The desert, a tree and a forgotten child

Merry Christmas

 I hope you have visited http://www.bestforreading.com and made a selection of Christmas gifts from my store. If you did not buy anything, there always is a next time. Remember that you can find many items at http://www.bestforreading.com, just go to the search bar in the top right corner.

I was born in the then South West Africa, known today as Namibia, in a small one horse town called Aranos ...

or a link on a map..

http://www.tageo.com/index-e-wa-v-30-d-m3551189.htm. Aranos is near the Botswana border in the south east of Namibia. My grandfather had an hotel and my father was the local diesel mechanic. I am now speaking of the days when wild life roamed fairly freely, even lions.

An aerial vie of Aranos

Lion teeth coming from those days. I kept it.                                                                            

A molar and a canine tooth 

Aranos is situated in the Kalahari Desert and is known for its red sand dunes with the flat streets in between the dunes. See photo below

I was the youngest of five children with about 11 years difference between me and my oldest brother. One day my folks and friends decided to go for a picnic in the desert under one of the very far and in between Camel Thorn Trees. See below.

Kalaharicamel Tree

I presume my siblings and I were not the only children about and that there were others as well. Remember, I was a baby and this is story still told today in our family. Everybody had  a lot of fun and later that day it was time to pack up. When everything was packed up, the drove off. Children and all. Except me. I was left under the Kalaharicamel Tree.

A short while later, as my parents where driving, my mom asked where I was and that is when they realized that they have forgotten about me under the tree. I must have been an exceptional well behaved baby or I was asleep. Or there where too many children around! Either way, I was collected and survived to tell the tale many years later. 

My book choice this week from http://www.bestfroreading.com is

History of Modern Art (Paper cover) (6th Edition) [Paperback]

H. H. Arnason (Author), Elizabeth C. Mansfield (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 6, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0136062067 | ISBN-13: 978-0136062066 | Edition: 6

Long considered the survey of modern art, this engrossing and liberally illustrated text traces the development of trends and influences in painting, sculpture, photography and architecture from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. Retaining its comprehensive nature and chronological approach, it now comes thoroughly reworked by Elizabeth Mansfield, an experienced art historian and writer, with refreshing new analyses, a considerably expanded picture program, and a more absorbing and unified narrative.

AND my recipe is:

Sousboontjies/Beans in a delicious sauce

500 g dry butter or sugar beans
Boiling water to cover beans
60 ml (1/4 cup) sugar
125 ml (1/2) Brown vinegar
2.5 ml salt (1/2 t)
1.25 ml (1/4) fresh black pepper

Cover beans with hot water and soak for about an hour.
Drain, cover again with boiling water and cook slowly until beans are soft. If it cooks too fast, the skin of the beans will come off and foam might form.
Add sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper to cooked beans and boil through thoroughly. Too sweet? Add little bit of vinegar. Too sour? Add little bit of sugar.

Serve warm or cold.

Enjoy and remember to visit http://www.bestforreading.com 

      

  

    

A change is as good as a holiday and my gaurdian angel!

I have made changes to the name of my website as well as the look of it. Those of you who had a peek at my website http://www.booksmatic.com, please note that the new name is http://www.bestforreading.com. This name change was on the advice of all those brainy people who works with these square boxes that we are so much addicted to nowadays.  Not only did I make a change to the name of my website, I also decided to change the look of http://www.bestforreading.com. Pay a visit and buy your Christmas gift!

I hope you enjoyed my story of Christmas on the farm and the delicious "soetkoekies". When I grew up on the farm, shoes were only worn for going to school and church. Bare feet was the norm and even today, I cannot wait to get rid of my shoes. My friends from the neighbouring (South African spelling) farms roamed the farm and many times went barefoot up in the mountains. Before I am going to continue with this story, take a moment to read the following link.

http://www.africanreptiles-venom.co.za/puff_adder.html

The problem with a puff-adder is that because they appear slow, people underestimate the speed with which they can strike. Anyway, to get back to my story. I was about Grade 10 or there about and a group of friends decided to climb the mountain to see if we can see the nearest town. Needless to say, we were all bare foot. We have nearly reached the summit when I heard a little voice ordering me not to put my foot down on the ground. I looked down and there, beneath my foot was a puff-adder curled up. The picture I have in my mind of the snake after so many years is that it was in a striking position. An adder curls up before it strikes. I gave one jump back and screamed snake. We all were fairly calm, even my friends. Maybe it is because they did not see the snake. I had the audacity to go back to the spot to see if I can see it. In hindsight today, I realise how foolish I was. That was the end of our excursion up in the mountain for that day and we made our way back home down the mountain. And I am sure my guardian angel protected me. Think of. Grade 8's high up in a mountain. No cell phones, no two way radios, nothing. Then I heard this voice warning me.  

In all the years after that I have never encountered a snake or a puff-adder for that matter until 2011. The house I have shown you in of my previous blogs where the roof blew off is being rented out. The previous tenant kept on telling me there are snakes, but I thought it was because the house is situated on the slopes of Signal Hill.

Signal Hill and the Noon Gun - Cape Town Tourism

After the tenant moved out I was cleaning the property. Higher up on the property is an old garden shed of some sorts with old tiles, pots and other garden stuff in it. I scratched around in the shed and did not notice anything out of the ordinary. The next day a colleague and I went back to the property. We went up to the shed area and he was standing near the shed's entrance. I suddenly just shouted that he must jump; which he did without hesitation. And there, next to him was this big fat puff-adder basking in the sun on the hot tiles. We immediately left. I am not a snake killer and decided to phone Nature Conservation. He came the next day. As we approached the shed, I saw not one, but two puff-adders. A male and female and both where intertwined in the sun.   I have taken these photos while the snake handler was catching them.

One snake in box on right. Other trying to escape!

Puff-adder caught

The female is in the box. The male is hiding beneath the newspaper. 

One of the interesting facts about the release of these snakes is that they can only be released on the Cape Peninsula Mountain Range. The snakes on the peninsula carry viruses and bacteria that is different to the bacteria on the other mountain ranges and the other way round as well.

In my wonderful bookstore, http://www.bestforreading.com  you will find books on exotic animals and pets. If it is not on display in my widgets, go the search bar. you are bound to find a book at http://bestforreading.com   that tickles your fancy. Enjoy browsing!

Have a look at this book: 

The Pet [Paperback] by Kris Fox    

Book Description

Publication Date: May 23, 2011

Description
There is a commonly held belief that every myth has, at its center, some manner of truth. The truth upon which the myth was built is often warped, misunderstood, and twisted by fear, until mental illness becomes demonic possession and dinosaurs are seen as great daemons that ruled the earth before God sent them back to hell. Yet, still, beneath it all, there is an element of truth, deeply concealed within the fear of the deadly and what we don't understand.
Sunshine has led a dismally unremarkable life, one that seems all the more bleak for the reality of her ageing. But on the day that she thinks the worst fact she must confront is her own greying hair, she stumbles into a hidden world that changes her life into anything but unremarkable. After a wrong turn takes her deep into gang territory, she is saved from a brutal attack by a mythical beast, a vampire, a vampire who must then keep her with him in order to protect his secret.
But unlike the myth, this vampire, Caleb, is not of the Undead. He is an evolved primate, a predatory species, one of many that have been living among men, preying on them, for eons. Caleb's existence poses the question, what if human evolution had progressed differently? With all that we do not know that exists in the universe, what if we are not at the top of the food chain?
Follow Caleb and Sunshine as they travel together, hunting one of Caleb's own who kills for sport over need. See through the eyes of both hunter and prey as they follow the trail, not only of this bloodthirsty daemon that preys on humans, but also those daemons of memory, loss, and regret that live within their own souls.

And my recipe today is a very traditional South African meal for those cold days (although it is summer here)

Milk-food or spoon-meat

2 litres milk

250 ml (1 cup) flour

2.5 ml (1/4 t) salt

15 ml (1 table spoon) soft butter 

Boil the milk- don't let it cook over!

Sieve flour and salt and add butter. Rub between fingers to form frummels.

this can be done in your food processor as well.

Add slowly to milk while stirring continuously. Lumps may form, but be patient and keep on stirring. 

Turn stove to low and cook for an additional 8 minutes. Serve with cinnamon sugar. 80 ml  (1/3 cup) ground  cinnamon and 160 ml (1/2 cup) sugar

Enjoy! http://www.bestforreading.com        

  

When Father Xmas did not have a sleigh, but a tractor!

Before I am going to tell you when Father Xmas had a tractor, look what wonderful book I have uploaded at http://www.booksmatic.com. To view this book and many more, go to http://www.booksmatic.com

Home Cooking with Jean-Georges: My Favorite Simple Recipes [Hardcover]

Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Author), Genevieve Ko (Author)      

Book Description

Release Date: November 1, 2011

Join one of the world’s greatest chefs in his most personal book yet, as Jean-Georges Vongerichten shares his favorite casual recipes in Home Cooking with Jean-Georges.

Though he helms a worldwide restaurant empire—with locations in New York, Las Vegas, London, Paris, and Shanghai—Jean-Georges counts his greatest joy in life as family first, then food. In Home Cooking with Jean-Georges, he brings readers into his weekend home, where he cooks simple, delicious dishes that leave him plenty of time to enjoy the company of friends and loved ones.

A few years ago, Jean-Georges decided to give himself a gift that most of us take for granted: two-day weekends. He and his wife, Marja, and their family retreat to their country home in Waccabuc, New York. There, the renowned chef produces the masterful, fresh flavors for which he is known—but with little effort and few dishes to clean at the end. These quick, seasonal, Vongerichten-family favorites include: Crab Toasts with Sriracha Mayonnaise, Watermelon and Blue Cheese Salad, Herb ed Sea Bass and Potatoes in Broth, Lamb Chops with Smoked Chile Glaze and Warm Fava Beans, Parmesan-Crusted Chicken, Fresh Corn Pudding Cake, Tarte Tatin, and Buttermilk Pancakes with Warm Berry Syrup.

With 100 recipes and 100 color photographs—all taken at his country house—Home Cooking with Jean-Georges will inspire home cooks with fantastic accessible dishes to add to their repertoires. 

I  have told you in an earlier post about the fact that I grew up on a farm in this secluded valley and being so close to Christmas, I have to tell you how we celebrated Christmas on the farm. This was before the days of television here in South Africa (only arrived in 1976), "cheap" money as it is today or cell phones or any fancy thing.

Have look on the map where this valley is. Find the town Villiersdorp. On route R43 going North East, you will see a road going to the left. This road goes over the mountain and leads to a valley. This is where I grew up. Zoom in.

www.maplandia.com/south-africa/western-cape/caledon/villiersdorp/ 

A few weeks before Christmas, our house would be white washed. This was done every year. To white wash a house one uses diluted white paint and apply it with a brush. As soon as the walls were white washed, the us children knew that Christmas is around the corner. Then it is time for our Lucky Packet Boxes, biscuits, ginger beer and family.

Very little Christmas decorations were bought. Most of it we made ourselves with crinkle cut paper. The Christmas tree was a real pine tree and not these plastic trees used today. The "snow" was cotton placed on the branches and there was not such a thing as Christmas lights. The Christmas lights on the tree was a miniature candle holder with real candles in it, These candles were lit every evening and had to be extinguished every evening as well.    

All the children on the farm received an OK Bazaars lucky dip. This usually was filled with masks, games such as Snakes and Ladders. sweets and plastic "Made in China" toys. The excitement was great and my brother and I had to go and stand in the queue with the children of the workers on the farm. Each one of us ran to the side as soon as we received the Lucky Dip to see what Father Christmas has given us this year. It amused me for days on end.

This was the time that the cousins, uncles. aunts and grandparents would come and visit so there was a lot of preparation to do. In between working down in the packing shed, my mom prepared home made ginger beer (see the recipe in an earlier post). This was when my mom baked biscuits and cookies of all sorts and the tins were running over with various types of cookies (not the computer type) Ginger cookies and Soetkoekies. The best was to go unnoticed into the pantry and to take a cookie and hoping that my mom will not see the pile getting less and less. These cookies and biscuits were not only kept for the visiting family, but also for the farm workers.

Now why the farm workers? Well on Christmas eve, the excitement was not only the arrival of Father Xmas, but also to be woken up with the sweet voices of the farm workers singing Christmas carols. Not only did it mean that it is nearly morning, but it was so wonderful to hear the harmonious voices. Initially the workers and their wives walked from house to house, but later years they used a tractor with a trailer behind. As soon as they have finished with the carol singing, then my mom will hand out cookies and ginger beer to each of them. The men who wanted something stronger was treated with a glass of wine by my dad.     

Obviously the recipe I am placing today is called "Soetkoekies" in Afrikaans. it is an old favourite in South Africa and directly translated it means sweet cookies. It is easy to make and only take a few minutes.

Look at the photos of how delicious they look like

Here follows and enjoy!

Sweet Cookies/ Soetkoekies

About 3 dozen

500 g (4 cups) flour

2.5 ml (1/2 teaspoon) salt

2.5 ml (1/2 t) baking soda

2.5 ml (1/2 t) cream of tartar

2.5 ml (1/2 t) powder nutmeg

2.5 ml (1/2 t) fine cloves

 ml (1 t) fine cinnamon

5 ml (1 t) ginger powder

200 g butter

1 large egg

375 ml (1 1/2 cup) brown sugar

30 ml (2 t) sweet wine/port or sherry

Sieve flour, salt, baking soda, cream of tartar and all the spices together

Mix butter with above using your finger tips (or use electric mixer)

Mix egg and brown sugar and add sweet wine. add to flour mixture and mix well to form a firm dough.

Make a ball with it and place in plastic bag which has been sprayed with non-stick spray

leave overnight in fridge

The Next Day!

Roll the dough out to a thickness of about 5 mm. Cut cookie shapes out with little forms.

Bake for twelve minutes in a preheated oven at 200 deg C.

Take out of oven and leave to cool down before placing in tins

Enjoy and remember to to have a look at http://.www.booksmatic.com

       

  

Where has Cape Town blown to?

Here at http://www.booksmatic.com, I survived this gale force wind that has been blowing here for more that three days on end. I previously wrote to you in one of my blogs how the wind is forced into this tunnel over False Bay between the Hottentots Holland Mountains and The Table Mountain Range.Mostly this wind is known as the Cape Doctor as it cleans the polluted air, but at times this very same wind can create total havoc. Look at the photos below what this wind can do. These photos were taken in Sea Point where the roof blew off.

These photos shows only the damage at one house. Trees were blown over as well as the roof of a local school in Sea Point. The first photo shows where the cladding of the roof, known as mallthoid, blew off and landed at the Koi pond (at the back). In the process a glass roof was damaged and a glass shard killed two Koi fish. The rest of the photos is just an indication how the wind got hold of the roof structure.

Have a look at the photo to get an indication of the velocity of the wind in central Cape Town. People are blown over and some are holding on to a pole to prevent them from being blown over:

Have look at these links:

http://n24.cm/Uf6Q07

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCQivnYT6Pg

And today? today it is an overcast day with the possibility of rain. Yesterday was the official inauguration of Table Mountain as one of the seven Natural Wonders of the world. The mountain, however was shy to show all its glory when the mayor of Cape Town revealed the sign. Usually the mountain basks in all the glory it can bestow on us.


Have you paid a visit to my shop at http://www.booksmatic.com yet. If not, do so. I have a big sale going on. Buy a Christmas gift in time and save! Look at this book below. You save at least $14!

Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust [Hardcover]

Ina Garten (Author)

For Ina, “foolproof” means more than just making one dish successfully; it’s also about planning a menu, including coordinating everything so it all gets to the table at the same time. In Barefoot Contessa Foolproof, Ina shows you how to make a game plan so everything is served hot while you keep your cool. There are notes throughout detailing where a recipe can go wrong to keep you on track, plus tips for making recipes in advance. It’s as though Ina is there in the kitchen with you guiding you every step of the way.

With 150 gorgeous color photographs and Ina’s invaluable tips, Barefoot Contessa Foolproof is a stunning yet infinitely practical cookbook that home cooks will turn to again and again.

My shop, http://www.booksmatic.com, is constantly updated with new items. Take a tour! 

And my recipe of the day is?

Baked Brown Pudding

3 cups of flour                                                          3 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups sugar                                                       3 tablespoons vinegar 

3 cups milk                                                               3 tablespoons or any syrup

4 eggs                                                                      3 teaspoons cooking (baking) soda

Whisk butter and sugar to cream. Add whisked eggs and then add alternatively portions of flour and milk, always stirring well. Shortly before baking, dissolve the cooking soda in the vinegar. Add this to the mixture, which has to be put into a buttered mold. Bake for 1 1/2 hours in a slow oven (180 deg c or 350 F      

Happy baking and remember to visit http://www.booksmatic.com