iDale

While everyone was standing in queues to get U2 tickets, I was having a laid back relaxed weekend. As usual it kicked off with some food – on Saturday I used a herbed chicken recipe found on Simply Delicious (I’ll share that with you later in the week) which I washed down with a glass of great wine.

Herbed chicken, rice and a bottle of Pinot Noir

The girlfriend and I have kept the morning jogging going, this time doing a little more distance. It’s great to have a walk and a jog early in the morning – it just wakes you up and sets a good tone for the rest of the day. My aim is 5km per run – so wish me luck!

The starting gutter - this is where it all begins!

We always pass Skin Sense in Rivonia and I couldn’t resist snapping a picture to show and tell you that this is possibly the most tranquil place on earth. If you haven’t been for a massage or some kind of pampering here yet… then go. GO!

You'll never know true bliss until you've passed through these gates

On route we also pass this very weird house. My money is that a crazy lady like the one in Great Expectations lives here. Either way, the gate is so creative, so I had to share it with you…

This is where Nemo was last seen...

On Sunday we were lured into a small coffee shop in Sandton City called Chocolate. The menu looks great, but we didn’t have time to sit down, so we decided to get a chocochino. The owner was such a nice guy and gave me a small bar of 99% cocoa dark chocolate (Michel Cluizel) while he prepared our drink (which was incredibly tasty). The chocolate thing must be an acquired taste though – I’ll only go as far as 80% else it’s way too bitter. Lindt to be precise.

Find "Chocolate" next to Cartier in Sandton City

As you become familiar with idale, you’ll realise that a weekend is simply not complete without a braai. We gathered at a mate and had one massive cook-up! Chops, wors, chicken & kebabs – what more could you want to end off another perfect weekend?

Sometimes. Juuust sometimes... gas will do.

How was your weekend?

The Swiss are known for banking, watches and chocolates. With the aim of mind-shagging all of us, someone has gone and combined the latter with another symbol of Swiss heritage – mating the Swiss Army Knife with a little bit of Willy Wonka’s finest…

At first glance we have a set of six Swiss Army Knives...

But…

...in fact we have a swiss chocolate knife.

Not much good when you’re stuck in the wild and diabetic! But I’m sure they’re delicious!

Isn’t this a great advertising bench?! Makes me want a KitKat!

I’m not generally one who support cheap-ass Photoshopping! I am willing to make the odd exception for beauties like these…

Fantastic aren’t they?!

Everyone wants to cook like a pro. The problem is weren’t all born with the Ramsey gene!

So, we first need inspiring pictures like this to make us hungry:

Then, secondly, we need simple directions to create the real thing so we can stuff our faces!

Begin by gathering the following ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup salad oil
• 3 tsp. vanilla
• 2 bars unsweetened chocolate
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. soda
• 1 cup coarsely chopped almonds

Now lets get our hands dirty with some easy directions:

Beat eggs well. Beat in sugar and oil. Melt chocolate and stir in with vanilla and zucchini. Sift dry ingredients and add to mixture together with almonds. Spoon into 2 loaf pans well oiled or greased and floured. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until done. Enter the Chocadore Easter Giveaway.

Cool in pans 15 to 20 minutes. Turn onto racks.

What’s all the fuss about chocolate this week you may be asking yourself? Well, Easter is approaching and we’ve got our Chocadore Giveaway going on!

Below is a little “I bet you didn’t know that” piece…

Jean Galler was born into a luxury dessert environment. He liked working in the family con-fectioner’s shop that was founded by his grandfather in 1930.
At 16 years old, inspired by chocolate, Jean develops his knowledge and discovers new savours while he studied in Basel (Switzerland).

At 21 years old, he launched his own enterprise. 30 years later, the foundations of the company remain the same: passion for chocolate; pride in perfection; constant creativity.

Today, the team of more than 100 employees design, produce and market pralines, ice-creams, chocolate pâtisseries, filled chocolate bars, as well as chocolate tablets, Cat’s tongues (cartoon cats moulded from chocolate), spreads, bite-sized chocolates, and more!

The Galler brand is premium and competes with the best in the market. Their products (That you can win in our giveaway) are a rare find of quality in the South African market!

You can also buy Galler products at Chocadore, take a look at their site www.chocadore.co.za

People generally meet at Chocadore to revel in the explosion of aromas, faraway flavours and the sweet captivation of cocoa. That’s because it’s the only exclusive chocolate shop in South Africa that imports quality pralines and slabs in their finished form from Belgian, French and Italian chocolatiers.

You, my dear friends, are very lucky because Chocadore has decided to reward iDale readers with two seriously substantial Easter gifts!

The first is a 500g ballotin from Kim’s Chocolates in Belgium worth R395.00 and the second is a Tin of limited edition Galler “Cat Tongues” valued at R345.00 (Also Belgian).

Be sure to check back on Monday morning to see how you can enter this tasty giveaway!