Happy Weekend

Happy Weekend Everyone!

The only plan we have is to walk our dogs in the forest! Have a great one!

Image from Pinterest

xx C & L

The House

Over the past 4 months, life has gone from a mild whirl wind, to a thundering hurricane of craziness. Getting married is not for the faint hearted. The walking down the ailse and saying yes...well that's the easy part.  The guests, decor, destination wedding, photographer, music and food are quite another. Because we like to test ourselves, we decided to buy a new home right in the middle of all this. Crazy, I know. 

My husband (cute I know), boy is he brave. Not only did he agree to my wild ideas of getting married on a tropical island, but we are going to be renovating our new home. Now if you know anything about me, you'll know I am the most indecisive person. Ever. So making choices about which house to buy was one thing, but choosing things like kitchen cupboards, tiles, paint, curtains, counter tops....holy moly, where is the Gin and Tonic?

So over the next couple of months, Michael and I are going to be renovating our home, and we'd like to share this progress with the world, because believe me, this is going to be a journey worth watching.

Our new front door - Hooray!

If you've ever renovated, you'll understand, what you have in your head and what can happen in reality are often two different things. One of the places we like to dream is Pinterest. Love it! If you're not signed up yet, go! We hope you love it as much as we do. To get off the renovations starting blocks, we knew we had to see what was out there, and oh boy did we find some gorgeous homes. 

Check out our {Home Sweet Home} board to see where we have gotten inspiration from.

Enjoy!

xx C 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!

Image from Pinterest

Wishing you all the best for 2013!

xx C & L

Noodles... in more than 2 minutes.

Noodles. One of my greatest food loves. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not a 2 minute noodle kinda gal. In fact, I've only tried the 2 minute variety once, during food shortages, in Zimbabwe, whilst camping. And I wasn't happy about it. The fact that they come in a packet, and have flavours which include bacon, biltong, Indian wedding and freshly washed linen just seems wrong. 

So this is my take on Asian noodles. And they take longer than 2 minutes :)

Asian Steak Noodles

Meat Ingredients:

• 2 x Rib eye steaks – approximately 500g together.
• Hoisin sauce - I always use the Woolworths one.
• Soy Sauce
• Chopped fresh ginger
• Fresh coriander

Combine all of these together and leave to marinade for at least 2 hours. You can be generous with these ingredients, there isn't an exact quantity of each. It depends on the size of your steaks and how much you love each of these delicious ingredients. 

Noodle Ingredients:

• Any Asian noodle (Pad Thai or Glass Noodles work best) - enough for two, depending on your appetites - I like the Woolworths versions. 
• 1 whole pineapple, chopped finely
• Rind of half a lemon, zested
• A tablespoon of chopped fresh ginger 
• A chopped handful of fresh coriander
• A chopped handful of spring onion
• Soy Sauce
• Hoisin sauce

Method:

Precook the steak in a frying pan in the sauces it has been marinating in, then set aside. We prefer our steaks medium rare, you can cook yours for slightly longer, but just remember sliced tough meat, really isn't tasty. 

In the same pan, add chopped pineapple, lemon rind, ginger, garlic, coriander, soya and spring onions into the pan. 

Fry lightly, then add the noodles, along with some extra soya and hoisin.

Cook until noodles are ready and all coated in sauce.

Plate and add the steak on top.

Serve with chopped coriander mixed with ginger, salt, sesame oil and pepper and chili on the side.

Deeeelicious! 

This has to be one of my favourite dishes ever. Either just for two, or for friends and family - nothing makes me happier than tasting the fresh ginger, coriander and delicious Asian flavours.

Let me know what you think, and if you have any Asian dishes you're really fond of, we're always dying to try more.

Enjoy!

xx C

PS, this recipe comes fully husband-approved

There’s a rooster in my cappuccino

This weekend is almost definitely on the ‘Best weekend of 2012’ list.  From Friday evening onwards, it felt like a flurry of good food, great wine, fantastic company and the obligatory Sunday afternoon nap.

The freezing weather in Cape Town, and undelivered promises of snow on the ground, didn’t deter us from venturing out of the city and into Franschoek on Saturday morning. As a fairly-recent Capetonian, I have fast discovered that ‘festivals’ of any kind in these little towns surrounding Cape Town aren’t something that I enjoy. We went to a certain unnamed olive festival a few months back, and somewhere between the traffic, lack of and poor state of the toilet facilities, broken ATM’s, drunk students, drunk everyone, overpriced food and limited seating, I lost interest in attending such events.

Very chilly day. 

As you might know, it was Bastille Day in Franschoek this weekend, which is the annual celebration of the towns French Heritage, so we departed from Cape Town early to miss the crowds flocking into Franschoek to partake in the French festivities. The reason for our visit was not in fact to attend any Bastille Day events, but rather to visit the lovely La Petite Dauphine farm nestled just 2kms outside the village. La Petite Dauphine is a working fruit and wine farm offering guest accommodation, and wow, it is beautiful!

We found a warm spot in Café Bon Bon – a large almost ‘barn’ shaped building with stunning home-like furniture including a mini-library, lounge area with cozy leather couches, beautiful rugs and a big crackling fire to keep us warm. To our surprise, Hendrick, the resident Rooster was also in attendance to make us feel at home. 

Hendrick. 

The story goes that the farm was once home to a family of ducks. A passing Lynx took a liking to the little ducks and slowly decimated the group, much to the dismay of the family. The farm owners decided to buy a chicken from a nearby township to offer as live bait in the hopes of capturing the Lynx and releasing it higher up in the mountains. On the night in question, Hendrick was released into the pond area as live bait, but the lynx had already moved off the farm never to be seen again. Hendrick now resides inside the restaurant! He is a fine specimen and reminds you of his existence by happily crowing at any given moment.

Hendrick, showing us what he's made of. 

The breakfast menu at Café Bon Bon is limited, but perfectly adequate, and very tasty. Our group was slightly under the weather from the night out before, so many comfort options were ordered including French toast dripping in syrup, lovely fluffy omelettes and warm health bread toast with sticky jam. 

I would really urge you to visit the farm if you haven’t been already. The staff and management are really friendly and happily regale stories of Hendrick for those willing to listen. Franschoek is also worth a walk through on your way home.

Enjoy it,

Lisa x

Visit La Petite Dauphine on Excelsior Road in Franschhoek or ring them on +27 21 876 3936.

Happy Weekend

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Any plans for the weekend? If not, you must put Diaz Tavern on your list - check out our post from yesterday on it here - do it! Worth every minute! 

For all those off to Kynsna to run - wishing you strong legs. For all those off to eat copious amounts of oysters and drink some bubbly - jealous! If you've never heard of the Knysna Oyster Festival, you can find out more here. Well worth a visit! 

We're off to a Birthday breakfast tomorrow in Franchoek - yes, we know, pretty much one of our favourite places. Check out this post for our previous Franchoek adventures :)

Breakfast, one of our favourite meals. Image from Pinterest. 

Have a great weekend everyone! Stay warm! 

xx C & L 

A night at Diaz

It’s a well-known fact that as soon as winter descends on Cape Town majority of the population transform into complete hermits. In summer, my plus-one and I pop out after dinner for a quick walk on the Seapoint prom, or a glass of wine at a friend’s, or just a drive to watch the sun fall over the sea. The days are far longer, the views around Cape Town are mind-blowing, and the idea of staying in seems totally foreign.

Fast forward from January to July, and the opposite is true. Between bouts of monsoon-like rain, wind that pelts the rain into a sideways motion fooling any umbrella and freezing temperatures, the thought of poking one toe out of the front door is absurd. We sprint home before dark to close curtains and stop the cold coming in. We huddle around the gas heater like we’re the last two people on earth, and my dogs grow into mini fluff balls resembling little grey lambs. Besides the little lamb bit, which I secretly enjoy, winter in Cape Town is totally depressing.

All is not lost however; as I have discovered one little treat which will suit both young and old. Now keep an open mind. The place that I recommend below is well-known by most Capetonians, but not necessarily a first option for a night out. Keep in mind that this recommendation comes on the back of many depressed nights in and the need to stretch your fun muscles.

So here it is:

Dias Tavern. Don’t gasp or shake your head until you’ve read until the end. The key to a good night at this old Portuguese institution is a LARGE group of friends. Don’t bother going if it’s just you and your in-laws – the key to success here is loads of fun-loving people to accompany you. Book a big table in advance (it gets busy). Anywhere in the restaurant is fine, but not near the bar or dance floor.

Yup. This happened at Dias. Your turn.

We’ve been a couple times for birthdays and other celebrations and I find that taking matters into your hands early on and booking a taxi ride there and back is the best way to do it. There is an FNB ATM at the entrance to the restaurant, so if you’ve forgotten cash for transport, no need to stress. The restaurant is warm and welcoming and absolutely packed most of the time. If you’re into sport, get there early on sporting days to watch the major rugby or football games – they seem to screen most of them. 

Once you’re in, don’t delay: Order a pitcher of Katemba immediately. If you haven’t tried it, you haven’t lived. This is one of those ‘when in Rome’ moments. If you’re going to soak in the authenticity of the place then just give in. Katemba is a mixture of Coca Cola and Red wine (another gasp). The benefit thereof is that your head and stomach might cope slightly better the next morning :)

The menu is filled with many delights like Trinchado, giblets, livers, Espetada, Prego (I could go on for ages) – you are bound to find something that suits your taste. I seem to always choose the giblets as a starter followed by the Trinchado. I can highly recommend both – and the hotter the better!

After dinner, specifically on a Friday or Saturday evening there is live entertainment, and hopefully by that time you have warmed up on the Katemba and are in the mood to shake those hips. The crowd is usually completely diverse, but united in their need for a good party. The best thing to do is pack your inhibitions to one side, along with your winter coat, and dance all your stress away.

This picture is blurred to protect the identities of the people having ridiculous amounts of fun at Dias :)

You need to relax and enjoy it – try not be too particular about seating, noise or service. Just get into the vibe and have a great time. We do it often, and we have many hilarious stories to tell about nights out at Dias.

Tell us yours once you’ve been.


xx L

Dias Tavern is located at 15 Caledon Street (off Buitenkant st) Cape Town. You can contact them on 021 465 7547.