Happy Thanksgiving! Pumpkin Oatmeal Cream Pies

In South Africa, we don't celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. However I really like the concept of taking one day off to appreciate all the amazing things we have in our lives. Although things may not always be perfect, that doesn't mean we should lose sight of the great people around us and special things happening in our lives.

I found this quote online, that I believe is from Gerard Way:

What are you thankful for in your life? I would love to hear!

Ok, so enough with all the deep stuff. For the last month or so the bloggosphere has been FLOODED with pumpkin recipes in every shape and form. I got to the stage that if I saw another pumpkin recipe I thought I would have a break-down. But then I saw pumpkin in the shops and got really excited; we seldom see pumpkin around these parts. Suddenly I felt the need to join in this orange vegetable craze!

{Cape Town} The Roundhouse

It's been a little while since my last post and all I can do is offer my sincerest apologies for that. It seems the end of year panic has set in in both my work life and personal life. It feels as though our weekend in Cape Town was a lifetime ago! But never fear, I took pictures to document the experience (albeit with my iPhone - pardon the quality). This post also turned out a bit long, so hopefully that should make up for it!

The next part of our trip that I wanted to share with you is a very special evening my boyfriend and I spent at The Roundhouse. This restaurant sits on the slopes of Lion's Head, overlooking Camps Bay. The building has a long history and has been used for many purposes from a guardhouse for the Dutch East India Company in 1786 to a hunting lodge for Lord Somerset in the eighteen hundreds to the beautiful fine dining "epicurean" restaurant it is today. The Roundhouse follows a philosophy of exceptional hospitality, which is evident from you step foot on the path leading up to the restaurant doors. Our every need was catered for throughout the evening and the staff were professional, but friendly; happily explaining to us some of the culinary terms that were a bit beyond our comprehension.

We had booked the evening as a somewhat delayed celebration of our eight year anniversary. It was the perfect location for the celebration! Even our menu had been customised for us! We enjoyed an amazing four course meal with wine pairings. As each wine is served, the sommelier explains the wine flavours and the combination of that wine with the food course.

Cape Town: The Old Biscuit Mill

When I shared with you the delicious Chocolate Pinotage cupcakes that I made for my birthday, I promised that I would share some more information on the long weekend we spent in Cape Town towards the end of September.  Cape Town is probably my favourite city in South Africa: a coastal city with beautiful beaches, an hour or two's drive from wine farms, whale watching and penguins. And the biggest draw: it has many of the top restaurants in South Africa. This will be the first of a few posts sharing all the eating and sight-seeing we did in our short visit.

I had been in Cape Town for work during the week and my boyfriend flew down on Friday evening. He arrived rather grumpy and exhausted after his flight was rather significantly delayed and the weather that evening was rainy and windy and miserable! However, nothing a good night of sleep wouldn't fix.

These Are a Few of My Favourite Things!

Wow its been a CRAZY few weeks. Tons of deadlines at work, a horrible bug that knocked me down harder than a taxi on Jan Smuts (for the foreigners...think bus on a free way), my birthday (YAY!) and then a trip to Cape Town for work followed by a long weekend of fun, food and whale watching!

We had so much great food in Cape Town, I've decided to write a few posts on some of it. Cape Town really is an amazing city! But more of that to come...

Shana Tova! Decorated Cookies

This week was the celebration of the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashana. While I myself am not Jewish, my boyfriend and his family are. This year I wanted to venture away from the typical platter of dried fruit nuts and chocolate when it came to gifts.