Lunch with Jane DeGroot, 21 March (Good Friday)

First, a brief history lesson: my mother and father met at Wheaton College. That is all well and good, but it is entirely possible that they never would have tied the knot if it hadn’t been for one of mom’s good friends, Jane DeGroot. It was Jane who pushed my dad to ask my mom out on a date (he succeeded on his third try, but I suppose that’s another story for another day). As they say, the rest is history.

Jane is currently a TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) Fellow with the State Department at a university in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. She and several colleagues are here in Cape Town to enjoy a couple weeks of rest and relaxation. I haven’t seen Jane in quite a few years…so what fun it was to encounter her on the southern tip of Africa, of all places!

We enjoyed a brief stroll through downtown Cape Town and ended up at Nyoni’s Kraal for lunch.We had a wonderful time together, catching up on each other and each other’s families (the DeGroot kids and Gieser kids are roughly the same age), and sharing about God’s faithfulness in our lives. We were blessed to have this time together.

For interested parties, I jotted down a few dishes available at the restaurant:
Tasty
Vetkoek (Cape Dutch fried donut)
Samoosas (you can get these at Indian restaurants in the US; indicative of the Indian influence in the country)
Biltong (traditional dried meat, sort of like beef jerky)
Smoked snoek (typical fish caught along the Western Cape)

Maybe tasty but haven’t tried yet (have you?!)
Tripe (sheep or cow stomach) with samp and beans (thick bean stew) or pap (thickened cornmeal)
Amangina (chicken feet)
Mopane worms (from the Mopane tree in Zimbabwe)
Amatumbu (sheep intestines)

Birthday Dinner at ‘Addis in Cape’

Ever since we noticed this Ethiopian restaurant in the city, we have been itchin’ to try it out. So last month, as a surprise birthday gift for me (Jul), Jim got a group of friends to meet up with us on a Friday evening. All I knew was that we were going somewhere for dinner, so when we started driving in the direction of the restaurant…and then parked on the street…I tried to appear casual and surprised, though inside I was saying, “Yes, just what I was hoping!” Guess the six years of marriage are starting to have their benefits. I was surprised, however, to find seven friends (from church) join us for the meal.

We both enjoy Ethiopian food a lot – me because of Mom and Dad’s time there and the many times I ate it as a child, and Jim because of the three months he spent there during the summer before college. Amazingly, none of our friends had eaten at this restaurant, and only one had ever had Ethiopian before! The meal was served and eaten out of a large basket lined with injera, which we used to scoop up the various dishes of vegetable, fish, chicken, lamb, and beef.

In the photo (left to right): Fritz, Kirsty, us, Mark, Vuyi, Tulani, Tanya, and Blanche


*note: in the future, we Americans will make dinner reservations (a ‘booking’) for 7 pm or later, in an attempt to fall in line with custom here. On this occasion, we arrived at 6, and the restaurant hadn’t even officially opened! So we had the place to ourselves until another group showed up around 7 or 7:30. By the time we left at 9:30, the restaurant was full and busy.

You need to know about Nougat

Last week at a surprise birthday dinner with friends, I (Jul) received a bag of goodies from Melissa's, a gourmet coffeeshop and food shop in this area. Woa. In the bag were chocolate chip cookies, creamed honey, homemade nougat, seeded rusks, and ginger fudge. Jim and I have been indulging ourselves over the past week. (Yes, once you're married, you have to share.)

I had never eaten Nougat before...and I am now such a fan that I thought an entry would help share my enthusiasm and give it some credence. Soft and nutty, light but rich. Delectable.

Just some more convincing evidence that one of the greatest joys of moving to a new place is eating new food!

Further reading for those interested:
Coach House Confectionary (South Africa)
Wikipedia article and description

Jul's new apron of many colors

Thanks to Rachel for my new kitchen apron, brought all the way from Uganda for Christmas! Now if only I can work up the courage to actually cook and wear it at the same time, since it's so pretty. I don’t want to ruin the front with my food mess! (Well, to be honest, it probably won’t take much in the way of courage. I seem to have no problems whatsoever making a mess in the kitchen).

And thanks to Auntie Jo for the inspiration for marzipan-stuffed bread, which I am in the process of making in this photo. Your instructions worked out great and the bread was very tasty! Unfortunately it was no substitute for being able to share it with you, but nonetheless we reminisced about you and Uncle Chuck while we savored its gooey-ness.

A visit from the locksmith

It was late in the afternoon as we returned home, parked the car, and slowly walked up to our front door, chatting about what we were going to have for supper and blissfully unsuspecting of the impending crisis. I (Jul) opened the gate, and then inserted my keys to unlock the two bolts on the wooden door… I turned the keys…and yanked on the door…and rattled the keys some more… No luck. Neither bolt would budge. The keys turned in the lock but the bolts stayed fast.

“This is ridiculous,” I said, and would say so again at least ten times in the next hour. We banged our heads against the wall, frustrated at only having one entrance to the apartment. We walked around and checked out all the windows, hoping we could somehow get in the flat through an open one. But alas, all the windows have burglar bars on them that can’t be budged (without major tools). Jim put his keys in and yanked on the door some more, but to no avail. It was time for a visit from the locksmith.

Fortunately two of our next-door neighbors (both older-aged widows), Mrs Bell (in No. 2) and Mrs Kuhne (in No.3), were both home and readily offered assistance in the form of advice, a phone and recommended locksmith, brainstorms (though fruitless) on how else to break into the apartment, and finally…an aperitif (glass of sherry) while we waited for the locksmith to arrive.

Once the locksmith, Mohamed, arrived, we all placed bets on how long it would take him to bust down the locks. After ten minutes, we decided to retreat into Mrs Bell’s flat to finish our sherry and get out of the wind (once evening hits, it’s still quite chilly). We swapped stories about Mrs Kuhne’s daughter and Mrs Bell’s grandchildren and crime in South Africa (inspired by the present situation). Jim, feeling masculine and semi-heroic, opted to stay with Mohamed for support and to ensure he thoroughly busted up our door while busting down the locks.
Finally, after 60 minutes of banging and drilling, the door was open and we were in! Mohamed promptly put in two new bolts and issued us new sets of keys (and said he would return tomorrow to patch up the cracks on the door). The excitement was over for the evening, and the doors of No 1, No 2, and No 3 were duly shut and locked, and we all returned to our respective flats for supper. At least we got to know our neighbors a bit better through it all!

Note: the following photos are staged. They only depict real events. And yes, the keys are indeed skeleton keys (one for the gate and one for the door, plus a ‘normal’ key).