Sophia Lindop - A Unique Food Experience

Times flies when you're having fun!

I managed to catch up with a few friends today whom I have been trying to catch up with for weeeeeks on end.  One moment I think I should call them, and the next, two months have passed.  Like some wise guy once said, "There is never enough time, unless you're serving it." - Malcolm Forbes.  Not on a plate, that is...  And, having fun is definitely not a sentence, so needless to say, time flies in my camp and I am struggling to keep up with everything at the moment. 

Today Paddy's sick (kind of a sign of these winter times in Cape Town), and a sick man (any woman will tell you) is like a cake that just won't rise!  Nothing you can do will make them stay in bed.  Nothing you can give them will make them feel better.  And heaven forbid they admit that they're feeling sick!  I have just sentenced him to a few hours' rest...

Tomorrow morning it's off to the fresh produce market in Salt River for me.  I haven't been able to attend for about three months - have been teaching cookery courses on Saturday mornings.  Needless to say, I am beside myself with excitement, and my basket is ready to go.      

Where have I been?!

Well, it's been 12 days since I last made myself heard...  Other than heading out of the city for five days, I successfully fought off the flu and was occupied with clients from the moment we returned home until Friday evening late...  Needless to say, I have spent the rest of the weekend in my pyjamas, fluffy slippers and all, spending great time with my wonderful husband, reading, cooking, and watching TV.

Farm life

"Life here is so elemental. So real. Without the interference of civilization you can really experience things like,...silence. Silence and darkness in its purity. Right now, right outside my window all I can see is a black void. Endless darkness. It's totally exhilarating, and I feel very lucky to be here. Very, very lucky." - Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, Northern Exposure, Lost and Found, 1992

Keep the show on the road...

If you're reading this, I think it's only fair to rub your nose in the fact that I am relaxing in the Karoo right now, probably freezing cold with snow on the mountains, reading a book by the fireplace or going on a game drive...  But, this doesn't mean that I will not be cooking amazing meals!  I will be preparing meals on either the AGA, an open fire or the gas stove.  So, there goes your excuse to lie low while I'm away.  Why not try the following recipe and let me know whether you liked it...  I will be making some on the farm.

We're off again...

I am freaking out a little...  Paddy's planned another week away, and with nobody in my office to keep the show on the road, I am feeling a little nervous.  I managed to shorten his plans by two days due to American clients arriving, but that's as far as he'd let me go. 

I know that, as soon as I arrive at our destination, I will be smiling and ready to relax, but in the meanwhile, allow me a few moments to stress.  I have to earn my holiday after all!!

Welcome to my coop...

Some of you might know about my obsession with chickens - roosters in specific.  I collect replicas because I am not allowed to keep the real thing in suburbia. 

Despite this passion, Sunday evening's menu mostly consists of chicken.  I'm not sure how this happens, but somehow Sundays and Chickens are synonymous.  We smoke them in the Weber, or I roast them in the oven, or sometimes I do what my Mom and Granny used to do - pot roast them.  Yum!

The smells of comfort...

There's a local advertisement for Stasoft fabric softener.  The little boy and his dad are on a fishing trip, and mom calls to see if they're OK.  At the end, she asks the little guy, "Do you think you'll be OK without me for another day?"  Then he gives his jersey a good sniff and says, "Yeah.  I'll be OK."  The smells of comfort...!

Last night I decided to whip together a banana loaf - I have been monitoring my overripe bananas for days now.  Anyway, as I got underway, the memories of when my late Mother and I would bake banana loaf together came flooding into my mind as if they were just happening.  Paddy watched with a smile as I licked the batter off everything, with a memory-filled look on my face.

But then came the crunch - that smell of the banana loaf baking was so powerful!  I felt 10 years old again... 

So I thought I'd invite you along on my journey down memory lane by sharing Mommy's recipe with you...

To be honest...

I was driving to a lunch appointment with a very special friend when the news broke - Celine Dion will be performing in Cape Town in February next year.  Not only that, she will be performing at one of our most beautiful sites - Vergelegen Wine Estate!  What could be better??  The sound of an angel's voice ringing in your ears while you sip on a Vergelegen Semillon 2004, surrounded by some of the most breathtaking scenery, not to mention one of the most beautiful historic homesteads in the Cape, with it's incredibly ornate Cape Dutch gables and ancient trees?!  And as "...if you kiss me like this, and if you whisper like that..." started ringing in my ears, I went online to check out ticket prices.  Well, the earth stopped moving for me!!  The music died.  And reality hit me in the face.  OK, the romance was gone, so I had to focus on something else.

And then I remembered - a client sent an e-mail today, and in it he gave me a huge compliment.  I am going to cook for them and a couple of friends in their new home on the slopes of Table Mountain next week.  He said that I cook "honest food"...  Thank you!  I like 'honest'!  It means good looking, wholesome, healthy, soulfood!