A demonstration by Derric van Rensburg
Well, what a fabulous afternoon we had last Saturday at the Western Cape Watercolour Group’s meeting in the Library Hall in Somerset West. We had the most stunning demonstration by international impressionist artist, Derric van Rensburg. It was the day of our Annual General Meeting, but I confess I did rush through the business so we could make the most of Derric.
And he certainly didn’t disappoint. To a packed Library Hall of more than 60 members and visitors – the most I’ve ever seen – Derric, with great charm and ease, produced not just one, but two paintings, working to a photograph he’d taken of a landscape just outside Franschhoek.
First of all he completed an absolutely stunning watercolour using very dry watercolour paint in vibrant colours. He applied the thick paint to the canvas using large brushes and hugely confident brush strokes. Within such a short time this wonderful painting appeared before our eyes whilst he chatted away. He made it look so easy.
We normally take a break for tea and snacks after the first hour, but the audience was so enraptured, they asked him to carry on…and of course Derric did press on.
The second painting was in acrylics, the medium in which Derric works the most. He set about the painting in just the same way as the watercolour: bright colours, big brush strokes and lots of texture. Again with such seeming ease, another painting was completed.
The watercolour is my favourite. It’s just what I think watercolour should be about: strong, bold and vibrant. I want to know more about how he achieves this distinctive look in a very challenging medium…and Derric has come up with the goods. He has offered to do a three-day workshop for us in Somerset West in April. Guess who’s going to be first on the sign up list? What’s more, husband Kevin and I will have him all to ourselves in the evenings, as he’ll be staying with us here at Penny Lane Lodge. I can’t wait!
Valentine’s Day in the Cape Winelands
Valentine’s Day in South Africa is celebrated with great passion and enthusiasm. People dress up in red and wish each other a “Happy Valentine’s Day” at every opportunity. The geographical location of the country has made it one of the most romantic destinations. Large numbers of locals and tourists alike throng the beaches and other romantic places of South Africa to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Here in the Cape Winelands there are lots of romantic options for that special evening.
Spier Wine Estate near Stellenbosch is open year-round for picnics. Simply pre-order a basket filled with delicious fare or buy homemade jams, cheeses, cold meats and salads from the Spier deli to make your own spread to enjoy on the banks of the lake. This year Spier are offering special Valentine’s Day picnics under the stars.
Or you could enjoy a moonlight picnic and music at Hidden Valley Wine Estate with a pre-ordered picnic basket filled with ciabatta, cold meats, cheese, dips, nibbles and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. Baskets cost R395 and serve two.
The weekend before Valentine’s Day, the Paul Cluver wine estate is hosting a special Valentine’s concert, “Sharing the Love” with saxophonist Andrew Young and his band, on Saturday, February 11 at 19:00. British comedian Mervyn Stutter is the compere for the evening. Wine, beer and soft drinks will be on sale at the venue. Picnic hampers for 2 persons, including a bottle of wine, are for sale at Imibala, here in Somerset West.
Closer to home, Blaauwklippen Vineyards offer a decadent five course Valentine’s Day dinner for R325 per person and the Waterkloof Estate, right here in Somerset West, have an exclusive six course degustation menu for R550 per person, which includes a wine pairing for each of the dishes served.
Of course, you could just go for a romantic walk at sunset on one of our beautiful beaches, but what my husband, Kevin and I do, is enjoy a quite sundowner by the pool here at Penny Lane Lodge.
Last Friday evening I went along to the opening of the South African Society of Artists (SASA) Annual Merit exhibition, at Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town. This exhibition shows the works of artists who qualified through a judging process on a point system and who were then invited to exhibit on this basis.
The exhibition is open daily from 09h30 to 18h00 until Sunday 5th February. There is no entrance charge, but garden entrance fees apply.
The hanging had been the previous day and it was so, so hot! But Friday evening was lovely: clear and warm with a slight breeze, and of course Kirsenbosch is such a gorgeous setting.
Here is one of the paintings I have on exhibition. It is a great compliment to find that SASA are using it for the promotional posters too!
The opening speeches were held outside the exhibition venue. There was a great atmosphere, as we sipped our cool glasses of wine and listened to international impressionist and art teacher Derric van Rensburg. Derric gave a hugely entertaining and inspiring speech which put a smile on everyone’s faces.
A number of our local artists from the Western Cape Watercolour Group were exhibiting and there was a good selection of paintings using a wide range of media shown. Our group is certainly looking forward to our Annual General Meeting on Saturday 18 February, when Derric will be joining us to give us a demonstration of his technique.
He really is a fabulous artist – I just love his use of colour – see an example of his work below. And I am doubly homoured as Derric will be staying at our guest house, Penny Lane Lodge, so Kevin and I can catch up on old times with him. I’m sure Derric won’t mind me telling you that last time he stayed with us we sat up late singing Beatles songs!!
Wildlife safaris and other adventures
If you’re looking for something a bit different to do, something adventurous and memorable, there are some exciting options on offer. Recently we had an intrepid bunch of guest who tried out all the following trips, which are all within easy reach of my guest house, Penny Lane Lodge in Somerset West.
Our guests had so much fun that we have approached all the operators involved, and now we can offer to pre-book tours for our guests even before they arrive. So there’s no need to worry about missing out.
See the Big 5
Aquila Private Game Reserve is less than two hours drive away. Aquila is also home to hippo, giraffe and over 170 different species of bird. Safaris include quad biking and horse back trails, visits to ancient rock art sites, picnics at rock pools, and etched-in-memory animal encounters.
Shark cage diving
White Shark Adventures offer close encounters with sharks at Kleinbaai. You start with a breakfast briefing at the crew house before boarding the Nemo, for an unforgettable shark diving experience. The duration of the trip all depends on shark activity and sightings as well as weather and sea conditions, but is usually around 2 and a half to 3 hours long. After the trip you return to the crew house where a light lunch will then be served and a DVD of the trip played, which you can purchase as a momento of your experience.
Helicopter trips
Cape Town Helicopters offers Scenic Peninsula Flights with options including a flights over the city of Cape Town, a scenic flight along the Atlantic coast or the full trip from Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope viewing the Cape Peninsula from all angles before flying along the False Bay Coast and onto Cape Town. A truly unforgettable experience
Tandem paragliding
Experience the freedom of flight with Birdmen Paragliding. No prior paragliding experience is required. Passengers are seated and strapped into a harness that is attached to the pilot. The only passenger input required is a little run on take-off and landing. The average tandem flight lasts for about 15 minutes. Flights are weather dependent. The sites flown are Lion’s Head, Signal Hill, Sir Lowry’s Pass, Hermanus and Franschhoek.
So why not do something different?
Summer Concerts at Helderberg Nature Reserve
I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but the Helderberg Nature Reserve which is just up the road from my guest house, is a fabulous local attraction. It is owned and managed by the City of Cape Town with the support of the Friends of the Helderberg Nature Reserve.
Situated on the slopes of the Helderberg Mountains, with breathtaking views of False Bay, the reserve is home to a spectacular array of plant and bird life. The reserve is famous for its proteas, and the indigenous nursery is a definite drawcard. Enjoy guided walks to learn more about the local flora and fauna (proteas, fynbos, birds and medicinal plants). The birdlife is prolific and you might be fortunate to spot bontebok, tortoises and duiker. The Helderberg Nature Reserve is the ideal spot for a relaxed picnic while enjoying the sights and sounds of nature.
A particular feature are the Sunday Sunset Concerts which run through the summer. The concerts all start at 7.30, but it’s usually wise to go early to get a prime spot on the lawn in front of the concert stage. You bring your chairs or blankets, a picnic and something refreshing to drink, then sit back and enjoy the show as the sun sets over the reserve.
This year the concerts opened with the Blues Broers group, which was followed by a German Oompah Band which went down a storm with the large German community here!
Next to come on 22 January, Shiraz are playing – for those of you from the UK (and who are old enough to remember) some of this fine band were formerly members of well-known 70s group, The Dooleys. Shiraz are hugely popular and always put on a good show.
This is followed by Virtual Jazz Reality, with a top line up of fabulous jazz musicians playing a variety of styles on 5 February. Also popular is the SA Navy band who will be playing on 19 February, and the season closes with Banned in Evolution.
Whichever band is playing, the summer concerts are a great evening out, very reasonably priced at R40 for adults and R10 for scholars, and in a superb setting. A real summer evening treat!
Cape Classic Musical Festival – 15 February to 25 February
Cape Classic is a chamber music festival held annually in the Western Cape province of South Africa. All the concerts are benefit concerts, with proceeds being donated to non-profit organisations supporting local social and relief projects for underprivileged children in the Western Cape. Cape Classic also supports exchanges between Europe and South Africa.
The annual concert series held in February/March of each year is held on wine farms in Somerset West, Stellenbosch and Paarl as well as in the Moederkerk in Swellendam. The profits from all these concerts are used to provide educational activities and workshops for underprivileged children, held by the artists and others.
A study by the German Ministry of Education and Science about the influence of musical education on children concluded: “Music increases the IQ of children as well as their social competence. Kids who receive music lessons will show more emotional stability and have clearly increased powers of concentration and higher levels of intelligence.”
This is why Cape Classic supports the education of black children in Khayamandi by contributing to the funding of a pre-school facility and a music school. In the past Cape Classic bought instruments and paid the salaries of three music teachers at the “Ikhaya Music Project” in Khayamandi.
This year we have three of the concerts right on our doorstep here at Penny Lane Lodge. Two are being held at the Morgenster Olive Farm and Winery in Somerset West on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 February, and on Thursday 23 February there is a concert at the Blaauwlippen Wine Estate which is just up the R44 road on the way to Stellenbosch.
The concerts make a lovely evening’s entertainment. Picnic baskets are available to order at the wine farms and of course there is their estate-made wine to accompany them. The settings are stunning and, of course, all proceeds go to well-deserving causes.
The on-line programme is available here.
A birthday potjie
It was my birthday yesterday and I had some friends round to the guest house to celebrate with me. I decided to treat them to a traditional “potjie”, slowly cooked on our braai, while we sat outside in the garden on a delightfully warm summer evening, and chatted over a glass or two.
In South Africa, potjiekos (pronounced poik-ee-kos) literally translated “small pot food”, is a stew prepared outdoors. It is traditionally cooked in a round cast iron three-legged pot, the potjie, brought from the Netherlands to South Africa in the 17th century and found in the homes and villages of people throughout southern Africa. The pot is traditionally heated outdoors using small amounts of wood or charcoal.
Potjiekos originated with the Voortrekkers, evolving as a stew made of venison and vegetables (if available), cooked in the potjie. As trekkers (pioneers) shot wild game, it was added to the pot. The large bones were included to thicken the stew. Each day when the wagons stopped, the pot was placed over a fire to simmer. New bones replaced old and fresh meat replaced meat eaten. Game included venison, poultry such as guinea fowl, wart hog, bushpig, rabbit and hare.
The potjie, with a bit of cooking oil inside, is placed on a fire until the oil has been sufficiently heated. Meat is added first, depending on the preference of the cook. This can be anything from lamb or pork to biltong. The meat is spiced and often a form of alcohol is added for flavour – mostly beer, Old Brown Sherry or a dessert wine.
When the meat is lightly browned, vegetables like potatoes and mielies (corn on the cob) are added, along with whatever spices are needed. Water or other liquids may or may not then be added, depending on the views of the potjie chef. The lid is then closed and the contents left to simmer slowly without stirring. This distinguishes a potjiekos from a stew that is stirred. The aim is that the flavours of the different ingredients mix as little as possible. Little sauce or water is used, so that cooking is by steam and not boiling in a sauce like a stew; thus the heat must be very low and constant. A potjie is usually accompanied by rice, breads or pasta, although we had some nice fresh salad on the side.
Here are a couple of recipes – although not entirely authentic, you can cook in an ordinary stewpot or casserole dish on the hob or in a slow oven. The important thing is not to stir the dish while it is stewing, or it simply becomes a stew.
Curry Neck of Mutton Potjie
30 ml cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste
1.5 kg neck of mutton, cut into slices
3 medium onions, chopped
250 ml water
500 g whole baby carrots, peeled
500 g whole baby potatoes, peeled
20 ml sugar
10 ml mild curry powder
5 ml turmeric
125 ml milk
Heat the oil in the pot. Season the meat with salt and pepper and brown a few pieces at a time. Remove and set aside. Fry the onions until tender. Return the meat to the pot. Cover the meat with water, replace lid and simmer for 1 hour.
Add the carrots and potatoes and simmer for approximately 30 minutes.
Mix the sugar, curry powder and turmeric with the milk and add. Simmer for another 15 minutes and gently stir through once. Add more water if the potjie becomes too dry and simmer for another 15 minutes.
Oxtail Potjie - probably the tastiest potjie recipe
500g Oxtails cut 2 inches thick pieces
10 slices Bacon cut in 1 inch pieces
½ cup Flour seasoned with salt and pepper
1 litre beef stock
1 can tomato paste
1 Bay leaf
6 black peppercorns
1 bouquet garni
6 large leeks, chopped coarsely
2 large onions, chopped coarsely
6 large carrots, chopped coarsely
20 button mushrooms
1 cup red wine
½ cup sherry
½ cup cream
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons crushed garlic
1. Dry oxtails with paper towel.
2. Put seasoned flour in a Ziplock bag, then add the Oxtail and shake to coat with flour.
3. Heat butter and olive oil and sauté bacon pieces.
4. Remove bacon and brown Oxtail in resulting fat, remove and drain.
5. Finely dice 4 of the carrots. Coarsely chop the onions and the leeks.
6. Add the finely diced carrots, leeks, onions and sauté until softened
7. Add Oxtail, bacon, bouquet garni, bay leaf, peppercorns, garlic, tomato sauce, red wine, sherry.
8. Bring slowly to a boil and cook slowly for 3 – 4 hours.
9. 1 hour before serving cut the remaining carrots into 1 inch pieces, add them and mushrooms and continue cooking slowly.
10. Just prior to serving, add cream and stir in.
11. If you want to thicken the sauce mix some cornstarch with the cream before adding.
Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour 2012
Sunday 11 March 2012 will see the start of the 35th Cape Argus Pick n Pack Cycle Tour, the largest timed cycling event in the world. This year for the first time individual on-line entries will be limited to 30 000, with the remaining 5000 places reserved for charities.
“Having seen the success achieved by large international sporting events like the London and New York Marathons which allow charities to use their events for fundraising, the Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust decided this year to encourage registered charities and social investment projects to enter by purchasing premium rate charity bonds for participation,” said David Bellairs, CEO of the Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust.
“The great benefit to charities that purchase bonds is that they will be permitted to “late enter” the names of their bond participants up until the 13th January 2012 – which is only eight weeks prior to the event,” he said.
Cycle Tour has grown from humble beginnings, attracting a few hundred participants in 1978, into the iconic international event it is today. It is recognised as the world’s largest individually timed cycle race and annually registers on average over 35,000 cyclists from around the world.
The Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour is a great opportunity to be involved in the most family-oriented event of its kind anywhere in South Africa and our local children’s charity, Imibala, is busy registering entrants under their own charity bond. They have an ambitious target of attracting 150 riders to enter the event in the ‘Imibala colours’ to raise money to help underprivileged kids attend primary school.
A few years ago I might well have signed up too, but I feel my cycling days are over now – especially up and down all those hills! It’s a truly spectacular route and it’s an awesome event. Over the years we’ve had a few Argus entrants stay over with us and they’ve always had a fabulous day out, wherever they’ve come in the race itself.
I understand that places are still available through the Imibala Charity Bond…and we have a few spare rooms here at Penny Lane Lodge over that week end. Go on, why not have a go?
Regional food specialities (3) – Gesmoorde Snoek
Snoek is a fish caught off the shores of South Africa which is cheap and tasty. This fish contains a lot of bones which makes it good to braai (barbeque) so that the flesh falls off the bones.
This recipe uses the flesh flaked off the bones. You could however use a tin of tuna fish as an alternative.
Ingredients
1 kg dried or smoked snoek
1 large onion
Oil
2 fresh green chillies, finely chopped
6 medium potatoes, diced or 16 baby potatoes
Method
- If using dried snoek, soak in cold water overnight to get rd of the excess salt
- Skin, bone and shred the flesh of the soaked dried snoek or break into small pieces.
- Fry the onions in hot oil until golden brown. Add a little water if the onions start to burn (the onions need to be really brown as the dish takes its colour from them).
- Add the chillies and potatoes to the onion and cook until the potatoes are lightly brown. Add the snoek and continue cooking until the potatoes are cooked through.
- Serve on a bed of cooked rice. Accompany with side dishes such as cucumber sambal and lemon atjar or with with grilled tomatoes.
Serves 4-6
Cucumber sambal
Ingredients
1 large cucumber
1 tsp salt
1 green chilli
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp sugar
Method
Peel and grate the cucumber, add the salt and set aside for a while. Drain. Pound the garlic and the green chillies together. Add the sugar and vinegar.
Lemon atjar
Ingredients
8 large lemons
1 tbsp salt
2 red or green chillies
Pinch bicarbonate of soda
Method
- Wash one lemon well. Dry the skin and peel thinly. There must be no white pith on the skin. Cut the peel into thin strips.
- Squeeze the peeled lemon and 3 others. Strain the juice and reserve.
- Peel and segment the remaining 4 lemons.
- Place the peel, lemon juice, lemon segments and salt into a bowl and mix well.
- Place the chillies in cold water with the bicarbonate in a small saucepan and bring to the boil for a few seconds.
- Drain, dry and pound them into small pieces.
- Add to the lemon mixture then pack into dry sterile bottles with air-tight lids.
Western Cape Watercolour Group – 15th Annual Merit Exhibition
Wow, we’ve been busy again, this week with our annual exhibition of watercolour paintings at the Circle Centre in Somerset West. This year, for the first time, we are showing not only the paintings from the Merit Award, but also an exhibition of “Little Gems”, small paintings just 15cm square.
Preparations began early on Wednesday morning when we put up the stands around the huge Christmas tree which graces the centre of the Circle Centre shopping mall. It’s fortunate that we have a couple of able bodied men on the committee to help with the stands. Once these were in place we were ready for the artists to bring in their paintings for the hanging (an unfortunate term).
The hanging is quite a job with 60+ paintings to arrange artfully to show them off to their best advantage. But after an hour or so of careful placing and securing I was happy with the arrangement. Then, with the painting labels and winners rosettes in place we were ready for the opening. There was just time to get changed and bring down the drinks and snacks for the members and their guests before people started arriving.
The speeches and awards for all the prize winners went off very smoothly, despite the accompaniment of the Woollies trolleys. Once my introduction was over I was free to enjoy an entertaining speech by Marion Langton, one of my predecessors as chair of the Watercolour Group. As you can see between us we had the prizes pretty well sewn up!
Annual Merit Exhibition
First prize “Cream of the Crop” – Marion Langton
Second prize – Cherry Nichols
Third prize – Diane White
Highly commended prizes were awarded to: Wallace Hulley (two), Penny Steynor and Cherry Nichols.
“Little Gems”
First prize – Diane White
Second prize – Diane White
Third prize – Wallace Hulley
Highly commended prizes were awarded to: Penny Steynor, Cherry Nichols and Marion Langton (two)
And a good evening was had by all. The exhibition runs until the morning of Wednesday 14th December. Worth a visit if you’re in the area.
