The 'Good' Food and Wine Show

“I feel cheated!”

“There are too many prams blocking the way!”

“What does Eskom even have to do with good food and wine?”

These were only some of the complaints after this weekend’s Good Food and Wine Show, and I can’t say I disagree with any of them. What a disappointment. With a general entrance fee of R95.00 I didn’t expect to be pushed over by prams, taste bad wine, and be exposed to Crocs. I can see ugly shoes for free in the shopping mall. I’m still confused as to why Crocs even had a stall at the show, and it was huge.

The entire show had that ‘if you can pay for a stall, you can have one’ feel to it. Anyone and everyone had a stall there. Vondis, the holistic natural pet food producers, even had a stall. The layout of the show took up all four halls of the CTICC but there were still bottlenecks where traffic accumulated. I wonder if there was ever a limit set on how many tickets could be sold or were the organisers just trying to make as much money as possible.

I was very unimpressed and I won’t go back again. There are so many better food festivals that Cape Town has to offer. Taste of Cape Town upheld the standard of food and wine we pride ourselves on here in the Cape and I will continue to support them. I had a great time at the Cheese and Wine Festival out in Durbanville and I wouldn’t hesitate recommending the experience to anyone.

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Our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses

One of my greatest strengths is being organised. I listen carefully, take notes, pre-plan everything, write lists, make plan b’s, and research all my options. This is usually a very handy skill, but unfortunately it can’t be taught. Not everyone is like me, not everyone has to always be so organised. And I say ‘has to’ because I HAVE to be organised, I can’t help it, as soon as things become a mess I want to tidy and fix the ‘cracks’.

When I spend time with unorganised people I realise my strength becomes my weakness too. My organised self pulls me down; by being organised I weaken others and they come to rely on me. I am burdened by questions and requests for help. By being organised I find myself giving too much of my own time to help others, and generally helping them in areas where they could help themselves. Will it really help anyone if I hide my strength?

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Try a cliche

It is an unoriginal idea, just like every other cliché, but I want to try and ‘Practice Patience’. I am a quick thinker and I don’t have a lot of patience for people who need their hands held. The only time I really had to practice patience was when I worked as a Grade 3 classroom assistant. Seven year olds need their hands held a lot of the time; they are learning to sit still for longer than 20 minutes, they are learning to tell the time, and they are learning how to process a story from start to finish. Helping seven year olds helped me; I had to remind myself daily that I was once in their position. I had to practice patience or I would have thrown in the towel.

‘Throwing in the towel’ is another unoriginal idea. When the task at hand just seems too difficult I might give up and move onto something else. By throwing in the towel I am admitting defeat. What I should be doing instead is practising the task until I get it right. If my first cake is raw in the middle I need to try again, how else will I know if I can get it right? If at first I don’t succeed, I should try again until I do.

‘If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.’ My cliché’s have now turned into rambling motivational quotes. So, I’ll go from here and practice patience, not only when dealing with seven year olds, but everyday. I will try the cliché when the chance arises, I will try to practice patience.



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Simply Adorkable...New Girl

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Zooey Deschanel is the New Girl. She's quirky, funny and cute. Tenty noiiine!

Deschanel plays Jess, a recently single girl who moves in with three very different guys; Winston, Schmidt, and Nick. They live in a loft that's supposed to house only three housemates, and when their angry landlord comes knocking Jess tries to prove to the guys that there is good in everyone. The series unfolds as Jess finds her feet living with guys and as her quirkiness rubs off on them they soon bond and take her under their wing.

Jess: Who do I speak to RE: getting something removed from the Internet?

Schmidt: "Old people freak me out. With their hands and their legs. They're like the people version of pleated pants. "

 

Jess: I'm about to go pay this fine, and my cheques have baby farm animals on them, bitch!

 

 

Jess: I'll raise the money myself! I'll get a ragtag group of kids together. An orphan, a lost soul, a Jewish kid with a keyboard, a little slut who can dance, and one fatso!
Tanya: You already did that Jess. It was the spring musical, and it brought in literally $60.

 

The New Girl cast
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Ayoba ! vs. the Dirty Ducks

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Ayoba! played the Dirty Ducks this past weekend and managed a draw, not bad considering the night before. Bee’s birthday could not go uncelebrated, despite our important upcoming match against the very serious Ducks. The usual Muir Road festivities went onto DecoDance and later some of our team, urged on by our own coach, visited our ‘lovely’ foreign friends down the road. But come Sunday, faces were painted with blue warrior stripes and Ayoba! tried to take the game in their stride.

Without a goalie Robs got stuck in and just managed to keep in last night’s wine and jelly shots. Bee had a great birthday time up front, looking very serious in Don’s childhood ‘clown’ top, and Shells tried her hardest to miss every ball. With some of our strongest forwards feigning illness, Jess a ‘cist’ won’t quite cut it next time, and Em trying to hog the middle, poor Juls had to hold on strongly to her centre position. But the biggest surprise of the day was Georgie Porgie’s keenness to participate; it must have been that certain someone watching. Simon please make sure you’re there every Sunday.



Ayoba's birthday girl
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Feelings follow behaviour

Feelings follow behaviour…

Behaviour follows upbringing…

Upbringing follows culture…

Culture isn’t always a choice. The culture you are born into is usually the culture you practice for most of your childhood. Contrary to what the believers say, ‘you can be whoever you want to be,’ culture can get in your way. If your culture determines your upbringing and your upbringing determines your behaviour, then sometimes your feelings are determined by something out of your control. I use the word ‘sometimes’ and ‘determine’ carefully, because culture doesn’t always determine feelings, not even most of the time, but sometimes it does. Sometimes your feelings are just a result of your parents’ choice to follow a certain culture.

When the time is right we all choose our own culture to follow. That doesn’t mean we forget our upbringing and because we can’t forget our upbringing the behaviour and feelings that follow sometimes are all part and parcel of our culture. Now I’m not saying give up on your dreams for your culture determines everything, I’m saying be aware of your culture and the role it plays in different aspects of your life. Watch your feelings because they can turn out to be more than just those things that follow behaviour.



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It is better to practice a little than talk a lot...

Unless you’re a talkative person like myself. Why can’t I do both, practice a little and talk a lot? My mother says I talk too quickly; I speak before I think, I don’t consider my choice of words carefully enough. But how can I when I’m thinking so quickly? I am an impatient person; thinking before speaking goes against everything I am.

Maybe the message I need to take from this is not ‘one is better than the other,’ but that together- practicing a little patience perhaps and talking a lot- these actions will achieve more than they would alone. “Better” for some person is not the same as “better” for another; analyse your situation carefully, choose what suits you best, and make the most of both actions. Don’t let words get the “better” of you!

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Ayoba! was and still is Ayoba.

I play for a UCT internal hockey side and our name is Ayoba! Whatever understanding one has of the word, whether it be an expression of amazement, excitement, approval, or even greatness, it doesn’t matter when we get together to play hockey. We are side with great spirit, camaraderie, and a determination to win.

It was these qualities, an enthusiastic leader, relentless sideline coaching and a great cheerleader, that helped us to win the 2011 season title. Ayoba! was definitely Ayoba last season. And here we are again, at the start of the 2012 season, ready to uphold the Ayoba! spirit.

Today we managed to beat the Mighty Mambas 3-1 thanks to an epic mid-game team talk, some near-miracle goals and solid defence by our star player, Holly. The photos below were taken last season, thanks Monty.



(team Ayoba!)





(loyal supporters)




(Ayoba! manager and coach)




(Ayoba! Can't touch this)




(our lucky charm: head cheerleader)




(Donne: Ayoba! founder and captain)



Wedding cake in the middle of the road

    

If it was big enough you’d notice it, or bright icing might even be its saving grace. A mediocre white wedding cake is going to get flattened if left in the middle of the road. I’m not one for doing things by half measures, and I’m definitely not going to have a plain white wedding cake, as much as that would please my traditionalist grandmother. I’ve seen the creations that come out of Charlys Bakery, Emma’s Cakes, and Florentines, and being a show-off is not overrated. I want a wedding cake that will stop traffic.



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The South African Cheese Festival

It wasn’t raining on Saturday but it definitely tried its best. We found ourselves a big round table under one of the marquees in preparation for this year’s South African Cheese Festival, we weren’t going to let the rain damper our hungry and thirsty spirits.

Sandringham Farm near Paarl played host to the Cheese Festival and anyone who visited could not have left disappointed, apart from those annoyingly long toilet queues maybe. Cheese samples were not in short supply, wine from the local spots was flowing and if farm animals were your thing you could guess the weight of a live Angus bull and stand the chance to win R1, 000 worth of meat. There was even a Kiddies Corner with karaoke and a jumping castle.

It seemed to me that Goat’s milk cheese is the biggest craze, EVERYONE is making it. They’re making it in different flavours and it’s good, a little strange on the tongue but after a few tastings I became accustomed and isn’t that what it’s all about. The Cheese festival succeeded in swinging my taste buds, I am now a goat’s milk fan.

I wouldn’t write home, or even rave on here about the wine tasting though. The local wineries on display were unfortunately nothing very special, I have tasted better at other festivals. However, it was a cheese festival and because of that I didn’t let the poor wines dampen my spirits. I had a great time with friends and tasted a whole lot of weird and wacky flavours. Make sure you keep an eye out for the date announcement of next year’s Cheese festival, its well worth a visit for all involved.



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