The FunkyMunky Herb eBook is now available. 48 popular herbs, descriptions and uses with photos. Immediately available, will be emailed to you. Only R50 , send me an email for payment details.
I'm very impressed with what I've read so far. What I really like is that your book is a combination of medicinal and culinary advice, unlike many other herb books I've read.
And the format is great - thanks very much. I have an ambitious project to make a herb garden this year - so your section of herb gardens will come in very handy - Shelagh 
 

Zimbabwe update

Dear Family and Friends,
A power sharing deal between the MDC and Zanu PF has been agreed. This is not what Zimbabweans voted for but it seems we must make the best of it if we are to save the country from complete ruin. The very people who designed and implemented the 9 year collapse of Zimbabwe will now sit alongside the victims of their ruinous policies. What will be top of the agenda?

Should it be electricity? Supplies are down to 6 or less hours a day in most places. Businesses, manufacturing and industry are close to collapse.
Schools, hospitals and institutions are barely functional.

Should it be water? Supplies to urban, residential and industrial areas are down to 2 hours a day in most places and non-existent in others. Cholera and other water born disease are commonplace.

Should it be food? Shops are empty of all basic goods and individuals have resorted to importing their own supplies in order to survive. Food growing on seized farms is negligible and in most cases barely enough to feed one or two families. Almost half the population will need international food aid by Christmas.

Should it be money? Bank queues run into thousands as the Reserve Bank Governor restricts daily withdrawals to the current equivalent of just 2
British pence per customer. Without access to their own money people cannot buy food or medicines or pay their bills.

Should it be Health? Hospitals have no drugs, equipment, food, linen or staff. Pharmacies increase their prices at least once every day and people are dying for lack of basic, simple life sustaining medication.

Should it be education? Teachers earn less than street cleaners and so they are always on strike. Pupils have no books. Parents cannot afford school and examination fees, uniforms or even food for their children. What hope for our next generation.

Should it be land and the environment? Restoring property rights and Title Deeds. Controlling gold panning, diamond digging, tree cutting, poaching, streambank and roadside cultivation and fires.

Perhaps it should be repealing legislation which has destroyed freedom of speech, movement and association; freedom of the press and media and citizenship laws which have made born and bred Zimbabweans into aliens.

I could go on and on but perhaps my own favourites will be top of the agenda: law and order and accountability. Until Zimbabwe's Police stop
saying "It is political" and start arresting people who break the law, regardless of their political affiliations, we can surely not move forward.
So too the people who raped, murdered, burned, looted, tortured, stole and incited others to do likewise - they must be held accountable and punished for their deeds. Zimbabwe stands at the threshold and we pray that our trust is not betrayed because we have suffered so much and for so long.
Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy
 Copyright cathy buckle
1www.cathybuckle.com .
To subscribe/unsubscribe to this
newsletter or for information on my books, please write to: cbuckle@mango.zw
 

This South Africa - interesting facts and information

The A to Z of South African culture (each newsletter features a letter of the alphabet) see archive

M is for Mbube
In 1939 a tall, shy Zulu migrant worker named Solomon Linda stepped up to the microphone and produced a three-chord song with lyrics something like "Lion! Ha! You're a lion!", inspired by boyhood memories of chasing lions stalking the family cattle. The song was called Mbube, Zulu for "lion".
It's estimated that Linda received a total of 10 shillings for the song. Yet the tune went on to become Pete Seeger's runaway hit Wimoweh, then the Tokens' The Lion Sleeps Tonight, on to at least 160 covers, before ending up in the voices of Timon and Pumbaa, the meerkat and warthog characters in Disney's classic movie and Broadway hit The Lion King.

Along the way, it is said to have earned some US$15-million (R90-million) in royalties - but not for Linda. The musician died in 1962 with less than R100 in his bank account. His widow couldn't afford a headstone for his grave.

In February 2006, Linda's legacy finally received some justice. After a six-year battle his daughters, who had claimed almost R10-million from copyright holder Abilene Music, settled their dispute for an undisclosed sum.

Linda's Lion sleeps - at last
 

Source: SouthAfrica.info
The all-in-one official guide
and web portal to South Africa.  
 

Recipe Requests

Looking for a specific South African recipe? Email me and I will do my best to find it for you!

Add your suggestions to my Elephant Stew and Wacky Sarmies recipes.
 

The Recipes

Ash-baked bread
Ingredients
1 kg white bread flour
7 ml sugar
2 ml salt
10 g instant yeast
500 ml lukewarm water
15 ml melted butter or margarine

Method:
Combine the flour, sugar and salt and sprinkle the instant yeast on top. Add just enough lukewarm water to form a stiff dough. Knead the dough until it is elastic and no longer sticks to your hands. Brush the dough with melted butter or margarine and cover. Leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk. Knead down and shape into medium-sized balls. Place the balls in the hot ashes – not among coals – and cover with ash. Bake for about half an hour. When baked knock them together to remove most of the ash.

Banana bread
Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients
250 g soft butter
215 g castor sugar
60 ml condensed milk
2 large eggs
6 medium-sized ripe bananas
15 ml lemon juice
540 g cake flour
22 ml custard powder
5 ml ground ginger
5 ml ground cinnamon
5 ml baking powder
5 ml bicarbonate of soda
2 ml salt
415 ml milk

Method:
Set oven temperature to 180 °C.
Mix butter, castor sugar and condensed milk until creamy.
Beat eggs and add to butter mixture. Mash bananas with lemon juice and add to the butter mixture.
Sift all dry ingredients twice. Alternate adding dry ingredients and milk to the butter mixture. Stir well.
Pour into two greased loaf pans and bake for 45 minutes until golden brown. A cake tester should come out clean when inserted.
Leave in pans to cool, then place on wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Basic flat loaf

Cooking time: 20-30 min

Ingredients
DOUGH
800 ml white bread flour
7 ml instant yeast
15 ml coarse salt
15 ml olive oil
seasonings (see variations)
350 ml lukewarm water
TOPPING
seasonings (see variations)
30 ml coarse salt
30 ml olive oil

Method:
Combine the flour, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a hollow in the centre and add the oil and half the seasonings. Add the water and mix with a wooden spoon to form o soft dough. (The mixture makes a moist, slightly sticky dough.) Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead lightly for 10 minutes until smooth and no longer sticky. (Tiny air bubbles will form on the surface when the dough is lightly pressed between your hands.) Place the dough in a large oiled mixing bowl, brush with o little oil and cover lightly with plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place until the dough has doubled in volume, about 40-60 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead lightly four or five times, taking care not to knead out the air. Shape the dough into a neat oval by tucking the sides under to enclose even more air. Cover lightly and leave to rest for 7 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200 ºC and spray a fairly large baking sheet with non-stick spray. Lightly roll out the dough an a floured surface until it is the size of the baking sheet. Alternatively, flatten it with the palm of your hand until it is the required size. Place on the baking sheet, cover with a cloth and leave to rise until double in volume, about 20-30 minutes. Make holes in the proven dough with your fingers and fill with the remaining seasonings. Sprinkle with olive oil and coarse salt. Bake for 25 minutes until risen and done. Remove from the oven, place on a cooling rack and drizzle with extra olive oil if desired. Makes 1 large loaf which serves 6.

Basic pizza dough
Ingredients
500 g bread or wholewheat flour
5 ml instant dried yeast
salt and milled pepper
300 ml tepid water
30 ml olive oil

Method:
Mix flour, yeast and salt together. Make a well in centre of mixture and add water and oil. Hand mix thoroughly until dough leaves sides of bowl clean. (You may need a little extra tepid water, especially with wholewheat flour.) Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Roll out and place on baking sheets. Season and drizzle with olive oil. Allow to stand in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes, or until dough looks puffy around edges. Use as needed. Makes 2-3 x 20 cm bases.

Beer bread
Ingredients
750 ml cake flour
5 ml salt
15 ml baking powder
2 ml bicarbonate of soda
30 ml brown sugar
340 ml beer
GLAZE
1 small egg white
2 ml salt

Method:
Preheat oven to 160 ºC. Grease a small loaf pan. In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Stir in sugar. Pour in beer and knead lightly to form a stiff dough. Place dough in loaf pan. GLAZE: Whisk egg white and salt well. Brush over loaf and bake for 1 hour, or until loaf recedes from sides of pan. Turn out and cool on a wire rack. Makes 1 small loaf.