15 On Orange Hotel

Concierge level of the hotel.
15 on Orange is a brand new 5 Star hotel in Cape Town city center (corner of Grey’s Pass and Orange Street) and we had breakfast there with the General Manager’s fiancé – what can I say…we know people. People who can get you an awesome breakfast. Entrée the beautiful, friendly, slightly crazy and divine, Cecile.

Braai time (not Brie time!)

Today’s recipe: Marinade for meat or chicken.
Springbok kebabs.

A braai is similar to a barbeque in that bit involves cooking meat over flames outside. But that is where the similarity ends. A PROPER South African braai involves real wood, no charcoal or (heaven forbid) (gasp) gas. We want flames and carcinogenic black bits on our meat. The word can be difficult for foreigners to pronounce and it has been referred to as a Brie, which is just plain wrong!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braai

South Africa, The Great

Today’s recipe: Copper Penny Salad / Carrot Salad

Table Mountain from across the bay.

I had almost forgotten how beautiful South Africa is and I am so proud of how well the country has jelled together. Yes, there is still a high crime rate, but we are a unified SA so now all nationalities can’t pronounce their vowels! Racism is still rife in all ranks, but the communal cackling of nations going on in this bus doesn’t seem to be aware of it.

Family and other wild animals

Today’s recipe: Elephant stew
A photo of sea and rocks in Port Elizabeth.
In light of all the miserable weather in the northern hemisphere, I am almost ashamed to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the summer sunshine in the southern hemisphere. If it makes you feel any better, I have had a spot of bother with sunburn, food poisoning and hate mail from freezing Europeans

Curried Minced / Ground Beef and Vetkoek

My beloved baby sister, Alison, (who makes THE BEST Curried Minced Beef and Vetkoek in the world)her husband, Marius, and 2 children are now living in New Zealand which is a real bummer for me as I haven’t seen her in over 3 years. My wonderful niece and nephew, Bianca and Martius (who clearly take after me!) are also sorely missed by their crazy aunt. My darling sister suffered a bad stroke last year at the (very young) age of 38 (and yet another this week), but is pulling through with humour and charm. Headline: Strokes and sex changes. Read more to find out what this means….