At http.www.bestforreading.com I cannot believe that another week has gone by. By now I believe that many of my block readers have visited my on line shop at http://www.bestforreading.com. If not, do so as I have uploaded the latest publications. A few was published this year! Hot off the press so to speak.
Have a look at this:
The Best American Series®
First, Best, and Best-Selling
The
Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country’s
finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volume’s series editor selects
notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. A
special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the
best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the
Best American series the most respected — and most popular — of its
kind.
The Best American Short Stories 2012 includes
Nathan Englander, Mary Gaitskill, Roxane Gay, Jennifer Haigh,
Steven Millhauser, Alice Munro, Lawrence Osborne, Eric Puchner,
George Saunders, Kate Walbert, and others
I do not know what made me think of this, but I think I have to share this. I was conscripted for national service. By law I had to go to the army for two years, failing which I could not get a job or had to go to jail. I am not going to discuss the pros and cons of this or to get into a political debate.
It was tough at times, but I have had a lot of fun as well. In my second year I was stationed at the South Wets African Military School in Okahandja, present day Namibia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okahandja. This was the forerunner of the present Namibian Army. My aunt and uncle was running a resort about 25 km outside Okahandja. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_Barmen.
The year before I bought my car, a Ford Escort GLE.
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| My car. This photo was taken in the Namib Desert
Since I bought the car, the oil light went on on my dashboard. Every time the light went on. I stopped at the garage and filled up with oil as the manual said so. This did not happen often but occasionally. What did I know about the workings of a car? It was my first car and a car is for mobility. Other people can fix the car.
One Saturday afternoon my friends and I decided to visit Cross Barmen. We jumped into my car and off we went. Halfway there I saw flames coming out from under the hood or bonnet as we call it here in South Africa. I stopped the car and opened the hood. In hind sight I should not have opened it as a fuelled the flames with oxygen. The flames where all over the engine. It did seem superficial and all we had was beer. (Obviously being young). I was too scared to drive the car further and when another vehicle passed, I asked them to phone the towing in service from my aunt. This was the days before cell phones.
I had my car towed in to Okahandja. Needles to say the towing was more expensive than the fixing of it. The reason is that instead of the normal three pints of oil I was meant to have in my car, I had at least six pints of oil. There was a short on the oil light and that is why the light kept on coming on on my dashboard. Goes to show.
My recipe of the week comes from Mrs Wicks' second cookery book. This is a traditional South African recipe.
Baked Brown Pudding
3 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 cups milk
3 tble spoons vinegar
3 tble spoons butter
3 tble spoons honey or any syrup
3 teaspoons cooking soda
4 eggs
Whisk butter and sugar to a 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 mould. Bake for 1 1/2 hours in a slow oven. (180 degrees Celsius)
Serve with custard
Colourful cooking: Potatoes and rice becomes whiter if a teaspoon of lemon juice has been added to the cooking water.
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