So this weekend I decided to head on down to Johannesburg and pay the ol' fandamily a visit. My sister's Matric Dance is taking place this coming Saturday and so, I thought that it would be a good idea to help her and my mom prepare-- If there are any male readers at this point, this is where I will elaborate; last minute touch-ups on the dress, finding shoes, a clutch bag, a matching bow tie for her date, jewellery and/ or accessories...the list continues as the dance draws nearer. Let us consider this as a trial run for any girl's wedding day... Anyhow, it was great to see my parents and sister (and two dogs; Gus and Frostie) for a couple of days. We spent Friday evening at one of our favourite restaurants which we have been going to ever since I was a very small person (I'm talking a couple months old here!) and shared some extra-cheesy, decadent, pan-fried pizza's as well as a fabulous, never-disappointing bottle of Alto Rouge (2011). The night revolved around making and discussing plans for the future, reminiscing (and by "reminiscing" I mean, chuckling) on memories from younger years, complaining to the waiter for messing up the pizza order (which resulted in us getting some free cappuccino's...) and just good old-fashioned face stuffery! Top button of pants unbuttoned at the terminus of the evening: Check! As afore-mentioned, the bulk of the weekend was spent doing searching and shopping for Matric Dance specifics. This means getting ready, going to the mall, and spending hours upon hours looking for what is on the list and returning home with the only thing purchased being coffee and lunch from Mugg n Bean to gather strength... Not so productive, but at least we had seen everything that was on offer. Thus, on Sunday, the job for my mom and I was much easier now that we had formed an idea of what could work. This evening we decided to do a family collaboration on dinner. I shall now present the final product; My dad cooked the rump steaks, I created the salad and my mom made the cheese and mushroom sauce for the steak. Other additives such as the reduction for the meat was put together by my dad and I made a quick vinaigrette for the salad. A Couple of Ingredients: Rump Steak (slightly obvious)--pan-fried, spices of your choice and a dash of olive oil. Mushrooms, flour, butter, milk, salt--made in microwave, compliments of Mom's age-old methodology. Danish Feta, avocado, egg plant, olives, bread (for croutons), tomato, rosemary, your own choice of spices and baby spinach leaves. Everything except for the avo, feta, olives and spinach leaves were roasted in the oven for crispiness; approximately 20 minutes at 140 degrees Celsius. Olive oil and other spices including mauled Cumin were also tossed around in the oven tray to give ingredients some personality. For the Vinaigrette: Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, S & P, chopped rosemary, sugar, Steers French Dressing, Sweet chili sauce, small helping of chopped garlic (depending on when your next conversation with other human life is) and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Shake up in any container, jar, bottle, whatever is closest and drizzle over insalata! The Monday night meal was enjoyed by everyone...except Gus and Frostie who were given a slightly more budget version of: Lucky Star shredded Pilchards, dog pellets, fermented bread and hot water. Sorry guys, maybe next time. Here's a picture of Gus; him preparing for Coachella 2015... He looks a bit hostile here, but is usually the biggest monochromatic (okay, well, dual-chromatic...If there is such a word) teddy-bear the Southern Hemisphere has ever seen. He does tricks such as presenting his paw upon request, and jumping. And when he lies on his side, he places his legs neatly on top of one another (always a crowd favourite). He always responds when you talk to him, and waves his tail when you wave to him. His only downfall is his bad breath and the level on dustiness on his belly. For the rest of the week, I hope the readers of this will have wonderful sunny days and warm, cosy evenings! Until the next post!
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AuthorHi there, my name is Judete Fourie. I am a twenty-something-year-old writer living in Stellenbosch in SA's Western Cape. Follow my day to day adventures that involve wine, wit and braaibroodjies. Archives
June 2017
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