Issue 12 May 2014 by Christine Bernard

MAY 201412 Issue

Taste | Create | Discover

THE CRAFT ISSUE

ED’S NOTE

“The creative adult is the child who survived”

It’s almost winter. Can you feel it? The chill in the air, the darker mornings, the excuse to wear slippers all the time! No point getting depressed about it so we might as well enjoy it, after all it does just mean extra coffee throughout the day. This month we have a big craft feature and I decided to get involved myself by creating my very own knitted mug to keep my coffee warm. I had so much fun doing this, and my inner granny came chattering to the service. I’m busy making more, so if you’d like one give me a shout. I hope you enjoy our craft edition. Please visit our crafters websites for more awesome ideas. And if you’re a crafter yourself then pop me an email, I’d love to see what you do. Please feel free to contact me if you’d like to contribute articles or whether you’d like to advertise in an upcoming magazine. We’d love to get to know you and to shamelessly promote your company! Flat White Magazine - Made with love strong coffee.

www.twitter.com/ FW_Concepts

n o s u w Follo Pinterest / terest.com in .p w w w / coffeetine

Yours in Coffee,

Christine

Website: www.flatwhiteconcepts.com Email: christine@flatwhiteconcepts.com www.flatwhiteconcepts.com | Issue 12

CONTENTS

TASTE

Our week of celebrations Knead Asian style beef noodle broth Home brewed opinions chapter 6 Coffee Capsules Direct Easy apple crumble The half pint chronicles Give OBiKWA merlot a whirl

CREATE

The Craft Issue: Meet our crafters Craft tips DIY Idea #1 DIY Idea #2 DIY Idea #3 Blogging 101: to pay or not to pay

DISCOVER

Nightjar Travel SA Cheese Festival Klein River Cheese Grana Book Reviews

COMPETITIONS Win Win Win!

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OUR WEEK OF CELEBRATIONS March/April is an expensive but fun time for my husband and I. 25 March is our anniversary, where this year we celebrated eight years of marriage. A week later, on the 31 March is my birthday, and although I just turned 32 I believe in celebrating like I’m still a kid. Then a week after that is my husband’s birthday, the big 34. We celebrated everything as only we know how, with food and drink of course.

THE ANNIVERSARY:

Tasha’s Constantia Village, Corner of Constantia Main & Spaanshemat River Road, Constantia I’ve always been a fan of Tasha’s, from my Durban days. So when I found out that there was one in Constantia I had to go. We decided to celebrate our anniversary here and it exceeded it’s reputation. I opted for napoletana fettuccine, which I know might sound plain but I remember falling in love with it in Durban when I was doing my carbo loading for the Comrades Marathon. It didn’t disappoint! Warren went for The Spaniard quesidillas, filled with chorizo, creme fraiche, lettuce, onion, cheddar, tomato, coriander and guacamole. It was a rule that our anniversary always had to involve cake so I opted for the red velvet cupcake (oh em gee!) and Warren went for the chocolate cake. We officially entered food heaven. Yeah, I’m a big fan of Tasha’s.

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL:

The Italian Kitchen Corner Dean & Main Street, Newlands We were very lucky to find this place, out of total coincidence too, literally just walking around trying to decide where to go for my birthday when we saw the sign ‘Italian Kitchen’. Anyone who knows us will know how much we love Italian food, and so we rushed to get a table. Pizza for the husband (which came in a square format, looking thin, crispy and oh so delicious) and pasta for me (went for an old favourite, Carbonara), champagne and wine classes clinking in the air. Great new spot to find, the food was good, the price was right and the waitress was friendly. They have a nice courtyard area so I’d love to go again and maybe enjoy a breakfast outside.

THE JOINT BIRTHDAY DINNER:

El Burro 81 Main Road, Green Point

It’s not often that you find a restaurant that has all three pulling points: Great food, great service and great atmosphere. Yet El Burro manages to tick all those boxes. I had heard a lot about this place and so when my birthday came around I decided to hold my birthday dinner here, a table of 12 - all hungry for food (and cocktails of course). I must say, for a table so big, our waitress didn’t

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TASTE fluster at all nor did she get any orders wrong. I was a waitress back in the day (we wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say which day) so I know how hard that can be. The food was, and I revert to current slang here, amazeballs. I opted for the aubergine quesadilla, which came with lots of guacamole and cream for extra stuffing (which I did), and I loved it. It seemed the overall winner was the pulled beef (which I took a sneaky bite of from my husbands plate). Cocktails galore, with a very interesting array of choices.

THE BIRTHDAY BOY:

Salushi 25 Protea Road, Claremont

another place that happened to be around the corner from me. How do I keep missing these restaurants? So I surprised him and took him for his birthday and we experienced a couple of FOODGASMS. How had I not been here before? We were lucky enough to have his birthday fall on a Monday which was one of their value nights, which means you can order off a much cheaper sushi menu. An example, 2 salmon roses for only R20. We were lucky enough to go on one of those perfect Cape Town evenings, and we sat outside while enjoying our meal. The sushi was so good! My personal recommendation: The Princeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kisses: rice, prawn and strawberry, wrapped in avo and topped with sweet chilli.

We had two Italian feasts and one Mexican so it YUM! was time to change things up a bit. We are huge sushi fans, especially Warren, so I was delighted By Christine Bernard when someone on Twitter mentioned Salushi. Yet

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TASTE

I need Knead. As a freelancer, I work mostly from home and try hold most of my meetings at coffee shops. I love nothing more than working in a coffee shop environment, especially one that offers not just a good vibe, but also great coffee. I feel that Knead ticks all the right boxes here.

I have been often enough for them to at least make one mistake. Yet every time I’m left satisfied, and normally give in and order myself a second cup. Very good value for money, great service, and a coffee shop I will continue to support. I also suggest heading to the Muizenberg branch for the added value of the gorgeous beach just a stones throw away. My husband and I caught the early train recently, stopped off to get takeaway coffee from Knead, and then sat on the beach waiting for the sun to make an appearance. It was just a beautiful start to yet another gorgeous day in Cape Town. And now, as we head towards winter, I would suggest doing this trip even more. It just means putting on an extra layer, getting an extra cup of coffee and spending a bit longer on the beach without the sun’s rays arriving too early. Great job Knead.

I am luckily enough to live near two of the Knead coffee shops. The Palmyra Road Junction is one of my favourites, as it has a very inviting feel to it, a beautiful selection of incredibly delicious food (and yes, I have tried quite a few different things) and great coffee. The décor, with the wooden furnishings is right up my alley. The other branch that I visit often, probably more so than the Palmyra one actually is the Dean Street Arcade coffee shop. It’s a quick walk from my house so I found this the ideal place to have my meetings. It’s a smaller version of the normal Kneads but it offers the same amenities. I have never had a bad cup of coffee here, and By Christine Bernard www.flatwhiteconcepts.com | Issue 12

TASTE

Asian Style Beef Noodle Broth Serves 2, generously

Ingredients:

and your steak - cook to your liking. Remove the steak from the heat, and allow to rest on a board.

Add a little more sesame oil (if needed) and fry the garlic, ginger, spring onions and chilli flakes • Drizzle of sesame oil briefly - without allowing them to colour. Add • 300g rump / fillet / sirloin steak the beef stock, stirring gently. Add half the soy • 1 tsp ginger, finely grated sauce and sugar - then taste. Add more if re• 1 clove garlic, finely grated quired (I found we needed more soy sauce than • 2 large spring onions, finely sliced • 1 tsp dried chilli flakes (to taste - we like ours we thought - you can use the low sodium versions if it makes you more comfortable). The quite spicy) • 1 litre beef stock (for the best, use NoMU Beef broth will happily sit for a few hours (or days) at this stage - add the noodles when you’re ready Fond) to serve - and cook for approximately 4 minutes. • 1/4 cup soy sauce • 1 tsp brown sugar (or palm sugar, if you have) Slice the steak and add it to the broth, along with its juices, along with the coriander just to heat • 2 handfuls noodles of your choice through - serve in generous bowls. • Handful of fresh coriander

Method:

By The Gorgeous Gourmet alwayscandice@gmail.com Heat a medium sized pot (big enough to hold Twitter: @GorgeousBlog 1.5L) on a medium high heat. Add the sesame oil, www.agorgeouslife.co.za

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Homebrewed Opinions: Chapter 6

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Everyone, now and again, needs a good nap. This is it ‘bloom’ before you hit it with the full flow. If you apparently also true for coffee. do not allow for the ‘bloom’, you begin with a good extraction, which then accelerates resulting in an Let me explain. under-extracted cup. The results of under-extraction end with a cup of coffee that is lifeless and has When I first started roasting coffee in 2010 I was little to no characteristics. In other words, it’s bland. very confused. Much of what I had learned was slowly beginning to become unlearned. There is some chemistry to the relationship between the roasted bean and extraction. What can There is much talk about freshly roasted coffee and make or break this relationship is the water, which, how important it is. As a new coffee roaster, this for many is the most underestimated variable was the mission until one day, after a conversation when brewing coffee. Roasted coffee gives off CO2 with a very wise man, which included many inter- and the fresher the coffee the more it is giving off. esting points, I walked away pondering one specif- When coffee is too fresh, CO2 gets trapped in the ic point: much of the coffee marketed as ‘freshly ‘bloom’ and produces carbonic acid. roasted’ was in fact too fresh. Carbonic acid makes, well, the water acidic. Acidic Coffee geeks make a big fuss about fresh coffee. water does not extract a soluble the same (good) But what if fresh is too fresh, and therefore, what way water with a pH balance does. do we mean by fresh? To sum up, the fresher the coffee the higher the Sometimes there are these grand visions of scoop- CO2 and hitting CO2 with water at around 90 deing the coffee straight from the roaster, into the grees is a rather violent process which, can hinder grinder. Big mistake. extraction through a number of different variables. This is why we like to wait about 2 days after roastMy experience with beans that are too fresh is that ing to let the beans fulfill their destiny. If roasting no matter how carefully I prepare the coffee, ex- coffee in an art then brewing coffee is a symphony, traction will always accelerate toward the end of which must take into account the variables that afthe pour. The common problem I've noticed with fect it in order to produce a harmonious cup. Part overly-fresh beans comes down to extraction, and, of this symphony is finding a balance between a recently roasted beans offer obstructions to extrac- bean that is too fresh and it reaching the point of tion. becoming stale. When you brew coffee you should incorporate a By Carl Anthony Badenhorst pre-infusion. This is when you wet the coffee to let

TASTE

espresso bar l coffee destination l award winning house blend

Meet Isabella: our award winning house blend.

Countries of origin: Brazil, Guatemala and Costa Rica. Locally roasted. Available in beans, freshly ground and capsules that are compatible with Nespresso & Caffeluxe machines.

85a Regent Road, Sea Point www.mischu.co.za

TASTE

Coffee Capsules Direct Experience true quality coffee flavours at reasonable prices. Differentiate yourself from your competitors and reward your customers, clients, guests, staff and friends with an exceptional coffee experience. Meet Coffee Capsules Direct.

Their capsules are compatible with Nespresso®, Cafféluxe and Vittora coffee machines. If you already have a Nespresso® or Cafféluxe coffee machine, you can just take advantage of their low priced monthly capsules delivery.

Coffee Capsules Direct is a South African company based in Cape Town. They share their coffee love with you by supplying you with Espresso style coffee machines and Nespresso® compatible coffee capsules at the best prices, delivered nationwide.

If you are still using other methods (e.g. instant or filter coffee), try one of their coffee machines, commitment free, at only R70 a month plus milk frother and taste the difference. Or take one home. It’s delicious coffee with excellent service.

With their popular, convenient, affordable and top quality coffee solution, you enjoy the finer styles of coffee from Espressos, Americanos, Lattes and Cappuccinos.

Coffee capsules direct offers you an obligation free, open ended, quit anytime contract, including free delivery, set up and instructions. So why not try it out?

www.coffeecapsulesdirect.com

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Q&A Favourite coffee shop? To be honest, our office! Come visit us here and we make you a great cuppa!

Do you listen to music when you work? We sometimes sing or talk to ourselves, does that count? ;) (we blame it on the coffee)

A typical day in the life of CCD Your team members

We open our doors in the morning, get onto our online orders and send off coffee capsules in all difGaynor (Accounts, picture-shy), Megan (Sales), ferent flavours to our clients all over South Africa. Megan and Judy will then grab our coffee machines Rowan (Director) and Judy (Marketing) and meet coffee lovers to show them how to work the system and do a coffee tasting with them at A few lines describing CCD their office or home. Maybe at your place soon? We started the business because we love great quality coffee, but it had to be quick and affordable! Social media links With our system, everybody can have a decent cofFacebook: fee or Cappuccino for R4, ready to go in 60 seconds. We sell Nespresso速 alternative coffee capsules on- https://www.facebook.com/coffeecapsulesdirect Twitter: line and delivery for free nationwide. If you want a https://twitter.com/coffee_direct machine for your office or home, we rent it from LinkedIn: R70 per month! http://www.linkedin.com/company/coffee-capsules-direct Describe yourselves in one word

An ideal day for each of you would be

Gaynor: organized Megan: ambitious Rowan: multitasking Judy: social

A day that has 48 hours so we can drink more coffee and live our passion: Cappuccinos for everybody!

How much coffee do you drink? Megan is definitely our coffee star with about 3 to 4 coffees a day. Judy has about two and only drinks our Lungo Roast, it has to be strong. Rowan tastes coffee all day at work to make sure our quality is right on top and Gaynor is our tea lover in the group that saves us from drinking all our stock!

Tell us one thing that most people don't know about you Our coffee is from the best places all over the world, but our coffee capsules are manufactured here in South Africa, Cape Town. You are supporting a South African business, thank you!

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TASTE

'One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.' Virginia Woolf

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Easy Apple Crumble One bite could lead to many more; don’t say I didn’t warn you. It could be the golden crunchy topping or the juicy cinnamon sweet apple base, but every bite screams ‘Happy Autumn!’ As easy as it is to demolish an entire bowl by yourself (yes, I am guilty), it’s just as easy to make. In my opinion, most times the best recipes are the simplest to make. So, all that’s left to say is dig in!

Ingredients: • 1 packet or 7 green apples (Granny Smith/sweet apples) • 1 ½ cup cake flour • 1 ½ cup brown sugar • 100g butter, soft • 1 teaspoon cinnamon • ½ teaspoon nutmeg • 1 cup water

Instructions: 1. Peel, de-core and roughly chop apples. 2. Place apple pieces into a pot with water, cinnamon and nutmeg. Boil for 10 minutes or until soft. 3. Mix flour, sugar and soft butter together to make crumbs. Please note: do not melt the butter. 4. Once apple pieces are soft, drain the water out. Roughly mash the apples, leaving some chunky pieces. 5. Place apples in an oven proof dish, and then scatter crumble mixture over the apples (about an inch deep). 6. Bake in preheated oven (180 degrees), for 25 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. By Megan Deane http://stuffed-feeling.blogspot.com

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TASTE THE HALF PINT CHRONICLES Crazy Diamond A friend introduced me to this tall, dark beauty wrapped up in colourful designs. How could so much character be so soft on the lips? Crazy Diamond is a masterful collaboration by Eric van Heerden of Triggerfish Brewery and Andre de Beer from Cockpit Brewhouse. Quote of the night: this Belgian double IPA taste like “everything good about an identity crisis”. At first I was unsure if I was drinking a heavy sherry or a dubbel, but the richness was well balanced by a strong hops character. These brewers really did go crazy and what a delicious success! Besides, there is something epic about a beer that comes in a wooden box with its own newspaper. If only they had made more than 190 bottles… The Tap Room Brew Supplies How did you spend your day off this week? A cold pint called out to me, and so the hunt began. The Tap Room, where I finally settled down, is a relatively new addition to the Wembley Square complex in Cape Town central. This sleek bar offers more than just a vast range of craft beers on tap though, supplying brewing equipment and other accessories. If you’re a small-time brewer or a passerby needing your thirst quenched, this little corner of Wembley Square will surprise you. I found what I needed admiring Devil’s Peak through the bottom of my glass, thorough relaxation. More info on their product range can be found at www.thetaproom.co.za. The Constantia Craft Beer Project Typical Cape Town weather; you dress for a sunny day and it rains. Everyone was at home curled up in bed but I was trudging through a wet field. On the other hand, there was also beer! 20 craft brewers, one tent, and some were names I knew and liked. I ran out of tickets before I reached the Jack Black stand, but the Rogue Dead Guy Ale and CBC Pilsner went down very well. I did not miss my bed, bumping into unexpected friends and drinking one of my favourite IPA’s. You can keep your eyes peeled for future events from the Craft Beer Project on their site at www.thecraftbeerproject.co.za.

By Half Pint, nightjar.travel/halfpintblog www.flatwhiteconcepts.com | Issue 12

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Give OBiKWA Merlot a whirl

When friends come knocking, bring out the OBiKWA Merlot and enjoy this fruity, easy drinking red with a quick, no fuss meal. With a different variety for every day of the week, you are spoilt for choice with the range of quality, pocket friendly OBiKWA wines. "OBiKWA Merlot is a medium bodied wine, jam-packed with fruit flavours and spicy vanilla,” says OBiKWA Cellarmaster, Michael Bucholz, who recommends serving this wine with a homemade balsamic onion, brie and bacon pizza. “When guests drop in unexpectedly, this pizza is a lifesaver. Open a bottle of OBiKWA Merlot, place a ready-to-go pizza base, bacon and Brie cheese on the table. Continue by caramelising two handfuls of onions in butter and a dash of balsamic vinegar. It will smell so good someone else might get the hint and finish the cooking!” laughs Michael. With the delegation out of the way, whoever takes over only needs to arrange the onions, slices of Brie and fried bacon on the base and to pop it into the oven for about six minutes before serving. Life is an adventure, so go on share it with good friends and good wine. OBiKWA Merlot sells at around R30 per bottle. The OBiKWA range of varietal wines is available at leading outlets country-wide. For more information visit their website on www.obikwa.com, join the OBiKWA tribe on Facebook or follow them on Twitter @ObikwaWines.

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CREATE

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CREATE

The

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MEET OUR CRAFTERS Stephanie Engelbrecht creates unique handmade designs through wood, fabric and paint. She loves to combine all types of crafts and handwork so that every day and every job is different. She accepts all requests, be it for your home, your baby or a gift you want created. Everything she does comes with an extra touch of love. Her motto is from Pablo Picasso - ‘Everything you can imagine is real’. If you can dream it, she can make it! Contact 074 190 2157 or helderbergdivas@ gmail.com and view her website on www.stephhandmadestuff.wozaonline.co.za Isabelle is a professional organiser and CEO of NEAT FREAK, based in Durban, KZN. She is President of the Professional Organisers Association Africa (POAA) and also owns the only online shop in South Africa that specializes in products that help you get organised in any space. Contact her today on 082 673 9740 or go to www.neatfreak.co.za for more information or visit the online shop on www.neatfreakshop.co.za

Rose McClement is the owner of Design Monarchy, a Cape Town-based Interior Design and Décor studio. For 25 years, Rose has worked within the upmarket residential and hospitality industry including multiple award-winning 4 & 5 star hotel projects in Ireland. She is also a published décor column writer and editor of The Design Tabloid, a popular Proudly South African design & décor blog that aspires to showcase local designers. Blog: www.thedesigntabloid.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/streaksahead; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ thedesigntabloid; Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/streaksahead/ Website: www.designmonarchy.co.za

Theresa is a lover of all things pretty, vintage, pink and crafty. Washi tape, deer, owls and old photographs make her do ballerina jumps. Miss Milly {her happy place that she escapes to} started at the end of 2013, after the 100th person asked her where she got a brooch from that she was wearing. Miss Milly is currently a range of cards, gift tags, notebooks, pegs and cake flags from washi tape as well as brooches, earrings and bobby pins in a combination of wood and washi tape. The designs in the range are all woodland characters: bunnies, owls, birds, hearts, deer and foxes. Follow her on Facebook at www.facebook. com/missmillysa or contact her on 082 970 8515 or missmillysa@gmail.com or head on over to her blog at http://missmillysa.blogspot.com where you will find her links to Pinterest and Instagram.

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CRAFT TIPS #1 Feng Shui does not do clutter. It is a no-no!! Think of it this way, clutter hampers the flow of energy. So get out there and as Nike says ‘just do it’. To avoid getting bored while you de-clutter – take it on in bite sizes. #2 In order to create depth in a room, you should include various layers of textures, objects and tones. In other words, your floor covering would be one layer, into that you would add the paint colour or wallpaper, patterns on fabrics in the form of curtains, scatter cushions, furniture coverings. Thereafter, art on the wall, collections of objects ‘d art on tables, lamps, books, bed linen – all of these add further character and dimension to the room. It can be likened much to the fashion trends – you layer your clothes, starting with a T-Shirt, then a cardigan, coat, scarf etc.

always compliment you bed no matter your bedrooms changing colour schemes. A second prize would be to buy a chic fitted base cover or a boxed bed skirt. Try however, to avoid the gathered night frill as it is dreadfully old-fashioned and can easily appear untidy. #6 Don’t toss away your old wooden ladder – repurpose it. Your old ladder, whether you give it a fresh lick of paint or keep it paint-splattered & earth-stained, can be used in a variety of interesting ways: as a rustic book shelf, funky bathroom storage or even a shabby chic way to store and display your beautiful shoes. All you need is a bit of inspiration.

#7 If all the bookshelves you find in stores are too tall, too wide, or too unwieldy, consider stacking sturdy wooden benches to make a streamlined #3 Whether it’s on your bed or on your sofa, never shelf that’s just right for your space. Search flea ever arrange scatter cushions at 45 degree angle markets and second-hand shops for old benches – (aka the dreaded diamond shape) – it looks terri- all they need is a lick of paint. bly tacky and old-fashioned (“lekker oudoos”). No matter how beautiful the cushion, putting it at a #8 Turn too-beautiful-to-use tea towels into quirky 45 degree angle does your sofa no favours as it dis- yet affordable works of art by having them framed. rupts the natural eye-line of your space. If you have basic needle-and-thread skills, you can also sew pretty tea towels together to transform #4 When selecting a scatter cushion the density of them into playful, one-of-a-kind tablecloths or the inner is quite important. Try not to buy scatters runners. that are either too hard or too soft as they have a low comfort factor and will be an irritant when sit- #9 Finding it hard to source art that will perfectly ting. Down or feather-mix inners are considered to complement your room style and colour scheme? be the premium choice and can easily be reshaped Love a certain wallpaper pattern, but not brave and plumped. Try avoiding cushions with shred- enough to commit to a whole wall? Consider using ded foam as it gets lumpy or 100% polyester/hol- wallpaper offcuts as quirky framed pieces of art. low fibre inners that becomes as flat as a pancake. Group framed wallpapers of various shapes and Rather have 2 quality feather-mix scatters on your sizes to create an inexpensive and unique gallery sofa than 5 inferior scatters. wall. #5 A contemporary way of dealing with your bed By Rose McClement base is to have it upholstered in a hard-wearing Decor Diva neutral fabric. It is stylish and tidy choice and will www.thedesigntabloid.com www.flatwhiteconcepts.com | Issue 12

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Time is your most valuable resource. When time is lost, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gone forever â&#x20AC;Ś All Organised is passionate about people. We cater to a variety of clients, ranging from corporate businesses to private individuals looking to improve their management and organisational skills. We promote order and through education enable you to become more productive and effectively remain organised. Together we will streamline your life and your environment, creating balance and restoring energy, so you can spend more time doing what you love most! www.allorganised.co | info@allorganised.co

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IDEA #1 Chalk up your grocery cupboard We are slowly revamping our kitchen and deciding what we like and don't. My kids have said they'd like a chalkboard in our kitchen and since I had a lovely tester pot of charcoal chalkboard paint, I decided to give it a bash. You will need: • Sandpaper - 120grit and 360grit to smooth off at the end • Masking tape • Small roller brush • Thin paint brush for edging • Small paint tray • Chalkboard paint • Newspaper to cover your floor

with regards to how many coats you need to apply and if you need to stir or not. 3. Starting from the top panels, edge them first with the small brush and thereafter complete each with the roller. Be careful about painting over the masking tape. Although it is there to ‘control’ the flow of paint onto the edging, if you have too much paint on your brush it may seep through. 4. After two coats of paint have dried, your panels will feel very rough. This is normal. 5. Take the smoothest sandpaper you have and lightly sand the panels. You may want to do another coat after this and if you do, repeat the light sandpaper again.

6. The last step is to remove the masking tape. If you see that there has been some overlap of the Instructions: paint, you can use the light sandpaper to gently re1. To start off with, give the panels a light sand- move this. ing. Then use the masking tape on the edges of the panels to ensure that the paint doesn’t go over It didn’t cost me a cent and I think it’s not too shabby, for a morning project! into the area you don’t want painted. 2. Read the instructions for the chalkboard paint By Isabelle De Grandpre, www.neatfreak.co.za

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IDEA #2 Reclaimed Wood Wall Clock The first thing you need to do is to find a pallet. Be picky! Choose one that doesn’t have a lot of nails sticking out and has most of its structure.

cut the pallet into the pieces you require. Now is the time to sand the pieces and especially the edges with a medium grit sandpaper You can stain the finish with wood stain in your choice of colour, leave it natural or cover one or two pieces of your clock by either paint, decoupage etc.

You will also need:

2. Putting your clock together

• Jigsaw to cut the pallets into the correct size • Sander with medium grit sandpaper • Cordless Drill/Driver • Drill bits in sizes for your screws • Fastener that fits the wood screws • Wood screws long enough to go through the pallet and into the next pallet, but not through it. • Wood glue • Tape measure • Pencil • T-square • Clock mechanism • Wood stain, paint if required

Put a small amount of wood glue on the side of each pallet before putting them together. You can either use a backing board that can be mounted onto the back of the pallets or you can simply screw cross battens across the back of the boards like I did.

1. Get your pallet into shape Measure your pallet planks so that you have 4 or 5 pieces of the same size depending on how big you want your clock. Make a small mark with your pencil and then use your t-square to make sure the lines that you draw are straight. Take your jigsaw and

3. Assemble your clock mechanisms Drill a hole through the centre of the clock to mount the clock mechanism and hands. To make the numbers for the clock I used a paint marker. You can also buy numbers at your nearest craft shop. Attach a picture hanger to the back of the clock and hang on the wall. By Stephanie Engelbrecht www.stephhandmadestuff.wozaonline.co.za

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IDEA #3 How to make cake flags from washi tape Washi tape is a decorative masking tape that can be used in many different ways to create beautiful crafts. The variety of washi tape colours and patterns are endless and you can choose one according to your theme or colour scheme. I love using them to wrap gifts, dress up drinking straws and even cupcakes!

Instructions: 1. Cut a strip of washi tape (± 6-7 centimeters). 2. Place the toothpick / skewer’s top flush with the top edge of the washi tape and directly in the middle of the tape. 3. Carefully bring the edges of the tape together, onto one side. If the ends of the tape do not line up perfectly (it happens!), simply trim them with the scissors. 4. Cut the edge of the washi tape into a “v” shape at the end of the tape to create a flag shape.

Create as many washi tape cake flags as your heart desires. Once you are done, press each flag directly These cake flags are super easy to make and add a into the cupcakes. pretty pop of colour to your cupcakes. It’s great for And VOILA! Dressed up cupcakes! a birthday or any other special celebration. You will need the following: • Washi tape {in a colour of your choice or a selection of colours} • Toothpicks or wooden skewers • Scissors • And most importantly scrumptious cupcakes!

By Theresa, Miss Milly http://missmillysa.blogspot.com

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Blogging 101: To pay or not to pay We kick off part 3 in the Blogging 101 series, you’ve decided that you want to start a blog {or website} and which platform you will use to run it on. Today we will cover paid vs. free options that are available to you. I initially started Lovilee on a free option, as I was unsure whether I wanted to turn my idea into a revenue-generating business. I was also confused on how to go about choosing a hosting option, what would I need etc. etc. Well, I hope that at the end of this article most of these questions you have will be answered. What free options are out there? Two of the most popular free options you have to choose from is the WordPress platform and the Blogger platform discussed in the previous article. What it essentially means to have a free site is that you cannot choose your own site address in full. A site address is referred to as a ‘URL’, it is the address that you type into the search engine / browser that you use to explore the internet with to take you to a specific site and is unique to each website on the internet.

CREATE

Lovilee’s initial address was lovilee.blogspot.com. The site is still active… gives me the hibby gibbies, but also a sense of pride to see how much the site has developed! If you use a WordPress free option your site’s address might have looked something like lovilee.wordpress.com. When creating a blog initially this might prove to be a good start, but you might soon find it limiting should you want to add a paid theme {a ‘theme’ is essentially a pre-built look and feel that makes your website look pretty without you almost having lifted a finger} for your site. Some functions are also in some cases disabled on free themes, e.g. in WordPress the ability to upload movies does not work in the free option as movie files tend to take up lots of space. I believe that it looks much more professional, if you are running a business to have your own url or domain as it is also called. Lovilee went from lovilee.blogspot.com to www.lovilee.co.za and it just looked more, well lovilee. There are various options that you can choose from when deciding on what url is best for your company. For international companies you might choose a .com extension or some businesses prefer .biz or .net. At the time that I decided on a domain I was in two mind about the local .co.za extension and the .com one. My choice was made for me. The .com one was taken, but I also feel that this was the best option for me as I wanted the company to have a local feel and reach. It is worth noting that you can have more than one option without having two separate websites / blogs associated. You can just re-direct the one to the other so that only one version shows regardless of which url you use to get there. STEP 1: Where can you get your own url? There are various companies that you can register on for a url, the price options may vary across all of them with the .com options in most cases the highest option. Some hosting companies give you a url for free if you host through them and others require you to pay a once-off registration fee and then an annual renewal fee. It is best to shop around to see what is easiest. you do not have to register a url and host with the same company. I for instance

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CREATE got and renew my url through Akooka.co.za and host through webhostingpad.com. There are various other good companies that you can go through like Afrihost.co.za or GoDaddy.com to name a few. They give you the option to search to see if the domain you would like is available and then to purchase it if it is.

and if you are still a beginner when it comes to web things, rather go with a local hosting provider that is easier accessible via telephone for instance on their help desks, or if you decide to go offshore a company that provides 24 hour support or is in more or less the same time zone as where you reside.

STEP 2: Why do I have to have a domain + hosting? Just like you have to pay rent or a bond when you have an address or place you stay in, so also do you have to pay for hosting if you want to add a website on the address that you reserved for use. Hosting fees can differ substantially across companies and then when you add in offshore vs. local companies you can get even more confused. You will have to ask the hosting company that you are interested in using what the requirements are that you need to host your platform on. WordPress for instance requires SQL which is normally on a slightly more expensive option as an entry level hosting option.

Most hosting pricing options that I have seen do include 1 or more email addresses with the hosting, but make sure that you have the adequate number of email addresses included in the option you choose, should you want to make use of an email address similar to your url like â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;submissions@lovilee.co.zaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for instance.

By Kari, www.lovilee.co.za Kari is a creative at heart who loves being surrounded by lovilee things. She is a wife, a mom and an on-line shopping addict that loves the colour purple. She believes that you should Two things that I would advise on is that you en- do what you love and love what you sure that the hosting company provides a cpanel do!

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DISCOVER

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all people cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou

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DISCOVER

Nightjar Travel started out essentially as a travel planner for the family. We have been exploring South Africa for over three decades, and in the early days we relied on guide books and magazines for all of our planning. When the Internet started coming into prominence, we looked forward with eager anticipation to good quality online information about activities and destinations. But over time this excitement turned to disappointment as the 'online promise' never fully materialised. Make no mistake, there are a number of great specialist sites out there. Being generalists however, we found it frustrating to wade through swathes of fragmented information to extract 'the best of...' across a spectrum of activities, attractions and destinations. So we set out to build a site that would do just that. To ensure that we captured the highlights in each category, we relied almost exclusively on the recommendations and contributions of seasoned travel journalists. Every item in the Destination Guide was specifically written for us.

Then, having built a comparatively advanced mapping tool for the Destination Guide, we felt that we might as well extend it to a full-blown Journey Planner. This is a bit of a learning curve but it's worth investing a little time in reaping the benefits, especially if you're a regular traveller. For those less travelled, we've also included a number of the more classical South African self drive routes in the Suggested Journeys section. Although we think the Destination Guide is a great resource, we recognised that it is, by definition, static in nature, and that supplementing this with up to the minute, dynamic input would be invaluable, particularly to seasoned travellers. With this in mind, we added an online travel magazine to the mix. The magazine is home to a range of travel articles and blogs, social media feeds, an Events Calendar and an inspirational Image Gallery. We are also very pleased to have the support of a number of top South African travel magazines, in the form of a monthly article on our 'magazine stand'.

www.nightjartravel.com

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DISCOVER MEET THE TEAM ERIK BRITS - DESIGN CHIEF / SOCIAL MEDIA Erik studied business science and astrophysics, but the allure of life as a travel junkie proved too seductive for him to be tempted into a suit-and-tie job. He is the prototypical technology traveller. If he had lived two hundred thousand years ago, he would be the Neanderthal with the carbon fibre axe handle and the titanium blade, sending smoke signals with a Kevlar blanket. These days you can spot him racing across forsaken landscapes waving his iPad out of the window of his 4x4 to improve the signal. His version of the age-old philosophy question is: “If a road does not exist on a GPS, does the road exist at all?” FIONA MCINTOSH - EDITOR Fiona is the only real adventurer in the team. (Sorry, boys!) She's the one who would swap a night in Cape Town’s One&Only for a night in a dripping wet cave in a the Cederberg any day. Permanently restless, the best you can hope for is to keep up. Last year alone, she climbed Gunnbjornsfjeld in Greenland, rock faces in Yosemite, and ran the 800km Camino de Santiago in 20 days, and that's not counting smaller outings like climbing the Bell in the Drakensberg (as an afterthought to the Tourism Indaba). Fiona is one of the firm fixtures on the South African travel scene. Besides having written about a dozen guidebooks and contributed to many more, she is a regular freelance contributor to local travel magazines. GUY BEDFORD - CHIEF OF TECHNOLOGY Guy single-handedly programmed the website (in bits and pieces) over the period of a year. Much of that time was spent patiently explaining the concepts of architecture, taxonomy and suchlike to the rest of the team - and even more patiently re-working sections for colleagues, who never fully grasped that, "Oh, but can't we rather do it like this?" sometimes meant a week of painstakingly rewriting code. Having lived on three continents, Guy is also a bit of a travel nut - which is probably why he kept his cool with the rest of the team. Though he did have to take a 3 month break in the middle (exploring Eastern Africa by public transport) to blow off some steam! GEORGE BRITS - BIG CHIEF George’s garage at home looks like a display area for Cape Union Mart, and he has badgered and bullied his family along on many an outrageous outing. Once upon a time, his view was that if you could hike 30km in a day, why would you want to hike 20? However, he met his nemesis in Mama Nightjar. Her view was that if you could sit on the stoep and admire the mountain, preferably with a good single malt in hand, why bother to hike at all? He doesn't easily talk about the compromises involved, but it's safe to say that these days things are usually more sedate. George knows just enough about technology to be really dangerous and is solely responsible for Guy’s Prozac consumption. One of his greatest goals in life is to get Erik to get up before 11 in the morning. www.flatwhiteconcepts.com | Issue 12

DISCOVER

SA cheese fe

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estival

DISCOVER “THE SECRET INGREDIENT IS ALWAYS CHEESE” For the second year running I was lucky enough to get tickets to the South African Cheese Festival, which ran from the 26 - 29 April at Sandringham outside Stellenbosch. I absolutely loved last year so there was no ways I was going to miss out on this year’s festival. It didn’t disappoint, in fact I think it exceeded my expectations. We were extremely lucky with the weather this year, not too hot, and not too cold, we were able to find a seat outside and bask all day with bottle after bottle of wine and champagne, and block after block of cheese. It’s no surprise that I’m a cheese lover, of which I’ve spoken fondly about on many occasion, almost as if I’m talking of a person. So this, as you can imagine, was a bit like being in my very own endless cheese heaven. Some of the features of the festival included the Dairy Square, which was home to the Checkers Cheese Emporium. This housed not only numerous small, medium and large cheeseries, but also an impressive variety of specially selected related products. The exhibitors were generous with their free samples and by the end of the day we knew exactly which drinks and which cheese varieties we enjoyed most. And as usual, we walked away with an arm full of cheese, baguettes and wine to enjoy later that evening. The entire event was very well organised and well sign posted. Nothing felt too rushed or too messy and it was great to see so many happy and smiling faces. From the very young, to the very old, friends and families. This was a festival to indulge all culinary fantasies. Visit www.cheesefestival.co.za and keep an eye out for next years tickets. Trust me, this is one you don’t want to miss. Everyone say cheese!

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DISCOVER

KLEIN RIVER CHEESE GRANA IS 2014’S FINEST Klein River Cheese Grana, a slow matured hard cheese, produced by Klein River Cheese outside Stanford, has earned the most coveted honour of being named 2014 Product of the Year at the DuPont Qualité Awards, organized by Agri-Expo.

SA Dairy Product of the Year - The Klein River Cheese Grana overwhelmed the judges with its typically strong, yet fruity and slightly sweet flavours and granular texture. Its smooth, natural rind is hard and thick, preserving this cheese well.

This prestigious accolade, as well as the Qualité awards granted to a select few top dairy products present the highest honour of the SA Dairy Championships which was this year presented for the 180th time. “Sustainably presenting these Championships for 180 years, as well as the impressive growth in number of entries and quality thereof over the last decade, is indeed an achievement of note. The Championships today represents the entire South African dairy industry and is perceived as one of the top dairy competitions in the world,” says Johan Ehlers, Agri-Expo CEO.

Qualité winners - Fifteen exceptional products will wear the 2014 Qualité mark of excellence. This year Lancewood led with the highest tally of Qualité awards with no less than four for their Low Fat Smooth Cottage Cheese, Low Fat Chunky Chives Cottage Cheese, Woolworths Creamed Cottage Cheese and the Pick ‘n Pay Low Fat Peppadew and Garlic Chunky Cottage Cheese. Marcel’s Frozen Yoghurt followed closely on their heels with their Woolworths Tropical Fruit Frozen Yoghurt, Woolworths Double Toffee Frozen Yoghurt and the Nougat Flavoured Frozen Yoghurt with Macadamia Nuts.

This year 68 producers entered 821 products in the categories for butter, cheese, cottage cheese, yoghurt, flavoured milk, dairy dips, ice cream and dairy dessert. According to internationally experienced cheese judge, Ulf Mortensen, the general level of quality of the entries has improved since he last judged at the SA Dairy Championships in 2012. “The vast majority of samples were of reasonably good to very good quality,” he says. “My contribution would be to encourage cheese makers to make sure that a cheese is not simply good tasting, but in fact also attractive to look at. After all, consumers buy with their eyes first, then on account of smell and finally the taste.”

In addition Clover SA won a duo of awards for their Mooirivier Salted Butter and Butro Butter Spread with sunflower oil. The following producers were awarded one Qualité each: Belnori Boutique Cheesery (Von Tobien), Fair Cape Dairies (Woolworths Chocolate Delight), Karoo Goat’s Milk Products (Soft Goat’s Milk Cheese Balls with Garlic Pepper), Klein River Cheese (Grana), Parmalat SA (Simonsberg Low Fat Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese) and Van der Poel Kaas (Gonedsa Oud 12-15 months). SA Champions - 95 of the 821 dairy products entered for this year’s Du Pont SA Dairy Championships, were heralded as SA Champions. Parmalat, South Africa’s largest producer of dairy products took the lead with no less than 13 champions, followed by Lancewood Holdings (10), Fair Cape Dairies (7) and Belnori Boutique Cheesery and Clover SA with six each.

According to Darryl Clayton, DuPont Nutrition & Health Sub-Saharan Africa Sales Director, "The Qualité Awards have been supported by DuPont for many years and continue to foster and reward efforts in quality and innovation in the dairy sector,” Clayton says. “These dairy sector awards remain at the forefront of industry recognition and are a wor- Agri-Expo, thy example of what other industries should try to 021 975 4440 or www.cheesesa.co.za. emulate to foster innovation". www.flatwhiteconcepts.com | Issue 12

DISCOVER by regular standards, makes a whole heap of sense to me. He describes himself as follows: “I am slow to the dance, always late for the cosmic ball, as wiser people like you undoubtedly say.” I can relate to that. Bartholomew is 40 years old. He has never had a job. He has always lived with his mother. In the aftermath of her death, Bartholomew finds a letter from Richard Gere addressed to his mother. With the discovery of this letter begins both a series of letters to Richard Gere (letter writing can only be called correspondence if the person to whom the initial (or any other) missive is addressed actually responds) and a new journey in Bartholomew’s life. Along the way, he meets two new friends, reaches some of his life goals, visits Cat Parliament, and learns from and about his mother, all under what can be loosely referred as the “guidance” of his former priest whom he has known all his life.

Dear Bibliophiles I have become a firm fan of Matthew Quick. I am rarely loyal to a particular writer (except Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë to whom I am unquestioningly loyal and devoted in the manner of some kind of literary extremist) but this guy is just so good. The Good Luck of Right Now by the aforementioned Mr Quick is about a man called Bartholomew, who, though he may be a bit strange

We get to know Bartholomew and his journey through the letters that he writes to Richard Gere. In the letters, Bartholomew engages with his own identity, Buddhism, his future, relationships, and questions of an existential nature that I certainly have never thought to ask. While not conventionally smart and successful, Bartholomew is an astute observer of human beings. He sees things without the filter we develop as we grow to adulthood. He doesn’t pretend to understand things

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DISCOVER that really don’t make sense, he doesn’t think the way that we are taught to think. He’s not cynical. He’s real (Obviously I know he’s not actually real, being fictional and all of that). It’s remarkably refreshing. Some of his questions and observations:

thing bad happens to us,” Mom said…”something good happens – often to someone else. And that’s The Good Luck of Right Now. We must believe it. We must. We must. We must.”

The book is so well written, with gorgeous turns of phrase that I have come to expect from Quick. The characters are complex and fascinating. Somehow Quick has managed to make them both eccentric and easy to relate to. I think it’s difficult to write a book in letter format, but Quick really pulls it off. The book is entertaining and moving. It can be read purely for pleasure or for an engagement with the philosophy that Bartholomew writes about. Either way, any way, I want to quote from just about every Marvellous. To answer these and other questions, page. I cannot recommend The Good Luck of Right Bartholomew refers to a philosophy of his moth- Now highly enough. Read it - immediately, if not er’s, after which the book is named: The Good Luck sooner! You must. You must. You must. of Right Now. Now, I am no philosopher, so I will let Bartholomew’s mother explain: “Whenever some- By Lisa Wiebesiek “Have you noticed that far too often the best people in the world lack power, Richard Gere?” “The problem is that madmen do all of the pretending and action taking. Have you noticed this?” “Why do most people fail to give each other the fairy tale?” “And what is reality, if it isn’t how we feel about things?” (I could go on and on and on…)

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WIN WIN WIN

Time to win some competitions! All competitions must be entered by 28 May 2014

One lucky reader can win a 3-hour hands-on cooking session with chef and lecturer Mat Vigario from The Private Hotel School (Stellenbosch). Learn how to brave the heat and help prepare (and enjoy for lunch) the following three courses: Starter: De-constructed lasagne of flame roasted red pepper and goats’ cheese Main: Flambé Steak Dianne Dessert: Crêpe Suzette and vanilla ice cream Date: Friday 16th May; Time: 12:30pm – 3pm Venue: Private Hotel School, Vlottenburg Rd Stellenbosch

Email christine@flatwhiteconcepts.com, Subject: Private Hotel School www.privatehotelschool.co.za Please note that this competiton ends on Wednesday 13th May

Win a meal voucher to the value of R400 from Salushi Valid Wednesday to Saturday Evening

Email christine@flatwhiteconcepts.com, Subject: Salushi www.salushi.com www.flatwhiteconcepts.com | Issue 12

WIN WIN WIN 3

Win a wine for every day of the week with OBiKWA Email christine@flatwhiteconcepts.com, Subject: OBiKWA For more information visit www.obikwa.com, join the OBiKWA tribe on Facebook or follow them on Twitter @ObikwaWines.

Win a 1 x Value Red & White Mixed Case from Wine Web â&#x20AC;&#x201C; This includes 6 bottles, 3 red and 3 white and includes delivery. Email christine@flatwhiteconcepts.com, Subject: Wine www.wineweb.co.za

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THE END

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