Master Class Cooking Experience with Neill Anthony at Kia Ora!

It's amazing that I interact with all these wonderful people on Twitter, but even more so when I actually get to meet them in person and do projects together. Like Robert Miller who I met last year and ended up doing a lingerie photo shoot with. And Michelle Dickman who I started following randomly and now she's done my hair and make-up on two photo shoots. Then earlier this year I came across chef-to-the-stars, Neill Anthony with whom I recently had a very cool cooking lesson. Twitter is really amazing and if you're not on it, you better make a plan!

I just thought I must share my master class cooking lesson with you I had with Neill. When I found out he's a chef, I knew this was only going to end well. When we finally agreed to put in some effort to make everything happen, I decided to make the most of it. The idea was a cooking lesson with a few friends, initially, but then we wanted Neill to work his magic in a really stunning kitchen. Mine just doesn't cut it. Then SA model and business woman, Tanya Fourie, was kind enough to let us use her absolutely gorgeous villa, Kia Ora (which means 'be well/ healthy) for the evening. Breathtaking, eh?

Then we invited some cool guests over, but it was hard deciding who, because we could only be eight to keep it intimate and prevent a huge party from happening. Neill and I were joined by one of my best friends, and fellow-blogger, Johlene; radio presenter, Evox Cape Town and South African Blog Awards owner and sports enthusiast, JP Naude; brand activation manager at Kfm, Denver Apollus (he's becoming quite a regular on my blog); Kfm presenter, Theo Esau; 7de Laan actress, Sulette Winterbach and her boyfriend, Jaco van Wyk, who does the marketing and communications of the Boland Rugby website.

Neill starts with all the preparations before the guests arrive.

Once everyone arrived, we started off with champagne, sponsored by Villiera Wines, while waiting in anticipation for Neill to start with our lesson. I must admit, the only thing I really paid attention to, was how to make basil pesto from scratch. I stepped out of the kitchen for a short while to have champagne and mingle, and when I got back, everything was ready. Sorry Neill, but at least I grated some cheese.

Starters: homemade linguini, basil pesto, shaved parmesan and herbed ricotta. This was my favourite dish! The ricotta just complimented the basil pesto and when I added some chili oil, it just tied everything together so deliciously. I loved this dish so much, that I attempted it the next night again. Ok, so I didn't make everything from scratch, but I felt creative and added baby-marrows and chicken fillets to mine. From starters to mains in no time!

Neill, me and Sulette, hard at work.

And I am still grating cheese!

Keeping the guests entertained!

Yes, Theo, that is the cheese I finally managed to finish grating!

Neill, how come you gave me all the crap jobs? Huh?

Neill brought Hello Kitty plasters. He's forgiven.

Homemade linguini!

Sulette helped make the basil pesto and couldn't wait to try it!

Neill and Johlene

Neill dishing up. Oh now I'm hungry all over again!



Mains: smoked chili braised leg of Karoo lamb, spiced white bean cassoulet, salted cucumber salad with cumin camoulla. The bean cassoulet and lamb topped with the cucumber salad worked so well together! The meat was so soft and absolutely great-tasting. Aah, I have to stop talking now.

Checking up on Neill as he dishes the bean cassoulet. Biggest beans I have ever seen!

The bean cassoulet. Mmm!

The Karoo lamb placed on top of the cassoulet.

Topped with salted cucumber. It doesn't taste salty. More pickled. And it's amazing how these three completely different flavours just perfectly compliment each other. Well done Neill.

After dinner I chilled with JP. Awesome guy and (almost) talks as much as I do.

Dessert: Caramelised peaches, coconut dust, crème freshe, hazelnut espuma.

Denver watches as dessert's being prepped...

... while the girls explore and appreciate this, beautiful, all white, villa! Kia Ora will definitely be my villa of choice for my next romantic getaway or girls weekend. Ooh, that's an idea!

Before we knew it, the evening was over. Not only have we had the most wonderful eating experience, but we made new friends, spent time in Kia Ora, had loads of wine and champagne, but we also left with a few cooking tips and completely stuffed.

Neill Anthony - Thank you so much for the wonderful evening and for spoiling us with your talents and cooking skills! It was the best food I have tasted in a long time. I especially loved that you paid attention when I said how much I love basil pesto and chili, and worked it into the menu. Thanks for the lesson and for answering all our weird questions.

Now, people, if you don't know this about Neill, he has worked with Gordon Ramsey and has cooked for big names, such as U2, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, The Beckhams, Elton John and Paul McCartney.

Tanya Fourie - A special thanks to you for allowing us to use your magnificent villa, Kia Ora. It truly is beautiful and all the guests loved it!

Thank you Villiera for the champagne! It went down really well with the cuisine!

Then another big thank you to Johlene who helped with all the arrangements! You have been a big help. Thanks to JP, Sulette, Jaco, Theo and Denver for the wonderful evening. Again soon!

J

(Please do not use, copy or download pictures without permission)

It's Friday and I...

... am not so sure if I like Rihanna's new hairdo. It reminds me of the Pon de replay days. And I hate that song.
... am happy to do my first Friday post of 2011!
... am still in holiday mode, but one fuck-up at work and I'm back to my stressful self.
... will be featuring on Woelag on Monday as 'Forbidden Fruit! A cool interview illustrated with some hot pictures.
... am so damn happy that I finally got a Blackberry! I don't even need my laptop any longer.
... caused a stir on Twitter yesterday when I tweeted my bra size.
... really caused a stir when I tweeted a picture of me showing off my bra size, but it was all in good fun.
... am training with a personal trainer (who is hot and single, by the way ladies). Check out his cool fitness blog and be sure to follow him on Twitter too.
... can finally walk again. I've been stiff for days now!
... am on a mission to get my ass in serious shape! Let's see how long this resolution lasts.
... think it's wonderful that Playboy is searching for South African playmates!
... will be posting a lot more pictures from here on forward, because I finally have a camera again!
... don't regret getting another piercing. I love my madonna piercing. Totally worth the pain.

Happy Friday darlings! First week of work is done and dusted!
I wonder what I will get up to this weekend....

J

Cape Town's First Beer Festival: Win a party with us!

Who ever said beer is a 'man's thing', really needs to rise to the occasion. Beer might not beat champagne or a nice Cosmopolitan, but I tell you, there's nothing like an ice cold beer on a hot day or hangover! People interact with beer just as much as they do on wine or whisky, male or female.

Cape Town Festival of Beer is the first festival to bring people together to celebrate beer and the art of brewing. Cape Town will be having its first beer fest from the 25th to the 27th of November 2010 from noon till 10pm, on the fields of Hamilton's Rugby Club in Green Point.

Now, just to prove to you that beer isn't something that belongs to the male domain, I'm giving two lucky gals a chance to come party with me and my sister (and you know, we have fun everywhere we go). Your prize will include a ticket to the Oktober-Fest-style Festival and a little goodie bag. All you have to do is either Twitpic a picture of you with a beer in hand (remember to include me in your Tweet) or e-mail me your picture. Every picture is an entry, so be creative to stand out from the rest. Leading up to the big day, I'll put some of the best pictures on my blog. So frauleins, if you like beer, festivals or a good party, then this giveaway is for you!

What to do at the Festival? If you're into Rugby, the final Springbok international game of the season will be screened live in the Carling Black Label tent. For the food-lovers, there will be a braai and cooking-with-beer competition, judged by Jan Braai. Furthermore there will be tug-of-war competitions (if you're feeling brave), live performances, food stalls and of course, loads of beer tasting. Just think: traditional South African festival.

And if you don't win? You can buy a ticket to the festival here or visit the website for more information. You can also follow Cape Town Festival of Beer on Twitter.

Go on and enter - the competition is now officially open! You have until Wednesday, the 24th to send in your pictures. The winner will be announced the next morning, 25th of November. If you're entering this competition, it means that you agree to the terms and conditions, and that you're available on the 27th of November. Further details will be arranged with the winners.

Good luck!!
Jemma

Terms and conditions:
The winners will be chosen by myself and my sister
Your entry might feature on my blog and FB page
Should you be the winner, you will be featured on my blog again
The prize is non-transferable
The competition is open to females over 18 only
Winners have to arrange own transport to Green Point
Winners have to be available on the 27th of November for the Festival
Each picture that is sent in, will count as an entry

It's Friday and I...

... am becoming a regular in Hermanus. Going there again.
... am relieved that the house-hunting is over! Now for the big move and housewarming.
... don't even have one piece of furniture for the new place! Can anyone say 'stress'!
... knew from the start that Mariah Carey is pregnant. Why do celebs always deny it?
... had a hangover from hell yesterday and had to come to work! I never ate so much in one day.
... was home-alone last night, but had time to give myself a decent manicure and pedicure.
... am so heartbroken about my camera that got stolen last week. I took the coolest photos at the Moulin Rouge party and now I can't even share the pictures with you.
... don't really celebrate Halloween, but perhaps I should dress up anyway!
... decided that I would accept every friend request on Facebook from now on. So feel free to add me.
... am changing my hair style in a few days! Going dark with bangs!
... want to be a poster girl, but need 1000 followers on Twitter. Help a girl out please!
... am eating a large bag of cheese-and-onion flavoured popcorn! This might just be my new favourite snack.
... really need to get my ass to gym! I haven't been there in weeks. Seriously.
... can't wait for Wednesday! Meeting great people that will help my sister and I with our Twice the Taste website and ventures.
... really am happy that it's Friday and that the holidays are around the corner. Finally!

Happy Friday world. Let's get this weekend started!

(Image found here)

It's Friday and I...

... went lingerie shopping last night. Corsets from Wonderbra.
... am attending a Moulin Rouge party tonight, hence the corset shopping. Ooh, can't wait!
... had a look at models/ finalists from the Wonderbra Model Search and saw a few girls with potential, but also saw loads of fake tits.
... did a lot of house hunting this week. Fun and depressing at the same time!
... fell in love with a house in Loevenstein, but the ridiculous deposit kinda screw me over.
... can't follow any more people on Twitter, because I've reached my limit. I will follow every follower of mine as soon as I can. Just had to put this out there.
... am featuring on YDE's Facebook Fanpage, modelling their new range, Siren Design.
... laugh every time I visit the Woelag website, but you have to be Afrikaans to appreciate this. Damn funny!
... had an interview with iDale yesterday about 'Where Bloggers Break Bread'. Keep an eye on his website to read about where cool bloggers love to wine and dine. The post should be up soooon!
... might be in a movie next year if everything works out. Hold thumbs for me.
... am also starting a new blog, but it will be a joint venture with my sister. Trust me, it's gonna rock!
... am keeping this list short as I am not feeling creative today.

Happy Friday everyone! Let's get this weekend started.
J

My upcoming photo shoot for a new label at YDE

Today I’m going for another photo shoot. It’s my most favourite thing to do in the world! I’m an amateur-blogger and a wannabe-model, so why do I do what I do? Simply because I love it. That’s it. I can’t be a full time model with photo shoots and interviews lined up and I can’t be an established blogger with a list of sponsors, so I’ll simply do bits of each. I might not get paid for the advertising I do for others and most of the time photos are the only thing I get to take home from a hard day’s shoot. But you know what? I always see the glass as half full. I’m having the time of my life. I’m getting so much exposure and a wonderful experience! I’m not only meeting extremely talented people, but I get to work with them too. Make-up artists, photographers, models, actors, stylists and really cool events – who can say no to this?

My advice is always: When opportunity comes knocking, make sure you open that door!

Before I get all philosophical on you, let me get back to my exciting news. I’m going to spend my day with photographer, Drikus Le Roux, and I will finally get to work with Eloise Dreyer for a photo shoot done for a new label at YDE. For a change, my photo shoot will have an actual purpose (and I will be wearing clothes)! Another part I'm looking forward to? I'm going to be posing with the cutest 'models' ever. Furry rabbits. It will tie in with the whole Alice in Wonderland theme they're planning. I cannot wait to play dress-up.

Watch this space for behind-the-scenes stuff and to read more about the new label. Also follow me and Eloise on Twitter today for tweets about the shoot and perhaps a Twitpic! Remember, you saw it here first.

J
(Image found here)