Grass Roof and my chicken and pesto sandwich~

 Port Elizabeth is bursting at the seams with good restaurants and we are certainly spoilt for choice!
Here's to  trusting that  they can all sustain themselves!
The latest addition to the scene on the Seaview Road ....is the Grass Roof with its quaint and rustic flair!

Unfortunately for us, they were chock 'o block full!! We sat in their hothouse and had a great sauna before opting for a stunning ciabatto loaf and 2 orange juice 'to go' and headed home!

 And here's what I did with that ciabatto loaf! Hmmmm......delicious!

A great "little" chicken and pesto sandwich.....

Recipe~
Skinless chicken breast grilled with salt, pepper and a hint of garlic
Chargrilled peppers
Sour cream and mayo
Pesto
Fresh greens....I have an abundance of frilly lettuce and rocket almost going to seed in my secret garden...
Avocado pear

Assemble as your own creativity permits and savour!!

 

 

 

Perfect way to enjoy that loaf!

 

See you soon!
Shel

Cheats Chicken Pot Pie and Dainty Strawberry Flowers~

Missing my Jozi boy and his little friend  ♥ ♥ :-(  Supposed to get easier as the years go by!!!)
Here is a quick and easy recipe for the young ones~

Chicken Pot Pie~

Here goes the recipe~
One whole chicken that has been lovingly bathed in boiling water together with celery, carrots, an onion, bay leaf and salt and pepper~ Let this gently simmer until tender and the meat is cooked through~
Debone and dice into bite size pieces once cooled.
Fry leeks, garlic, celery, button mushrooms  and cooked carrots in a few tablespoons of olive oil.
Once the leeks are soft and translucent...add one packet of Knorr Chicken Ala King dry mix made up as on the instructions of the packet.....
I then add 250ml of cream and the diced chicken.....
adjust seasoning~
Spoon the mixture into oven proof dishes and top with puff pastry~ Cut a slit in the pastry to allow steam to escape~
Refridgerate whilst the oven is heating to 200deg C
Bake until the pastry is golden brown and flaky!

Strawberry cakes......from Ideas October 2013

Makes 6 small cakes or 1 20cm ring cake~
270g cake flour
30g cornflour
4ml bicarb
5ml baking powder
210g castor sugar
125g butter, softened
2 large eggs
250ml sour cream
130ml milk
Strawberry sauce~
125g fresh strawberries hulled and sliced
30ml sugar
Icing ~
250g icing sugar
freshly squeezed lemon juice
pink food colouring

For the strawberry sauce~ Heat the strawberries and sugar with 30ml water. Simmer for 20mins until thick. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
For the cakes ~Sift together flour, cornflour, baking powder and bicarb.
Beat the sugar, butter and eggs together until creamy.
Fold in the cream and milk into the sugar mixture alternately with the dry ingredients.
Spoon half of the mixture into 6 mini cake tins. Make hollows in the batter. Spoon some of the strawberry sauce onto the hollows.
Top with remaining batter and bake for 25mins depending on the size....
check with a skewer. Cool and remove.
Icing~ Mix the icing sugar with a little lemon juice to make a glace icing. Add a touch of pink food colouring and spoon over the cakes.

Met the most gorgeous girl this past weekend.....full of " chutzpah"........crossing fingers...
No pics yet!! soon soon....I promise!

Have a happy one!
Shel! xx

Our boy is home again~

I truly cannot believe how awesome it always is to have him home~
and this time with a little sweetheart ......
nothing beats a mother's love for her children....

here's my chocolate cake (a little dry-oops tired so overbaked)
but nothing with chocolate can be a flop~

Recipe~

560g cake flour
800g sugar
160g cocoa
20ml baking powder
4 eggs
7ml salt
500ml buttermilk
500ml cooking oil
10ml vanilla
500ml boiling water

and the best part
Add all the ingredients to your mixer and blend well on medium speed.
Bake at 150deg C for 1hr and 15mins....my oven (1hr....hence the dryness)
Leave to cool and decorate as desired.

A couple of quiches ready in the freezer! and you all set to enjoy your the kids! (and a few good glasses of wine of course!!)
Bon Weekend~
Shel

Another week at Solomon

Just a lot of food for my soul this week~
We are painting and renovating here...so long overdue ....
I'm feeling much the same as my home.....in need of a makeover :-)
but more important things in life than that!....like travelling, good food, good wine and spending time with my dearest people who care as much as I care for them.....

Spring in my garden.....

My tissue paper roses have started flowering in the garden again...... 

Spring bunch from a friend far away.....

Fresh Tomato and thyme tarts from my herb garden....

 

 

I tried out a healthy cake this weekend...full of rooibos, dates and apple.....
I will share the recipe on my next post.....
 lots and lots  of preparation for unexpected visitors this weekend....we are so looking forward to .......

“I'm choosing happiness over suffering, I know I am. I'm making space for the unknown future to fill up my life with yet-to-come surprises.” - Elizabeth Gilbert

See you all soon soon xx



 

Heritage and "Braai" Day!

24th September is Heritage Day or fondly also known as "Braai" day!
The day to head outside and light a fire!
We were actually working so ours (just the 2 of us!) started rather late....

However, as in any country it's the day to remember all things cultural and pay respects to our "roots"!

First of all, we honour this great man along with a few others....

 

Potje kos, cooksisters and vetkoek! 

 

 

 

For all the above recipes, you will find them on the righthand side bar as you scroll down.

 

I set a table with lemons and sunflowers as I had done before.....as these are my favourite things of spring this year.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and a large tray filled with lemonade and koeksisters for dessert!

 

 

and how about our traditional melk tert

     and these are a must in South Africa , just not so good for the waistline...but who cares at my age!!
Our tradtional curry bunnies....we had these for lunch!

 

 

with a nice local frostie!

and then onto a traditional braai later ......local is lekker!

together with some delicious Pumpkin Fritters......

Off course biltong and droewors are all local flavours as well.....

  ...I trust yours was as awesome!

(The next 2 images are courtesy Google Images)

 

   
                                Whether near a gorgeous stream in the mountains

                                 or on the golden beaches of our beautiful land

 

 ...I trust yours was as awesome!

 

 

 

Dare we forget the history of the land and try to move on......

remembering with fondness....

Remember Africa, my land, Africa, my home!

We still give hope of a single, united nation in the years from now!

 

 Shel

Red Velvet and all things coming up spring!

My children were here for a little weekend break~
I found this recipe in the "Kos" magazine....
It was for a chocolate cake but as I like all things bright,  I decided to add quite a lot of Red food colouring~
I must say~ I've tried a few chocolate cakes but this one definately beats them all~
Its moist, dense and seemed to stay fresh until the last crumb had been licked from the plate!

The photo has not come out so well as a little sweetheart that was visiting just used her blackberry to upload~ non the less~ the proof was in the eating~

 

here is the recipe~

 

560g cake flour

800g sugar

160g cocoa powder

20ml baking powder

4 eggs

7ml salt

500ml buttermilk

500ml sunflower oil

10ml vanilla

500ml boiling water

and quite a few (many!) drops of red food colouring....but you could leave this out.

 

And the method is really my style~ real easy ~ all thrown together in the mixer and the buttermilk keeps it really moist

 

Put the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 150deg C.

Cut 2 rounds of baking paper and line  the bottom of 2 25 x 7cm loose bottom cake pans with this.

Spray with cooking spray or lightly grease .

Put all the ingredients into your mixer and mix on medium speed until well mixed.

Its a large amount of mixer so be careful of spillage.

Divide into the two pans. Bake for 1 hr 15min. Test if it has baked sufficiently.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pans. Remove from the pans very carefully and allow to cool further on wire rack.

 

I used Ina Garten's cream cheese frosting with a tsp of grated zest of orange and 1 tablespoon of orange juice added.

Decorate as desired.

I cannot bake but this cake is truly foolproof!

 

Now for a few snaps of my garden and braai room readily awaiting the arrival of spring!

 

the last of the winter pansies yet still so pretty !

These are on my patio and really thriving!.....it must be the peet keeping them going....

 

 thriving under the palms and strelitzias.....

In the herb garden on the other side of the house.....it's really my little hiding spot here...
with a quick cup of tea and a magazine....

I keep cutting back, using it in stews and soups and salads, but the rocket and the flat leave parsley is never ending!.....gorgeous! I should try out the freezing method I found on Latabledenana's blog!

and so here is  my Spring collage below!

  

A few of my favourite pieces at the moment......

A ♥  .......with my name delicately written in wire.....from that same sweetheart......
The Namaste bag for my ipad.....and the softest jersey for summer......
and not forgetting that book!

It's good to be back.......with love from Shel on Solomon ♥
Linking to SEASONAL SUNDAYS....

Emily Moon~

We have been on a few travels of late through our beautiful country....this time meandering along the Garden Route and riding elephants ~

What a treat to be truly spoilt at this unforgettable place~Emily Moon....
feel free to browse their site~ their hosts are fantastic too!

Situated just outside Plettenberg Bay and across the road from Moi's husband's favourite golf course.... Goose Valley....I knew just where to book us in~ so while I indulged in some great sleep-in, excellent breakfasts with the gracious hostess, Di, sunrises and shopping , he got onto a golf buggie and headed for the golf course~~

Emily Moon is an ecletic mix of African-Indochine chic....with no expense spared in the decor...
gorgeous vibrant coloured paints, cushions and Morrocan candlabria in every nook and cranny which blends so well with the faded architectural lines of the woodwork that has been imported....

We enjoyed the honeymoon suite but I think all the suites are just as tastefully decorated....
large fireplaces, oversized couches, a wonderful array of artifacts and an outside private shower was all I needed to make this my home for my anniversary....

There are so many attractions in this part of South Africa....from Prett a Pot's little village, Plett and its beautiful beaches.....stunning little eateries and of course, getting back to Africa's beautiful creatures...I was so privileged to ride with the soulful elephants.....what a delight and 1 ticked for my bucket list!

Here is a collage again of the Bitou River, the fauna and flora and of course a small shout out again for Emily Moon!

Have yourselves a warm weekend! Spring has arrived but we are in single digits today and it is snowing on Table Mountain in Cape Town......how incredible!

Shel