Cheese, a flight simulator, a day off – what we don’t want to miss out on

Vrye Weekblad’s Xmas sock

Max du Preez (Editor-in-Chief)

If you really want to get into my good books this Christmas, it's going to cost you. I'm a parmesan guy. I don't want you to be Scrooge with this gift so don't simply buy a slice at the supermarket. I'm not asking for an 82 pound wheel of Parmigiana Reggiano for R56 000, but how about this aged one from The Online Italian at R285 for 500 g? I won't say no to this Grana Pandana either – R599 for a kilo. Olive oil is the same: Don't bring me those silly botteltjies. Go straight to Willow Creek and order a three-litre can of the best extra virgin for R759. Grazie.

Willem Kempen (Editor: Daily)

Dear Christmas Father/Mother/Person

I've been good this year, much more than I wanted to be, so I'm taking the liberty of asking you to please see to it that Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2024 gets delivered to me by December 25. The worst bugs that came with its launch have been ironed out, and for just R1 299 at the Microsoft Store you can order one for yourself so you can get even better at sleighing around all day. Given that my current laptop can barely create a new paragraph in a Word document, something like this would also be sincerely welcomed. You could almost buy a real plane with that kind of money, so just think of it as the kind of investment in my future enjoyment of life that will make your job that much more satisfying – and I promise I'll give my kids a go on it every now and then.

Ali van Wyk (Content Editor)

Meat thermometer

No home cook has the excuse to serve dry, overcooked meat to guests anymore, not even if it's a leg of pork you try to play it safe with on the well-done side. You can simply use an electronic meat thermometer and pin it into the meat. This determines the internal temperature of the leg of pork to within a fraction of a degree, so that you can take it out of the oven when it's still juicy and just cooked. Those old-fashioned thermometers with the analogue face and pointer are still around, but they are usually not very accurate and take a long time to read the temperature, which can be a problem with a steak, for example, when every second counts. R232 from Amazon.

The braai bro can buy the affordable thermometer with a single pin that you insert and watch, or you can buy the Primo T4 Meat Bluetooth/Wireless Thermometer with two or four pins, which you can insert into different parts of the meat. A Bluetooth alarm on your cellphone tells you when the meat reaches the right internal temperature. R2 899 from Takealot.

Wireless drill

Ryobi is the cheapest power tool on the market and it doesn't have the snob value of a Metabo or Bosch. But like a Toyota Hilux, it will give you decades of good service if you take care of it. This cordless drill is just the right gift for the do-it-yourself guru in the household, because it is a very good screwdriver (which means that the poor sod will never have to screw anything in by hand again) and it is also a drill, even for steel and concrete. At the price, it is a wonderful investment. R1 299 from makro.co.za

Angela Tuck (Art Director)

Dear Gift Fairy

Please gift me a night alone in a room in the Cape Town CBD, with a full day before and after for aimless wandering and exploration of my choosing. This will most definitely include Milnerton Market and The Parade. No Wi-Fi or data, please.

While I am stroking textiles at The Fabric House, I hope that Nigel will call my name from behind the French and Belgian linen section and summon me to collect my Generous Gift Voucher to spend in the store. Literal bougie perfection.

Click here to register 📌

Deborah Steinmar (Books Editor)

I always want books including these two which Mercia Burger mentions in this week's story about her best books of the year:

• Turning to Stone: Discovering the subtle wisdom of rocks by Marcia Bjornerud, published by Flatiron Books. R427 
• The Genetic Book of the Dead by Richard Dawkins, illustrated by Jana Lenzová, published by Head of Zeus. R610 

Celeste Theron (co-worker)

• The Body Illustrated by Bill Bryson. R390 
• Zara Ebony Wood Eau de Parfum. R799 

And then the two Fomolistas

Anneliese Burgess (Sunday newsletter writer) 

I desire this beautiful striped beach umbrella. Feel free to throw in the matching beach chair too. R1 ­499 for both.

And the beautiful red JBL Go 4 Portable Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker will fit perfectly in my road trip box. For evenings on a strange stoep. R850 from Takealot.

Then I want to read the following stack of books under my beautiful umbrella at the tidal pool in Chintsa West:

• The Second World War by Antony Beevor. R376 from Loot.
• David Whyte's Consolations II: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words, available at Wordsworth for R385. His first Consolations changed my life. I have never read such a profound book.
• The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman. R552 from Loot.
• Romy Gill's India: Recipes from Home. R645 from Loot.
• Reader Johan Nel recently reminded me of this book that I for some reason never bought, but had been wanting for a long time. Everything that Food52 does is fantastic, but their Genius recipe series is especially so – Food52 Genius Recipes: 100 Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook. R766 from Loot.

And then, if anyone has a copy of Noël Mostert's Frontiers: The Epic of South Africa's Creation and the Tragedy of the Xhosa People they want to sell, I would be eternally grateful. My copy has disappeared from my bookshelf, and it is unavailable in South Africa. The second-hand bookshop in Nieu-Bethesda sold the last copy they had for R1 500.

Laureen Rossouw (Editor: The Back Page)

Because I now live near the sea, I would like to have a good bodyboard and a snorkel set this year.

I very much like the orange Tanga inferno bodyboard fromTakelot for R599. And this Aqualine Pro Dive Silicone Combo Set for R799. And how pretty are these wallmounted umbrellas from Thatch and Shade?

Other things to know this week

Pantone colour for 2025

Mocha Mousse. Pantone 17-1230. And the Fomolistas love it. Browns have been on our radar for a while and this means that this intense soft coffee colour will be available everywhere and businesses will produce and develop products in these tones. Thorough and extensive market research is used to determine the colour of the year.

 A fantastic Christmas pudding idea

Go green(s)

Quote of the week

Gonna go lay under the Christmas tree to remind my family that I’m a gift.

@nowthatsfunny1_

#7 of Haruki Murakami’s best lines

#1 It’s not that the meaning cannot be explained. But certain meanings are lost forever the moment they are explained in words.

#2 It’s pretty thin, the wall separating healthy confidence and unhealthy pride.

#3 Everybody’s born with something different at the core of their existence. And that thing, whatever it is, becomes like a heat source that runs that person from the inside.

#4 What happens when people open their hearts? They get better.

#5 People leave traces of themselves where they feel most comfortable, most worthwhile.

#6 I think you should give up looking for lost cats and search for the other half of your shadow.

#7 Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. If you’re running and you think, “Man, this hurts. I can’t take anymore," the hurt part is unavoidable, but whether or not you can stand it is up to the runner himself.

Safe shopping!

♦ VWB ♦

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