out of town

I am officially “on holiday”, although it might seem to a spectator that I am doing exactly what I always do but just in a different place – crocheting, reading, crocheting, visiting wool shops, crocheting, going to markets, thinking about crocheting, crocheting, reading crochet blogs. Also eating. We went to the Wild Oats farmers’ market in Sedgefield yesterday to stock up – farm butter, pickled fish, artisanal bread, feta, cream cheese, chicken pies, pork pies, shark’s bite chilli sauce, apricot chutney, horse radish sauce, cranberry fudge, homemade lemonade, lammingtons…oh boy, I’m going to have to let all my seams out.

Back in a few days.

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Patrick Swayze and lemon meringue icecream

Yip, my two old stand-bys – Dirty Dancing, and a very decadent dessert. They’ll get me through the next couple of days.

Here’s the recipe for the ice-cream. It’s so easy even I can’t screw it up, and the people rave about it. Rave, I tell you.

You need
1 tin of condensed milk
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind (I think the fancy chaps call it zest?)
The juice of 4 lemons
375ml cream (the cream here comes in 250ml tubs so I just use 2 of those. My maths was never very good)
2 cups crushed meringues (you can substitute lemon wafer biscuits if you can’t get your hands on meringues)

You do
Mix the condensed milk with the rind and the juice.
Whip the cream until it’s stiff then fold it into the condensed milk.
Fold in the meringues or wafers.
Freeze.

I don’t know what the minimum time is for freezing, I usually make mine the day before I need it so it gets lots of time to freeze. I need a batch for tomorrow (lunch at Anne’s house) and another batch for Wednesday (braai at friends of Rob). And I’m making chocolate liqueur mousse for tomorrow as well. Come January, this fatty boom-boom will be knocking on that Weigh-Less door again.

Hope you all have a lovely festive time, sun or snow.

To be continued…

potato bag love

Doreen’s daughter bought herself a potato bag in the UK recently, and Doreen and I thought it was such a good idea that we wanted to make one, too. Here is my effort:

I used lilac hessian for the outside, a loosely woven black cotton for the lining (this keeps the potatoes in the dark, so they don’t grow eyes), and an off-white cotton for the drawstring bit and the label.  I didn’t really plan and measure properly so it’s ended up a helluva lot bigger than the one Linda found, but this way I can fit in more potatoes, right?!

To be continued…

Lunch at Lyra’s

It was Karen’s birthday yesterday, so we picked Lyra’s in Rondebosch for lunch to celebrate. I landed a good forty five minutes earlier than Jane and Karen, so I got to fit in an extra cappuccino and a read of the Cape Times.

I specially asked for a take-away cup because I like the size – those stupid white cups and saucers have never done it for me and, despite what people say, size really does count with some things.

I don’t think Freddie and Dr Phil are just waiters, I think they actually run the place!

Lyra’s used to be a different restaurant which also had great food and a similar vibe, but the revamp is a vast improvement.  The menu is really comprehensive  and caters for all tastes and pockets.  (Rondebosch has a large student population, for those of you who don’t know it.) (Also a lot of OAPs, now that I think of it.)  The outside section is tented and those funny wires you see on the roof are lights that flash like glow-worms on steroids at night.  Being “outside” also means that there are ashtrays on the tables.  Works for me.

Between us we had: 4 (big) cappuccinos and three deluxe sarmie delights (roast beef, roast veggies, and bacon), which were accompanied by the best and no doubt the most unhealthful french fries I have ever known.  Next time I’m going to order just those.  I was so excited with my food that I forgot to take a photo.  Before we added a 15% service tip (because we had such excellent service!), the bill came to R206.  Amazing value!!

It’s hard to know what to give to friends for their birthdays sometimes, especially now that we are all at that middle-aged stage of life where we already have pretty much everything we need.  But I knew Karen didn’t have a moonflower – so that is what she got!

I added a few buttons this time, which I think worked well. She says she loves it, but the proof of that will really only be evident the next time I go to her house.  If it’s not hanging up somewhere, I’ll know I should have given her a couple of lacy thongs instead.

To be continued…