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Hi there!
Do you realise that
it is mid November already? Have you bought and mailed the Christmas gifts
for friends and family overseas? Well better shake a leg if you haven't,
the post office gets VERY busy this time of year! I have a quick and easy
alternative! Send an eBook. For a once -off cost the book is yours to do
with what you want (send it over and over again!). No postage is payable as you simply email it anywhere
in the world! Simply create a fancy email Christmas card and attach the
eBook!
Click here to take a look at two great South African recipe eBooks,
one in English and one in Afrikaans. Paypal accepted.
...and while on the
subject of Christmas gifts, I received a prize in a marketing competition
a week or so ago. The prize consisted of $5's worth of advertising
AND the money was being put in a cycler where it would appreciate every
time it completed a cycle. Really a prize that keeps growing! This would
make an ideal gift, once again, no postage to be paid and the value of the
prize would keep increasing! You are welcome to increase the value of the
gift and increase the final value! But
click here and see for yourself how it works!
So this newsletter
will have a Christmas recipe theme. I remember as a youngster that my
mother used to get up early every Christmas morning and surprise us with
freshly baked Christmas fruit mince pies! (Scroll down for recipe!) Now that started off Christmas
day really well! Being the middle of summer, Christmas day is mostly spent
outdoors in SA, hopefully near water, on green lawns under shady trees. Cold
meats and salads (or a bbq) are the order of the day ending it all off with juicy red
watermelon and the obvious fight after that everyone getting smeared with
the watermelon skins. More festive recipes in the next newsletter!
We will be spending
our Christmas in the Kruger National Park this year (yeah, I realise it
will be hot!). Christmas lunch will be in the airconditioned (yay!)
restaurant at Skukuza, the main restcamp in the Park. They normally have
something special on the menu for Christmas, will take a photo of
the menu and place it in a newsletter. Which gives me an idea, if any of
you are having Christmas lunch at some place special, take your digital
camera along (or cellphone cam) and take a pic of the menu and share it
with us! I will create a special page and put the menu's on! Just let me
have details of the place you had your meal!
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Search my website,
type in any key word and if that word is on my site you will see it in
the results, search for recipes, ingredients, place names etc |
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Eat and drink
what you like
1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than
the Aussies, British or Americans.
2. Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the
Aussies, British or Americans.
3. Africans drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than
the Aussies, British or Americans.
4. Italians drink large amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks
than the Aussies, British or Americans.
5. Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and
suffer fewer heart attacks than the Aussies, British or Americans.
MEDICAL CONCLUSION:
Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills
you.
I recently attended the Auto Africa International Motor Show and have 89
of the pictures on CD.
If you would like a copy, please
click here
for details. I also have an Southern African Wildlife CD
with pictures mostly taken in the Kruger National Park.
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Reduce your monthly short
term insurance premium,
click here for a free online quotation!
And while you are busy,
click here and apply online for your Barclaycard or Manchester
United card! |
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The
Herb Section - Evening Primrose |
This lovely plant opens it's yellow blooms at night, when it's
scent is at it's best, hence the name.
The primrose seeds contain the rare gamma-linoleic acid and
extracts are used for medicinal purposes.
Evening primrose is a biennial plant and prefers a sunny spot with
wee-drained soil. It is quite a large plant and grows to a height
of between 1 and 2 metres.
DOMESTIC USES
Toss the old flower heads onto the compost heap. The seeds that
germinate can be replanted, and the heads add valuable chorophyll
and nitrogen to the compost.
COSMETIC USES
Boil leaves and stems for a soothing astringent. This can be used
for greasy, spotty skin, eczema, psoriasis, rashes, insect bites,
scrapes and grazes.
Heat a cup of chopped leaves, buds and stems and a cup of aqueous
cream, allow to cool and use on dry skin.
Crushed flowers work well when applied to spots, insect bites and
rashes.
MEDICINAL USES
Evening primrose is being tested for use in heart complaints,
gastric irritations, high cholesterol, multiple sclerosis, high
blood pressure, chest ailments and many other medical problems.
Tests are also being done to include treatment for rheumatoid
arthritis, Parkinson's disease, breast tumours, hyperactivity and
schizoprenia.
CULINARY USES
Flowers can be chopped and added to salads.
Boil young evening primrose leaves, and eat as you would spinach.
The roots, dug up in the second year, before the plant sets seed,
can be pickled and eaten with salads and savoury dishes.
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Thanks to everyone who has mailed us fridge magnets depicting your
State, City or Country.
If you collect fridge magnets, I will gladly swop with you!
Please
email
me and we can make arrangements. Thanx a lot! |
My website is interactive, there are a few
pages you can contribute to:
Elephant Stew -
add
your suggestion 
Wacky Sarmies - add your fav sarmie (some great sarmie ideas here!)
Animal Facts - Some
interesting stuff here
Discussion Forum - Add to a current discussion or start a new thread.
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Why not post a message on the
Discussion Forum. The topic can be food, wildlife, travel or
photography related, or anything else of interest. Let's see if we can
get some interesting discussions going |
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No Bake Fruit Cake
2 packets coarsely broken Marie biscuits
2 eggs
1 cup (250ml) soft brown sugar
1 cup (250ml) butter or margarine
3 cups (750ml) dried fruit mix
75g glace cherries, halved
2 tots brandy or sherry
Melt butter and sugar, do not boil. Add fruit and boil for 3 minutes. Add
beaten eggs. Stir quickly after each addition and then boil for two more
minutes. Add Marie biscuits, cherries and brandy or sherry, mixing well. It
will seem as if there are too many biscuits but just keep mixing until they
are all incorporated. Place into greased plastic ring mould or spring form
cake tin. Unmould and dust with icing sugar before serving
Low Cholestrol Christmas Cake
1 kg mixed dried fruit
150g glacé apricots, chopped
150g glacé pineapple, chopped
250ml brandy
250ml treacle brown sugar
80ml oil
3 extra large egg whites, lightly beaten
5ml vanilla essence
15ml molasses or golden syrup
15ml orange marmalade
60ml orange juice
15ml finely grated orange rind
500ml cake flour
125ml self raising flour
5ml ground nutmeg
5ml ground cinnamon
5ml ground cloves
5ml mixed spice
60ml brandy fro pouring over
Mix the fruit in a large bowl with the brandy, cover and leave overnight, stir occasionally. Preheat the oven to 150ºC. Grease and line a 20cm square or 23cm round cake pan with greaseproof paper. Beat the sugar, oil and egg whites till combined. Add the essence, molasses, marmalade, juice and rind and beat until combined. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the fruit and sifted dry ingredients. Spoon into the tin, tap on the table to remove any air bubbles, and smooth the surface. Bake for 3 to 3 1/2 hours . Remove from oven, pour over the brandy and cool in tin before removing the paper.
Old-fashioned Christmas pudding
Traditionally a few tickeys are placed in the pudding, supposedly they bring luck to the recipient.
175 g raisins
125 g currants
200 g sultanas
250 g chopped dates
125 g mixed peel
225 g dried apricots, chopped
300 ml Guinness beer
60 ml rum
grated rind and juice of a lemon
grated rind and juice of an orange
225 g butter, at room temperature
350 g soft brown sugar
1 green apple, cored and grated
30 ml molasses or treacle
3 large eggs
125 g self-raising flour
5 ml ground mixed spice
10 ml ground cinnamon
2 ml freshly grated nutmeg
10 ml ground ginger
225 g fresh white breadcrumbs
Place the raisins, currants, sultanas, dates, mixed peel and apricots into a large mixing bowl. Pour over the beer, rum, lemon rind and juice, and the orange rind and juice. Cover the bowl and set aside to soak overnight. Cream together the butter and sugar until light. Stir in the grated apple and molasses. Beat the eggs in one by one, adding 15 ml self-raising flour to help prevent the mixture from curdling. Fold in the remaining flour and spices. Add the breadcrumbs and gently fold mixture together. Stir in soaked fruit, then all make your wishes. Grease and line 2 x 1 kg pudding basins or 4 x 500 g pudding basins. Spoon in the mixture. Cut round lids out of doubled greaseproof paper, allowing a little overhang. Fold a 1 cm pleat down the centres of the greaseproof circles and cover basins, tying in place with string under rim. Pleat a piece of foil or muslin in the same way and secure over basins. Steam for 4 hours, topping up with boiling water as required, or cook in a pressure cooker for 2 hours. Store pudding until needed, then steam for a further 2-4 hours, or 2 hours in a pressure cooker. Serves: 24
Christmas fruit mince pies
350 g cake or all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
125 g castor sugar
175 g butter, cut into cubes
6 egg yolks, beaten
250 ml good-quality fruit mincemeat
1 apple, peeled and grated
1 each orange and lemon, grated rind
splash of brandy or rum
Place the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl.
Add the butter and work it in, using your fingertips.
Mix in the egg yolks briefly, just until the dough holds together.
Knead into a ball and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface.
Cut out rounds, using a 5 cm diameter cookie cutter, and stamp out small
star shapes from the leftover pastry.
Press the pastry rounds into the hollows of tartlet tins.
Mix mincemeat, apple, rind and brandy or rum.
Drop 5 ml filling into each pastry case and top with a star shape.
Bake at 190 °C for about 15 minutes, or until the pastry is golden.
Cool on wire racks.
Tips
Serve warm, with a dollop of brandy butter or a dusting of icing sugar.
Make the pies in advance and freeze them.
When grating citrus peel or ginger, cover the side of the grater with cling
film and grate over it. It's easier to lift off and you'll have a clean
grater.
Christmas trifle
400 g strawberries
30 ml brandy
80 g port wine jelly powder
1 large OR 2 small jam rolls, cut into 1 cm thick slices
80 ml orange juice
30 ml lemon juice
15 ml brandy
100 g pecan nuts, chopped
825 g peach slices, drained
785 g pineapple chunks, drained
500 ml custard
3 fresh granadillas, pulp removed (OR 1 x 115 g can granadilla pulp)
500 ml cream, stiffly beaten
Rinse and hull the strawberries and pour over the 30 ml (2 T) brandy. Leave
until needed. Dissolve the port wine jelly in 250 ml (1 c) boiling water,
stirring until dissolved. Add 250 ml (1 c) cold water and stir. Leave in the
fridge until set. Arrange the jam roll slices in the bottom and along the
sides of a glass bowl. Mix the orange juice, lemon juice and 15 ml (1 T)
brandy. Pour over the cake. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Arrange the peach
slices and pineapple chunks on top. Pour the custard over and chill. Cut the
set jelly in squares and sprinkle on top of the custard. Pour over the
granadilla pulp. Spoon the whipped cream into a piping bag and decorate the
trifle with cream rosettes. Arrange the soaked strawberries between the
cream rosettes. Chill until needed. Serves 10
Festive peaches
410 g peach halves, drained, but retain syrup
500 g fruit mincemeat
65 ml brandy
ice cream to serve
1. Place peaches in an ovenproof dish. 2. Use sufficient fruit mincemeat to
fill peach cavities. 3. Pour peach syrup over peaches. 4. Bake at 180 ºC for
10 minutes. 5. Warm brandy and pour over peaches. 6. Ignite and serve with
ice cream.
Christmas Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add all other ingredients.
3. Mix well.
4. Chill at least 2-3 hours Roll out.
5. Cut in to shapes and bake in 400ºF degrees till edges are slightly brown.
6. Can be doubled easily enough.
Christmas Loaf
Makes 2 loaves
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ripe bananas, mashed (medium size)
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries
1/2 cup chopped dates
1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease 2 loaf pans.
3. Cream butter and sugar.
4. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
5. Mix flour, baking soda and salt.
6. Add to creamed mixture alternately with bananas.
7. Stir in coconut, almonds, cherries and dates.
8. Pour into pans.
9. Bake for 55 minutes, until pick comes out clean.
10. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pans.
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