Uncategorized – Recipes from South Africa

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South African baking

Mis ons land

Vandag wil ek so ietsie skryf oor die lewe, ons liefde, die mis van jou land. Met Covid wat so ‘n ongelooflike invloed op ons lewens het, het ons nog nooit so afgesny van ons families gevoel nie. Ons huisgesinne is soveel nader aan mekaar, ons sien mekaar meer, praat heerlik en die tyd wat ons saam kon deurbring die laaste 2 jaar was en is nogsteeds ongelooflik. Dit is egter die uitgebreide familie wat ons nie kan sien nie.

Die feit dat niemand na en van Suid-Afrika af mag vlieg nie maak dinge soveel moeiliker vir almal. So baie Suid-Afrikaners bly oorsee, Australië, Amerika, Nieu Seeland, Engeland en so kan die lys aangaan… Die belofte van ons sal mekaar elke jaar sien, ons sal kom kuier, julle kan kom kuier… Nie net is pryse onbekostigbaar nie, maar niemand mag vlieg nie. Wat ‘n lang tydperk om nie jou ma of pa se hande om jou te voel nie, om hulle nie in persoon te sien nie, nie net gou kan oorstap om hallo te sê nie. Hoe moeilik is dit om nie by broers, sisters en beste vriende te kan gaan kuier nie, jou kinders om nie hul neefs en niggies te sien nie? Onthou, neefs en niggies is jou eerste vriende, mense wat jou aanvaar soos jy is…

Gelukkig is daar sosiale media, whatsapp is natuurlik die sleutel tot baie dinge. Ons kan mekaar ten minste sien en hoor, sien hoe dit gaan eerder as om net te raai. Dit is lekker om te gesels en vir my ma te wys wat ek bak, of om haar te kan bel as ek ‘n vragie het oor ‘n resep wat ek vergeet het, of nie verstaan nie.

My volgende uitdaging is om koeksisters te bak. Dit klink na so ‘n groot storie. Het BAIE lank laas my eie gebak en my ma het my nog gehelp. So binne die volgende paar weke wil ek bak. Ek sal eers net ‘n bietjie bak. Die enigste probleem is dit gaan ‘n 2 dag proses wees. Eers die stroop voorberei die aand voor die tyd en die die deeg die volgende oggend. Dan sal ek die middag bak. Ek sal julle op hoogte hou oor hoe dit uitgedraai het 🙂

Vir nou wil ek julle net herinner dat as julle so sit en die hartseer oorval julle, ‘n traan rol oor jou regter wang terwyl ‘n klein glimlaggie aan die linkerkant van die mond pluk, dan moet jy net eenvoudig jouself oorgee aan die oomblik, bietjie huil en net stil sit en onthou…. dan moet jy opstaan en vir jouself ‘n heerlike Suid-Afrikaanse resep soek en dit bak. Dan spoel al die herinneringe oor jou terug soos ‘n golf van toe jy ‘n kind was. Bak wat jou ma sou gedoen het.

As jy opsoek is na iets heerlik, maak gerus ‘n draai op my Amazon blad en sien of daar iets is waarvoor jy lus is 🙂

Drakensberg

Roughly translated, the Drakensberg means “dragon mountains” or “mountains of the dragon”.  The mountain range stretches more than a 1000 km from the Eastern Cape Province in the South through Kwa-Zulu Natal, Lesotho, the Free State , through Mpumalanga Province and ends up North through Limpopo where it is known as” klein Drakensberge”.   

Some of the peaks are mammoth in size and is on average 2900 meters high.  The highest peak is Thabana Ntlenyana and reaches 3482 meters above sea level.  The mountain is a dynamic wonderland and home to river valleys, foothills, stunning waterfalls, rock pools, mountain streams as well as caves.  These majestic Drakensberg is over 180 million years old.

The Drakensberg is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment which encloses the central Southern African plateau.  It is within the borders of South Africa as well as Lesotho.  In the summer it is very warm and many travellers will visit this region during December to February.  During the winter the mountains are dusted with snow and is transformed into a winter wonderland.

Within the Drakensberg of Kwa-Zulu Natal lies the 243 000 hectare mountain region that is a world heritage site.  It is known as Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park that has around 300 San rock art sites with over 35 000 paintings in caves all around the park depicting humans, animals and complex spiritual life of the San stretching over a period of 4000 years.  It is also home to a huge diversity of plans and animal species.

The very high treeless peaks of the Drakensberg are the furthest South in Africa and farther away from the equator.  Therefor this provides cooler habitats and lower elevations than most mountain ranges in Africa.  High rainfall generates mountain streams and rivers.  These rivers include the mighty Orange River as well as the Tugela River. 

The mountains are very rich in plant life and includes 119 species listed as globally endangered.  There are more than 2000 plant species and 98 of them are endemic.   The flora of the high grasslands is mainly creeping plants as well small shrubs.  Included in this is the rare Spiral Aloe which has a spiral shape.  In the meantime, the lower slopes are home to conifers (Podocarpus) which are rare in Africa.  It contains a great number of endemic plants and grasses found here includes oat and caterpillar grass to name just two.  In the highest part of the mountains the flora depends on the slope and varies depending on the hardness of the rock clasts. 

The Drakensberg area is home to 299 recorded bird species.  This makes up 37% of all non-marine avian species in southern Africa.  This is a wonderful place to visit for all bird lovers, you will probably not even have enough time to see even half of them on a visit.  You will also find 24 species of snakes of which two are highly venomous.  So be careful when you go for walks!

There is one bird that is endemic to the high peaks, the mountain pipit, and another six species are also found mainly in this area.  Th endangered Cape vulture and lesser kestrel are two birds of pry that hunt in the mountains.  There are also mammals found here including the klipspringer, eland and mountain reedbuck.  These are all types of antelope.  You will also be able to see three endemic species of frogs in the mountain streams.  Fish are also found in many rivers and streams including the Maluti redfin. 

The lower slopes of the Drakensberg support a lot of wildlife.  Perhaps the most important of these are the rare southern white rhinoceros as well as the black wildebeest.  It is also home to large herds of grazing flowers and antelopes.  Endemic species include a large number of chameleons as well as other reptiles.

This is a wonderful are to visit, something you must see.  The view is absolutely breath taking and you will not be disappointed in the beauty of the snow on the mountain tops or the wonderful grass cover in the summer.  Go and visit, you will love it. 

pannekoek

Pancake day

How wonderful that there is a day dedicated to baking and eating pancakes. Not that I ever need a reason for baking these wonderful treats. I love eating them warm with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top. If I close my eyes I can just smell that now. Why no treat yourself and your family to these wonderful treats.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups of water (you can replace the half cup with milk)
2 eggs
1/4 cup of oil (I use sunflower oil)
2 cups of self-raising flour (you can use regular flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder. If you are a celiac, replace with self-raising Gluten Free flour and add 1 teaspoon of baking powder and a 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum)
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar

Method
1. Beat the eggs, water and oil together.
2. Add the flour, salt and sugar and mix very well.
3. Bake as many pancakes as you can eat!!!

The nice thing about pancakes is that you can either fill them with beautiful mince and sauce or chicken as a main meal, or sprinkle with cinnamon sugar as a wonderful snack. Enjoy your pancake day!!

pannekoek

Pannekoekdag

Kan jy glo!! Internasionale pannekoekdag. Die perfekte verskoning om pannekoek te bak al reën dit nie. Nie dat ek enige rede nodig het om pannekoek te bak nie. Vir my is daar niks lekkerders as ‘n lekker warm pannekoek besprinkel met kaneelsuiker nie. As ek my oë toemaak kan ek die geur van kaneelsuiker in die lug ruik. Waarom bak jy nie ook vandag heerlike pannekoek nie!!!

Bestanddele
2 1/2 koppies water (jy kan die 1/2 koppie water vervang met melk)
2 eiers
1/4 koppie olie (ek gebruik sommer sonneblomolie)
‘n knippie sout
2 koppies bruismeel (jy kan gewone meel gebruik met 2 teelepels bakpoeier)
1 teelepel suiker

Metode
1. Klits die eiers, water en olie goed saam.
2. Voeg die meel, sout, en suiker hierby. Klits goed.
3. Vul ‘n pan met die deeg en bak soveel pannekoeke as wat jy kan eet!

Jy kan gevulde pannekoeke bak met heerlike maalvleis en sous of sommer net met kaneelsuiker.

Pampoenkoekies

Kids new favourite – pampoenkoekies

Yes, when they were little they did not really want to eat mamma’s pampoenkoekies but since this year, it has become one of lovely children’s favourites….. They can’t eat enough of it…It has always been one of my favourite foods as well. We love eating it sprinkled with cinnamon sugar while my husband prefers it salty.. no sugar, just salt 🙂 You can really eat it anyway you prefer.

Ingredients:
1 large butternut (you can use any pumpkin you like, butternut is easily available to us and we like it a lot!)
1 egg
3 tablespoons of flour (we use gluten free flour)
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder (also gluten free), makes it nice and fluffy…
pinch of salt

Method:
1. You first need to cook the pumpkin. Make sure it is cooked well and mash it. The pumpkin must be dry so get rid of excess water.
2. Let it cool down for about half an hour. Then add the flour, egg, salt and baking powder. Mix well and let stand for another 10 minutes.
3. Use a non stick pan and put spoons full of mixture in the pan. I bake 4 at a time…




Once you finished frying all your pampoenkoekies, serve warm with cinnamon sugar, salt or a nice sweet sauce…

my kiddies

Rainy day…

What a wonderful rainy day outside. This morning we woke up at 5:45 in the morning to get ready for the day ahead. It took us by surprise when it was still dark outside, considering it is still summer… but we soon realised that it was very cloudy. Although, cloudy is not really the word…

If you look up at the sky, you can only see a grey cover. There is NO blue sky to be seen, not even a little piece as small as a toothpick :). It does not happen that often. In the beginning of summer it was so dry we had water restrictions and the Vaal Dam was under 25% full (which meant water would run out in 7 days), but it did start raining a little bit at a time and this morning we were very blessed.

This is called pancake weather. Soft drizzling on the roof, no thunder, no lightning, just cloud cover, rain and darkness… All of you South Africans out there, no matter where you are, will know that this means PANCAKES!!!. Nothing nicer than baking pancakes and sprinkling cinnamon sugar on top. You need at least about 5 pancakes each (for me it is more like 10!!!)

We would eat the pancakes faster than my mother would be able to bake them when we were little. She would bake and bake and if there were 2 left for her she was surprised. She ate as she baked and at least had some of them 🙂

Why not bake and send us photos or tell us about your day 🙂

Check out our pancake recipe in English.

If you would like to view the recipe in Afrikaans, have a read at this link..