Monday, December 22, 2008

Harbour House Lunch

Kalk Bay Harbour, on False Bay in Cape Town. Our first day in town, having arrived late last Tuesday night, sans all our luggage, which had parted from us somewhere between Jo'burg and Cape Town - but ready for our first lunch. [The luggage was delivered the next day, in two batches]

Choppy bay and wind, and few fishing boats in the harbour, but plenty of determined fishing persons on the quay.

A toast to a reunion, my mom, Vincent and me - the delicious 2008 vintage of Haute Cabriere's Pinot Chardonnay blend.

The pilot, shell-shocked after flying for 18 hours with me and my high-places-with-a-long-way-to-fall phobia.

My favourite Greek salad with a slab of creamy feta...

I had written a fan letter to Harbour House thanking them for being so consistently good over the years, and to our delight we became the recipients of an extra bottle of wine and another crayfish*-and-a-half added to our platter. Largesse.
* In the Cape we refer to spiny lobsters as crayfish, even though that would render them, technically, freshwater crustaceans, which they are not.

Let the games begin. Shell- and finger bowls appeared in due course.


Calamari with chermoullah, kabeljou - local linefish a little like mahi mahi - big prawns and West Coast mussels kept the crayfish company.
So, I have a lot of catching up to do and my camera has been very busy. More to come...

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Below freezing






Baked apple


Baked entire and eaten with a pork chop.

Cheating Friday

Stopping in at Stinky and the weird Met Food Store on Smith, I picked up supper: the NY State prosciutto mentioned before, the Robiola, some ciabatta, and little arugula leaves from the Met. That place smells funny.

The prosciutto costs $6/half a pound, which is just fine with me. The Italian pig would be double that.

I panfried some leftover red potatoes. A strange thing to do, under the circumstances, but I wanted them. With a vinaigrette of apple cider vinegar and some thinly sliced red onion and Jonagold apple (I'm eating my way though accumulated farmers' market apples) on the leaves, and a glass of serious, Kanonkop Cabernet, it was a perfect supper. I ate too much cheese, of course; just kept on going after everything else was gone.

You know that a bite of good bread tastes very good with a mouthful of good red wine? Makes you feel sort of primitive and biblical.

Sorry. Too much information.


Moon rise New York, 6.51pm


I missed it last night. It was the closest it has been to earth in fifteen years, and 30% brighter, 14% larger in appearance. Tonight it is already waning and 2,000 miles further away than last night.

But wait for it anyway.
[Ed. 12/13/08 oops: today isn't the 14th. Moon rise WAS 5.32pm and is well on its way]

थे बिग्गेस्त फ्लॉप


ठाट'स एअस्य। थे प्रव्न्स ठाट फर्स्ट फेल ओं थे फ़लूर, एंड गोत पिएर्सद बी थे श्रप्नेल ऑफ़ एक्स्प्लोदिंग ग्लास व्हेन थे प्य्रेक्स एरुप्तेद.

Friday, December 12, 2008