Well friends, it seems that the whispers have now built up into a din and that a TV show could soon, maybe definitely, be the case. The story goes something like this… (with a precursor of months of if’s and buts and big fat maybes)
[Get straight to the good stuff and TV pilot HERE] Read the rest of this entry »
Hey Foodie Friends, You’re Invited! The lovely ladies Michele Magwood and Camilla Twigg have kindly invited me to speak (and cook!) (and sign books!) at their latest Cook Salon event at the gorgeous Miele Kitchen in Bryanston next week. And so, by default, you’re invited too. Nice hey? Oh, and in case you’re interested, here’s what renowned book reviewer Michele had to say about ‘bitten.’
Except, I’m sorry, it’s kind of a conditional invite. You’re invited, IF you live in Joburg, if you don’t work between 3-5pm on a Friday (far more suited to the Cape Town crowd methinks?) or have a lenient boss who is going to let you scuttle off out of the office early on a Friday, or if you just don’t work at all and are, ahem, a Lady who Lunches perhaps? Either way, you are cordially and warmly welcome to my Book Launch (Part 2 – you can read about Part 1, an evening of fun and madness, here). We’ll be hosted by the lovely people at Hartmann & Keppler Interiors in Bryanston, who have nothing less than a beautiful Smeg demonstration kitchen that just deserves showing off. So come say hi, I’d love to meet you.
That’s all folks. Happy Tuesdayness.
I know that self-promotion is about as tasteful as under-ripe avocados, or over-ripe apples. So in short, it’s utterly distasteful. But I hope that you will indulge me for a moment while I give you a little update on where we’re at with THE BOOK? So far, I have to say that this book thing is rather fun. Ok, it’s helluva fun. I have a swarm of butterflies who have taken up permanent residence in my stomach, and I am having so much fun I could die. Read the rest of this entry »
Rob aptly describes this picture as ‘the fruit of 2011’… Just before we went back home to Zimbabwe for Christmas, in fact as we were driving out the gate, the courier company arrived with THE FIRST COPY OF MY BOOK. Finally having it in my hands was exciting and absolutely terrifying in equal measure. Read the rest of this entry »
I feel like Christmas has come early this year – I just got an email from my lovely book editor Linda, to say that the printing is done, the book is ready to hit the shelves and it looks pretty smashing. Prepare to take a bite out of Bitten. (*drumroll please*). If that’s not enough to induce toe-curling excitement in me I don’t know what is. And to add to that, I was having a browse around Kalahari.net the other day (for no particular reason whatsoever of course) and just happened to stumble upon this… Yip, the page is pending and I’ll be sure to let you know when pre-ordering is open for those of you living outside of South Africa who can be coerced into buying a copy 🙂 Read the rest of this entry »
It’s kind of like a dog chasing after a car – when it catches up with the car it has no idea what to do next…
My situation, that is. My BOOK situation. The one that has eclipsed so many nights with endless scribbles and scrawls and voice memos of ideas, and robbed me of much jolly good sleep. The one that has now become the precursor to much cooking and baking and feeding and tasting and oohing and aahing and turning up my nose in abundance. This situation of a random proposal that I sent to RandomHouse/Struik publishers here in Cape Town months ago, and which suddenly reared it’s almighty daunting head out of the blue and said ‘Yes Please’ and left me stammering and stuttering and fluttering… and HERE. With a book to write. And an overwhelming number of blank pages. And a deadline. A large, looming deadline. So if you’ve been wondering why there has been such a lack of inspiring new anything posted on this blog lately, that would be it. See? I have been a tad distracted. I am finally getting it together though, and as of next week should be juggling life (which now includes being pregnant) and my day job and blogging and book writing with aplomb. I hope. So watch this space. Read the rest of this entry »
I know right, sad to think that Rob could be that shallow… sometimes though I really do think that this was right up there with any other good attributes I might have when he decided to pop the question. Well, whatever his reasoning, I can’t find fault with his passion for this dish, except that he requests it so often that I can’t believe we haven’t killed it yet. I have been making it for so long that I honestly can’t remember where I got it from in the first place, I just recall stirring away over our two plate stove at University and never being underwhelmed with the results…
Post Script 12 December 2011 – This recipe is now almost famous. I kid you not, read about it here.
Serves 4 | Preparation time 15 minutes | Cooking time 30-45 minutes
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
Half packet of pasta – again, really thin spaghetti is our household favourite
1 x 250g packet of bacon, chopped (or use kitchen scissors, nice trick)
2 tins chopped peeled tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
Half a punnet of courgettes, chopped any which way (optional)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 Tbsp chutney/sweet chilli sauce/ 1 Tbsp sugar
Half tsp dried chilli
Half tsp dried coriander
1 tsp ground black pepper
Half a cup of cream, or plain yoghurt for a healthier version
WHAT TO DO
1. Cook the pasta until al dente, drain, drizzle with olive oil and set aside.
2. In a medium-sized good quality pot on med-high, heat about 4 Tbsp olive oil, and brown the onion, chilli and garlic.
3. Then add the bacon and brown that too.
4. Add the 2 tins of chopped tomatoes and the chutney/sweet chilli sauce/sugar.
5. Bring to the boil and then let it simmer for about 20 minutes before adding the courgettes and cream.
6. Simmer for a further 10 minutes and then serve over the pasta and garnish with some fresh chopped basil or parsley.
Variations: You could easily add mushrooms to this dish, or cook it with chicken instead of bacon. You could also serve with some crumbed feta sprinkled over the top.
And when I get this right, Rob gives it his 10/10. And when I don’t, believe me I know all about it.
afoodieliveshere 