Okay, so the wind schooled The Supermodel and I a few years back at Rocking The Daisies and I would HATE for the same thing to happen to you in a couple of weeks at RTD 2010 in Darling, my poppet. Here’s how you solve the little pain-in-the-ass-tent-erection problem:

With The Supermodel and The Investment Banker recently engaged, along with what seems like everyone else around me (epidemic), I thought this post particularly apt. The Source of Visual Inspiration let this little meerkat out of his bag and I just HAVE to share it with you. Green Wedding Shoes is a blog by a gal called Jen Campbell who’s head over heels in love with all things weddings. It’s Jen’s outlet to express her love for love, vintage, design, photography and holy matrimony. These are some of my favs…

Over-sized vintage paper windmills

Ink and lace

Camp wedding

Save-the-date on crack

Gold sparkly ‘I Do’ Toms

Carnival themed engagement

Piano in the desert engagement photographs

Vintage Louboutin lovin’

Personalised groomsmen’s floral ties

Desert engagement photographs

Quirky bride & bridesmaids

Makin’ hay

Chocolate chip bags of love

I can’t seem to escape the term sous-vide at the moment and I have to admit, I’m a little disturbed. Sous-vide means ‘under vacuum’ and this term is used to define a cooking method that extends the shelf-life of food by cooking it for a long period of time (sometimes longer than 24 hours), under-water in vacuum sealed bags at low temperatures, usually around 60 degrees celcius. It’s the removal of oxygen and bacteria from the process which allows for the extended shelf-life. BUT. Contamination can indeed occur in the form of botulinum toxin poisoning. Yikes. Okay, so it’s not fool-proof.

I had a meeting recently with a company who are pioneering sous-vide in South Africa and I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it all. I mean sure, scientifically speaking it makes sense, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be comforatble with buying meat and other food with ridonculously long shelf-lives. You’ll be amazed at how many big South African restaurant brands serve sous-vide food, including items like curry and lambshank. Yes, there’s a restaurant you’ve been to that serves sous-vide lambshank. I’m not sure if I’m freaked out more by the shelf-life of the product I’m consuming, or the inability of restaurants to produce these items themselves. Apparently Heston Blumenthal himself is a sucker for sous-vide. Well I’ll be…

How do you feel about being served meat at a restaurant that’s been sitting on an ambient shelf for 9 months? Or am I the only dinosaur who feels this is weird? I’d love to know. Oh, and check out these awesome anti-theft lunch bags I found amidst my research (here), perfect to dissuade klepto-colleagues.

Cripes. I’m turning into The Salty C Dog more every day. I left the office today and made a bee line for the local nursery, my new favourite place where the only bother is thorns, bees and the odd rogue sprinkler. My lettuce has all gone to seed (tip, break off the head when the lettuce starts to look a little alien and it’ll continue to grow as intended) and I needed to replenish all things home-grown for the summer.

My  obsession for cultivation begun after watching Food Inc. (click here to watch the trailer) and I decided it was time to vote with my own wallet. I can’t remember when last I bought anything green from a supermarket and my salad and rocket leaves last for weeks in the fridge. It just shows how long the produce we buy has been ‘in transit’ before we consume it – days, sometimes years.

So today I left the nursery a little lighter than usual, tomatoes, eish lettuce (yes, it’s actually called eish lettuce), chillies and a range of gorgeous pink flower seeds in tow, ready to tackle summer salads n’ barbeques, baby. You know you’re turning into your mother when you replace the Haute Cabriere Chardonnay Pinot  Noir with secateurs. You also know you’re turning into your mother when you start to adopt her hobbies, like pottery, the new love of my life. I needed to flex my creative muscle and embrace my inner Demi Moore and started weekly pottery classes with Anne Rimbault (website here) in Bordeaux. The little bowls pictured above are fresh from the kiln and were my first [dismal] attempt at the wheel. Anyhoo, I think they’re kinda cute, and I’m looking forward to graduating to bigger things, like cereal bowls.

All I can say is that if you’re feeling like something’s missing, grow something, or make something, you’ll be amazed at how satisfying it is.

Back to basics,

How nunu is that?! Bless his little ginger cotton socks. Anyhoo, enough about me and continuing this week’s unplanned theme of blogging, a dear friend has been awarded a prestigious nomination in the SA Blog Awards 2010 food writing category and it’s time to cast your vote for the talented Jamie Who. All you need to do is click here and your vote has been cast, no fannying around with filling in details and deciphering codes to prove you’re indeed a human. Once you’ve kindly cast your vote, check out Jamie Who here.

Heroes in a half-shell,

I can always count on The Luxury Meerkat to keep me abreast of all things Londontastic, and this week she’s played out of her polka dot Cath Kidston oven-mitts. Domestic Sluttery is a home and lifestyle blog for women who have better things to do, written by a collective of fabulous British women who cook, decorate and design… usually with a glass of wine in hand. We’re a match made in blogging heaven and I am absolutely loving their vibe. Who wouldn’t love a backpack made to look like the Ghostbusters Proton Pack, or pink ruffled bedding from Urban Outfitters? Click here to link to Domestic Sluttery.

Here’s some of the design p*rn I heart (click to link):