i HEART taiwan

I am returning to the country that has my heart. Probably. You have no idea how thrilled I am. No. I. Dea. I am giddy with joy. I'm going to start screaming for pure excitement in a second.

Ravioli with Jamie

A while ago I mentioned that I use to scoff at the idea of buying a Jamie Oliver cookbook. The thing is that I don’t really like celebrity chefs, with the exception of Kylie Kwong, and generally find the whole lot rather full of themselves and somehow a little dull.

So naturally when Alexander started paging through Jamie Oliver books I rolled my eyes and wandered over to the ‘Gay and Lesbian’ section of Exclusive Books to see if they removed all the straight sex guide books for the G&L section to make room for more thematically correct books (I’m always disappointed).

A month or so ago he finally decided to buy’ Cook with Jamie- My Guide to Making You a Better Cook’ (because right now you are a shitty cook). I expected to never use the book, but much to my surprise I have prepared loads of recipes from the book and find myself just paging through it for general guidelines from time to time.

The thing is that, despite a somewhat annoying ‘YOU CAN DO IT!’ undertone, this book really makes you just want to cook everything from it. It is a combination of straightforward instructions, recipes written in a simple conversational style and fantastic photographs. This is the kind of book that even my sister might find useful, if she ever decides to open a cookbook. You kind of have to go out of your way to mess anything up from these pages, it is that simple.

I decided to give myself a bit of a challenge and make ravioli from scratch for dinner the other night. I have never attempted anything like this before. But he made it seem pretty straightforward and so I decided to give it a go.

His instructions for making the pasta dough was clear and simple, although it took plenty of effort in the kneading department and had me lay into it with my elbows at one point as my wrists and hands began to ache too much! After letting it rest for a while I started with the rolling-out part. Which was just as hard work as I did not have a pasta machine (like he did). So I set to work with a rolling pin and empty wine bottle. Alexander and I took turns rolling out balls of pasta into flat sheets. More aching hands and wrists followed. When the pasta seemed thin enough we placed the fillings in place, sealed it and cut out the individual ravioli circles. They looked adorable and I was proud of our hard work. Now it just had to hold together during the cooking process.

This was where things went a bit wrong. Instead of being able to boil my ravioli for only a few minutes I had to boil it a lot longer before it was cooked. Reason for this is that I did not roll it thin enough, I know, I am a wimp. In the process of cooking it longer some of the circles came apart, loosing its’ filling. Not all was lost though and in the end it came out mostly pretty and tasting fine.

Will I do it again? Yesterday I said hell no, today, maybe. If I had a pasta machine perhaps and also if I could lay my hands on the Tipo 00 flour he suggested which is supposed to be finer and might make kneading a bit easier.

For now, there are lots of other recipes in his book I’d gladly give a go.

* Thanks to Alexander for the pictures.
** I was originally going to post the recipe, but after all that work maybe not this time. Just go and buy the book if you’re curious!

I desire- a coffee maker

We have a really cute espresso maker, a french press and several Vietnamese coffee drips in our home. They all contribute to keeping us caffeinated and happy. It's a good selection which means we can have coffee in more ways than one. But I am starting to really-really miss having a good old fashioned drip coffee maker. I used to have ones in the past, but not since Bangkok have we had one. If we weren't moving early next year I'd get one now, but that seems like a waste.

I miss the whole ritual of the coffee maker. The filter paper that gets filled with ground coffee, filling the machine with cold water, flicking the switch and listening to the dripping sound of the water falling through the filter into the pot and the gargling noises it makes while preparing the coffee. And then I love how you can make a big pot and have a couple of cups in a row, working up a steady buzz. I remember working on sewing projects long ago this way, making a big pot late in the evening and working through the night, refilling my cup often, going on a complete caffeine high and dancing and sewing through the night.

It does not have to be anything fancy, just a simple black or white one would do. All I ask is that it has a glass pot so I can see the coffee level rising. Tired of your machine? I'll provide a good home until February!

Potential travel routes

Looking at my blog title and 'About' bit and then looking at my blog content I discovered there is not a whole lot of traveling happening on it... yet. Well, it's a while before we will leave South Africa so there's my excuse. But I know it is not enough, so I will give you some potential itineraries and future plans we've been looking at.

#1- spend the next 2/3 years traveling around the world. Starting with a road trip along the SA coast and moving inland to Limpopo province to spend time with my family and be around for the birth of my brother's first kid. Head to the US and spend spring with X's family and in the States. Work in Canada for the summer and then head to Bogotta to visit a friend and live for a bit. Travel overland tthrough Ecuador, Peru and Chile to Argentina and settle in BA for half a year. Fly back to SA, visit friends and family. Head over to SE Asia and visit Malaysia and Thailand before flying to Taiwan for a stay. Fly back to US via Japan. This plan sounds the most fun to me and I still want to do it a lot, but since this one there have been others...

#2- This one is the same as the first, only we travel through Latin America faster nad stay in Taiwan for a year before going back to the US.


#3- I don't really like this one because it does not include Latin America, but has us go back to New Mexico after our summer in Canada, potentially for me to further my studies in education.

#4- This one too I like, same as the first with a bit of a visit in Bogotta before going back to Taiwan for a year and then back to the US.

As I type other routes are being discussed. Which one will we choose?

Royale Dinner

One place I consistently missed in Cape Town after leaving in 2006 was Royale Eatery, a seriously fun restaurant on Long street. Royale’s main claim to fame is there impressive range of burgers, mostly of the gourmet variety. From hearty meat burgers to 100% vegan ones, there is something for just about everyone. Besides burgers they also have an impressive pizza and pasta menu, fantastic salads, wicked shakes and innovative cocktails. But it is the burgers that keep me going back.

I usually made a point of ordering something else from the menu on every visit, never to be disappointed by my selection. Their burgers are universally well-prepared and good fun. That was until July of this year. We went there with Alexander’s family and I decided to try the very simple ‘Miss Piggy’. Beef patty, bacon and guacamole. One bite and I was sold. It was by far the best burger I’ve ever had there, and I’ve had plenty to compare it too. The beef burger was grilled to perfection, the bacon crunchy and the guacamole provided a rich and smooth accompaniment. I was sold.

We went back a week later and I ordered exactly the same. Recently we went there for a small celebration and I tried the ‘Hawaiian Miss Piggy’, served with a slice of pineapple. It was good but not great.

So when we went there with some friends this past Saturday for our second burger fix of the week, I did not even look at the menu. I knew what I was getting.

And it did not disappoint. The ‘Miss Piggy’ is the perfect burger, I think it would stand up to Tim’s standards of a great burger. I believe we’ll go back there a couple more times before leaving Cape Town, and whereas I will gladly change my drink of choice every time, my teeth will only be sunk into one kind of burger.

This is making me a whole lot of angry.

This image makes me feel a lot of things, uncomfortable, sad, confused, scared and sick, but mostly it just makes me feel incredibly angry. WTF? I was reading Dlisted this afternoon when this image of 9-year old Noah Cyrus popped up. You can read his take on it and see more scary images here and here.

We live in a world which condemns child molesters and where child pornography is a big no-no. But then it is okay for people to dress there pre-teenage kids like Moulin Rouge hookers for Halloween? I am so not okay with this. This freaks me out. If you look at some of the other images you'll see that her teeth are not even properly grown out, she's at that awkward phase where they look too big for her head, yet she looks about ready to be dropped off on some street corner to turn tricks for the evening.

This is not the first time she's appeared looking like a prozzy in public, search for images on google and you'll find plenty of uncomfortable imagery to get sick from.

And if you think I am just being crude and overexagerating, please try to enlighten me. You will fail though and if you have kids I am reporting you to child services. Because let's face it, somewhere a couple of pedophiles are just loving this

Sunday breakfast- lavender pancakes

Just chopped up some fresh lavender and added it to the mix. Simple. Satisfying. Sunday.