FRESH SIMPLE COOKING

SHIRLEY LE GUERN CHATS TO DANIELLE DU TOIT OF LOCAL COOKERY SCHOOL, PHEKA

Food is about relaxing and bringing people together – which was just what Danielle du Toit’s collection of “lockdown recipes” for everyday living did at a time when people were feeling most isolated.

Her passion for food and teaching probably started during childhood and culminated not only in the creation of her cookery school, pheka, in 2006, but also in the writing of her recipe book pheka fresh simple cooking last year. “I spent about five years travelling the world with my husband. We had a ball backpacking and eating our way around the world. I worked in Chamonix in the French Alps, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean on private yachts. I spent time in Europe, Asia and South America and absorbed everything I could regarding the food and culture of the places I visited,” she says.

On returning home, the couple spent time working in kitchens at bush lodges and hotels. That, she says, fuelled her passion for people, travel and local food.

When the du Toits set up home in Botha’s Hill 15 years ago, Danielle started a small cookery school that offered courses for domestic workers.

“I needed to create a business that was going to work for me and my new family, and so I tested out my idea on a few close friends and family. Everyone was delighted,” she recalls.

This still forms the bulk of her work. “Cleaning and ironing can be very mundane. It’s great to be able to give

Danielle also does cookery classes for youngsters during school holidays and admits to surviving the odd flour fight

people new skills that they can not only use in the workplace but also take home. They can make a beautiful loaf of bread, a homemade pizza or a curry for their families. The messages and the photographs I get from my students are very rewarding,” she smiles.

Danielle also does cookery classes for youngsters during school holidays and admits to surviving the odd flour fight.

“Cookery classes for adults are aimed at those who are passionate about cooking,” she adds.

Lessons are delivered either in her large, welcoming home kitchen or in the kitchens of clients.

Her school is essentially a mobile one.

LEFT: Danielle in her kitchen at home trying out a new recipe. BELOW: Danielle presents a certificate to one of her cookery students.

Everyone enjoys the simplicity of the book. You can literally open your pantry cupboard and cook a meal that is both nutritious and tasty without complicated ingredients

“I have a vehicle with all my equipment in it. I travel and can be in Durban North or uMhlanga on one day and in Pietermaritzburg on the next. I realised I couldn’t rely just on Upper Highway so decided that this was the best way to spread my wings a bit further.”

The Covid lockdown provided another unexpected opportunity. “It brought the cookery school to a grinding halt. I posted a recipe each day during the initial threeweek lockdown. People were cooking at home and needed inspiration. People were sharing and commenting. Then someone suggested I put all of the recipes together in a recipe book,” she explains.

She teamed up with close friend Louise McCann, whose magazine experience took care of the editorial side. All the cooking was done and photographed at home.

“My sons Dominic and Luc helped style the pictures, made fires, climbed up ladders to help with lights and tasted the dishes. They even pretended that the brownies weren’t perfect and I had to make them a number of times so they could keep eating them,” she laughs.

The book was launched in August last year and is available online via www.pheka.co.za as well as at markets and some outlets in the Upper Highway and uMhlanga areas. To date, she has sold around 1 000 copies.

“Everyone enjoys the simplicity of the book. You can literally open your pantry cupboard and cook a meal that is both nutritious and tasty without complicated ingredients. There are also lots of vegetarian options and food for the fire,” she says.

Now back to a new normal, Danielle says that her cookery school is picking up again although classes remain small and they stick to stringent Covid protocols. At home, the family enjoys making dinner, eating together and swapping stories about the day around the dinner table. *

FOR MORE INFO www.pheka.co.za Weavers’ Nest is Highbury’s co-educational pre-primary school for Grades 0000 – 00 (from age two to fi ve). Here, your child will be at the centre of everything we do and, through our dynamic pre-school programme, will be given the wings they need to fl y. We will inspire your child with a love of learning and their deep curiosity and innate sense of adventure will drive their interest to understand the world and their place within it. Your child will be acknowledged as strong, capable, resilient and full of wonder and potential.

Our dedicated and experienced teachers are passionate about the development of your child and encourage discovery through play in a nurturing environment, providing our young girls and boys a solid foundation for the years ahead.

THOMAS MORE COLLEGE OPENS A WONDERFUL NEW

SPORTS CENTRE

Thomas More College is, and always has been, at its heart a place of innovative, pioneering and brave thought leadership which seeks to empower every child individually to lead a life of fullness, purpose and authenticity. In our incredibly volatile and uncertain world, this is difficult. However, the Thomas More College ethos allows us to meet this world with empathy, focus, courage, creativity and clarity.

“In my relatively short time at this profoundly unique place of learning, I have witnessed the simplicity and liberating gravitas of our ethos as we have had to navigate our way through challenging, unchartered and sometimes treacherous waters,” says High School Headmaster Dave Wiggett. “Our ethos, our polestar, is indeed an ever-fixed mark which alters not when it alteration finds.” (Shakespeare, Sonnet 116).

A clear vision within an organisation such as Thomas More College, implies that it can be seen when the sky becomes cloudy and overcast,

The IKHWEZI

Sports Centre

when day becomes night or even when you close your eyes. A clear vision also stands the test of time.

In Thomas More College’s case the vision sometimes appeared larger and expensive and sometimes blurry, almost fading away and then at the appropriate moment it came into crystal clear focus and revealed itself into what has now become the new sports centre. It is quite fitting, then, that this magnificent centre has been christened the iKhwezi Sports Centre. iKhwezi is, in our region’s lingua franca, the morning star, the guide to lost and weary travellers, the herald of a new day and fresh beginnings. It is constant, it is dependable, it is trustworthy and it is honest in its purpose. Patrick Smith from Walker Smith Architects revealed an amazing and wonderful design of what the iKhwezi Sports Centre could look like. The layout was beautiful and spacious, it was practical and functional and we thought it might just also be affordable. So, with that goal in mind we assembled a Steering Committee that was passionate, competent and included people who could provide the requisite professional, technical and financial input. A professional approach was adopted and following a rigorous tender process, Reed Simpson was appointed to build the centre. After many due diligence visits to other schools, Ms Wanri Venter (former HS HOD: Sport) and Patrick Smith recommended that we select Fintrex to provide and lay what is clearly a world-class floor.

The project was not without its challenges, primarily due to a black swan event called Covid-19 resulting in the country, the school and all building activity being suspended at the end of March 2020. Reed Simpson were able to return to site in mid-May, with this impressive facility (excluding the floor) being completed and handed over towards the end of September 2020.

Thomas More College hosted the official opening of the iKhwezi Sports Centre on April 15, 2021. The opening commenced with two indoor hockey matches – the 1st Boys’ vs Staff and 1st Girls’ vs Staff. The matches were followed by the formal proceeding of the centre being opened, whereby Mrs Deni Hornsey, recently retired Foundation Phase Headmistress, unveiled the commemorative plaque which is now mounted at the entrance to the centre.

ABOVE: SA vs Namibia at the Africa Indoor Cup. BELOW: Ms Carol Mbili cuts the ribbon at the opening ceremony. BOTTOM: TMC 1st Boys’ vs TMC Staff. WATCH THE OPENING VIDEO HERE:

Mrs Hornsey played an instrumental role in the expansion and development of our beautiful school grounds and was part of the decisionmaking of this extraordinary facility. It was only fitting that we asked our current longest standing staff member, Ms Carol Mbili, to cut the ribbon and officiate the opening of the centre.

Thomas More College is very proud to have hosted the 2021 Indoor Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON CUP) for both the Men and Ladies over the weekend of April 16-18, 2021. It was a high energy tournament with incredible hockey played by all teams. Jethro Eustice, SA Mens’ Indoor Hockey Captain, says: “We’re now at a venue that looks after Indoor Hockey.”

The iKhwezi Sports Centre currently incorporates a full-size indoor hockey court, change rooms, spectator’s ablutions, a wheelchair friendly ablution, grandstands (250 fixed seats), storage facilities, a catering station and additional parking bays, with plans to include one netball court and two cricket nets. Maggie Mengo, Namibian Ladies’ Captain, expressed in her jubilation after having won the Ladies’ Africa Indoor Cup on Sunday, “I wish I could copy and paste this venue from SA to Namibia.” *Article written by Mr Dave Wiggett (High School Headmaster) and Mr Larry Riddle (Steering Committee Chairman)

FOR MORE INFO Juliet Hartley: 031 764 8640; jhartley@thomasmore.co.za; www.thomasmore.co.za