In MENU This Week - Blackout Chinese, Raath trade show, Creation Winter Menu, Bouchard Finlayson, Hemel en Aarde cottage, New Cape Wine Masters

A Cape river frog (Amietia fuscigula) on the edge of the fountain at Bouchard Finlayson

Blackouts are top of our minds so much, with the time wasted because of them, so we have a story about a blackout supper for you. They have also added to the time it has taken to produce MENU for much of this year. But, this time, our time has been occupied by something else.

While we were away overnight in the Hemel en Aarde Valley, intruders broke through our tiled roof, then through the ceiling of our bedroom, broke our alarm system, disabled the CCTV camera, wifi and phone line and then went through the whole house methodically, emptying cupboards and drawers and breaking locks to gain access to office, workshop and wine cellar. The latter is underground, with a very plain white, steel-lined, door. We have used it as secure storage, but they obviously knew about it, and they stole the best of Lynne’s jewellery, which we stored there.

So much of our time has been spent, sorting, tidying, dealing with insurance, police, security and repair people. 

Moving along….

Blackout Chinese supper at He Sheng, Sea Point

The power cuts have made life rather difficult again, especially as winter is on its way. Lynne had plans on Friday night to make a Cheese soufflé, but the load shedding was going to be between 6 and 8.30, so no chance of that happening. We want to try and support our local restaurants who are still recovering from the lockdown shutdowns, so decided to eat out. He Sheng is a genuine Chinese restaurant in Sea Point and we made a booking. We were the first customers to arrive at 6.30 and were told by Madame that it was dinner by candlelight. Read on…

Raath Promotions wine trade show at the Winchester

Kathy Raath and her son Dane presented the wines they represent to the trade at the Winchester in Sea Point. The winemakers, all producers of premium quality wines, were on hand to show their products. It was wonderful to be able to attend a function like this after such a long time. Read on…

The new Winter menu at Creation

A lovely invitation from Carolyn Martin of Creation wines to visit and taste their new winter menu and to sample some of their new vegan dishes had us heading off to the Hemel and Aarde valley recently on a lovely autumn day. Read on…

A visit to Bouchard Finlayson

Bouchard Finlayson was founded by Peter Finlayson in 1989. Before that, he had been the first winemaker at neighbouring farm Hamilton Russell, the first wine producer in the Hemel en Aarde Valley. Read on…

The Cottage at De Werf

When we are invited to taste wine and food and to write articles about them in the Hemel and Aarde Valley, we are very, very fortunate indeed to have dear friends who have a lovely cottage on a property called De Werf and allow us to stay overnight. It is such a beautiful place, in a superb location, that we thought we would share it with you, especially as it is now on AirBnB and you, too, can go and enjoy this tranquil place. The cottage has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large lounge, full kitchen and an outside shower, an indoor inglenook with a wood burning stove, an outdoor braai and a plunge pool. The birdlife is superb too. Read on…

Two New Cape Wine Masters Graduate

Two new Cape Wine Masters (CWM) have graduated from the Cape Wine Academy (CWA), bringing the total number to attain this elite self-study qualification in its 42-year history to 111. They are Helena Melis, marketing manager, Spirits, Wine and Confectionery Buyer at Big Five Duty Free, Johannesburg and Mark Philp, a director of the Selfords and Donford Motor Group of companies in the Cape. Read on…

All our stories can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right

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