What I like about the site is, that the recipes are very easy to follow and you can even rate and comment on them. Membership is free! I purchased the Bigoven Software that makes it very easy to import recipes and keep on your PC, but there is no need for it, although very handy when there is no internet nearby.
The site also has apps for iPod Touch, iPhone and the iPad or you can access it with your Blackberry, Nokia etc. http://www.bigoven.com/m

Now you have an answer for the “what’s for dinner” question. There are a few good BBQ recipes as well. No excuse for males not to cook.

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Wipneus

As mentioned in other recipe I take it you have baked bread before or have an idea how to bake bread. I am no expert in baking bread, but I always try to make it fun and the kneading part as a stress reliever, but be gentle as you do not want to kill the yeast.  Regarding the yeast, it depends on the size of packets that local shops sell. You may use dry yeast if you prefer.

Ingredients:

Items marked * are used for topping.

Halve or dice pitted olives.
Slice onion or slice in half and then into small wedges.
Half the olives are for the dough and half as topping.

Method:

1. Grease baking tray or line with parchment paper.
2. Mix flour, salt and yeast together in bowl.
3. Add olive oil and warm water. Mix together to form soft dough.
4. Knead for approximately 10 minutes on lightly floured surface.
5. Place dough in oiled bowl, cover and leave to prove in warm place for about 1 1/2 hours or until double in size.
6. Knead dough down.
7. Knead 1 cup of olives into dough.
8. Divide into eight pieces and place on baking tray.
9. Flatten dough slightly with fingers to leave a “dimpled” effect. (See Picture)
10. Sprinkle top of breads with onions and remaining olives.
11. Drizzle top of breads with olive oil.
12. Sprinkle with the coarse salt and thyme.
13. Cover and allow to prove again for 30 minutes.
14. Bake in preheated oven 375 F (190-200 Celsius) for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

For an alternative you may also use sundried tomatoes, crushed garlic or even feta cheese. I would suggest not to use more than two ingredients to top your focaccia. To impress the guest you can replace the coarse sea salt with one of those “yuppie” salts like Pink Himalayan Salt, Grey Sea Salt, Hawaiian Black Lava Salt or Red Coral Salt. Use good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil if possible as this will give the bread a good flavour. Kalamata olives are recommended. Replace thyme with either rosemary or sage.

There you have it. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Method:

Mix all the dry ingredients together in mixing bowl. (flours, sultanas, bicarb, salt, spice) You can do this mixture machine as long as you use the dough hook and not the whisk attachment. Heat up the trickle, it will be easier to work with and help with the mixing. Add all the wet ingredients together. (Eggs, water, trickle, Guinness) Put dough in well oiled bread tin. Sprinkle some dry oats on top. Bake at approximately 180 C for about 55 minutes or until cooked. Bread has a hollow sound when you tap it.

Trickle is molasses and if I remember correctly you can buy this in the same tins as Illovo Golden Syrup. Please shout if you have any questions. I baked every day about 25 of these so it is difficult to reduce the recipe to one loaf. It is a fairly moist mixture so do not panic when things look bit runny.

You can have this bread with smoked salmon, mackerel pate or smoked snoek pate. Please do not forget the “vino”.

Enjoy and let me know how it turned out. Who knows you may be the next “baking queen or king” at your next church “basaar”.

Related Post: Happy Birthday Guinness!

Whalehaven Wines were the starting of our tasting tour. I ended up with a very reasonable bottle of Whalehaven Rose 2005 at R15 a bottle. Nothing beats a nice cold bottle of rose wine on hot summers day. I find this rose dry and crisp. Sometimes rose wines can be very sweet and have a cheap taste to it. As if they blend all the left over red and white wines together. Next was red Whalehaven Cabernet Franc 2005. I found a hint of plum and imagine it will go well with rich red meat dishes. Whalehaven also produce wines under the Idiom Label for the Da Capo Vineyards. I ended up with a bottle of Idiom Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage and Merlot from 2005. Hint of caramel and smoke. I bought it to give it time to “rest” as we were informed that will improve if left and stored properly for about 5 years.

La Vierge was our second stop. This wine producer are fairly new in the area. Wines we tasted were all from 2006/07. We taste wines from La Vierge and Southhill. The Southhill grapes are from Elgin region and La Vierge from the farm self. Grapes from La Vierge are mainly Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz. We were given all the wines to taste, which I think makes it very difficult to really appreciate each wine. (Tongue was a bit numb and stomach was growling.) I will have to go back. Here we also ended up in the La Vierge Restaurant and Champagne Verandah. I would recommend bookings as I get the impression that it will be busy over the holiday season and with views over the valley. Who can say no to lunch, wine and good company. We ended up at a table close to the window. We had a Salmon Salad between the three of us. Nothing special there. As the name said on the box. Salmon Salad. Two of us ended up with the Bouillabaise Africana and one decided on the Risotto. Bouillabaise Africana was a small portion, than I have to admit it is a starter portion. I think it will do very well as a main course if they make portion bigger. I really enjoyed this dish. Spicey and lots of flavour. Does not destroy the fish to much. Chunks of fish, a prawn and a mussel. I would have prefered if the prawn was shelled. Looks nice but I nearly ended up with some sauce on the table and shirt. We had Passion Fruit Pannacotta, Apple Tarte Tartin and Creme Brulee for dessert. I had a taste from every plate. No complains here. Thumbs up for the Creme Brulee. Light creamy and real Vanilla Pod. The apple dessert was also very tasty. Thin pastry and even thinner apple slices or should I say slivers. Passion Fruit dessert was very refreshing and also very light. Not big fan of pannacotta. On the wines side we ended up with two bottles of Southhill Rose. Cold and crisp. Due to ESKOM’s incompetance, we had to skip coffee. The total bill was just under R400.00. Bit steep I would say, but I would definetly go there again. I would recommend visiting their website for more information.

Bouchard Finlayson is one of my favourite wine estates and will always buy a glass of their Blanc de Mer when I stay in London at the Rubens Hotel. This wine estate and the Red Carnation Hotels are owned by the same family. It is a blend of Weisser Riesling, Voigner, Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc. 2007 Vintage. Lately I find that I prefer white wines more and find this wine very easy to drink with most food. Next purchase was Galpin Peak Pinot Noir 2006. Hint of forest berries, little to much tannin for my linking, but think it will go very well with red meats or even fish and game. 10 Months in Oak. Third one is very new to me and what made it so different is the grapes they used. Bouchard Finlayson Hannibal 2005. Red blend of Sangiovese, Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo, Mouvedre, Barbera and Shiraz. Slightly spicey, but I liked it and will definetly put it in my favourite list from this wine estate. Also  bit heavy on tannin, but it will go very well with Italian foods. 16 Months in French Oak.

Personally never a big fan for Hamilton-Russell Wines. They only produced two wines. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. I find Chardonnay very overated, oaked or not. I did taste the Pinot Noir again. Little more pleasant than what I recalled from previous tastings. They also ventured into the Olive Oil and Honey market, so I ended up with a small bottle of olive oil and small jar of honey. Thought R80 for the two was a bit steep. Who said being a tourist is cheap?

This was our last stop as the day was nearly over. I think it is a very compact and exciting wine route to do if you are on a short “time budget” as most places are only a few minutes drive from each other. It does make a dent in the old budget if you are local. Please understand that this my own experience and I am not a wine expert.

I am a firm believer that who you are with, what you eat does influence a bottle of wine. Wine is a living thing and does have a personality.

Cosmopolitan Cocktail:

Ingredients: (serves 1)

• ice cubes
• 60mls (1/4 cup) vodka
• 15mls (3 tsp) cranberry juice
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 2 thin strips lime rind, to garnish

Method:

1. Place the ice, vodka, cranberry juice and lime juice in a cocktail shaker and shake well. Pour into cocktail glasses and serve, each garnished with a lime rind strip.

Notes & tips

• Feel free to adjust the quantities of vodka, cranberry juice and lime juice to suit your own taste.

Gloria Gaynor – “I will Survive”.

In 1975 Gloria Gaynor establish herself as a “disco diva” with her song/album “Never say Goodbye”. 1978 saw her with the release of “I will Survive”. A song that became a “Woman’s Liberation Anthem” and very popular hit at any karaoke party worth its salt. 1980 she received a Grammy for the Best Disco Recording with “I will Survive”.

Now you have a 70’s cocktail and a song to see you through the night.

Will you survive the weekend! Till next time.

Cheers!