One year later

It’s been a year, almost to the day, since my move to Paternoster.

Sometimes it feels like yesterday that I still commuted by train from Kalk Bay to Green Point, to be desk bound day in day out. And in some ways it feels like I’ve spent a short lifetime of joyous baking and laid-back cooking in Paternoster.

It would be a terrible cliché to describe my last year on the West Coast as “an incredible journey”, but that is exactly what it has been. One crazy cool, laid-back, routine-changing, taste-discovering, life-redefining, challenging, spaghetti-linguine-del-mare-eating, ocean-to-ocean travelling journey.

The challenges and changes have been numerous and wonderful. To think that one year ago, I had to try hard to convince people to sit down in our “tea garden” and sample dune spinach or bokkom linguine as opposed to scones and fried-from-frozen fish and chips. And now I am humbled and honoured that on a random Sunday, a table of six - Sardines on Toast readers at that :) - come and visit our full-fledged al fresco bistro, all the way from Cape Town for the day, simply to sample my food. How unbelievably cool is that?

But none of this would have been possible without the help of some incredible family, loyal friends, supportive co-workers - and avid blog-readers! Without trying to sound like I am writing an Oscar speech, I would like to thank some sidekicks to whom I am most indebted (most still here, some unfortunately lost along the way): Mom, Dad, Ouma, Roelie, Annelize, Freda, Lulu; Shermonay and Nancy, Elzanne, Michelle and Ilke, Rochelle and Porché; Richard for significant direction and influence… friends too many to mention - hopefully you know who you are - the Food24 team and blogger clan, the Eat Outers, the inventor of Spaghetti del Mare, and probably most importantly, Fred and Samuel.

To try and get my head around the last 365 days and to try and put things into perspective, I have estimated some Oep ve Koep statistics:

3696 - the amount of plaasbrood loaves I’ve baked
1860 - the number of ciabatta loaves I’ve baked
6240 - the whopping number of free-range eggs that were cooked in the Oep ve Koep kitchen. Busy, busy, happy chickens!
2673kg of Koperfontein flour was used in the making of our rustic breads
And 234 metres - the overall distance of fresh pasta sheets I’ve rolled with my trusty pasta machine

Here’s to years and years and years to come.

Thanks for everything,
Sardines on Toast