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                      

And then the earthquake came

I hope you have paid a visit to my on-line shop at http://www.booksmatic.com since my last post. I have updated my pets section. At the last widget you will find more items for your pets. Have a look at the Solvit Tagalong Pet Booster Seat. This is ideal when travelling with your pet and comes in small, medium and large.  

Now to get back to the devastation on the sunken toilet and earthquake and the subsequent "modernization" that followed after that. Please first read the link about the earthquake in 1969.

http://www.stormchasing.co.za/articles-and-news/historic-weather-archive/184-tulbagh-ceres-1969-earthquake  

Now, the farm on which I grew up was not far from Ceres and Tulbagh. I would say approximately about a 100 km or so. Give and take a few kilometers. The make-shift toilet under the old pine tree was up running. My dad decided that this is the time to have an inside flush toilet installed. This was a big thing as at that stage we had no electricity and no telephone. At night candles and lamps were used. On Saturday evenings the generator was switched on to generate electricity, but this was switched off at 11 pm.

In the kitchen we had a Aga Stove and a gas fridge. Between the kitchen and the bedroom of the boys was a closed veranda with the door leading to the outside. It was an ordinary week night. Both my parents were out for the evening. I was sitting at the table in the bedroom doing my homework. My sister was helping me. As those were the days before ballpoint pens, the pen had to be refilled each time it was empty (and besides the fact that we were prohibited to use ballpoint pens at all). 

My sister was standing behind me. She was helping me to re-fill the pan. It was then we when he heard this low sound like an approaching train. The next minute the world started to shake around us. We all shouted "earthquake" and made for the door. Dog included. Never mind that half the ink pot was thrown down my back. My brother, sister and I tried to get out the backdoor simultaneously, but got stuck in the door. The poor dog could not get his turn quick enough to get out the back door, missed the turn, carried on straight and ended up under the kitchen table with all the chairs falling on top of him. In the end we all managed to get out the door, the budgie in his cage as well. One of us must have picked up the poor blight in his cage.

Very soon my parents rushed home to see if we were okay. We all were a bit shaken and okay, but not the house. The kitchen chimney decided that it has had enough and it fell over and the rest of the house had many cracks. This was then that my dad decided to demolish the chimney, take the old stove out and lay electricity cables to the house. Now imagine once the electricity was switched on how we went around from room to room switching light on and off. 

At the same time the "donkey" in the bathroom was replaced with an electric geyser. Now those of you who do not know what a donkey is, it is a boiler in the bathroom that had to be stoked with wood chips to boil the water. Maybe today with the high price of electricity this was a much cheaper and environmentally friendlier option.

The best however was the shared telephone line that was installed (how kept up with all this sudden modernization still remains a mystery today). Each person using the share line had an unique ring. Ours was two short rings and two long rings. If you phoned the person sharing your line, it was for free, All other outgoing calls were paid for and the telephone exchange controlled this. The older generation will remember this: "Number please" or if you want to phone you had to pick up the phone and ask: "Line busy?".      

Here at http://www.booksmatic.com many history books are sold as well. Browse and don't be shy.

The recipe today is 

Eggplant with cheese   

Two oven baked eggplants

2 desert spoons butter

1 tin (340 g) chopped tomatoes

500 g fresh grated mozzarella cheese

30 g parmasan cheese

30 g mixed herbs to taste

Pre-heat oven to 200 deg C

Use deep oven dish and butter it

Cut eggplant in slices and place in oven dish

Place tomatoes, cheese and herbs on top

Bake until cheese starts to bubble (about 45 minutes)

Serve warm with rice, pasta or cold with bread

Enjoy just as much as you will enjoy visiting http://www.booksmatic.com  \

                      

The Sunken Toilet

Here at www.booksmatic.com I found an interesting photo. I like it so much that I made it my introductory picture to my home page at www.booksmatic.com. Therefore I have decided to share it with you.

This is so true and I cannot imagine a life without reading. I grew up on a farm here in the Western Cape. It was a valley surrounded by high mountains and the only way one could reach the valley is by means of a narrow mountain path. At places this path was so narrow that a car had to reverse to a wider spot if another car came from the front. In the winter when the mountains are covered in snow and it is raining day after day without end, I took a book and apples. 

We mainly grew apples on this farm and my dad always saw to it that there was a crate of apples in the house. My favourite (no spelling error - UK English) apple was a York Imperial. I do not think one gets this type of apple anymore. Most likely a hybrid of some kind.   

Next to the house we had a dam and the feeding source for this dam was a fountain about a kilometer from the house. In this fountain was a pipe as well that fed the water to our house. To think this mineral rich water I drank as a child and even bathed in it. Today I have to buy this mineral water - bottled! Between the house was our long drop toilet. When the chickens hatched, my mom kept the chickens in a box in the long drop as it was warm in there.

One day my brother went to the toilet and heard a chicken way down there in the hole. He called me and we took a torch and way down on the heap was a chicken crying for help and most likely to get away from this smell. My mom was working down at the packing sheds and my dad was some where on the farm. All in my family are not only big readers, we are also animal lovers. So my brother and I took the road looking for my farther. Shoes was a no no and we ran to my father. He was busy digging holes to plant fruit trees, but when he heard what has happened, he left everything and came home. He took a long pole and attached a tin cut in half to the pole. In this way he managed to get the chicken out.

This chicken had a name after this. "Kakbalie" translated it means "Shitpile". Kakbalie became a pet in the house as we decided to hand rear him. Yes, him as he turned out to be male. he died a natural death.

Now to get back to the toilet between the dam and the house. We were weekly borders and went to hostel on a Monday morning and came home on Friday afternoons. Anyway, this morning we were all in a rush as it goes in a household with four children. My sister went to the toilet and came soon afterwards running into the house screaming that the toilet has disappeared. it sank due to the heavy rain. Only the roof was sticking out. Now we had no toilet. my farther took the tractor and pulled the remains of the toilet down. A temporary one was built out of sink at a different spot under the huge pine tree. 

This, and the earthquake was the start of "modernization" in my household and next week I will tell you more of it. For more great stories visit www.booksmatic.com.

My recipe for the week is:

Ginger beer as it is summer here in South Africa

20 ml fine ginger (1 ounce)

1.6 kg sugar (just less than 4 pounds)

10 ml active dry yeast (1/2 ounce)

10 ml tartaric acid (buy this at your local supermarket)

10 l lukewarm water 

150 g raisins (5 ounces)

10 ml Cream of tartar

Add ginger to water and sugar and stir until sugar has dissolved

Add remainder of ingredients

Pour mixture into plastic container with lid and leave to ferment

Sieve beer through and pour into sterilized bottles

Do not fill the bottles to the top

 Place 2-3 raisins in each bottle

Fastened the top, but only loose

Let bottles ferment for a day or tow at room temperature before placing in frigde.

For more ideas remember to visit www.booksmatic.com

                    

Mr Chameleon has left the premises

For those of you who haven't visit www.booksmatic.com yet, go and have a look. the site has been updated and once a again there are bargains for Africa. Do yourself a favour and click on the side banners on my webpage at www.booksmatic.com. There are more items. These ranges from more bookstores to music, furniture and even art. Don't miss out on new publications.

And it rained this morning here in Cape Town. Not that we are complaining. In South Africa we are always grateful for every drop that falls. Cape Town has been on water restrictions for so long that it has become a way of life. Gardens may not be watered between  10 am and 4 pm. You may not wash off pavements and when you water your garden, you have to use a nozzle that switches off on release. There are enough dams, but the population is growing to fast. At least the garden had a free water shower. 

A week has gone by since I have written about my dog who had to go in for an operation. Well, all went well and three spots of benign cancer has been removed successfully. He was very drowsy, and I had to help him into the car. He slept close to me that evening as I know his every move just as he knows mine. My shadow personified. If I move, he moves. If I garden, he will help me by digging up the plants. What can I do? Nothing, he most likely thinks that he is helping me. I just moan and replant the plant.

Well, Mr Chameleon obviously haven't learned his lesson regarding busy roads. He most likely was thinking that he is a dragon of some sorts and that everybody can see him. He has disappeared. The changes are very good that he has camouflaged himself in the bushes. After all, that is why they are called chameleons. He could be watching me through the window this very minute and I would not even know it.

The recipe I am posting today is a very traditional Afrikaans South African recipe. It is called a "melktert" or milk tart in English. Remember to visit the cooking section at www.booksmatic.com.

Crust-less Milk tart  

Separate the yolk and egg white of four eggs

200 g (250 ml) sugar (7 ounces)

60 g (75 ml) butter or margarine melted (3 ounces)

140 g (250 ml) unsifted cake flour (7 ounces)

5 ml baking powder (1/2 teaspoon)

Pinch of salt

1 l milk 

5 ml Vanilla Extract 

40 g (50 ml) Cinnamon sugar (Mix cinnamon and sugar) (2 ounces)

Preheat oven to 180 C or 350 F

use two bowels of about 1 liter each and rub with butter

Mix egg yolk, sugar and margarine/butter until creamy

Sieve flour and baking powder and salt together and mix well with egg yolk mixture.

Add milk and vanilla extract

Beat egg whites until firm and fold into milk mixture with metal spoon. The mixture will be thin at this stage.

Pour into tart bowels and throw cinnamon sugar over

Bake 40 to 50 minutes in the middle of the oven. 

Serve warm or cold with tea or enjoy as is.  

Have a great week and visit www.booksmatic.com      

        

Reading, my best friend and a recipe

www.booksmatic.com

I saw this poster a while back..................................

......and this could be me. I hang onto books as if they are never going to be printed again. Well, some books will never be printed again. I am always worried that I am going to want to read that book again. Yes, this has happened and I am sure to any reader as well. On a sunny day, you wake up and decide to clean out your bookshelf and wherever you are keeping your books. (This is especially true if the books are "spilling" over onto the floor and every bit of space you have available.) You take a black bag or box and pull the car closer and load the books in the car's boot. Off you go the nearest charity organisation and donate these "excess" books. Just to look again for these same books you donated a few months ago as you want to read it again or lend it to a friend.

I told you a few weeks ago about my visit to the vet for my dog's (see photo below) yearly check-up.

During this visit, a growth was discovered on his leg and after tests, it was discovered that it turned out to be benign cancer. The vet was also worried about a growth that appeared in his mouth after he was attacked through a fence by another dog. Roger has a very placid nature and despite his size, he is something like wimp and will cower and cry easily when he is hurt. This is of coarse when he does not climb into my arms for protection. To get back to my story. These growths are going to be removed this morning. I am a worry pot as this is my four-legged child.

On Friday I was driving down a fairly busy road while looking for a certain street. I passed the street and had to make a u-turn. As I was driving back, I saw a chameleon trying to cross the road in the path of my vehicle . I served the car and missed the chameleon. Fortunately the car behind me realized something is in the road and did the same. I drove on and made another u-turn to try and save the chameleon. In the mean time one car after the other was going up and down the road. By the time I was making my u-turn, I thought the chameleon is a goner. Hold and below, Mr Chameleon was still cruising across the street. I managed to save the chameleon (see photo) and he is living in my garden.

               

Recipe from www,booksmatic.com for the day.

Creamy Potatoes (six people)

Salad: Five medium potatoes, peeled, diced and cooked

30 ml (2 desert spoons) butter

Salt and and freshly grounded pepper to taste

1 green chili pepper

Sauce:

250 ml (1cup) greek yogurt

60 ml (1/4 cup brown sugar

125 ml (1/2 cup)) mayonnaise

30 ml (2 desert spoons)

1-2 green chili peppers. chopped finely and pips removed

30 ml coriander leaves, chopped. 

Garnishing: Black grounded pepper. Coriander leaves 

  

Enjowww.booksmatic.com 

  

        

Wow!

I was reading News24.com last week and saw this video clip about a local guy, Selim Kagee here in Cape Town. I followed the link and it blew my mind away. This will give Andrea Bocelli a go for his voice. As teenager he was advised to sit out in the school choir. He was persistent though and went for private lessons.  Go to http://t.co/tH6GzZjs to listen to this guy. Beautiful, full, rich voice. The link is in Afrikaans. Scroll down to the bottom of the article and you will find the video clip

Remember for more cd's and reading material you can visit http://www.booksmatic.com. You will find a wide selection of updated information.

This week was the week of leaking kettles. Why is it that the products we buy are not the same quality anymore. After many years, my kettle started leaking and the handle came loose. I tried to fix it, but in vain. Off I went to the shop and bought a kettle, brand new, out of the box. I could not wait to get home to test it out. Alas, as I switched it on, it started leaking. The next day I went back to the shop and they exchanged the product without question. Back home I went and tried it out. Guess what? Yes, you are correct. it started leaking again. This time I informed the head office of this particular shop that that the design is faulty and it is advisable to withdraw the item. Whether they did I don't know. All I know is that I went to another shop and bought another make. And yes, the kettle is working fine thanks.

Now the recipe I am placing today is homemade tempura. easy to make:

Beat one egg together with 1 cup soda water (club soda)
Add one cup flour and pinch of salt
Mix well
Heat up 2 cups of cooking oil in pan with medium to high heat
Test oil by dropping small piece of batter in oil. If it puffs out, it is ready.
Cover 200g green beans with the batter.
Fry a few at a time for a minute or two until golden brown
Take out and place on kitchen towel
Dish it up warm with a sweet-chili sauce

For more recipes go to www.booksmatic.com 

I am still around

What a week in Cape Town. Summer is really not in a hurry to reach the southern shores of Africa. Besides the fact that the South Easter wind was howling and blowing all and sundry around, Cape Town also experienced a  Black South Easter.

The prevailing wind bringing rain to the western Cape is the Northwest wind and mainly blows in winter. In summer the prevailing wind is the South Easter. At times this wind also bring in clouds and this causes heavy rain with floods. This was exactly the case last Friday. It not only caused severe floods in areas like Gordons Bay and Stellenbosch, areas about 50 km's out of Cape Town. This front moved up the southern and eastern coasts of South Africa and caused floods with roads being washed away and a few drownings when the rivers came down. Today, the wind is blowing, but only mildly with a few clouds fleeting across the blue

sky.

My dog Roger, a Canis Africanus, loves playing with his Frisbee in the river. This is a daily ritual. When I arrive home, he will come and place his front legs on mine and then he "hugs" me by pushing his head into my chest. the more I encourage him, the more he pushes. Then he goes and grabs his Frisbee. At times however I do not feel like playing with the frisbee and then I ask him to choose another toy like a tennis ball or at times, I will tell him "No toys today" and he will wait at the garage door without any toys. In such cases he will grab his leash in his mouth and "take himself" for a walk with me following behind him. He always make his way to the Liesbeeck River. This is a shallow canalized river and roger loves playing in the river with his frisbee.

This Liesbeeck River used to be the border in the days of the Dutch settlers round about 1657. On the other side  was "wild Africa". It is difficult to think that this was the border and very close by my home the first "racial" clashes took place between the settlers and the Koi-San. A few of the original homesteads are still around.

This actual diverted my attention from what I was actually going to tell you. At times vagrants break bottles in the river and one does not see the glass shards. And low and behold, only after roger was finished playing, I saw that he had cut the cushion under his left paw open. Fortunately I had Latogen on hand I administered this for a few days. He was limping and on Friday I decided to take him to the vet as I was worried about infection. The vet however, reassured me that the treatment I gave Roger was 100% correct.       

Now you might wonder what wonderful recipe I am posting today? Well here it comes!

Wonder sauce 

3/4 cup brown vinegar

3/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 egg

Mix ingredients together and boil till bubbles form. Watch closely as it might burn.

Add to: green beans, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, small onions etc

Remember to visit www.booksmatic.com

                    

Who am I?

I live in Cape Town. The wind is blowing so strong, that I might end up living somewhere else. Jokes aside. This wind blowing today is called the Cape Doctor. It not only cleanses all the smog and pollution in the air, it also brings rain inland. So we Capetonians should not complain. If the inland suffer with drought, we suffer as the food prices go up and up.

Cape Town is the capitol of the Western Cape Province and is a winter rainfall area. We do get the occasional downpour in summer, but it is the exception rather than the rule. We do get snow in winter as well, but mainly on the higher slopes of the mountains. Fortunately Cape Town is a coastal city and this causes us to have fairly mild winters with an average maximum temp of in the high teens or early twenties. 

I have decided to run a virtual shop and my host is Amazon.com. I also design customized items which is for sale. Check this electric pressure cooker out: It is on sale!

Secura 6-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker 6qt, 18/10 Stainless Steel Cooking Pot, Pressure cooker, Slow cooker, Food steamer, Rice cooker, Browning/sauté pan, Soup maker

    

This is to be found at www.booksmatic.com at a very special price.

For reading this today, I am going to post an absolute delicious salad recipe.

One broccoli/Cauliflower/or shredded cabbage (broccoli and cauliflower broken up into florets)

One avocado pear

One cup mayonnaise

4 teaspoons suger

1 dessertspoon vinegar (brown or white)

Mix and enjoy as is. Refreshing!

See you next week Monday. Have a safe week