couched +in secrecy+

your face...it's nice

I saw the loveliest (ultra-feminine) floral couch the other day at this new second-hand furniture store, Resell It, which recently opened on Grant Avenue in Norwood. I've never wanted an (ultra-feminine) floral couch, I'm not ultra-feminine or particularly floral but oh-damn-oh-man I really wanted that couch.

Alas, Ric ended up talking me out of it, given that we're trying to impose "stringent austerity measures" on ourselves to pay off our debts. Ric was Germany, I was Greece. Indeed, notwithstanding the fact that my ancestors were of Scandinavian/German/Dutch persuasion, I managed to summon some latent mediterranean passion within me and had a vociferous shit-fit about not being able to get the couch. Two (highly demonstrative and gesticulative) hours later, I finally resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be able to get the couch.

But, you see, my mediterranean boyfriend is super sneaky and surprisingly calculating. As I arrived home the other afternoon, I was ambushed by the lovely (ultra-feminine) floral couch sitting in my sitting room together with a beautiful ceramic strawberry (fields-forever) ornament.

I'm still surprised by just how damn sneaky Ric was (and still slightly embarassed about what a dramatic ass I was) but, notwithstanding this, I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present...or a better boyfriend. He treats me nice, he puts up with my drama and he doesn't mind living with a lovely (ultra-feminine) floral couch. He's a keeper fo sho.

Faux chicken-mushroom pie + creamed courgette

One of the happiest discoveries I've made since becoming vegan is that I can still eat puff-pastry...which means that I can still bake PIES! However, to be honest, the creamed courgette (which doesn't even have cream in it) was the highlight of this meal. It tastes like creamed spinach, only weh-hey better.

Ingredients for Faux Chicken Pie

• 2 rolls vegan puff pastry
• 1 packet Fry's chicken strips
• vegetable oil for frying
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 cup leeks
• 2-3 cups mushrooms
• 0.5 cups soya cream (Alpro / Orley)
• 1 pepper (yellow or red)
• 1 tbsp dried rosemary
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 cups white or red wine or cider (depending on your preference)
• 2tbsp maizina or cake flour (to thicken the stew) 

Preheat the oven to about 180 degrees celsius.

Fry the onion, garlic and leeks in a pan until soft. Add the maizina, mushrooms, pepper, chicken strips and herbs and gently fry while slowly adding the wine/cider. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes.

While the chicken stew is simmering, unroll the puff pastry and spread one sheet over the bottom of an oven proof dish (or cut and size to individual ramekins if you have more time and want to personalise the meal a bit more). 

Add the cream to the chicken stew and simmer for a further 10 minutes (if the stew is still very runny, add a bit more maizina to thicken the stew). Add salt and pepper to taste.  

Stir in the cream and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

Dish the chicken stew onto the puff pastry until the stew is just below the top of the dish. Spread the second sheet of puff pastry over the stew and gently press the sides of the top and bottom layers of puff pastry together to seal. 

Insert dish into the oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Ingredients for creamed courgette

• 3-4 cups grated courgettes
• 0.5 cups vegan parmesan cheese (grated/powdered)
• 2 eggs-worth equivalent of egg replacer (available from most local health shops)
• 4 tbsp flour
• vegetable oil for frying
• salt and pepper to taste

Grate the courgettes, drain any excess liquid from the bowl and gently pat with kitchen towling to remove further excess liquid.

Add the remaining ingredients to the courgettes and mix together well.

Pour mixture into an oven proof tray and bake on 180 degrees celcius for 30-40 minutes ensuring that you stir the mixture at half time. Alternatively, heat oil in a pan, dish tablespoon-sized servings onto the pan and fry each "courgette-cake" on each side for about 3-4 minutes (this can get a bit messy and might end-up becoming courgette scramble- which is fine and tastes just as good).

*YUM*

creepy.cool.rude.boy(s)

Whilst driving back from CLAW the other day, I discovered this random little shop just off Main Reef Road in (of all the random places), Roodepoort. It was crammed full of shit-shit but amongst all of that was some cool-shit(!)



I was so excited when I discovered these creepy-cool-rude-boys ("CCRB"), which now provide company to our Santa-Tokoloshi.


somnambulist bébé



anon. Manneken Pis

Yep, I'm slowly building up a CCRB army...and one day they'll discover it just like they did the Qin Dynasty's Terracotta Army. 

ice-cream kek.

Topped with vegan cookie and turkish delight

As I've previously mentioned, Ric is a sucker for all things sweet and dessert is his area of expertise. It's great because he puts all the labour into the sweet-treats and I get to pawn them off as (not-quite-but-almost) my own on the blog *ahem*.

This was supposed to be home-made "Unforgettable Chocolate Ice-Cream" courtesy of the Vegetarian Kitchen* but its consistency was a bit more "ice" than "cream" so we cut it into cake pieces instead.

It's super rich and has a Kahlua-like flavour to it. What's fun is that you can literally chuck anything into the base mixture...jelly-tots, jelly-bellies, chocolate-chips, chilli etc.

Ingredients

• 1 can coconut cream
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 cup soya milk
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp coffee granules (or coffee liquer)
• 0.5 - 1 cup crushed nuts (or jelly-tots, jelly-bellies, chocolate etc)

Note- the mixture has to set for about 5-6 hours so prepare it a long time before serving. Although, if you don't, then it comes out a bit like a mousse so this is not really a "note" that needs to be stringently followed.

Combine all the ingredients, but for the crushed nuts, in a blender...and blend.

Stir in the nuts, pour the mixture into a freezer-proof container and leave to set for about 5-6 hours depending on your desired consistency.

* Thanks again Mellissa Bushby.

~BRAIN-FREEZE~

mamma.dog.mamma.love

We recently travelled with Cora, the founder of Community Led Animal Welfare, to Rietvallei Township on the Westrand. She received a call towards midday on the Saturday about a mommy-dog who had been hit by a Taxi (muthafukka) the previous Thursday. Since then, the mommy-dog had been lying paralysed in a tiny makeshift tin kennel nursing her five (surviving) puppies.

This incident came just after the weekend of intense cold that we experienced in Johannesburg and the poor girl must have been excruciating pain and discomfort. She wasn't aggressive at all and it seemed as if she knew that we were trying to help her. While Cora dosed her up with pain medication, there were fears that her pelvis had been shattered or her spine crushed. After being taken for x-rays and tests it turned out that she had a fractured femur (better-case-scenario than spine or pelvis)and Bilary. Mommy-dog and her puppies are busy recuperating after which, hopefully all of them will be rehomed (which is a constant battle at the shelters as supply always exceeds demand).   

It's super tough seeing the extreme poverty and suffering (human and animal) in these areas. It takes me out of my comfort zone completely. However, everytime I return from a day out with Cora I feel grateful. Grateful for being able to make (a really small) difference, grateful for being able to spend time with one of the most inspiring people I've ever known, grateful for the life I have. I think I benefit more from these trips than anything I could ever hope to give back.    

Control on the Road

I'm super excited for On the Road (based on Jack Kerouac's novel of the same title) to hit the cinemas. I've read mixed reviews on the film but I'm nonetheless interested to see how the film depicts the novel and the Beat Generation to which Kerouac was so intergral.  

When I saw that Sam Riley was in the film, well, that made me really (REALLY) happy. He stars in one of my all-time favourite films, Control, based on the life and untimely death (by suicide) of Ian Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division. Sam Riley is Ian Curtis in this film. Even if you aren't familiar with the band, the film is definitely worth a watch. It is beautiful, painful cinematic magic. 

And to bring it back home, Spoek Mathambo recently released a cover of Joy Division's song Control which I think is an awesome interpretation of the song and a damned-tight music video.

coconut corn chowder

This recipe (once again) comes courtesy of the Vegetarian Kitchen by Mellissa Bushby (barring slight variations I've inserted in  case you don't have the exact ingredients at home in your cupboard). The reason I cook from her recipe book so often is, well, because it’s awesome and because it's awash with lovely pictures which make me want to crawl inside of the book, nestle my head on a freshly baked-loaf of corn bread and fall asleep.

This soup is surprisingly filling and (unsurprisingly) easy to make. I served it with Melba toast and lentil pâté, the latter of which was gifted to us by a friend. The pâté is quite possibly, more-than-probably, the best I’ve ever tasted and we're in the midst of trying to convince our friend to start selling it {watch this space}.

Ingredients:  

• 1 tbsp vegetable/sunflower oil
• 1 can coconut cream
• 2 cups soya milk
• 2 cans corn
• 1 onion
• 1 red or yellow pepper
• 4-5 cloves crushed garlic
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 chopped chili (or a sprinkle of chili, cayenne or paprika powder)
• 1 can beans (borlotti/pinto/haricot)
• 1-2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Add the onion and garlic to the oil in a pan and heat gently for about 10 minutes until soft. 

Add the remaining ingredients barring the coconut cream and the parsley. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 15-20 minutes. 

Add the coconut cream and parsley and simmer for a further 5-10 minutes.   

*YUM*

Chansons du jour (!)

Toddy you Hottie

I found the most amazing tea at Dischem the other day. It contains almost all of my favourite ingredients (for anything) ever or atleast variants of my favourite ingredients i.e. olive leaf as opposed to olives...sort of the same thing right?  

I find it really difficult to drink enough fluids during the cold (mean-ass) winter and my skin tends to suffer as a result. So now I sip on this tea, with tonnes of extra lemon slices in it, the whole day long.

For an old-school hot toddy (as opposed to a homeopathic hippie tea-bag hot toddy) soak some grated ginger and lemon slices in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Strain (or don't, if you so prefer) and add about a teaspoon of honey and a sprinkle of ginger and cinnamon powder.

For an added *yum* (after working-hours) perk, pour a swig of Brandy into the mixture and add some (more) fresh lemon slices.

*SLURP*

{secret}ceremonials