Saturdays are days for doing things that are a bit different like surfing, for example.
So for starters, let’s call it attempted surfing. In a perfect world, it is the ideal activity for social distancing. It meant however that I needed to lug my surfboard on the train, tram and bus all the way to the beach.
So why do I call it attempted surfing? Well, I managed to ride a few waves but didn’t actually stand up on a single one. On the one hand the waves were a bit rough and really quick after each other, so it takes a considerable amount of effort to catch one. On the other hand, it has been more than a year since I surfed using my own board and I’ve forgotten that it takes a whole new level of balance to use and honestly I’m unfit. Well, it can only get better from here…
House hunting in the Netherlands is a very competitive sport! When a house is advertised you have to phone the same day, and to view it they arrange only a day or two for tut agents to show it to people. So you have to go on the appointed day, in your allocated time slot, or not at all.
This is of course always in work hours and generally inconvenient. It would be nice if this meant you have a likelihood of getting a house, but on average there are more than 5 people interested in every one, so it’s a matter of beating the odds.
Today’s viewing was thankfully at the end of the day, so I could minimise the interruption to my work hours, but it did mean I had to move the travel part of the journey to the morning before work.
I really did like the place, and if all goes well and I managed to beat the odds, maybe I’ll put up Christmas lights in a new place this year.
When I was a young adult I lived and worked in my home town, East London, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Mixed in with all the exciting memories of that time, is the apple cake from the Coelocanth Café at the East London museum. Honestly, I don’t recall visiting the museum more than once when I was at school, but I know the café made many appearances, as did the apple cake. I think there were 2 consecutive birthdays where that was the location of my birthday celebration, mainly because of that cake.
On the menu it was called a German Apple Cake, but in later years I hopefully asked a friend from the South African German community about it and he didn’t know it.
I also tried to Google it and there were many recipes listed, but there was no way to determine which it would be.
In later years the café closed down and the owner had different ventures and I believed the cake was lost from memory.
Now I don’t know if it is because the Dutch is obsessed with apple pie (and its a really good pie) or whether it is because Marinus is such an enthusiastic eater of my baking creations, but either way I got inspired by the idea of tracking down the recipe.
I remembered that an old family friend was friends with the owner, and they are all regularly in touch, that is how I heard about the guy is working at another business now (not cake related) and luckily for me the family friend is also an avid cook and baker. I told him my story and was rewarded with a telephone number.
Then I constructed my message to the owner of the café and holder of the recipe. I explained that I now live abroad and I have always loved that cake, and may I please have the recipe?
I was told that the café closed down, but the recipe might be uh a box somewhere, and he will have a look someday.
I nearly forgot about this, until a couple of weeks ago when I received the recipe among with side notes.
This weekend I could finally try it out, and I’ll be honest, it tastes even better than it looks!
In my memory the cake was slightly darker, but I don’t know what is different, any ideas? My leading theory is that perhaps brown sugar will make it more caramely?
The taste however is on point and I’m glad I finally got the recipe for this cake that hold a lot of memories.
This morning after a leisurely breakfast with a friend from work I had a chance to go shopping at my kind of candy store.
I previously mentioned that I did a sewing course to learn the art of swimsuit making, and now I’m taking it a step further to learn the magic of lingerie making. I really enjoy every moment of it even the boring unpicking bits. I love working with the gorgeous materials and lace and seeing it take shape.
And I love shopping for said materials and lace.
This shop is a specialist in the area of specialist stuff, and they have everything you can imagine and more. All the colours and patterns and everything in between!
The moral of the story is, remember to do something that you get excited about.
I love how technology has such a direct impact on the way we live. Just a few years ago we would do things so differently.
Today I spent the whole day working from home, attending meetings, collaborating with colleagues, all through technology.
For dinner I cooked a recipe that I’ve seen in a cooking show. It came out quite reasonable, but I’ll tweak it in future. Fun fact: when I was a teenager I used to pretend I’m presenting a cooking show while I was doing stuff around the house.
After dinner I phoned my mom and we spoke for nearly an hour, sharing stories about our days and ideas on food and on plant care. It is nearly as good as a visit in person, aside from the fact that we’re on the far side of two different continents.
While we are limited with regards to physical movement, at least we can let our minds roam free. Where it roams is up to us.
mcharlottesmith 