Belated day(s) of donuts as winter 2018 hits Cape Town

You can see that winter’s well and truly on it’s way as we’re dressed in woolly hats and socks and long pants in the pics below – the lack of milkshakes and absence of dip in the sea over last weekend is another giveaway that we’re in the colder bit of the year…

Saturday, 2 June 2018: Waffle breakfast at The Daily, wintery braai at the in-laws

T’was a ‘The Daily Cafe’ breakfast kind of day. I went for the ‘waffle pop’ breakfast – a waffle quartered and served with sliced banana, nuts, ice cream and caramel sauce. Husband had an unpictured salmon eggs benedict and flat white.

The Daily’s ‘tin cup’ (cappuccino with condensed milk) is a delicious warming start to the day.

We did some weekend admin at Century City that morning and stopped in at Dunkin Donuts for a quick coffee-Rocky Road donut treat, as the previous day had been international donut day in the US. Given the time difference, our celebration was almost bang on target.

Later that afternoon: Father-in-law’s homemade boerewors. When asked what was in it he thought a while to remember, then decided it was pork mince, beef mince, coriander and nutmeg.

She has a faraway smile on her sweet face here, while squashed onto the couch next to her dad.

Bassie looks just as concerned as owlie bag here.

We must have looked cosy on the couch as Bertie decided to join us, too.

Scenes from the braai – meat cooking, my portion, instant pudding with crumbled Flake on top and little miss Bassie pretending she’s not looking directly at the food on the table.

Sunday, 3 June 2018: Breakfast at Primi, Solo movie outing at GrandWest

On Sunday, we breakfasted at Primi, Marine Circle. Husband had a latte with extra shot of espresso.

The Mocha Forte comes in a tiny cup but it’s a delicious blend of ristretto, dark chocolate, coconut oil and micro-textured milk. Just the thing when it’s chilly out and you need a hot caffeine fix!

See? It’s tiny but delicious. The lovely open fire pit in the middle of our local Primi, with views of the sea through those windows, is also a winner.

I surprised everyone (that’s Husband and myself) by opting for the crispy bacon-avo bowl topped with poached egg for my brekkie.

Husband opted for the Primi Power – streaky bacon, sausage patties, sautéed mushrooms and eggs.

Later that morning we met brother-in-law Spec at GrandWest Casino to watch the Star Wars Solo movie. (Teehee if you thought I meant I had gone to the movies by myself!) This was the least blurry action shot of the bunch husband took.

Mum had whipped up two different soups for lupper – Woolies’ ginger, carrot and coriander and a variation of Checkers’ creamy broccoli-and-potato – which were both just the thing with bacon-flavoured croutons and egg-mayo sandwiches. Yum.

And for dessert, an assortment of Dunkin Donuts’ finest, also in honour of International Donut Day on Friday! My favourite is the choc-filled smiley heart and the milk-tart-filled powder-dusted heart. I heart them. ❤

Tuesday, 5 June 2018: Woodstock sunrise and paella dins

Pretty sunrise over Woodstock as I made my way to work from the bus on Tuesday morning.

Mum whipped up a delicious ‘dry’ chicken-sausage paella when they came for dins that evening. The left-overs for lunch the next day were amazing!

That’s all, folks! May your weekend be donut-delicious.

Husband’s 38th birthday and waffles on a stick at the Big Bay Summer Market

This past week took an age to get through. Perhaps because we’re finally in February and January’s always the longest month, what with transitioning back into ‘work mode’ after the end-of-year break.

Here’s what we’ve been up to since my last update…

Friday, 26 January 2018: Meltwater webinar presentation

Look at me, looking nervous/excited/relieved with Philippa Dods, Meltwater’s amazing marketing coordinator for India, Middle East & Africa last Friday, after a successful PR webinar presentation. No need for FOMO if you missed it, just click on this link to the recording so you can catch-up!

Saturday, 27 January 2018: Sweet treats at Sweet Loaf, brotherly dins at Catch22

We started our weekend at Wimpy in Bayside as we had a few weekend admin chores to do while there. And surprise, soon after we ordered my parents also ended up there for breakfast! I enjoyed my regular Wimpy coffee and toasted cheese on a stick. Husband had the streaky bacon breakfast with extra cheesegriller (as did Dad), while Mum went for the avo-toast. A good start to the day!

We also did some motorbike-gear pricing at Sable Square and stopped at Sweet Loaf for a quick treat – everything sells for R11, whether you want a cappuccino, can of Cola, mini-cake load or palm-size pie.

Aww! Little Miss Bassie was such a happy girl when we popped in at her grandparents’ house that evening for some tech assistance.

Bertie was also eager to share his affection with his dad. Big licks!

Spec was spending the night with us so after a quick unpack at our house we headed off to Catch22 for dins. See Husband enjoying his glass of red top-left, my gingerbread latte top-right, Spec with his Amstel bottom-left, and Husband and me in front of the tropical paradise painting outside bottom-right. T’was so bright, we needed to wear sunnies.

And the food? Oh boy was it good! See group photo top-left, full table of food bottom-left, that day’s specials in the middle my buccaneer beef burger topped with bacon and cheese top-right and Husband’s baby kingklip with veg bottom-right. Spec went for the linefish with calamari special. All delicious!

Later that evening we walked down the beach to see the kite-surfing competition in action – it was suitably windy!

Sunday, 28 January 2018: Husband’s family birthday lunch at Bossa

The little ones were happy to pose with me on the couch as my coffee was in a doggy-patterned mug so they felt right at home. As they should, as they were at home. Teehee.

For the first time in many years, we all live in the same city so could do a combined birthday lunch for Husband. See the eisbein with roast veg with parents shared top-left, the pizza me and father-in-law ate top-right, dad’s strong flat white bottom-left (and he had a Black Label draught before that, so his placemat was accurate), with a full family shot bottom right.

Once we’d had time to digest lunch, we stopped off at Husband’s favourite sea-swimming hole for his weekly dunk.

We stopped in at Table Bay Mall for a spot of birthday shopping and a treat in the form of Milky Lane ice creams, mmm! Husband’s is plain vanilla with caramel topping and assorted syrups, mine is the berry-meringue whizzer.

Monday, 29 January 2018: Husband’s 38th birthday

Here’s the first batch of ‘kisses with the birthday hat’ photos. The doggies were keen to join in but seemed shy once we started taking the pics.

These are our attempts while sitting on the couch. If i was licking Bertie’s head in the bottom-left pic (I’m not, I’m blowing Husband a kiss but Bertie angled himself in such a way that it looks like Bass is licking my hand, I’m licking Bertie’s head and he’s licking his dad’s chin.) Crying with laughter!

Tuesday, 30 January 2018: Office donuts and owlie mugs

When clients cancel Tuesday meetings and send through apology donuts (from Dunking Donuts, else they’d be ‘doughnuts’), we share. Also, meet my new hipster owl office mug – disinterested deer has bitten the dust.

T’was also the day I did a video interview in the Barclays Rise space in the Woodstock Exchange. I’ll share the link to that interview next week. For now, see the interesting surrounds.

Wednesday, 31 January 2018: Waffles on a stick at the Big Bay Summer Market

It’s been a while since the last ‘I love Big Bay’ food and craft market, usually held at the Big Bay Lifesaving Club at Eden on the Bay on the last Wednesday of every month. It was a very windy day so we didn’t stay very long.

Various shots of me with my waffle on a stick, also see my potato wedges topped with paprika and parmesan top-left. Yum!

Look at the choices! All were fresh and chocolate-y but I went for the ‘Astronaut’, as it was covered in mini-Astros and looked like an edible Christmas tree. Yum.

Thursday, 1 February 2018: #NespressoOnIce pop-up shop at work

The NespressoOnIce truck is conducting a road trip across the country and stopped in at our office on Thursday afternoon. We were thrilled to try a few of the iced coffee options as it was a very hot day.

That’s all, folks! Have a relaxing weekend 🙂

Stacked Diner flapjacks, fancy Langa lunches and stunning Citrusdal sunsets

We were on leave for the start of this week, doing a bit of a digital detox in the peaceful mountain town of Citrusdal. It went by in a flash and seems like a dream now when I think back to it so luckily we took photos as proof – highly recommended, especially if you’re slightly under the weather! But first…

Saturday, 27 May 2017: TTKXLangaProject lunch

We started our Saturday with a shared halloumi toast breakfast at our local Foodlover’s Market as we knew our tummies would have quite the luxurious lunch later. Also see my cappuccino and the sweet snowman wall art inside.

Presenting Langa. A township many avoid if they can, this was the setting for The Test Kitchen’s pop-up restaurant-charity event this past weekend, which was a roaring success. See some of the sights, including aeroplane wing-lights in the ceiling of the Guga S’thebe theatre-come-eating-hall, itself cleverly constructed from converted shipping containers.

Our menu for the afternoon. All this for R250, I’d say highly worth it – clearly others agreed as the weekend raised over R200,000 for charity, with only 280 seats in total over the 2 lunches – click here for my full coverage of the event!

The four food courses, left to right top to bottom ranged from duck to tuna to beef to lemon tart. My full review has all the descriptions!

We were still full-to-bursting from lunch but one does not turn down creme caramel dessert after the parents’ braai.

Sunday, 28 May 2017: Stacked Diner breakfast

I’d heard good things about Stacked Diner on Kloof Street, so we ventured out that way for our Sunday morning breakfast. Service was fast, food was fresh, prices were good and they’re open from 7:30am each day! If they were a little closer to home I’d be there like a flash. Note my strong cappuccino, Husband’s chilli-cheese dog with side of avo and my chocolate-chip flapjack stack with milk-chocolate pouring sauce. Yum.

Doesn’t this forkful of choc-chip flapjack stack covered in cream and milk chocolate sauce and fresh strawberry look sinful? I wiped my plate clean.

Teehee. The doggies were so sweet at the Granny’s house for Sunday lupper. Note the pies and chips the humans ate bottom-left, and Bassie wolfing down pomegranate mousse.

Monday, 29 May 2017: Digital detox at Wolfkop

Such pretty road trip scenery – Citrusdal is just over two hours from home.

Destination Wolfkop! Set in a nature reserve, the chalets are clean and spacious and just shout out ‘relax’! We did just that, and also enjoyed watching the friendly lizard catch moths that flew too close to the light.

Pretty clouds streaking the sky. Greenery everywhere. Hills and dales and tiny animals. Happiness.

It’s not for nothing that we’re the water-lovers of the zodiac. Aquarians will see a body of water and get in it. (That’s Husband and me). Mum and dad (Leos) also enjoyed it but we outlasted them by a good few hours!

See? There. This is how it felt to be in a hot jacuzzi instead of the normal Monday scenario where I’m glued to numerous screens.

I very nearly missed taking a snap of the sunset on our first night there as I was having such fun relaxing in the jacuzzi. We should have been wrinkled prunes after spending hours in the warm water but somehow didn’t look any worse for wear.

Tuesday, 30 May 2017: The Lovely Grapevine breakfast, afternoon at The Baths

The Lovely Grapevine Coffee and Gift Shop is just down the street from Wolfkop so that’s where we had breakfast on Tuesday morning. It was indeed lovely, from the moment dad asked if they serve breakfast (“Het julle ontbyt”) and got the worried reply “Jy wil my byt?” (You want to bite me?) Teeheehee!

Such a lovely setting, and the food was just what the doctor ordered.

That afternoon we drove about half-an-hour to The Baths, one of Citrusdal’s top attractions – we’d booked for lunch at McGregor’s Restaurant so stopped in to fill up our bellies first. See my chicken strips and chips, Husband’s oxtail stew, Mum’s cheeseburger, Dad’s crumbed mushroom starter but not the cake-y waffle we shared for dessert as we ate it so fast.

That magical hot pool filled with natural spring water was just as we remembered from our last visit. (Click here for a reminder).

Various moments of sunset gazing on our last night at Wolfkop. The night sky was also lovely, dotted with so many stars. I wish I could press ‘rewind’!

Wednesday, 31 May 2017: Hebron breakfast and Citrusdal souvenirs

Final morning coffee while soaking up the last dregs of a gorgeous sunrise.

Citrusdal was not so named by mistake. Nosiree. Mum loved all the freshly squeezed orange juice, and we couldn’t resist bringing a few ripe samples home with us. They’re incredibly juicy and seedless. Just the thing if you’re slightly under the weather.

We’d noted Hebron on our way through Piekenierskloof on the way into Citrusdal, so that’s where we stopped for breakfast after packing up and checking out of Wolfkop. It’s a real hidden gem!

Very intriguing tables comprising old solar panels, topped with lovely cappuccino and a wonderful menu that’s changed monthly, so we were there for the last day of this exact offering. Here’s what we ate…

See my apple-bran flapjacks with bacon and rooibos syrup, the lovely nutty-fruity granola bowl Mum and Dad sampled, and Husband’s Bombay fry-up.

I got my ‘doughnut day’ fix a little early in the week – this is the chocolate-filled Mr Happy and a much-needed small cappuccino from when we did a few errands at Canal Walk’s Dunkin’ Donuts once we’d unpacked again.

That’s all, folks! We’re both back at work and seeing off the tail-end of an annoying cold. Hope you have a relaxing weekend ahead – hold thumbs that the ‘massive storm’ set to bring lots of rain to the Cape this coming week actually arrives!

Waffle churros, all the French toast & pizazzy fun with Zip Zap Circus

Woohoo, tis a long weekend ahead! Husband worked all of last weekend and I’ve been at it ever since, so we’re looking forward to finally spending a bit of time together, Not that we were like ships in the night, exactly, as you’ll see below. But first…

Forgot to post this last week, from when I had an office visit from Sarah at WE Joburg. We shared enormous cappuccinos downstairs and she took these snaps of the space we work in. Now you know, too 🙂

Saturday, 22 April 2017: Handle-less coffees at Hemelhuijs and Zip Zap Circus sunshine

On Saturday morning, I went to Hemelhuijs in the De Waterkant end of the CBD with Mum and Dad for breakfast. Just look at their painted ceiling mural, handle-less coffee ‘bowls’, flakes of black salt (delicious) and stash of fresh quinces just waiting to be pureed.

Such a lovely way to get that essential caffeine down your gullet, guarantees you wrap your hands around the bowl and close your eyes to breathe deeply while doing so. No wonder we were smiling so!

See our coffee bowls top left, Mum’s mosbolletjie toast with rocket, avo and bacon; Dad’s salmon version of the same; and my French toast with bruleed banana. A delicious start to the weekend!

A forkful of Dad’s breakfast. Such pretty colours!

All these baked goods were calling my name too, but my belly was full to bursting by the time I saw them.

Next stop, Zip Zap Circus! It’s animal-free and training comes at no cost to the diverse kiddies in the various programmes. I brought Mum and Dad along to review the first of their 25-year special monthly shows. Click here to read it in full!

While waiting for the show to start (it was cooler outside than in the tent), Mum and I noticed our outfits matched this feather quite well. Coincidence!

Dad didn’t match but was happy to spend three tokens (the princely sum of R15) on this stem-filled glass of red.

A tiny selection of acts from the two-hour-or-so show that’s filled with juggling, trapeze, comedy and more. Go see it if you’re near the Artscape, it’s right there!

The doggies were the only animals I saw that day. Look how sweetly they snuggled together on the couch, with overlapping ears.

Sunday, 23 April 2017: Work kitties and FroZenYo waffle churros

Husband sent me this pic of his company at the office that morning. Cute kitty.

Once Husband was home we stopped in at the new FroZenYo in Marine Circle. Husband had a white chocolate-raspberry yoghurt shake, I had these waffle churros with warm chocolate dipping sauce. So good!

Wednesday, 26 April 2017: Chocolate tartlet

Wednesday was a good day for a mid-afternoon chocolate-y treat from the bakery downstairs. Just look at those jealous mug-owlies, caught in the act again.

Thursday, 27 April 2017: Freedom Day French toast

After a much-needed public holiday lie-in, it was time to fit in some fun. First stop, breakfast! We’d been to Cassia at Nitida a few times but never ventured further down the dirt road to Tables at Nitida. We’re so glad we did. It’s such a quaint setting and the food is lip-smackingly good. I mopped up my excess toffeed bananas with bits of French toast dotted with nuts, and Husband positively devoured his eggs benedict on savoury waffle.

My stripey doughnut from Dunkin’ Donuts in Tygervalley was pretty as a picture. Tasted good, too.

Once I’d done a bit of work from home we ventured off to our weekend/holiday favourite Eden on the Bay for a treat. We ended up at Saints Burger Joint. I had this single latte and ‘Irish nachos’ (potato skins), while Husband had their Bloody Mary-style tall el Mexicano cocktail and this here ‘comfortably numb’ chicken burger from their jukebox menu, with crispy side of sweet potato fries and green side of Greek salad. We barely made a dent, I’ll be eating those Irish nachos for days to come.

Ahh. This golden light before sunset is my favourite time of day to be beside the seaside. Especially with a view of Table Mountain in the distance.

That’s all, folks! Here’s hoping for a happy weekend for each of you. 🙂

*Disclaimer: Obviously our Zip Zap Circus tickets were part of our review package. All else came from our own pockets. All enjoyed equally.

Hiking Table Mountain’s Skeleton Gorge, touristy fun at the Waterfront and Christmas 2016

As we’ve been on leave for exactly a week, you can expect a double dose of the usual amount of pics below…

Friday, 23 December 2016: Brother airport collection, Spur breakfast and my first Dunkin Donut

First thing on Friday, our first day of leave,  we headed off to the airport. Next step, the brothers reunited! This scene was all the more touching as we’d just watched the ultimate ‘Christmas airport reunion’ movie the night before, Love Actually. I also liked the pretty tree of light on the right.

First stop, breakfast! We went for the Unreal breakfast at Canal Walk’s Spur.

We ran a few errands at Canal Walk that morning, and I finally got to try a Dunkin Donuts’ pastry. All cost R14, so you pay for quantity then select the one you want. They didn’t have yellow smiley faces so tried a ‘snowman’ – and was pleasantly surprised when I bit into a rich chocolatey centre.

It was a rainy afternoon but we were happy to spend it at home, catching up by playing Star Wars Trivial Pursuit, blogging and braai-ing.

Saturday, 24 December 2016: Big Bay morning, Woodbridge afternoon

Saturday was sunny and we had lots and lots to do, so we started our day with breakfast at The Daily Cafe in Seaside Village – that’s my cappuccino and Nutella flapjacks on the left, with Husband’s bruschetta and brother-in-law’s breakfast wrap on the right.

I couldn’t say ‘no’ to trying a Slo-Jo ‘Coffee in a cone’ when we passed Village Place Cafe in West Coast Village while running a few errands on Saturday. You down the coffee before it can melt through the chocolate and cone, then munch through the shell. I’ll be back! 🙂

View of Table Mountain from Big Bay, where brother-in-law dunked his feet in the sea for the first time during this visit as it had been raining the day before.

Husband and his brother in the yellow Nat Geo picture frame of Table Mountain from Big Bay.

That afternoon we did a very mild hike from Woodbridge Island, across Lagoon Beach and back. We rewarded ourselves with chilli poppers at Woodbridge Island’s Ilha.

We gave the Star Wars Trivial Pursuit another bash later that afternoon. I came last, even with Bassie’s help.

Sunday, 25 December 2016: Christmas lunch at our house

Cheers, Merry Christmas! Pose of all attendees at this year’s lunch, doggies are at our feet so sadly not in this shot.

But the doggies had lots of fun moments. Bertie tugged his new stuffed toy and his Mickey Mouse Christmas stocking, while Bassie sat on my lap and admired the view from her granny’s shoulder. Most of all they looked at the Christmas lunch spread.

Christmas lunch! Look at all the lovely baked potatoes, turducken, corned beef, gammon, ‘salad wreath’, trifle and mojitos.

Hills also treated Bassie and Bertie to these personalised Christmas stockings, each filled with a can of tasty age-appropriate stew for their Christmas dins.

After all that attention and all that food, the doggies nodded off happily.

Monday, 26 December 2016: Road trip to Langebaan

We had a busy day ahead so decided to fill up on the buffet breakfast at Doodles on the Blouberg beachfront as it was a public holiday. There are my three courses, and note the couple photobombing me and brother-in-law in the bottom left.

Duckies and geese all on patrol at the Vyge Valley farm stall on our road trip to Langebaan.

Finally there, we popped into Husky’s to wet our whistles and for a bite to eat. See my very pink strawberry shake and the samo basket once we’d eaten all the ‘samos’, chipolata sausages and tiny chicken wings (see how small in Husband’s wrist).

Brothers examining the sea at Shark Bay just outside Langebaan.

Some of our Langebaan seaside activities. See if you can spot Husband and brother-in-law, the tiny dots in the sea on the top and bottom left!

Tuesday, 27 December 2016: Skeleton Gorge hike up Table Mountain

Tuesday was hiking day. We’d dithered over tackling Lion’s Head or Table Mountain, eventually opting for Table Mountain through Skeleton Gorge – we parked the car at Cecelia Forest, then hiked into the Kirstenbosch botanical gardens and started the trail. It looks very sunny in these pics but quickly became overcast.

Once in Kirstenbosch we ambled across the slightly swaying Boomslang canopy walkway before the heavy hike began. Quite the view.

We were completely exhausted by the time we reached the top of Skeleton Gorge. Some of us literally lay down to nap among the flowers, some gazed at the view.

Success! We reached the rock cairn of Maclear’s Beacon, the highest point of the Table Mountain park, after a good six hours of hiking.

After trekking across the top of the mountain we finally reached the upper cable station – there’s no way we were hiking back down! See some of the cloud and sights from the top, and how unimpressed Husband looked after 9km of hiking.

Wednesday, 28 December 2016: Touristy things at V&A Waterfront, dog walkies in the suburbs

We had an Entertainer voucher to use on Yacoob Yachts’ Ameera before the end of the year, but got to use it on the slightly larger Tigresse as Ameera wasn’t running that day. No seasickness in sight, but we got a little sunburnt. Spotted a few dolphins and other sea life and felt a little more like we were on holiday after.

We decided to use another of our 2016 Entertainer vouchers while at the Waterfront, for a two-for-one trip around the Cape Wheel. Another touristy thing to tick off the to-do list.

We stuck with our nautical theme for the day by lunching at Panama Jacks in the harbour. I felt like a plate of chips while the boys went for the fettuccine marinara. We had to hold onto our hats as it was really windy.

It was too windy for beach walkies that afternoon but the doggies were keen to stretch their legs so we went a few blocks around the house. They loved it.

Thursday, 29 December 2016: Mussel morning, Cape Point afternoon

Thursday morning was for mussel collecting as it was the best tide for it. I read under a beach umbrella while Husband bravely ventured into the sea to collect a bag-full.

By then we all had rumbling (and rambling) tums, so stopped off at Village Place Cafe in West Coast Village. I had a delicious cappuccino with a shot of toffee syrup, so yum.

There’s Husband with my cappuccino, my banana-peanut waffle, brother-in-law’s big breakfast on top and Husband’s pesto breakfast below.

Next stop, Cape Point! We saw the most beautiful ocean views and smelled delicious sea air the whole way there.

We didn’t follow all the cars on their way to Cape Point, instead turning off before then to reach the not well-known tidal pool.

Venus Pool is only accessible by short hike, so short hike we took. The pool was pretty empty and just right for my first swim of the summer.

Husband had a wonderful time splashing about and gazing out at the sea from the sea wall.

That’s all for now, folks! Brother Spec is with us for a few more days and we have another week of leave to look forward to, so expect another image-heavy post next week (make that ‘next year’… ) 🙂