Whiskers on Kittens - by H

Dear Blog… I’ve missed you. I know that sounds ironic coming from me, because I am the one who’s neglected you over the past few weeks. I vowed when I first got hooked on you that this wouldn’t happen, but here I am, feeling shameful.

Boy and I have had a very busy month. November often is. I suppose it’s the last surge of craziness before the December period, with so much work needing to get finalised before people go on leave, and the whole of Cape Town (save the retail stores) goes into holiday mode.

On a personal level, I’ve had an interesting month. As often happens to me, it is in the maddest moments that I become my musiest and most introspective. Those who know me best but love me anyway call this my ostrich-type head in the sand moments- but they also know that while I look like I’ve “checked out” or hidden away, there is often way too much going on beneath the surface.

But this post is not about that. As much as written words help me put my often jumbled thoughts into perspective, tonight I’d like a break from those thoughts all together. Boy will wonder what on earth’s got into me ;)

Amidst all the blur of a manic month, some truly lovely things have happened. Most lovely of all is that Mowgli and Logan, our gorgeous kitten boys, have come home, and stolen our hearts. I suppose from the outside looking in, we are absolutely ridiculous with them. From the baby talk, to the way Boy and I refer to one another as “mommy” and “daddy” when speaking in their presence- I can safely say we’ve lost it. But it’s a great feeling.

 


Logan

Mowgli

Taking a little nap...

Boys being boys!

I also, somehow, was brave enough this month to try to re-create one of Boy’s dishes. This NEVER happens. Usually, it is Boy re-creating MY dishes- putting some fancy spin on them and completely annoying me by making them better than I do. But- we had the ingredients, I had the urge to cook, Boy had the urge to xbox… and so, I tried my hand at the Fillet Rossini! I tweaked it a little and played with the recipe a bit. I also screamed like a little girl when I flambéed the fillet, which takes some of the grandeur away from the whole thing, I think.

But the dish turned out magnificently. Boy was well impressed, so naturally, I have not been able to shut up about it since.



 

Whisky Live 2011 - by Boy

I promised you a report on this years Whisky Live Festival, and I know I'm late with that report. The thing is, I had full intention of posting my report on Saturday morning, but I really could not get myself to do anything but make coffee and sleep. I also had to fly to Port Elizabeth on Sunday morning for a business trip.

Whisky Live 2011

 In short, the festival was awesome, although the following day I could not stomach the thought of whisky, let alone writing about anything involving it. This is how I reassured myself that I am not cut out for the whole 'alcoholic' thing.

I was like a kid in a candy store, hopping from stall to stall, trying not to miss out on anything. To my disappointment, Ardbeg was not at the show. Nevertheless, there were one or two whiskies that really stood out.

The star of the show, for me, really was The Peat Monster by Compass Box (review to follow), and I could not resist buying a bottle. H was impressed by Orangerie- also by Compass Box- and I must admit it is a very interesting whisky.

The blending session hosted by Compass Box was very informative, and we had a good laugh blending our own whiskies. H nearly poisoned everyone at our table with her concoction. She was not listening when we were told to add water to our blends (typical), and walked around for a good part of the night proclaiming that she could not feel her lips. Haha, I love my wife!

After the blending session, we spent some time at the BenRiach stall, and it is here that we found not one, but two little gems.

The BenRiach range caters for everyone, and we slowly but surely made our way through most of the whiskies that they had available. That's when I came across the Curiositas Peated 10 yr. I know what you are all thinking ... All he ever talks about is peaty, smoky whisky. You are absolutely right, I love the stuff. For me, a whisky should stare at you with a twitch in his eye, his hand on a Magnum, and say ... "Do you feel lucky, Punk?" The Curiositas does exactly that.

Standing at BenRiach, H was handed a glass of what looked like Amarula. But this was no Amarula, this was something they simply called Magnum. It is bottled in a unique silver canister that resembles an old milk or cream can. Wow, is this stuff awesome. It's like a butterscotch and cream factory exploded in your mouth. We were lucky enough to get a bottle and I will share it with you as soon as I am back in town.

The rest of the evening is a bit of fuzzy, and I know that there was a lot of Drambuie consumed. The show lasts for about 4 hours (if it were any longer, I think I might still be in bed) and there is something for everyone.

If you are in Johannesburg and don't have your tickets yet, go and get them now! You really will not be disappointed.

The Yamzaki Single Malt - by Boy

Seeing as its the festival this week, I thought I would share a rather interesting whisky with you. When you hear the word single malt you tend to think of the Highlands of Scotland with their crystal clear, ice cold water sources.


Enter The Yamazaki. Yip, straight out of Japan. The Yamazaki distillery lies just southwest of Kyoto, nestled deep within the heart of Mt. Tennozan. The distilery was built in 1923 by Mr Shinnjiro Torii, founder of Suntory and the father of Japanese Whisky


I was introduced to Yamazaki by a friend of mine, Clive Searle, a very old wise Rhodesian (God I hope he reads this!) who really knows his whisky. He actually inspired me to start a collection. Last time I checked, he had over 90 single malts in his collection.

The Yamazaki is sweet and spicy with hints of nuts. It's not the smoothest single malt and the finish is a little dry with hints of macadamia nut. I must admit I can't drink more than one at a time, it's a bit too sweet for my taste, but then again I enjoy the heavy, smoky, bottled charcoal whiskies. Don't get me wrong, I like it, but I enjoy the look on people's faces when I present them with a Japanese single malt more.

The Good Old Days - by Boy

I came across an old video of me flairing. This was at Shotz cocktail bar in Flic en Flac, Mauritius 2007

2011 Whisky Live Festival - by Boy

There is excitement in the air in the Red Wine & Coriander household!

a)      We got our kittens, Mowgli and Logan, over the weekend
b)      It's Movember (yes, I do have my Mo for Movember)
c)       The FNB Whisky Live Festival kicks off tomorrow in Cape Town!

I am like a little kid on Christmas day! I have been looking forward to the show for ages! Some of my favorite whiskies will be at the show. Lugavulin, Ardbeg, Peat Monster, Spice Tree, and many more. For a full list of whisky’s that will be at the show, you can visit Whisky Live Festival 2011 .

H and I have been invited by the lovely people at Liquidity to the Compass Box Blending Zone. This is a first for the show, and as I understand we will do a tasting, followed by a DIY blending lesson. I really can’t wait for this one. If you are interested in partaking in the workshops, email Charlotte Spicer at charlotte@liq.co.za or find her on Twitter @Liquidity_SA to book your Seats. I have also been told that they will be launching a new whisky called Great King Street. I will try and get my hands on a bottle (or two) and post a review soon.

“This is more than a brand; it’s a mission. A mission to get people – all people - to take a fresh look at Blended Scotch; to join in the Rebirth of the Blend: in how Blends are made, how they are viewed, how they are consumed.”  – John Glaser, Whiskymaker

The Compass Box Whisky Company is a boutique Scotch whiskymaker, started in 2000 by John Glaser. The Compass Box signature range of whiskies includes Asyla, Oak Cross, The Peat Monster, The Spice Tree and Hedonism.

I am a big fan of Compass Box’s The Peat Monster and have even got my Dad hooked on the brand. I know he really enjoys their Spice Tree, so I am very excited to try Great King Street.

H and I will be there on Friday evening. 3 of my favourite things - H, Fridays and Whisky (not in any specific order).

Cheers

Boy

Raindrops on Roses - by H

I have a cold and I’m sulky. My nose is blocked, my eyes are watering, my head feels stuffy and my throat is sore. And work is mad. Like- super mad. Mad like I can’t take a smoke break, let alone a day off to lie in bed, drink tea, ponder life, and maybe realise that it’s probably just hayfever or something, and that I will sooner or later feel normal again. 

 

Boy started it. He got sniffles on Saturday, and on Sunday he was man-down. Our plans for the day got canned in favour of him lying on the couch and me playing nurse maid. I offered to make him chicken soup. I always offer to make him chicken soup, even though his answer is always along the lines of “Soup? Gross!” Boy couldn’t be bothered with soup unless it is a pre-cursor to a steak. And even then it’s a push. So I kept him medicated, encouraged him to take lots of naps, and made hamburgers instead. Sundays are good days to be sick.

 

Me, on the other hand? I waited until Wednesday. At month end. My busiest time of the month. During financial year end. My busiest time of year. Boy is clearly smarter than me when it comes to these things. 

 

Also, Boy was out of town on business yesterday (more bad-getting-sick-timing on my part), and would you believe it, we were offered FREE, AWESOME Kings of Leon concert tickets, but had to decline because Boy was away. So not only was I feeling horrid, tired and super-stressed from work; not only was I left to fend for myself sympathy and cuddle free- but we missed out on what sounds like an unbelievable concert.

 

All in all, it’s just not my week.

 

That said, I just watched the latest How I Met Your Mother episode, so I have “My Favourite Things” from Sound of Music running through my head. This is inspiring me to think back on the things that have made me laugh or smile this week, instead of marinating in my Gloomy Gus-ness. Here goes…

 

• New How I Met Your Mother episodes always make me happy!

• At least I got to make some chicken soup. With Boy away yesterday and the Kings of Leon tickets going to some other lucky bugger, I got home from work and made a great big pot. Granted, it took me ages because I was working in slow motion and grumpy, but it got made.  

 

• Boy is back home now, and he fed me some medicine, told me to have a nice hot bath and get into bed and do my nails. I like that he’s here to bring me stuff and be nice to me, but I like even more that he knows that doing my nails makes me happy.

 

• I get to listen to Boy and Sister Child playing xbox in the lounge together, killing zombies. It is strangely comforting.

 

• I get to sit down and write a blog post. This is really cathartic and fun, and I realise I’ve missed having the time to write this week.

 

• It was my dad’s name day yesterday (it’s a Greek thing) and because of lovely Skype, even though he is in Greece and I am here, I got to see him while we chatted, and we got to drink a scotch to celebrate “together”.

 

• It was also the name day of all my Greek friends named Dimitri. Which is most of them (haha) so in contacting them all to wish them, I got to catch up with some pretty awesome people I haven’t had the time to chat to in a while.

 

• Boy was pretty cute- here are two conversations that made me laugh this week:

 

Boy: How are you my muse?

H: (giggling like a Southern Belle whilst envisioning herself swathed in inspiration and wisdom) Your muse? Why am I your muse?

Boy: Because you’re a-musing.

 

Boy: (whilst sick on his spot on the couch, after I’d returned from my sick-person supplies retrieval mission) Lemonade is the perfect sick drink.

H: Why is that?

Boy: Because it has lemons in it. And also the word “aid”.

 

• If I’m feeling no better, I get to skip putting on makeup tomorrow morning. If today has taught me anything, it’s that it won’t do a bit of difference anyway. So why bother?

•  Lastly, and this might be a little cheesy (perhaps the hayfever delirium is setting in) but my mom’s facebook status this morning really made me laugh:

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.

"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meat-free Monday - by Boy

So I came across this thing called "Meat Free Mondays" and apparently it’s BIG in the foodie world. To be honest, I struggle to understand this concept. Cows over populate our beautiful countryside. As Dylan Moran, in a very heavy Irish accent, once said “…cows are big, stupid, lumbering animals and we should eat them all…” But because I am a new blogger and I am afraid of being shunned from the foodie blogger community I will comply.

I give you ……. BREAD!

500g self raising flour

1 packet instant yeast

1.5 tsp salt (I don’t like a lot of salt; it’s bad for your heart anyway)

1 cup of water (maybe a bit more)
1 tbl white sugar

Method

Sieve the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Make a little well in the middle of it to "catch" the water.

Mix the yeast and the sugar in a measuring jug with 250ml of hot water. Heat helps to “activate” the yeast.

Pour the water into the well that you created in the flour. Using a wooden spoon coated with flour, (this will help the dough not to stick to the spoon) mix the water and flour until dough starts to form.

Now comes the fun part. Coat your hands in flour and start kneading the dough until most of the flour is out of the bowl. Throw some flour on a flat surface and put some elbow grease in it.

Kneading the dough really gets the yeast going so don’t rush it. You want to pull the dough apart and then push it all together again, getting a nice soft smooth texture throughout the dough. The dough should be “wet” but not too wet. If it is too wet add little bits of flour at a time while kneading. If the dough is too dry wet your hands and keep kneading until the right consistency is reached.

Alternatively throw everything in a Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook attachment and press the “on” button. Then go and sit in the corner with your finger on your mouth because no one wants to play with you! Better yet, get in your car and go buy a loaf of bread from Yuppie Chef!
(Yes, I'm green with envy). 

Now you want to proof the dough. This is the fermentation process caused by the reaction between the yeast, flour, salt, water and sugar. Ideally you would leave the dough in a cool dry place for about 2 hours, flatten the dough and proof for another 2 hours. This will give you wonderful, fluffy bread but it takes too long.

When I start kneading my dough, I switch the oven on to grill. I let the oven heat up for about 3 min an then switch it off. When I have finished kneading the dough I pop it in the oven to proof for about 20 minutes.

Please first check that it is not too hot. If you stick your hand in the oven and it melts the nail polish off your beautifully manicured French tips (see H, I do pay attention) it’s too hot. The oven needs to be a bit warmer than room temperature.

After 20 minutes the dough should have raised a substantial amount. Now … knock it flat! And do it again!

After the second proof you can place the dough in a bread tin, plait it or shape it and bake it at 250 degrees for about 30 min.

I decided to plait my bread and keep it plain, but there are millions of things you can do with fresh bread so don’t be scared to experiment.

Coming soon... my Fig-free Fridays recipes!