The miscellaneous

1) During the weekend I had brunch at a place called Nice, and it lived up to its name. On the menu: “Scrummy Crumpets.” With a name like that, I had to order it.

First, crumpets: turns out they are small, sweet pancakes. Pancakes are always a winner in my book, so we’re off to a good start.

Next, bacon: bacon makes everything better. Rules of The Bacon Game: name something that tastes worse when bacon is added. It doesn’t take long to play, because the list is very short. ( Apparently even bourbon is enhanced by bacon. HT to Nancy.)

Layer with strawberries and cream, which I would consume in mass quantities even by themselves, and you have a winner – though if you manage to come up with a bad recipe using those ingredients, I’d be amazed.

2) Over here, an “American breakfast” includes baked beans.

3) You know you’re in a low-income country when radio ads tell people to SMS to a certain number in order to receive a call back from a salesman.

4) Google Maps is slightly behind Coke’s marketing in “products that amaze me” (it even tells you which exit to take from roundabouts). However, it hasn’t fully adjusted to Joburg security, because there are frequently situations where it looks like you can get from A to B on neighborhood streets only to discover that the area is gated and closed off. Fail.

I usually think of a "0 km/h" speed bump as being... a wall.

5) I have complained on here before about the lack of straight citrus juices in SA.  If you take a look at this carton, it has a bunch of oranges on the front and says, plain as day, "Orange juice."  If you take a look at the ingredients, though, the first ingredient is "deflavoured apple or pear juice."  Deflavoured juice... in my juice?  Aren't you just left with sugar water?

6) I will again sing the praises of South African braais. Last weekend I was at a “bring and braai” (the braai version of potluck – everyone brings a meat to put on the grill). The end result is a big pile of meat of various cuts/seasonings. So good, but I’m still manning up – sometimes afterward I just want a salad. Maybe with some bacon…