter & Yvonne Bayly who have the most charming little farm just outside Calitzdorp where, amongst their many other talents, they also make a seriously good port.  You NEED to buy some immediately!!!! Also try the new white port which a competitor in the dorp (who shall remain nameless) was raving about which shows you just how good it really is.... If you can't get to Calitzdorp then Peter can be found every Saturday at the Neighbourhood Goods Market in Salt River.

It is the most picturesque spot and a great place for a city slicker to unwind.

 

In case you're wondering the electric fencing in the picture is to keep the baboons from stripping the vines so that Peter actually has some grapes to make port with. If you look closely you can see the paths on the mountain made by the baboons on their way down to the farm. This year they also enjoyed Yvonne's oranges, grapefruit and anything else that looked tasty....a veritable baboon supermarket.

 

I always love Yvonne's chickens  - you can sit & watch them for hours - it's better than television and at the end of the day they obliginly put themselves to bed in their designer chicken house. The freshest of eggs are a bonus......if you can find them tucked away in the middle of the nasturtiums or in another secluded spot in the veggie garden.

 

CONCLUSION - I wanna live here too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Exploring NYC

Today I made the pilgrimage to Bleecker Street & the Magnolia Bakery!!!!! Heaven!!!! Purchased these very yummy cupcakes and carefully ferried them back home on the subway to be devoured with a good cup of tea. Aren't they beautiful - tasted as good as they looked too!!!

I always thought NYC was just concrete and tall buildings but there are a surprising number of parks dotted inbetween and lots of wide avenues with trees just coming into leaf - that beatiful lime green! On our expedition today we came across a small park called Abingdon Square just off Bleecker Street with a lovely array of spring flowers.....daffs & tulips among others.

 
Also en route I discovered Old Navy and they have just got their summer clothes & shoes in......I couldn't resist the flip flops.....they had them in every colour of the rainbow and then some more.....so bought 2 pairs!!