A few years back, this blog began to turn into a grind: I felt obliged to post on a regular basis, and more often than not, I didn't really feel like I had much to say. Posts fe… Read More

Caponata with dark chocolateI am a big fan of Felicity Cloake’s ‘How to cook the perfect…’ series in the Guardian, in which she takes a classic recipe, makes several… Read More

It took me 34 years to make it to my first salon wax. Which is remarkable only in that most women either (quite sensibly) never feel the urge to wax at all, or commence the monthly ritual in… Read More

It’s a beautiful Sunday: a rare day this time of year. The air feels freshly scrubbed. It’s sunny, but not like summer, with its bleaching, hammering blaze; rather, there's a sof… Read More

One tosses.The other turns.One huffs.The other sighs.Outside, the restless wind harrasses the trees, un-settling the un-sleepers.One reaches out, nudges the other.The other grunts. One nudge… Read More

It was a pretty typical night for me at that age: 19, I think.I didn’t have a car, but I found my way to Melville, without a clue how I’d get home. I did this often — somet… Read More

So, I ended 2014 and began 2015 sicker than I've ever been in my life. I have two working theories as to why:1) God has seen fit to afflict me with The Plague in order to purify me spiritua… Read More

My loathing of mince pies is surpassed only by my aversion to Christmas cake. There's something cloying about the taste of candied or dried fruit — raisins in particular — that y… Read More

Okay, well, not everything, exactly. The bit about making it out of flour and butter is pretty important. And water. I'm talking about the bit where you have to get the little globs of butte… Read More

Though it pains me to say it, I am not immune to the charms of the cultural phenomenon that is kale: curer of cancer, rescuer of kittens from trees, solver of the crisis in the Middle East… Read More

Though it pains me to say it, I am not immune to the charms of the cultural phenomenon that is kale: curer of cancer, rescuer of kittens from trees, solver of the crisis in the Middle East… Read More

Have you ever read about the Buddhist practice of creating mandalas out of sand? A mandala is a spiritual ritual symbol representing the microcosm of the universe — basically a stupen… Read More

It happened as I wandered through the Paul Cluver vineyards one Saturday in autumn ... oh, about two years ago.I had a glass of Pinot in one hand, and was trailing my fingers lightly along t… Read More

It happened as I wandered through the Paul Cluver vineyards one Saturday in autumn ... oh, about two years ago.I had a glass of Pinot in one hand, and was trailing my fingers lightly along t… Read More

1. The Franschhoek Literary Festival: I attended for the first time with my friend Paige Dorkin. That's her in the image above, taken late last Saturday afternoon — we stayed in an old… Read More

I was recently knocked over by the flu — we're talking WWE Smackdown, the RAW Total edition (not that I know about such things, ahem). This time last week, I was shivering away in a sw… Read More

You lie awake at night, unable to sleep, and try to find a still place inside. But all you feel is an emptiness, a vacuum where something used to be, closely followed by fear: that everyone… Read More

Frothy chai rooibos.I am obsessed with Woolworths' Chai Rooibos. It is the Most Amazing Beverage Discovery since ... since ... WATER. Has it been on the shelves for ages? Why wasn't I inform… Read More

Frothy chai rooibos.I am obsessed with Woolworths' Chai Rooibos. It is the Most Amazing Beverage Discovery since ... since ... WATER. Has it been on the shelves for ages? Why wasn't I inform… Read More

I started writing a lot of boring, unoriginal tripe about autumn and the change of season and blah blah blah...  But really all I want to do is share this recipe, which is jolly good. I… Read More

I started writing a lot of boring, unoriginal tripe about autumn and the change of season and blah blah blah...  But really all I want to do is share this recipe, which is jolly good. I… Read More

LandmeterskopOur weekend away started as they usually do: a disorganised, last-minute packing frenzy, leaving about two hours later than intended, and a shouting match.Once we were on the ro… Read More

Brooding weather in Newlands today, just like my mood.In theory, you know you’re going to get old one day. You know you’re going to go grey, your boobs’ll cash in that one… Read More

Most people's first reaction to the idea of putting raw mushrooms in a pasta is: 'No thanks'. But there is a strange alchemy that occurs in this dish.Even though the mushrooms are never cook… Read More

This is based on Jamie Oliver's smashed pea and broad bean crostini, only we didn't have any peas.I know broad beans are out of season, but, well, we had this over Christmas and I have been… Read More

Image from www.thewednesdaychef.comThis recipe is going to change the way you feel about broccoli FOREVER, and I don't make that claim lightly.(It'll probably also change the way you feel ab… Read More

I've been feeling rather sanguine lately, in stark contrast to a few months previous. I'm drinking less, exercising more, merely cussing at other drivers rather than actively trying to ram t… Read More

I found this recipe in a book at Exclusive Books on one of their sales and I was like NO WAY I’ve totally never heard of this dude Michael Psilakis but Google tells me he’s kind… Read More

Every time I start to get unbearably broody (typing that sentence feels totally surreal, newcomer that I am to the idea that having kids might actually be desirable), I recall myself as a te… Read More

Every time I start to get unbearably broody (typing that sentence feels totally surreal, newcomer that I am to the idea that having kids might actually be desirable), I recall myself as a te… Read More