DayToDay

4 Oct, 2017

Perched on barstools with flutes of bubbles in hand, a gang of gals were about to see magic emerge from a box. Laura, chef extraordinaire, was the conjuror of the day and with wand in hand showed us a weekly meal solution that was as easy as 1,2,3 or in fact A,B,C and D. The sceptical would say that Laura’s easy may be the polar opposite to the average easy but they would be proven wrong. Even I of the six-dish repertoire felt inspired to step out of the box. Yet, in this case, into the box.

Every Monday, DayToDay delivers thousands of cartons to the doors of excited customers. This boxed set of treasure contains easy and delicious recipes to cover four dinners along with all the perfectly sourced ingredients to cook them effortlessly. There are five kinds of dinner plans to choose: from Classic (slightly more geared for the foodie), Family (deliciousness to foil the fussy), Carb Conscious (on trend, easy on the waistline), Express (less than 25 minutes to applause) and Classic without Pork (for those who don’t eat Babe & co.). Each dinner meal is enough to satisfy two to four adults with substantial appetites and comes at outstanding value.

Our chef casually worked her way through numerous DayToDay recipes while we looked on in admiration and increasing levels of motivation. Every ingredient is supplied in the perfect quantity and labelled to match the recipe in action (A to D). This was D.I.Y, my style. Pantry items (think olive oil and black pepper) did not propose too much of a challenge even for the girl who subsists off take-out and rates ordering off a menu her top culinary skill. The required toolbox was as simple as mixing bowls and wooden spoons, with no blow torches or fancy multi-speed mixers to scare the timid cook. Laura’s sweet potato mash with cream cheese and chives appeared to self-mash so not even the trusty handheld whirligig made an appearance.

We ooh’d and aah’d and licked our lips through the tastings. Some highlights were the pork neck steak, the creamy peas sautéed in coconut cream and finished with parmesan, the meatball marinara pasta with red pepper pesto and the lightly curried Bombay boiled baby potatoes with chopped aubergine.

DayToDay recipes are crafted from scratch by Gino, an evolved South African chef. Inspired by seasonal vegetables and quality meats, Gino must be a creative genius to come up with a weekly variety of recipes that tick all the boxes (easy, impressive, innovative, delicious, nutritious, kind to waistlines and friendly to the fussy).

If you love to cook and to try new things and meet new dishes then this is your dream come true. No shopping, no waste and cartons of creative inspiration lie at your finger tips as you rip open a box of magic tricks every Monday. I love that it comes with a warning: “Caution: Contents may be extremely delicious.”

Check out their website
www.daytoday.co.za

And about Laura: Cooking classes, catering and cakes, these are just a few of her favourite things. Laura offers wedding, corporate and smaller scale catering as well as ad hoc cooking classes. Patisserie is one of her big loves and big talents. Take a look at her website’s gallery and start dreaming about ordering a high tea! www.lauratrutercatering.co.za