Babylonstoren

Having lived in this area for five years, I had the fabulous experience of visiting Babylonstoren for the first time the other day. I am still in awe when I think of the first time I walked those gardens and sat down to a beautiful brunch in The Green House. It has this "wow-factor" that is hard to put into words, one have to experience it for oneself. Really!

Babylonstoren is situated in the Drakenstein Valley between Franschhoek and Paarl, in the heart of the Cape Winelands.  There are many activities to keep you busy all day long, which includes The Garden, wine tasting, hiking up the koppie, bird watching, photographing every square inch of this beautiful property and of course, EATING....

I cannot insist enough the importance of experiencing this place for yourself; once you've been there, you'll know what I mean. Like my friend said; "it looks like they employed someone to go around all day, merchandising and decorating". It is just FABULOUS!

At Babel  

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The Garden

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You can view more pictures from others that visited this amazing place on gramfeed. Then head on over to my favourite local blogger Vasgevang, to see his posts about Babylonstoren, here, here and here.

And now for some pics of my own.....

Even the taps are beautiful... hehe..

Happy weekend!

Bread of Life

If ever you're in Stellenbosch, do yourself a HUGE  favour and visit De Oude Bank Bakkerij for the most divine breads and pastries you have ever tasted. EVER!! They've been getting fantastic reviews from critiques all over the country, which I must admit, is well deserved (see this one from Eat Out and this one from Cape Town Magazine.).  If this isn't enough to make you want to go there and indulge, I think these pictures of what's on offer will do the trick, no?

Happy week folks!

Address: 

De Oude Bank Bakkerij
Church Street
Stellenbosch
021 883 2187

Oude Bank Building

South African food

When my sister came around for lunch the other day,  I made something truly South African with a bit of a twist;  bobotie springrolls. Bobotie is a Cape Malay dish made with minced meat, spices and dried fruit and is served with yellow rice with raisins. We always serve it with sambals on the side too, such as plain yoghurt, desiccated coconut, chopped tomato and onion, sliced banana and of course, chutney! There are several recipes for Bobotie on the internet, even Nigella Lawson has her own version (ours is a family secret, so I won't share it here....).

If you like a sweet and spicy meat dish, this would be something to try! I like to take the meat-mixture and roll it in phyllo-pastry sheets to make "springrolls". Rather than deep-fry, I bake it in the oven and it is absolutely delicious!

Happy day!

Veggie garden

Since our potatoes in a bag are growing so well, I decided to try grow sweet potatoes too. I cut the bigger ones in half and put them in water to sprout....

From what I read on the internet, you're supposed to let them "run out" and make some "shoots" or "roots" before you plant it. Put the potato  into the soil and leave only a few bits of the greenery sticking out above the soil. So far, two of them have "sprouted" and I'm waiting for the right day to put them in the ground. Both will go in the same bag and we'll see what happens.

Happy day!

a good place to gather

a good place to gather is the blog by Jessica who is the former chef of Nook Eatery, which she co-owned and ran with her husband Luke. We got to know them at Nook and were always impressed by this couple's passion for quality, delicious food and eye for detail. I was very happy to see them recently at Kamersvol Geskenke and to have the pleasure of sinking my teeth into one of their home-made, buttery, mouth-watering delicious croissants again. The Captain always insisted that the croissants are the best he's ever had and being a Frenchman, it is a great compliment to the chef; and a well-deserved one too. 

If you never had the pleasure of eating at Nook, well.... too bad. We're secretly hoping they might consider moving back to our part of the "woods".... hehe. Until they do (yeah, I wish!!) I will continue to collect the fabulous recipes she shares with us on a good place to gather. I think you will enjoy it too!

Happy day!

Lovely light supper

There's nothing I love more than the "al fresco" style of eating we adopt in summer time; well almost summer.    Mealtime for us includes lots of fresh veggies and something light, like these gingered chicken cakes we have with salad and mayonnaise in wraps or pita bread...

Happy day!

Food, glorious food

We've had a dietician visit our Cheetah's school recently, with a complete revamp of the menu at the tuck-shop (canteen) and an interesting talk about children and nutrition. My guys and I are quite lucky to be naturally slim, despite the fact that we like full cream milk and yoghurt, REAL butter on our bread and lots of other "naughty" things.
The talk just reminded me that we still have to watch what we eat. I want to share some images and links to some of my favourite foodie blogs....

cannelle et vanille not only have some divine recipes and ideas for wholesome meals, the food styling and photographs are absolutely to die for.....

Then there is The Alkaline Sisters  who shares with us,  nutritious recipes and beautifully photographed food as well. Have a look....

Good, healthy food has never looked this good before and with all the choice we have these days it is much easier to help our kids follow a wholesome diet that is not boring and tasteless.

Happy day!

Good bye!

Oh, no!!  We were devastated when we heard about Luke and Jessica leaving at the end of the month. This dynamic duo have started Nook Eatery three years ago and have really impressed us with their quality food and pastries and quirky decorating style. They will be missed but we wish them all the best with their future plans.

Nook, on van Ryneveld Street

The best Sticky Cinna-buns, EVER!!

Nook, inside...

Pain-au-chocolat, even better than in France!!

For those who live in the area (or nearby);  you snooze, you loose, SO, you still have until the end of the month to indulge in these delicious treats!

Happy weekend to all. (Ours will probably start off with a croissant, pain-au-chocolat or simply divine French toast at Nook...)

French meringue

Having been inspired by the decor8 blog post about French meringue here, I decided to make some of my own. The Captain likes to make desserts and pastries and we have forever a container full of egg whites in the refrigerator. This was my chance to make lovely little sweet treats like the ones in the picture above (borrowed from the decor8 blog)

Deliciousness, hmm.....

Have a Happy Day!!