Not often that I am without words…. but the 24 hours spend at Halfaampieskraal was pure magic…. thanks needs to go to our hosts Jan-Georg and Cobus who went out of their way to wine and dine our group of eight, my seven supercool friends and the Magic of Halfaampieskraal. Luckily I’ve managed to convince Jan-Georg to demonstrate a “recipe” for my blog, and he was wise enough to suggest a breakfast treat, while the others were in dreamland early Sunday morning, I entered the inner soul of Halfaampies and Jan-Georg cooked… but first… some photies..

Our weekend was planned to the finest detail, a special invite for a special place….

Deep inside the Overberg over rolling hills of screaming yellow canola fields..

The ROADTRIP….

All good things starts with bubbles, and no Roadtrip is complete without a bottle or two, even if the wind blew our feathers all over the Overberg.

Waiting “on route” for our friends with our glasses filled, nearly Lunchtime …

Welcome, welcome to Halfaampieskraal, our host helped us unpack, yes one night only but we had loads of stuff, tripods, camera bags, bags with stuff for our dress up dinner, boxes of apples and and and…o yes, boxes of bubbles …

The best decision we made was to request a “light” lunch on arrival Saturday afternoon, ja right, I don’t think the word “light” exists at Halfaampies, it was a sensory overload, not sure if it was from the bubbles “on route” and bubbles pre, during and post lunch but I was on an euphoric high…..

LUNCH is served…on the stoep, overlooking the rolling hills… and our glasses, filled by Jan-Georg…

I will dream of soft soothing mayo leeks for nights to come…

I love flags… flags everywhere…

Jan-Georg … making us feel truly welcome…

And more lovely flags…

Lunch flowed into drinks on the stoep…. and a surprise early birthday cake for my good friend Evie…. served with coffee and bubbles…

The main “excuse” for this quick one night away was a “photographic weekend”, well this is proof if it… I even took my camera to the loo for self portraits…(thanks Evie)…

Time to pack out those feathers and get dressed to fit the theme…. Dress Halfaampies…

TIME FOR THE FUN TO START…

Dressed and ready for dinner… how special, dinner was for us eight only… a real feast…

And yes, we started with trays filled with yummy cocktails.

Dinner, it felt as if we were in a different world,…

And then… Dessert…

Halfaampies Velvet Pudding… a velvety baked custard with a thin layer of berry coulis, topped with a crispy but soft mallow meringue…

SWEET DREAMS UNDER PUFFY WHITE DOWN DUVETS…

While the others dreamed of velvet pudding and brandy cocktails… I could not waste a minute in bed… the light of Halfaampies is calling..

LETS cook…

Entering the kitchen early morning while the others are still in dreamland was a bit of an “excitement wobble” in my life… according to me the ultimate highlight of our 24 hours at Halfaampies… all for myself!

click on this recipe card for a one page printable PDF recipe card: ->Halfaampies Breakfast souffle…. RECIPE CARD
For the Halfaampies breakfast soufflé you will need:

1 x roll phyllo pastry
some melted butter and a brush
grated parmesan +/- 1 cup
1 or 2 handfuls yellow sultanas
1 tub cream cheese (half plain, half blue)
2 Jumbo eggs at room temperature separated
on tablespoon flour
125ml cream
salt and pepper

Defrost the phyllo pastry in your fridge overnight, cover with a damp tea towel once opened. Layer a 20cm pie dish with layers of phyllo, lightly brush each sheet with melted butter before adding the next sheet. Use +/- 7 sheets. Fold the edges into the pan to create an even edge.

Grate a +/-3 mm thick layer of parmesan on the top layer of phyllo, this will create a salty crust under the sultanas. Add a handful of yellow sultanas on top of the grated parmesan.

In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese, 2 egg yolks, tablespoon of flour, 125ml cream, salt and pepper.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the cream cheese mixture. Add to the phyllo, parmesan and layered sultanas and bake at 180 degrees for +/- 20 – 25 minutes until light brown and still slightly wobbly on top when you take it out of the oven.

This recipe can be made with variations of salmon, spinach, bacon and flavoured cream cheese.

After my early morning walk and about an hour in the kitchen with Jan-Georg I think it is now time to go and shake that Princess out of bed and go for my second walk of the day…

Myself and “the princess” stayed in The Greek room, with our own open plan kitchen and upstairs puffy white bed and views from here to never end…from the bed, the bath, the loo, the side kitchen window AND the kitchen door…

Breakfast is served !!

Being spoilt by Carol my “artist, potter, sculpture and photographer” friend, little bags of white lace pressed pottery Christmas tree decorations on our breakfast table…

Our breakfast soufflé …. the salty parmesan crust and sweet pop in your mouth yellow sultanas gives an unexpected taste sensation … served with crispy baked salty bacon and thyme flash fried rosa tomatoes…

Our breakfast companion…..

Sadly our food feast at Halfaampieskraal has come to an end…

Our hosts walked with us to help pack our cars… and treated us to a sneak peak at Club Havana…an intimate party or small wedding venue in a little shed on the “Halfaampies Werf”…. a shed from the outside, and a colour explosion on the inside, instantly transferring you to a different world, of feathers, fur and lashes… heavy velvet and music for the soul…THIS is the place to book for that intimate party….your friends will love you forever…

CLUB HAVANA..

Time for the road trip home, but not without stopping for a quick roll and group pic…

Halfaampieskraal, pure magic… book it NOW, take 4 couples, book lunch on the Saturday just after arrival, dress WILD for dinner and have a breakfast feast overlooking the rolling hills of The Overberg … and pleassssssssse invite me with…

In January 2014 I will book another weekend, with the same group of girls… I think this will become an annual affair…

Keep your eyes posted for the invite, and I will keep mine posted for the next Party invite at Club Havana…