Load-shedding sucks! You know it. We know it. The whole country knows it. It’s also no secret that it’s here to stay for the foreseeable future. Is it annoying, frustrating and downright infuriating? Yes, no question about it.

However, every blackout is a fire begging to be built, a juicy chop ready to be turned and a family braai just waiting to happen. With a little planning, some clever thinking and 40 great recipes – quick and easy, plan ahead and weekend winners – load-shedding can go from the worst part of your day to the best.

Follow more recipes to become the king of condiments and the sultan of sauces, then power up your pantry with a store-bought collection of spices, smears, sauces and jazzer-uppers.

Put your money where your braaibroodjie goes and join the Beer Country duo as they dive into their best braai recipes for the Eishkom disaster. Welcome to the braaight side of load-shedding life!

As experienced, self-taught recipe developer Karl Tessendorf asks, what kind of name is The Good Stuff for a cookbook? He explains that it’s not just a name but a celebration of the magic of comfort food. From perfect pastas, pies and Sunday roasts, through blissful bakes, and all the way to scrummy salads and sides, you will find more than 80 recipes that will leave your mouth watering as you recall your own happy comfort food memories. But being the food wizard he is, Karl adds more taste and panache to those comfort classics than you thought possible. He encourages you to try your hand at your own improvisation. Most importantly, he wants you to share these meals at a table with your nearest and dearest, accompanied by a few drinks and great conversation — because that’s The Good Stuff. It’s about human connection, great food and the memories they create. So here’s to The Good Stuff!

In today’s insta-everything world, cast iron reminds us of a simpler time. A time when things were built to last, not break within a year.

A well-seasoned pan is a cooking Swiss Army knife. A solid flat pot is the ultimate campfire jack-of-all-trades, and the humble potjie pot is more than just a pot. It’s our version of low and slow and it has some important lessons to teach. It forces you to relax and enjoy the ride, and to realise that the best things really are worth waiting for. It’s a delicious goal for friends and family to come together and work towards over the course of the day – the ingredients prep, the fire prep, the building of flavour layers and watching the potjie’s bulging belly whisper away.

These are steps required for a great potjie day, and the best part is that you get to do it while chatting and laughing with a beer in hand.