Coming home from Uni was always wonderful. I got to lie on the couch sipping Milo and watching the food channel all day long. It was absolute bliss. More importantly than the relaxation was getting home and seeing my family and friends. It was sometimes difficult coming back and missing so many things that happened, the birthdays, the parties, the memories but even so was the new friends that had inadvertently become my new friends. I’ll always remember the story Amy told me about this girl she met at her Uni up in Joburg and all the shenanigans they would get up to. They had become instant friends but I never really got much of a chance to meet her or even hang out. When I was home for Amy’s 21st birthday I finally got to meet Tammy. She had planned this beautiful slide show of stunning pics of Amy throughout her childhood and older years. It was a really special thing to see and I realised then and there that Tammy was such a great and caring friend and was excited to get to know her more. We hung out a few times at the ever famous O’hagans and drank way too much but never enough haha. I got to meet and visit her amazing family on a few occasions and finally adopted them as my own lol. Sharing so many similarities and dreams it felt like I had known Tammy my entire life.
It was awesome coming home every 3 or 4 months to such a great friendship group where it felt like no time had passed at all. There was always a glass of wine to be had and a story to be told and one such night embodied all of the above and one delicious bowl of soup. It was probably the months leading up to before I left for Korea that Tammy invited me over for dinner. YAY! I love when people cook for me. I brought enough wine to keep us entertained for the night knowing that her fridge was most probably full of wine already and probably a few bottles of beer too. There is NO such thing as too much wine.
We sat on her couch sipping glass after glass chatting about all of life’s ups and downs. We had really connected as friends over those last few months when I was still in South Africa and it was such an emotional and spiritually important time for the both of us. It’s a time I will always remember and cherish and all around a steaming bowl of delicious spicy soup lapped up with so much bread it could fill a bakery. It was so comforting and hit you like a ton of bricks but represented so much of what our friendship was; an instant kick you in the teeth kinda love with a dash of respect and understanding.
And here is the recipe straight from my wonderful friend herself. It made me chuckle for a good few minutes as I was reading the whole recipe in her voice. haha lol.
Ingredients
You need:
2 x wine glasses (1 for me and 1 for you)
1 x red wine (1/2 for you, 1/2 for me:) )
6 x chicken breasts chopped into cubes or heart shapes, what ever
1 x chicken stock
250ml cream
200ml boiling water
1 x fresh red chili finely chopped (more if your enemy is coming to dinner)
1 x chopped onion, finely chopped
1 x garlic clove crushed
1 x chopped green pepper
– take a sip of wine…
1 x table spoon of marmite or bovril
1 x table spoon curry powder
1 x bowl of crispy bacon (I say bowl as you can never have too much bacon)
– take a sip of wine and cheers your friend to good times
2 x whole tinted tomatoes blended
2 x cups of cooked lentils
3 x baguettes
Now here is the hard part….
Put it all in a big pot and stir on a medium heat until the chicken is cooked and everything smells yummy!
– sip wine every 5 mins
Toast your bread in the oven
Pour soup in bowl, pour more wine and serve!
Love u too much my Manny ❤
mybigbiteoflife 