Not Sheffield United (although we are), but us. Away with friends for a long weekend out towards the Klein Karoo.
It’s a remote farmhouse up in the hills that I visited with other friends about 18 months ago. That was a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to another great weekend away.
There is no cell signal (which is awesome), but there is wifi, which is also awesome.
Still… you know me. I’m not taking any chances with the upcoming 14 year (eish!) blog post history, and so I’ll be popping some pre-written stuff up.
Usual rules apply for this sort of thing: it’s not my fault if the posts fail to mention or acknowledge any sort of nuclear disaster or terrorist attack that has happened since I wrote them. I’m not a fortune teller. And also, obviously follow my IG for any images of our beautiful surroundings. And also, I might post some “live” stuff while I’m there: I sometimes do more than one post a day. No rules against that.
See you again tomorrow (but actually only on Tuesday).
Olive Chili Tapenade – I’m glad that this said “chili”, because I wasn’t 100% sure. A salty, smoked olive tapenade with just the slightest hint of heat, allowing that full olive roundness to work its way through your mouth. Needs something suitably bland to give it a decent partner – I’d pair this one with some boerekaas and some crusty sourdough. 7/10, because it’s far more olive than chili (which might seem unfair, but I’m more of a chili fan than an olive fan).
Plasma – this is in the 4 sauce caddy with the Hot Sauce mentioned in the second link above. And it’s described as Hot to Very Hot. And this one was very warm. It’s not plasma like you get in the blood, it’s clearly named after the ultra high temperature state of matter of ionised atoms. With good reason. There are two more sauces in that set. I’m slightly scared. 8/10, but only in very small amounts.
Garlic Pesto – I’m presuming that this is it. It’s the closest that I can find. This one had its work cut out. I’m not a fan of garlic (overt garlic, at least) or pesto. But actually, this had an almost p…p…p…prego feel to it. Not too garlicky, not too hot, tonnes (both metric and imperial) of smokiness, and actually really palatable. 7/10 (amazing considering the nomenclature).
Cowboy Candy – Not the long-awaited Netflix spin-off of Brokeback Mountain. It’s this. Yes, yes, yes! I LOVED this. Definitely my favourite so far. The Cowboy is a rich, smoky BBQ style sauce with big pieces of jalapeno; the Candy is the chunks of smoked pineapple offering a tangy, almost electric buzz around your tastebuds. This disappeared all too quickly. I’ll be arranging my post-advent order around a large jar of this and then heading home via the local World of Cheese store. 10/10 would recommend.
“Peaches” – Sounds innocuous enough. Actually not innocuous at all. NOT ONE BIT!
Ingredients: Habanero Peppers, Carolina Reaper Peppers, Peach, Vinegar, Salt, Spices. Warning: Extremely Hot! Handle with care. Use sparingly and avoid contact with eyes or sensitive skin. Keep out of reach of children.
Absolutely lethal.
And actually quite sore at first, but given 5 minutes and a glass of milk, a more gentle, ongoing burn persists. The peach is probably there – there’s a hint of sweetness from somewhere. But wow. This is serious stuff. Maybe too much for me? 2/10 until I understood what was going on there (there was no warning with the advent calendar vial). But as a hot sauce (a very hot sauce), I’ll give it a full 9/10. Heat. Much, much heat. The longevity of the burn is quite something…
Caribbean Ghost – I can’t find this on the website, but I was at least able to take some heed of the second half of the name and not do anything foolish. Yes, the usual smoked chili – I’m understanding that an advent calendar is very unusual way to go through this sauces, which are largely tweaks around the same base, and that you’d usually just choose a favourite and stick with it – but HOT and with a rampant fruity component.
Mango. Citrus. Something else?
This one might be another that’s a bit too spicy for me, but the tanginess of the fruit is very enjoyable in the background. 7/10.
There will now be a(nother) short break in chili sauce reviews – watch this space for more news and – next week – more tales of spicy sauces. T&Cs apply.
I love a good storm. And there’s a really good storm over the British Isles at the moment.
I’ve had the Isle of Man webcams open on my second monitor, and while it’s amazing to watch the Irish Sea doing its thing as we approach high tide:
I’m missing the noise and the smell and the stinging cold of the spray on my cheeks. It’s just not the same sitting in an office 6000 miles… away.
Some of the best visuals have been from the Scarlett Point cameras – based at the old Coastguard Station:
It doesn’t look quite as green there today, but it does look pretty amazing.
That is Scarlett Stack, the remains of an ancient volcanic vent, which – as the tide rises – is being repeatedly and more extensively overwhelmed by the incoming waves. Quite a sight, given that it’s a good 10m in height.
Beautiful. And I know that it’s far from everyone’s favourite kind of weather, but I really wish that I was there right now. (Like, on the footpath, not on the actual rocks: I’m just daft, not completely stupid.)
Also – on one of the other cameras earlier – fair play to this guy.
No better sort of day for a run.
EDIT: Still watching (with my sideeye) – suddenly (and briefly) – gorgeous sunlight.
I was trying to top up with electricity this afternoon. Most of South Africa operates on pre-paid meters, and so it’s very easy to buy units from shops, but it’s even easier to buy it online from your banking app.
Except when it’s not.
Because, shockingly (no pun intended): electricity is unavailable.
At least, it’s “currently unavailable”, lol (no pun intended).
To be fair, we haven’t had any loadshedding for a while now. It’s been over 200 days. And, while we were rightfully rather grumpy with Eskom about the whole loadshedding thing, which cost the country billions and billions of Rands and was awful, dangerous (and occasionally a bit frightening) to live through, we should tip our hats to the people in charge (no pun intended) who have done what needed to be done to fix the problems.
Now all they need to do is talk to my bank about sorting out their “Electricity – unavailable” issue.
Thank goodness the solar has been working hard all day, so we’ll be fine for the night.
Talking of which – we were even pulling in 2W from the moonlight at midnight over the weekend:
Because of course moonlight is just reflected sunlight.
Which makes you wonder how vampires wander around with impunity on cloudless nights.
