Karoo Olive Oil

Apparently I'm not so sharp because it never occurred to me that the Karoo would be a great place to grow olives. I recently saw this lovely design on pinterest, and it led me down the rabbit hole...

This olive oil comes from a lovely little dorpie (town) called Prince Albert. It looks so idylllic. Love the sunsets!

Prince Albert olive farms also sell their olives - but so far it looks like only in South Africa. What a bummer. I'd love to know different their olives taste to those from Europe... the other thing I was wondering if they would ever consider having a little guest house. How wonderful it would be to spend a weekend in the quiet?

Check out the Prince Albert Olives website here.

New York Times loves Cape Town!

Great article in the New York Times today about biking, drinking and eating in the Constantia area, just outside of Cape Town. So if you're heading that way, any time soon, here are some great ideas...

Click here.

Cape Town Culinary Tour

If anyone is heading to Cape Town any time soon and would like ideas on where to go for some good eats, check out this article in the New York Times. Tummy is grumbling just reading it!

La Capra Pinotage

So, until very recently I had no idea that pinotage was a wine unique to South Africa. I mean, once I heard someone say that I realized that I had not come across it here in the States all that much. Maybe because I'm not much of a wine drinker, but you live and learn, you know.

Anyhoo, last weekend we had ourselves a little dinner party and found a lovely South African wine to enjoy with our traditional Tomato Bredie. It's called La Capra, and as a design fundi* as opposed to a wine fundi, I just loved the label. Apparently the wine was good, too! (And nicely priced. What more could you want?)

These great images of the bottle and the front label are from the Fairview wine farm, and the ones of the back label are by moi.





The wine is named after the La Capra festival hosted at the Fairview wine farm every year. There is a goat run around the farm and up Paarl mountain, and of course wine and cheese and other delicious things to eat, with live music and the whole shebang. (Click on the poster to check it all out.)



* a fundi in South Africa is an expert.

South African? Foodie?

If you've said yes to the two questions above, you may want to head to Virginia this weekend (sorry for the late notice, just heard about it today!). More details here.



The menu looks yummy, to say the least.

Frances Janisch

So, a million years ago when I interned at Elle Decor SA for a blink of an eye, I happened to work with the talented photographer Frances Janisch. Frances is Stateside like me, now, and continuing with her fabulous work.





















And Frances also has a blog, where we can get a daily dose of her yummy food photography.

House & Leisure: Food

I am not a chef. But I do like to eat. I'm also really into pretty pictures. And beautiful publications. The new House & Leisure Food magazine is just right for me. Do you like it too?











This is just the first issue! You can buy a digital subscription here (for mac, PC, ipad, etc), and also to the original House & Leisure magazine.

When Next You're in Paternoster*

You should pop in to Oep Ve Koep**. Opened by Kobus a year ago, its cooking!











These images (except the first) are from his blog, Sardines on Toast (I have the same bowl as in the fourth pic!). Which, although I am not a cook, I do enjoy reading. Its a window into seasonal, great cooking on the West coast of South Africa but also a window into Kobus's world.









And how could I not enjoy Kobus' blog? He has bassets!!

* Paternoster: Pah-terr-nohs-terr. A small fishing village on the West coast of SA that kind of looks like the Greek isles.
** Oep Ve Koep: Afrikaans for "open for business"... but my Afrikaans is a bietjie swak, so if the more literal "open for shopping", or maybe some other translation, is better, please let me know!

You can read Sardines on Toast here, see a day in the life of Kobus at the fabulous I Want That - and its where I got some of my pics, and read more about Kobus here.

Kamersvol Geskenke

This Wednesday Kamersvol Geskenke is starting again. Five days of glorious inspiration; a showcase of South African handiwork and craftsmanship.

For my non-Afrikaans speaking readers, the name means "Rooms Full of Gifts". It's where artists, crafters, foodies, interiors junkies and others get together. I so, so, so wish I could make the trip to Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West (there is also now a smaller version in Pretoria this year) to participate. Sigh.

Here are some pics from their gallery for us to get into the spirit.

















And some of my favourite bloggers will be there: the Wren, Skinny Laminx and Jezze. You can read more about their trips from last year if you click on their names.





(last two images from the Wren, and Skinny Laminx)

Nook Eatery

I've been inspired by one of my favourite blogs, Remodelista, and how they showcase beautiful restaurants. I love the way being at a restaurant can be an experience that takes you somewhere mentally and emotionally so I'd like to show some interiors of restaurants in southern Africa (know any good ones? Let me know!). This is Nook Eatery, in Stellenbosh.













Its all in the details, isn't it?



As first seen on Elle Decor SA, and images from that blog, plus the Nook website and Miss Moss.