The Coffee Kettle - Crawl #4 Revisited

It's been an insanely busy week with the Thanksgiving holiday preparations and celebration, hence, my blog post for our Nov. 21 Crawl is way late this week.  So let's get right to it.....

On Thursday, November 21, we made our Revisit #4 to The Coffee Kettle which has been located at 6th Ave. and Cape Rd. in the Westway Centre in Newton Park for almost eleven years.  Back in March, 2011 three other Crawlers joined me at The Coffee Kettle for the original Crawl #4.  On the 21st, there were ten of us, Vicki Minnaar, Lee Rodwell, Beth Vieira, Stella and Beryl Dawson, Gail Darne, Sylvia Mynhardt, Nomusa Nkomo, Nicolette Hijmans, and me, for for Crawl #122 (Revisit #4) enjoying Pavin coffee prepped and served by baristas Lisa and Chantel.  I recognized Lisa as the barista/server from our previous Crawl.  Other things have changed at the shop, though, in over two and a half years.....The Coffee Kettle is now being managed by Christelle Muller, there are some new staff members, and the decor has been changed to include black and white photos of "the old PE."

Meet the Manager
Christelle Muller

Meet the Baristas
Lisa and Chantel

The Coffee Kettle's extensive menu includes breakfast and lunch selections and cakes and pastries, all of which are served all day.  Separately advertised daily lunch specials, though, are served from 12-2.  The Coffee Kettle is fully licensed and also offers free WiFi to all patrons.  The shop seats approximately fifty people inside and there are a few tables outside if you want to enjoy the beautiful weather PE has been experiencing lately.  The Coffee Kettle's hours are Mon-Fri, 7:30-5; Sat, 8:30-2; closed on Sunday.  Check out the shop on Facebook under the name "Coffee Kettle."

This Week's Crawlers
Sylvia, Beryl, Lee, Vicki, Stella,
Gail, Nomusa, Beth, Nicolette

So, the news making headlines last week on Crawl day was the 50th anniversary of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.  Television newscasts and newspapers around the globe covered the many tributes paid to this very popular and dynamic president.  At the table on Thursday we discussed President Kennedy, the Kennedy family, and what we remember of "Camelot."  Then, as often happens at the Crawl, a book discussion ensued, this time about a non-fiction piece entitled What Remains by Carole Radziwill.  It, in part, is about JFK, Jr. and his tragic and untimely death.
We got to talking about other books and it seems that about half a dozen or so of the books that I have here in South Africa I have taken from my sister Elaine's library (in Pennsylvania, USA) without her knowledge.  I promise I'll get them back to you on our next visit to the States, schwes!

Finally, for some comic relief toward the end of our Coffee Kettle Revisited Crawl, we got to debating 1-ply vs. 2-ply vs. 3-ply directly followed by my son Jeff's ever-increasing fear of crocs.  I'll let all you readers make that connection!

~Thank you to Christelle, Lisa and Chantel
~Happy Thanksgiving to all my family and friends in the U.S.  Enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend and get lots of your Christmas shopping done!
~Thanks to Elaine for letting me "borrow" so many books!

Until next week,

Ellen

Dessie's Santa's Cafe

It's that time of year again....The Christmas Shop is open at Moffett on Main Lifestyle Centre.  Not only can you find everything you need there to "Deck the Halls" but also, after all your shopping is done, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy some festive treats and your favorite hot beverage at Dessie's Santa's Cafe.  This year The Christmas Shop is located at the Checkers end of the shopping centre rather than at the Mr. Price end as it has been in past years.

Meet the Manager
Michael Macdougall

A delicious selection of holiday cakes and pastries

Besides cakes and pastries, toasties are served all day, and a light lunch is served weekdays from 11:30-3.  On Saturdays and Sundays only a light breakfast is served from 9-11:45.  Santa's Cafe will be open for the next four to five weeks during Moffett on Main's business hours: Mon-Fri, 9-6; Sat, 9-3; and Sun, 9-1.  Stop in and see Manager Michael Macdougall and have barista Vusi Gqamane whip you op a Pavin latte or cappuccino.  A visit to The Christmas Shop and Santa's Cafe is sure to put you in the Christmas spirit!

Meet the Barista
Vusi Gqamane

This Week's Crawlers
Beth, Dale, Nomusa, Vicki, Sylvia, Gail,
Nicolette, Stella, Beryl, June, Cayle

Thursday's Crawlers, Nomusa Nkomo, Gail Darne, Dale Mitchell, June and Cayle Nash, Beth Vieira, Stella and Beryl Dawson, Vicki Minnaar, Sylvia Mynhardt, Nicolette Hijmans,were in the Christmas spirit after spending time before coffee admiring all the light and tree displays at The Christmas Shop.  Once we sat down and ordered our coffee and cakes I told the Crawlers about my first summer Christmas shopping experience.


Lou and I moved to South Africa from New York in 2010.  We planned to go to the States for Christmas that year and I had this great idea that I would bring with me to NY some summer Christmas decorations as novelty gifts from the Southern Hemisphere.  Well, wasn't I in for a shock when, as Christmas approached, all I saw in the stores were snowflakes, winter scenes, icicles, snow globes, and every other kind of winter themed decoration!  So much for that great idea!!!  This year is Lou's and my fourth summer Christmas shopping season and I still experience major hemisphere confusion when I hear Let it Snow, Jingle Bells and Winter Wonderland playing in the stores while I'm dressed in a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, and shopping for bathing suits and beach towels!

Happy shopping to everyone and remember the Reason for the Season.

~Thank you to Michael and Vusi

Until next week,

Ellen

The Hedges Coffee Shop - Crawl #3 Revisited

Last Thursday we continued the Crawl Revisited Series with a trip to The Hedges Coffee Shop, 151 Main Rd. in Walmer (corner of 10th and Main).  The Hedges has been in existence in PE in one form or another for over one hundred years.  When we visited the shop back in February, 2011 the owner at the time had decorated it with historic black and white photographs of PE.  Now, Shelley Strimling, the new owner since July 9, 2013, is busy acquiring "new" old photos/newspapers of PE to adorn the wall of The Hedges.  Since July Shelley has also been refurbishing the shop to give it a more up-to-date feel while still maintaining the ambience that PE residents have come to know and love about this historic shop.

Meet the Owner
Shelley Strimling

Old newspapers that adorn The Hedges' walls

Do you know any of these people?

The Hedges' ownership may have changed recently but the staff, including Juanette, barista Monica and chef Francis, has remained the same.  The Hedges' menu offers regular breakfast and lunch selections along with daily specials.  Also, every Wednesday chef Francis cooks up a full roast, plus dessert, served from 11:30-3 for R45.  In addition, if going out for Sunday lunch is your cup of tea, Shelley opens The Hedges on the second Sunday of each month (unless otherwise advertised) for a special Sunday Roast served from 11-3 for R65.  Live "soft" music makes this Sunday outing extra special.  This is a popular monthly event so remember to make a booking in advance.

Meet the Barista
Monica

Meet the Chef - Francis
(I promised I'd get her name
spelled correctly...the male version!)

Meet Staffmember Juanette

The Hedges has seating for eighty and is available for after hour private or corporate functions.  Off-site catering, platters, specialty cakes and breads, and daily home delivery of freshly cooked main meals rounds out everything that The Hedges has to offer.  For information on special orders, delivery and catering services, or to make a booking for Sunday lunch, email Shelley:  info@thehedges.co.za   Or call: 041 581 4407/084 600 4002.  Also check out their user friendly webpage:  www.thehedges.co.za

On these first few revisits that we've done the Crawlers have looked back at the "Crawler photo" from the original visits.  On February 24, 2011, our first visit to The Hedges, three new Crawlers, June Nash, Keith de Beer and Fr. Dominic Griego, joined our ranks.  Since then, June has become a regular, Keith joins us every now and then, and Fr. D has moved to Rome (and, I imagine, is having his fill of awesome cappuccinos in quaint Italian coffee shops.....so jealous).

Feb 24, 2011 Crawl  to The Hedges
Fr. Dominic, June, Fran, Keith, Beth

This Week's Crawlers
Margaret M., Beth, Arthur, Gail, Stella, Celeste, Nicolette, Leanne,
Beryl, June, Vicki, Lee, Sylvia, Nomusa, Margaret Z.

On last Thursday's Crawl, fifteen Crawlers, Beth Vieira, June Nash, Leanne Waller, Nicolette Hijmans, Celeste Hudson, Margaret Zoetmulder, Stella and Beryl Dawson, Lee Rodwell, Vicki Minnaar, Margaret and Arthur Marshall, Gail Darne, Nomusa Nkomo, Sylvia Mynhardt, joined me for the revisit.  Back when we first started the Crawl we followed the No-Food-On-The-Crawl Rule, but that has long since gone by the wayside, and this past Thursday I think that just about everyone enjoyed breakfast or cake with their Masterton's coffees.  I had the French Toast which was by far the best I've had in PE... not too "eggy" and with just enough crispiness.  I gobbled it up so quickly that, unfortunately, I didn't get a pic.

With so many Crawlers at the table I usually only get in on the conversation at one end.  This week the Crawlers at my end were talking about Facebook and other social media, and how glad those of us past a "certain age" are to have finished with all of our stupid antics before the internet age.  After this discussion I wandered down to the other end of the table only to have Margaret Z. pawn some Bingo Night tickets off on me....should have stayed where I was.  Who knows, though.... I may win a couple thousand rand at Bingo next week....it could happen.

~Thank you to Shelley, Juanette, Monica and Francis

Until next week,

Ellen

Halloween at Barnacles

The day before last week's Halloween Crawl Lee Rodwell came over to my house to help me carve jack-o-lanterns.  This was her first time ever carving pumpkins and she did an amazing job!  I've never been much of an artist/sculptor so, despite my fifty-plus years of annual pumpkin carving experience, Lee's turned out way better than mine.  Kudos to Lee!  The pumpkin seeds I roasted Wednesday morning were delicious though.

Watch where you point that knife, Lee!

Lee and her first ever jack-o-lantern!

Lee's and my finished products

Thursday morning Lee and I arrived at Barnacles with our jack-o-lanterns to decorate the table for the Halloween Crawl.  I also brought along other decorations and themed napkins that I had Lou pick up in the States a few weeks earlier.  Crawlers June Nash, Leanne Waller, Nicolette Hijmans, Vicki Minnaar, Margaret and Arthur Marshall, Lee Rodwell, Margaret Zoetmulder, Beth Vieira, Stella and Beryl Dawson, Sylvia Mynhardt, and my husband, Lou, arrived dressed either in black-and-orange or in costume to find the table decorated for what was, for most of them, their first Halloween celebration ever.

This Week's Crawlers
Margaret Z., Nicolette, Lee, Vicki, June, Lou, Leanne,
Beryl, Stella, Margaret M., Sylvia, Beth, Arthur

Meet the Barista
Sunette, pulling an enormous spider
 off of the coffee machine

Sir, there's a spider in my cappuccino.....

Barnacles, located at 1 Elizabeth Rd. in Seaview, proved to be the perfect venue for our Halloween Crawl.  Owner Lomo du Plessis and his wife/Barnacles' barista, Sunette, added witches, skeletons and pumpkins to the restaurant's nautical decor to create a spooky but fun atmosphere for the October 31 holiday.

Barnacles is actually a fully licensed, full-service restaurant with an expansive view of the Indian Ocean.  They offer separate menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and keep House of Coffee brand coffee beverages brewing all day.  The venue seats about 200 inside and outside combined.  The amount of seating available coupled with the authentic nautical decor and view make for a fabulous setting for a seaside wedding, family party or corporate function.  For details or to book your next event call 041 378 2058 or email Lomo at: blokwach@telkom.sa.net

Once monthly Barnacles features a live music night with food and drink specials offered all evening.  Sounds like a great way to spend a weekend night with friends!  For times and dates of these music night events check them out on Facebook:   Barnacles Seaview.
Barnacles' hours are Mon-Sat, 9-9 and Sun, 9-3.

It isn't Halloween without the candy

The Crawlers' first ever
candy corn
(goes really well with hot chocolate!)

Okay, so on Thursday we had jack-o-lanterns, decorations, and guests in costumes......but, when all is said and done, what really makes it Halloween is the candy.  I brought along to the Crawl pumpkin buckets full of trick-or-treat candy that totally went with our cappuccinos and Americanos.  I also brought with me some candy corn that Lou bought in the States.  None of the Crawlers had ever seen or tasted candy corn...... another first!  They all seemed to enjoy it.

Witches on a whale watch

After having our fill of candy and coffee the Crawlers spent some time staring out into the ocean trying to spot whales which only a week before were there in droves.  None were spotted but we all enjoyed the beautiful view and nice warm weather from the deck of Barnacles (and to think of all the Halloweens when I went trick-or-treating in the snow!!!).

I have to say that this Crawl will go down in the books as one of my most memorable Halloweens ever.....the year I introduced Halloween to my South African friends......thank you, Crawlers!!!!!

~Thank you to Lomo and Sunette for hosting our Halloween Crawl.
~Congratulations to Fran and Keith de Beer on the birth of their granddaughter - November 5
~Happy Birthday to our only on St. Pat's Day Crawler, Clary - November 6
~Happy Birthday to my niece, Julie, in Pittsburgh, PA - November 10

Until next week,

Ellen

More pics from our Halloween Crawl.....

Shall you fly first or shall I?

Three pumpkins and a spider walked into a bar..........