My beautiful dog and baking rusks

In between hospital trips to the city, I decided to try my hand at baking rusks. Although I can bake quite extensively, I never bothered to learn to bake rusks. Why? Because my Mum baked the most delicious rusks and I just enjoyed them.

My SIL, Shelley (my birding mentor) bakes the most divine rusks. She makes buttermilk rusks and also healthy seed rusks. When we visited at the beginning of September, I asked her to bake me a batch of the latter. She said she'd go one better: she'd show me step-by-step how to bake them. And together we baked them.

Grant and I brought 2kg of rusks and about a kilo of crumbs (these are almost as yummy as the rusks themselves) back on the motorbike. But of course, now they're finished. 

Yesterday I gathered up the courage to bake rusks here in my own oven. I was on Whatsapp with Shelley on and off asking her certain steps (although I was following her recipe!) You bake the thick batter in an oven pan. Then you allow it to cool a little before tipping it out onto a cooling rack. There you allow it to cool completely. Then you slide the large rectangular cake onto a board and slice it into fingers. I use an electric carving knife. As I cut the fingers up into 2cm rusks, Rina carefully placed them on the cooling rack which is suspended over the oven pan. They spent overnight drying out at a very low heat. 

  The tray of rusks drying out in the warm oven.

 Underneath is a circular pan of crumbs drying out as well

Sir Galahad guarding Mum's first-ever rusks in the oven! 

 I'm linking my post to Our World Tuesday here

My world in SA continues...

While we're at home, I've the opportunity to raise and train our new Labrador pup, Skabenga. He's come up trumps with every aspect of obedience and is almost fully house-trained. He'll probably eventually sleep in the laundry with the door ajar, but that's a few months hence yet. 

Meanwhile, at ten weeks (he's now 11 weeks old) he was due for his next inoculations. We collected the injection from the vet en route Welkom to Marquard last week. Yesterday, with Grant holding him under his arm, (and looking the other way, the ninny!) I inserted the needle under  Skabenga's neck skin and injected the meds into him. Not a peep out of the little dog! 

Of course, with Grant holding Skabenga and Rina squeezing her eyes shut, there was no-one to photograph me injecting the pup! 

Skabenga's veterinary records; I tear the strip off the little vial and paste it into the book  

Was I a good boy when I got my 'jections Mum? 

Skabenga is rewarded for any good obedient deed.  I say "Good boy", pat his head and then I clap my hands. (fortunately the neighbors know me, LOL).  I find this method teaches a dog listen to you,  to be obedient and to rise to the occasion (as it were) every time I, his handler, expect it.  I bought a treat tin at the vets in Senekal; the biscuits rattle when I shake the holder. Skabenga took about two minutes to realize what this tin means! 

A little tin of treats which I bought at the vets in Senekal

When the treats became less, I Googled recipes for homemade dog treats. Although on the tin you see that these treats were "wheat free", I found very healthy-sounding dog treats in an easy recipe. 

 Homemade doggie treats 

The biscuits contain whole wheat flour, wheat germ, melted bacon fat, egg and cold water. 

Rina and I rolled the first batch  into small kibble-size balls. She pricked each one several times with a toothpick (often resembling a face!) and I baked them in a hot oven for 20 minutes. 

When baked and cooled, Grant and I tasted one... we found them delicious. 

The dogs? They LOVED them. 

While we were in Welkom, Rina and I looked in all the kitchenware shops for a cookie cutter shaped like a dog bone. No luck. I asked Grant to make me a dog-bone shaped cookie cutter. 

Voila! 

The next batch of dough, I rolled out and cut each one with the cookie cutter.

The raw dough cut out to look like dog bones! 

Baked to brown deliciousness! 

An instant success!

Later when I worked out the cost of baking these treats, they will be far cheaper than the commercial variety which I give Megan and Eddy with as bed-time treats. 

I'm linking to Our World Tuesday here

Happy Tuesday everybody! 

Successful vehicle repair!

Last week I posted about a rattle which drove Grant crazy. After several frustrating visits to the agents in different towns and even the city, we eventually took it to the garage we bought it at in November. 

While the car was being tested, and Rina's daughter, Melony drove us around town, Grant said that if they didn't find the fault this time, he would deal directly with the factory; they could give him a new car. However, Melony said that Mario, who was checking over our car,  was known as the top expert technicians at Hyundai.  And lo and behold. When we got back to the garage, Mario told Grant that the noise had been caused by shocks (not sure what almost-new shocks can become in so short a time) and that he'd ordered two new ones from Johannesburg. 

On Wednesday past, the spares consultant phoned Grant to say the new parts had arrived. Grant made an appointment for Thursday morning at 7.30. While our vehicle was on the ramp, once again, Melony drove us around town in her car. She's always eager to do this as then she sees her mother. Of course, this is a real treat for Rina too.  

At the entrance to one of several malls in Welkom, Rina, Grant and I posed in front of a very large stone sculpture of a rhino. These wild animals are being poached (for their horns only) at such a rapid rate in South Africa that our children's grandchildren will only have statues and pictures to show them what this animal was. 

Rina, I and Grant in Welkom last week

At 11am, the garage phoned to say our vehicle was ready. As we arrived in the courtyard, Mario drove out and asked Grant to accompany him. They returned within a few minutes; this time Grant with a smile on his face. The knocking rattle was gone! 

Have a great week ahead! 

Our life these days...

While in SA we're experiencing a very different life to that of expat on a diamond mine in Africa. Angus and Amanda and children visit often (they live next door!) and we're raising a pup at the ripe old age of sixty-something. 

And Rina and I continue to bake and sell homemade goods. 

On Saturday I was up at 5, rolling and cutting the dough prepared the night before. Rina awoke at 6.10 and plaited them into koeksisters

We stand side by side and kook: Rina deepfries the koeksisters in hot oil on the left, till golden brown. Then quickly tosses them two at a time in the ice cold syrup on the right. I dunk it which causes it to absorb the syrup. Then I use a rice, lift the koeksisters (two at a time) and place in the colander next to the pot

The shiny, deliciously decadent, crispy...

 ... sweet and juicy when bitten into!

Then we pack them in punnets, load them and the Canine Sales Director into the car and go sell! 

After which the Sales Director passes out on mum's bed with his pet spider 

On Saturday the children popped in from next door ...

...enjoyed a soda while sharing our lunch ...

...after which we all watched Moto GP on the telly

Two weeks ago Rina and  I went to the dentist in nearby Senekal while Grant took his motorbike to the city. I had my annual check-up and Rina had the mold made for a spare pair of dentures. Of course, after the dentist we visited Milady's a ladies wear boutique. Rina's purchases went into a lucky draw. A week ago, Rina was phoned by the shop's manageress; she'd won the draw which was a prize of a bottle of Guess perfume and a Rihana evening bag. Today - two weeks later - Rina had to go back at the dentist for her denture fitting. Afterwards we stopped off at Milady's where the manageress presented her with the prize! 

Rina receives her prize from the manageress of Milady's 

Meanwhile our youngest grandson, Liam has taken to a dummy at the grand old age of six months. His mum didn't want him to have a dummy but as he's growing up and begins teething, he's started to suck his thumb. 

Darling little Liam - all smiles with the dummy/pacifier in his mouth.

I'm linking to Our World Tuesday here

What is a koeksister?

The word koeksister derives from the Dutch word koekje which translates to "cookie". There are two popular versions of this South African syrup-coated doughnut: an Africaner version which is a twisted or braided shape (like a plait) and a Cape Malay version which is a spicy treat finished off with a sprinkling of coconut. It;s prepared by deep-frying plaited dough rolls in hot oil, then dunking them into ice-cold syrup. Koeksisters are very sticky, sweet and taste like honey. 

You can read more about the koeksister here

I decided to do this post in reply to Gaelyn (Geogypsy) who spotted the packet of koeksisters which I'd bought from the church bazaar. Angus and Amanda visited us on Sunday afternoon and we all enjoyed a couple of koeksisters with tea. 

Here's wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.

Easy Banana Bread

and Apple Loaf Cake

For those  who follow my blog, you'll know that I post about doing my baking on a Saturday morning, unless I'm away for the day or weekend, then I do it during the week. 

I always bake two loaves of bread (one for us and one for Johan),  a banana bread and an Apple Loaf Cake. They are both baked in loaf pans, (I have two), at the same oven temperature and for the same amount of time.

I found both recipes on the Internet but cannot see the link for the banana bread recipe. The Apple Loaf Cake is a Nigella Lawson recipe. I've added a few extra fresh ingredients, such as grated carrot, mashed banana and dried apricots and it still - like the banana bread - turns out perfectly every time.

Banana bread (closest) and Apple Loaf Cake

Banana Bread

100g unsalted butter

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

4-5 small bananas (mashed)

1/4 cup natural yoghurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinamon

1/2 cup  walnuts, toasted (optional)

Preheat oven to 180 C and grease a 900ml loaf pan

Beat butter and sugar in a bowl untill creamy and fluffy

Add egg and beat until well combined

Add banana, yoghurt and vanilla and stir through

Sift together flour, baking powder and cinamon and fold into batter

Stir in walnuts, if using

Pour batter into loaf tin and bake for 1 hour or until skewer inserted in centre comes out clean

Cool in pan for 10 minutes, turn out onto cooling rack

Serve butter if desired

Apple loaf cake - Nigella.com

Dry ingredients

300g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinamon

200g raisins or any chopped dried fruit of your choice

Wet ingredients

150g melted butter

150g soft sugar

2 eggs

4 medium apples, grated (1 use two apples, 1 large carrot and 1 banana)

Method

This is a wet/dry cake method. Place all wet ingredients in one bowl, dry ingredients into another, then mix together

The easiest way to grate an apple, is take a whole apple, grate skin until you reach near the pips. Turn apple around and grate until you only have the middle bit left

Mix ingredients together by hand to avoid lumps forming

Pour batter into 900g loaf tin, bake at 180 for 60 minutes
A skewer should come out clean when inserted in middle of loaf
Turn out onto cooling rack
Serve with butter

Enjoy!

Khartoum Baking Banana Bread

I sifted the dry ingredients before adding to the creamed mixture

Last week I had two bananas going ripe. This sparked off the idea to bake banana bread. Only one problem: there was no electric cake mixer in the flat. (When would a man ever use one? I am the first woman, in six years, to live here) I asked hubby if we could pop into Afra Merkezi (Afra Market) across town. Afra is a large departmental store where you can buy anything from a nail clipper to clothing for men, women and children including a huge baby section, to airconditioning units and top-of-the-range laptops and their attachments. It also has a huge supermarket section which sells all manner of groceries, fresh produce, fish and meat as well as the most beautiful array of chocolates, sweets, nuts and dried fruit I have seen in my life. I would love to take photos in Afra but I'm not sure whether my husband would approve. He would be wary (and rightly so) of the manager and assistants questioning my actions!

When we arrived there we walked directly to the household appliances. There were rows of shelves displaying the most modern kettles, irons, coffee machines, blenders, milkshake- and ice cream makers. There was every type of food processor there were electric meat mincers, bread machines, deep fat fryers and electric frying pans. But alas, no electric cake mixers. I looked for a hand-held model, thinking that anything was better than what I had back at the flat (an ancient wooden spoon!) No joy. Not an electric cake mixer to be had in the whole of Afra. Some day soon, we will make a foray into the city one day and track down said electric cake mixer.

It was a totally new experience to cream the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon

When we got home, I took out the softened margarine, added sugar and began to mix it all together vigorously (with the wooden spoon!) Soon I had what looked like a creamy consistency but I could still feel sugar granules which is never a good sign in a batter like this. I continued to make the banana bread according to a recipe I'd downloaded from the Internet and duly poured it into a foil-lined loaf pan. As I only have a gas stove here with no visible markings left on the dial, I turned the oven on to what I imagined was a reasonably hot stove. (180°C/350°F) and popped the loaf inside.

The baked item was not too bad, but not my standard banana bread. But then these weren't usual conditions and this banana bread had not been created under normal circumstances! It was absolutely delicious though. My husband had a slice while it was still on the cooling rack (he had no reservations about the shape of the bread); his verdict: excellent! That evening we both had a generous helping topped with homemade custard for dessert.

Below is the recipe which I'm sure would turn out perfectly with the correct utensils and oven temperatures.

The banana bread was delicious served as dessert with homemade custard


Banana Bread (downloaded off the Internet)

Ingredients
50g margarine or butter (I used butter)

300ml sugar
1 large egg, separated
1 large egg white
3 Bananas
5ml (1t) lemon juice
300ml cake flour
10ml (2t) baking powder
10ml (2t) bicarbonate of soda
250ml (1 cup) bran
125ml (½ cup) buttermilk

Method
1. Cream the margarine and sugar together; add the egg yolk and beat well. Beat the egg whites until just stiff and fold into mixture.
2. Peel and mash the bananas and add the lemon juice. Combine mashed bananas with creamed margarine mixture.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together, add the bran. Fold the dry ingredients into the banana mixture alternatively with the buttermilk, mix well. Pour the mixture into a greased loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180ºC for 45 – 60 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean
Serves 14.

Christmas Preparations

Christmas time means lots of fruit and vegetables

I love Christmas. I love the preparations and secret gift-buying and wrapping that goes with Christmas. And while most people are wilting in the hot African sun at this time of the year, I thrive on it. Oh I feel a little hot, but it doesn’t get me down. The weather, school holidays, shops lit up, bright and colourful with Christmas decorations, families visiting together; all reminds me of my childhood.

This weekend my older son, daughter-in-law and our precious grandchildren are visiting us. They are unable to join us at Christmas time, so we’re enjoying quality time together. This morning my grandchildren and I will decorate the Christmas tree and string up the lights. Yesterday I wrapped the gifts so that I can sneak them to my son without the children seeing and he hides them in his car.

South African Soetkoekies (sweet biscuits) ready for the oven

Last night I baked South African Soetkoekies. (Translated Sweet Biscuits) while my husband made a delicious stir-fry for dinner. (I was too busy baking to photograph his dish!) Soetkoekies are crispy biscuits which need to be dunked in a cup of tea. However, because of the amount of real butter, it is a delicious, creamy and sweet biscuit.

Baked to a golden brown crispness,

Soetkoekies are delicious dipped in tea

I cannot remember the name of the friend who gave me this recipe. All I remember is that the year was 1979 (my younger son was born that year, and I had him in a carrycot when I had tea and biscuits with this lady) Another thing I know, is that I have baked these biscuits many times a year for the past 29 years and every time they are a success.

Soekoekie Recipe
3 Cups of Sugar
4 Cups of Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
½ lb (250g) Butter, frozen
1 Egg
½ Cup Milk

Combine sugar, flour, salt and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Grate in butter. Rub with finger tips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Beat the egg in ½ cup milk and add to biscuit mixture to bind. Add a little extra flour if too sticky (but take care not to make dough too dry). Roll out biscuit dough thinly, cut with a wine glass and bake on a greased baking tray at 180°C (350°F) for 10-15 minutes. Keep an eye on the biscuits in the oven; they are ready when they are golden brown.