Michelle Parkin captured some awesome pics at my #MishMoshOfYum Popup dinner at Yoco Eatery. I am beyond excited to share them with you!
These images will give you an idea of how the evening went down. The mood was super chilled, inviting and unpretentious. My best friend, Ruby Walker, who is an art teacher by day, lovingly did the decor. From sewing cushion slips, making bunting to writing on the chalk boards. It was so special to have her do this for my very first popup, not only do I admire her creativity but she also knows me so well.

Yoco eatery arranged pallets from the Rust ‘n Vrede Art Gallery and Ruby did her thing with the cushions (Don’t you just love the colours?) and Equipicnic blankets. This was a little chill zone for the guests between courses.

Ruby even arranged blankets with my branding colours in case the guests got chilly. Too cute.

Fairview Wine and Cheese Farm was the main sponsor for this event. Guests enjoyed Brut MCC on arrival and delicious Viognier and Shiraz flowed the whole evening.




Sir juice was another fab sponsor! Look at this gorgeous juice sitting on ice.

Yolande, co-owner of Yoco Eatery welcoming the guests.

Chef /co-owner Jaco of Yoco Eatery and myself.

Me in my element, welcoming guests and clearly showing my gratitude. Lol. In this pic, we have Cath Shone and Tessa Purdon from Food24. And Shaina from Milk and Cookies food blog. 

My gorgeous husband, Johann Erasmus also doing his bit and making guests feel welcome.

7 course tasting menu – a collection of 7 of my favourite and most read recipes.

50 stunning guests having a giggle and enjoying my ramblings on a little introductory about myself and the Bits of Carey brand and my reluctance to go through the menu in detail to uphold the mystery.

First course: Chilled Beetroot and Herb Soup with Fairview Chevin + Homemade Beetroot Crisps with a dollop of Fairview Labneh.
Get recipe here.

Second Course: Nouvelle Exotic Mushroom Roulade with Zesty Cream Cheese

These smiles make all the hard work so worth it.

Third Course: Butternut Fritters with Sage Butter, Bacon Crumbs and Fairview Blue Tower. Get recipe here.

The night sky was upon us.

Fourth course:  Smoky Pulled Pork, Homemade Soft Shell Taco, Pickled Red Onion & Chimichurri ready to be plated with pork scatchings
I used Smoked Flavours liquid smoke to give the succulent pork a mild hickory flavour. Delish.

Fifth course: Deconstructed Melenzane Parmigiana: Marinated grilled aubergines, slow roasted ZZ2 tomatoes, fresh basil, Puglia Foir di lata and parmesan shavings

Sixth course:  Free Range Rare roast beef fillet,  Nouvelle Truffle oil infused Potato Croquette, Bearnaise and Baby leaves dressed in Willow creek Olive oil and red wine vinegar.

The seventh course was Raw Honey infused yoghurt panna cotta with fresh berries and honeycomb candy crumble. I used Fairview Full fat Yoghurt for this. Get recipe here.

And finally, a little surprise. A massive oh so decadent Fairview Cheese board with fresh and preserved figs, caramelised nuts, raw honey and fresh honeycomb from my very own secret supplier. This went down a real treat, every last crumb of cheese was devoured. Major cheese love!
I used White Rock (Cranberry and Fig), Roydon Camembert, Traditional Camembert, Vinter’s Brie, Goat’s Camembert, Honey Chevin, Blue rock, Blue tower, Cambozola. What a great privilege it was to work with such gorgeous cheese and wine! Thank you Fairview!

And the goodie bags, what about the goodie bags?
Each guest received:
AMC Cookware’s New Cookbook
ZZ2 bacio tomatoes
Oryx Desert Salt
Willowcreek Parmesan flavoured Olive oil
Smoked flavours Liquid Hickory Smoke Sample
Yoco Eatery’s range, “Pickle this” preserve samples
Ina Paarman recipe booklet
And a handmade pinch pot made with love by Ruby and myself

And the prizes up for grabs at the end of the evening…

The Equipicnic basket with picnic blanket, 2 plastic glasses, plate clips and wire glass holder for 2 went to Candice Claasen.
The eco-savvy Wonderbag went to Nelia Redelinghuys.
The AMC 24 cm gourmet frying pan went to Kerri Jones.
And the Oryx Desert Salt pack went to Kirsten Hartmann.
Well done guys!

Image by: Johann Erasmus

A special thanks to one of my dearest friends, Mickel Passman for being my sous chef for the evening and for helping me prep all through the night the day before. You rock star and chief taco roller! Mickel is a hospitality lecturer at Northlink college and is also a Food Science and Nutrition Graduate – we made an awesome team during our practicals 13 years ago and we still work together like a well oiled machine.

Thanks to all who attended, I wasn’t expecting such a big turnout and amazing support, so my gratitude is beyond measure.
Thanks to my hubby, J, for putting up with my crap for the last few months and really being a charming front of house man (P.s your playlist was amazeballs), Ruby for all the hard work you put in with the decor, to Luke, Rael and Kirsten for all your help setting up.
Michelle Parkin, thanks a million for taking time out of your busy schedule to take these stunning pics of the event (and assist me a bit in the kitchen, lol).
Linda Potgieter (The Squashed Tomato), for being a stunning friend and colleague, your encouragement and social media skills are invaluable.
And lastly to Yolande from Yoco Eatery, for taking this idea on board and running it with me. Thanks for all the work you put in designing the press releases, arranging the flowers, pallets, tables, staff etc. It was a wonderful experience working with you. Yoco eatery is beautiful, a chilled understated beauty with no pretenses, just good people, good food and good vibes.  And Chef Jaco, thanks for giving up your kitchen for the night and making sure it was a pleasure to work in.

Thanks again to all my sponsors, it was a pleasure to work with you all!  I can safely say that this was a successful, very special foodie affair. Until next time…

Image by: Bridget Back (Fairview)