The Food Fundi Cafe

 Top of the morning to ya!

   As I am sure many of you who know the Whitlocks already know... We LOVE food. When we lived in Moçambique, we had our favourite cafe that we found and EVERYBODY knew us there. (I mean... how can you miss a family of seven that completely rearranges the outdoor seating just to get a table???) Praise the Lord we have found our new hotspot.

  Ladies and gentlemen... May I present to you The Food Fundi!   - It was started by two gifted chefs who have not only completed culinary training but have also proven themselves all over the world. I especially appreciate the experience that they've had because they understand our culinary passion, which most Afrikaners and black South Africans don't quite get unless they have been to Europe or the US.

   The salad above is one that Gordon, one of the brothers who owns the cafe, recommended to me a few days ago. I decided to try it yesterday and my taste buds were doing the hallelujah dance! Rooibos Smoked Chicken Salad with pineapple chutney. Who'd 'a thunk??

Mo and I were a bit pumped about going today... It was my third time this week. 

No one would ever know by our calm faces how silly we were before arriving. 

I apologise about the lighting! But here is Mom. :-) 

I don't know why, but my brothers love a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich with a...BACON, EGG, AND CHEESE omlette.

This salad deserves a second photo! It has cashews (which sounds scary, but trust me, folks!), pineapple chutney, rooibos smoked chicken, tomatoes, Danish feta, and some fabulous drizzle. YUM!

This tea he also recommended. I had Gabbi take a photo for me because she was closer; but the girl is so fast-paced that she kept moving before the pictures took. This was the least blurry photo. -.- Beggars can't be choosers, I guess. I had the Lemongrass, Coconut, and Ginger one. It was INCREDIBLE. They really are about quality at this cafe. 

"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

Melina!!!

Top of the morning to ya!

   I believe I mentioned the guests that were staying with us in a previous pots. Sarah Mondlane used to be Sarah Oldes when we knew her in Moçambique three years ago. She has gone through a lot in the past few years but we rejoice with her because she is a breastcancer survivor, is recently married, and just brought precious Melina into this world! Her husband, Roberto, is such a tender husband and elated father. It was a blessing being able to observe their marriage and rejoice with them over the birth of their daughter!

Roberto and Sarah beaming as they present their daughter, Melina, to us.

 You can imagine the competition with 7 Whitlocks, Sarah's mom (unfortunately, I do not have a photo of her FANTASTIC mother) and, of course, the new parents. They were so gracious and patient with us and allowed Mom to go first.

Dad was doing business - hence, Mom being first in pecking order - but he soon came in. It was lovely watching him adore this baby!

 ... As you can see! ;-)

The Whitlocks LOVE children!!

Unless the Lord builds the house,

They labor in vain who build it;

Unless the Lord guards the city,

The watchman keeps awake in vain.

 

It is vain for you to rise up early,

To [a]retire late,

To eat the bread of [b]painful labors;

For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.

Behold, children are a [c]gift of the Lord,

The fruit of the womb is a reward.

 

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

So are the children of one’s youth.

 

How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;

They will not be ashamed

When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

{Psalm 127}

"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

Who Let the Dogs Out

Meet Pip, the yo-yo poo. She is 6lbs of pure beast to any of you guests who may think about coming for dinner, social occasions, or business without her specific invitation. But if you are a regular, you'll see the sweetest irresistible puppy who gives this look when you get her in trouble. 

Top of the morning to ya!

   Due to African internet and many other factors, I am limited to how often I can blog. I have been taking plenty of iPhone pictures and documenting the many exciting events since my last post. 

   A few days ago, I decided to go outside and see things from the dogs' point of view. We have a large Rhodesian Ridgeback, a yorkie-poo, and her puppy, Pip, who is a yo-yo poo. So you can imagine the perspectives. Unfortunately, (don't let my dad know I told you this) I am not a dog lover and these pictures are a bit biased. Rhodes is a superb dog, but too big for my taste and often interferes with what I am doing. Menina, my mom's yorkie-poo, WAS cute until she got pregnant and now has a head of cement when you tell her go outside or kennel... But Pip... Ah Pip! She is Graeme's and my success child. Super sweet. Obedient. LOVES going outside (like a real dog), and is darn cute.

   So... More of the pictures will either be of her or from her perspective. 

 Pip and Rhodes avoiding eye-contact with me. They are partners in crime and I had to put them both in time-out... That lasted for 15min. That is cruel, I know. But I got lots of cute pics. ;-) 

 Pip, being the beast that she is, decided to stare me down until I restored the offenders.

Rhodes, on the other hand, was so remorseful that he feared he would explode if he DARED to make eye-contact. Poor guy!

He got pretty exhausted... I would too. 

 His face is just too pathetic!

 After about 15min, I told them both "good boy!!" and "good girl!!". They were so elated that they kissed. Too cute!

 My FAVORITE thing about Pip (and possibly what contributes to why I discipline her so much *cough*) is that she jumps into your lap, showers you with kisses, and looks at you like this to make sure her restoration is genuine after she has just gotten in trouble. And then throughout the day, your toes will get kissed when she's passing by.

I decided, in order to avoid anymore ramifications and chaos, to let them exert energy outside... But these two are sometimes irresistible when they ask you to come play like this. So I grabbed my professional iPhone and went out.

 Rhodes got a little worried when I laid down on the veranda step to get at his level. 

Pip, too, showed some concern when I army-crawled to her level.

And Menina came over to see if the strange rectangular device had anything to do with the fact that I was lying on the ground. 

One thing that perplexed me was what was so interesting about our outdoor tables and chairs to the dogs. That was until I got down to their level...

... And once I got down to Pip's level, the boring outdoor set turned into an awesome jungle gym.

Or how this pool that is a perfect watering hole for Rhodes...

Is a vast ocean to the likes of Pip.

"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

Past Week's Highlights

  Top of the morning to ya!

   I'm not setting a very good record. It has been shamefully long since I have posted and I've already broken my resolution to be consistent. 

   It's been quite a busy week or so and we are currently honoured with the presence of friends who are expecting their first baby and daughter today or tomorrow. (I will make a post soon about them.) They say watch pots never boil... Try waiting for a baby!  Granted, it's only 16:15hrs and today is her due date; but I am impatient to see this gorgeous baby. (And I am positive that Sarah is even more ready to have her baby than I am.)  ... On top of that, I have added baby-holding competition because Grandma flew in from the states. I have a feeling I've been drastically bumped down in pecking order. ;-)

    In the meantime, I have preoccupied myself with different baking brainstorms. Besides their passion for meats and braais, South Africans (or at least Afrikaners) love their puddings and custards. They also eat a lot of cake. So, I decided to take it upon myself to come up with a vanilla cake with custard filling. So, I made a custard using a simple online recipe I found. (Tasted like glorified sweetened condensed milk.) Then I googled a good vanilla cake recipe. And finally, I just made some basic buttercream frosting with the usual butter, confectioner's sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt for good measure. 

   This is how it went:

     

And we have the cake batter...

One of the two layers. I could already tell from the first one (I had to bake them separately because I only had one pan) that these were going to be pretty dense. A lot of factors contributed to it's texture and weight. Trial and error. Trial and error. I just have to remind myself of Thomas Edison.  ;-) 

Morgan - my darling perfectionist sister - did the honours of leveling the cake.

Voila! The final product. Strawberry formation is a courtesy of my brother, Craig. (He wants full credit for that one and rightly so.)

Oven oat pancakes with Bulgarian plain yoghurt (!!!!), strawberry jam, and honey or syrup. This was one of our breakfasts. I had to do the recipe from memory because I couldn't find it online. It comes from the *amazing* cookbook Hearth and Home. Excellent quick, healthful breakfast. A winner for our family and guests.

 And my personal favorite breakfast: cinnamon pancakes with sauteed cinnamon-sugar apples. 

"Well... that's all I have to say about that."

It's a Wonderful Life!

   Top of the morning to ya!

   

   It's no longer morning here; but tradition is tradition and I'm stickin' to it! ;-)

   This is the second to last day of a South African long weekend. Sadly enough, they have bought the feminist lie and we are "celebrating" Women's Day... for four days. The great side is that we were able to relax and enjoy great fellowship.

   We had a braai at our place and my photographer (*cough* Gabbi) lost sight of the goal and I am afraid that I cannot show you interesting photos from that. I'll give her some slack, though, because who could resist holding two brand new adorable babies in our fellowship??!! ;-)

    Even though this is primarily a food blog, I want to share our party/fellowship/braai photos and other shenanigans to give you a glimpse into our life here, as well. However, I did manage to take a few photos over the weekend that give an idea of what we've been up to.

Dad was brave enough to teach Mo and me how to drive his manual beastly vehicle... Mo did better than I did. I definitely am thankful for automatic! (I want to conquer this, though.)

I made some chicken and veggie curry Friday night. It was really good, if I might say so myself. I am not a huge fan of curry chicken because I've never really had one that made me just crave it. However, I wanted to make this taste as best as possible and I got good feedback from the fam. :-) Made my day!

I sauteed the veggies in a separate pan and then added the chicken and coconut milk to this. Let me tell you, butternut squash makes an excellent sweet contrast with this!

Pip chilling out on the couch next to me... Too funny!

Gab trying to take all the credit for the brownies. I was taking photos of each step and she ran up. She's a hoot! ... We had to improvise quite a bit since we're using what was already in the house to make everything. This tub-like mixing bowl was a blessing because every other bowl in the kitchen is not meant for cooking for a family of 7. 

These are not ribs... This is the delicious brownie batter. I folded in milk chocolate bar chunks since I have to find this baking store that supposedly has chocolate chips. They turned out to be delectable... Even to our Afrikaaner guests. :-)

Stole this finished product photo from my mom! So glad she took this because I had to leave the house before they were done in the oven and, therefore, did not get a photo.

This is the view once you step out of our back sliding doors. Spectacular... You see all kinds of gorgeous birds, various types of deer, the neighbours' dogs, men golfing, etc. We have one squirrel too. Ha! 

And of course it is the ideal reading spot.  I can't imagine the splendour of Eden, because this is absolutely breath-taking!

Soaking in the winter sun.

"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

Café de Manha

Love me some free-range brown eggs!!

Top of the morning to ya!

   I love breakfast! In fact, it is hands-down my absolute favorite meal of the day. I go to bed thinking about breakfast. I make breakfast thinking about breakfast. I... Is it just me or is anyone else having a dejavu?? I feel like I've said something like this before. Hmmm...

  So, our favourite thing... Well, ONE of our favourite things here are Woolworths' muffins. Muffins are über popular in South Africa. The only weird thing about muffin consumption here is that if you order it in a restaurant, they'll bring butter, jam... and shredded cheddar with it. I finally asked someone and they do actually put the cheese on their muffins when they eat it. Bran, chocolate chip, blueberry, ANY muffin. Interesting. 

   -That's almost as weird as Mo and I discovering that cheddar eaten with a coffee bean is really good! ... No, I'm serious. 

   Another thing about me is that I really really really like to start my day with eggs. My body craves that protein. I learned from someone that it actually helps kickstart your brain. 

   This was today's breakfast:

Scrambled egg batter? Dough?? Soup??? ... I wonder if there is a term out there.

Avos are really popular here, of course. Thank God because we Whitlock females could live off of them. And they are ridiculously cheap!

An egg is not an egg without Feta. So, I added that too.

And a delicious blueberry muffin...

Ok. I'll be honest. I had a blueberry muffin AND a chocolate chip chocolate muffin. :D

Mo's inferior breakfast of muesli (granola) mixed with peanut butter. But hey... the world wouldn't be interesting if we didn't have people like her! ;-) 

"Well... That's all I have to say about that!"