Your ultimate guide to throwing a Halloween Party on any budget- with tips and ideas for decor, creating a vibe, food, drinks and dress, for adults and kids. Boo!

Boveli Cellars held a unique event recently that I attended.
Based on 6 classic hat styles, the cellar has created wines to suit each, using foreign varietals with a view to introducing them to the local market, at supremely affordable prices. I’m talking R39.99 (less than 4 euro!) a bottle.

SAB Oktober Bierfest was held this past weekend- our day in pictures.

Rick Stein makes a glorious Bangladeshi Beef Kofta Curry in his book Far Eastern Odyssey and I saw no reason not to substitute with ostrich mince- it’s lean, inexpensive and so easily available here in Cape Town.
I have made Rick’s curry his way (which is a just a tad labourious, but very flavoursome), but I find my way with a few less steps works equally well. If you make this curry the day before, as with most spiced dishes, the spices will mingle and deepen overnight. Always check the seasoning again, before serving.

Food and the Fabulous turns 1 this month. We miss the date, but thankfully still have all our marbles in the basket- well, almost. It’s been a wonderful, adventure-packed year and I reflect on it and you, the readers and my fellow bloggers. Also, I offer you this delightful Strawberry & Hazelnut Meringue Semifreddo – the easiest you will ever make.

I had the privilege of joining Cape Town Tourism on a media tour with Coffee Bean Routes owner Iain Harris and for four hours on Monday we enjoyed a brief history of food, walking tour in the Cape – we explored origins of African coffee, Cape Malay cuisine and various African foods. Informative and delicious.

Using the nutty, smokey black wild rice I adapted the paella of Spain and the Indian pilaf, and make a Spanish inspired rice dish, using chicken, green peppercorns, spicy sausage and olives.

My take on the Toffie Food Festival held on 3/4 September in Cape Town- the icing on the cake and the cracks in the pudding. An independent view.

A few Sundays ago, on the 28th of August, we headed off to Paternoster a sleepy fishing village on the Cape West Coast just under two hours outside Cape Town to join Slow Food Mother City on a food forage in the local nature reserve in TietiesBaai (yes, you read the name correctly.) A slow lunch at Oep ve Koep followed.

A slow cooked lamb stew made with red wine and topped with crunchy herbed croutons. Something for those days when you need to remind yourself that everything is okay.