Less guilt, less waist!

Pumpkin fritters which have been baked in the oven

One of the vegetables I missed while living up in West Africa, was pumpkin. For someone like me (who only eats vegetables), I consider myself quite an authority on the merits and demerits of the humble pumpkin. (Ha!) I enjoy a pumpkin which has a dry flesh once it is cooked – if that statement makes any sense! This type of texture is normally sweeter and tastier.

Pumpkins are also known as cucurbits which are any plant of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae) e.g., squash, melon, pumpkin, etc. In South Africa we have quite a few varieties of pumpkins and squashes. We have Table Queens, Hubbard squash, flat white boerpampoen (White pumpkin), gem squash, marrows (as well as baby marrows) patty pans, zucchini and my personal favourite, butternut squash.

Butternuts can be peeled, pips removed, chopped into bite size pieces and boiled and drained. Then adding sugar and butter you braise it as a sweet vegetable. Alternatively cut a butternut in half lengthwise; parboil and de-pip it, after which you place it on a baking sheet. Brush the insides with olive oil, add creamed sweet corn, and/or creamed mushrooms and place under the grill until golden brown.

Young pumpkin leaves, known locally as marog, are picked and cooked up as a green vegetable.

One of the delightful sweet treats made with pumpkin, is fritters. Here where I live, this is a very special indulgence and we have one particular farmer’s wife who makes the best pumpkin fritters ever! Visiting one of my favourite blogs a while ago, I found this delightful recipe for pumpkin fritters (you can read this post here). Before I had a chance to make them, I heard a wonderful tip on how to enjoy pumpkin fritters without the guilt and without the weight gain! You use the same recipe but bake them in patty pans!

And this is what I did.

So, thank you Lynda. I know you were more than happy for me to use your recipe, albeit with a slight twist!

Pumpkin Fritters
2 cups Pumpkin, cooked & mashed (drain as much water off as you can before mashing)
5 heaped tbsp Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Cinnamon, ground
pinch of Salt
1 Egg, beaten
Oil for brushing in patty pans

Mix all the ingredients together well. (The mixture will be a bit sloppy, but don’t worry). Drop tablespoons of the batter into the patty pans. Bake at 180°C for about fifteen minutes. Allow to cool slightly in the pans and lift out gently with a plastic spatula.

Our very own indigenous beauty

Above and below: my own potplant nursery


I am rewarded with African Violets flowering for months

Today I decided to post about one of the most popular house plants in South Africa; one that gives the householder so much pleasure with its beauty and one that often gives the most problems. (Like flowering prolifically from the time of purchase and soon after the first flowers wither, the plant also wilts and dies!) I'm speaking about the African Violet.

1. The African Violet was first discovered in East Africa in 1892 by Baron Walter von St. Paul.
2. Over 20 wild species and variants have been found to date.
3. All wild species have blossoms in the blue-violet range, but other characteristics vary.
4. African Violets first made their way to North America via Europe in 1926.
5. The highly varied modern varieties are the result of hybridization.

The African Violet really is an African plant. As far as we knew it grew uncelebrated by botanists and plant-lovers for countless millennia. It had to wait until 1892 to be officially discovered by the Baron Walter von Saint Paul, the German governor of a north-eastern province in Tanganyika, now part of Tanzania. Von Saint Paul found the plant growing among shaded rocky ledges in the Usambara Mountains. He immediately sent seeds of his "Usambara violet" to his father in Germany. In Germany the plant acquired a botanical name which it still bears today: Saintpaulia. Other species closely related to this first were soon discovered. They all bear the genus name Saintpaulia plus an adjective describing the individual species. The original plant discovered by Walter von Saint Paul is Saintpaulia ionantha. There are more than twenty other similar but certainly not identical species in the genus. They have memorable names betraying what those naming them thought of them such as: Saintpaulia difficilis, S. confusa, S. inconspicua. Others have adjectival names indicating place of origin: S. magungensis, S. teitensis, S. tongwensis. Magunga, Teita, and Tongwe are all place names associated with Tanzania.

(Note: if you’d like to learn more about the beautiful Usambara Mountains and Tanzania, click here )

As I’ve mentioned before, my house lady Emily, loves indoor plants. A while ago I bought two African Violets for her to enjoy here in my home. At the beginning of this year, I came across an article in a South African gardening magazine which posed the question: “So, which house plants are you going to kill this year?” As I normally am not too careful with the indoor plants (according to Emily that is!), I have caused the demise of a few African Violets in my time. The article explained how to care for this delightful and rewarding little plant so that you have many years of pleasure out of it.

Here are a few tips gleaned from the article as well as a some of my own (the planting – part!) which I share with you:

Firstly, never wet an African Violets leaves. Water the saucer in which the pot plant is standing. An African violet likes to drink up the water through its roots. It also enjoys being root bound (huh?!?) and should be left undisturbed in its original pot for as long as possible. When the flowers begin to fade and die, remove them with your fingers by gently tugging them from the plant. An African Violet also likes to stand in a sunny position but not in direct sunlight. I have found that filtered sunlight is perfect for this plant.

When a leaf breaks off accidently, (which does happen) place it in a small glass of water over which you’ve spanned tin foil and pierced a hole into. Keep the water topped up, replacing completely once a week. Within a few weeks, the stalk begins to grow roots. When these are strong, you can plant the leave in potting soil. Soon you will be rewarded with “babies” (See photograph) When the mother leaf withers and dies, remove it gently and nurture the baby plants until they are fully fledged African Violet plants in their own right.

Happy potting!

Meandering Mooi River

Beautifully tranquil, the Mooi River flows past my friend's guest house in Kwa- Zulu Natal

A female Egyptian Goose (right) and her brood of half-grown ducklings

Mooi River takes its name from the Afrikaans language. The early settlers were so impressed by the natural beauty of the river that they called it 'mooi' (pretty).

Further upstream, the Mooi River Falls are an awesome site when the river is in flood.

The predominant occupation in the area, which also includes a farming town calle Mooi River, is dairy- and stock farming. The Mooi River district is home to several of South Africa's finest stud farms and many offer tours to visitors.

Mooi River is part of the Midlands Meander.

Last month while visiting our friends who own a beautiful guest house on the Mooi River, my husband and I spent many wonderful hours bird watching on the banks of these tranquil waters. (You can read about the crocodile we spotted here) I took photos and will share our weekend away with you at a later date.

However this morning I thought I might show you a mother duck and her almost-fully-grown ducklings I managed to photograph on the Mooi River.

These duck (photographed above), known as Egyptian Geese, are common and abundantly spread around Southern Africa except in areas of severe aridity and high altitude. According to the distribution map in my Roberts Birds of Southern Africa VII th Edition, they’re not plentiful in Central and West African Interior and definitely rare in East Africa. Can anyone out there confirm this observation?

Egyptian Geese frequent inland water bodies, lakes, dams and marshes. They are monogamous breeders and solitary nesters. They make their nests on the ground in dense vegetation or among rocks on islands in the middle of a river. There are also records of nests being made on top of used or usurped tree nests of raptors.

Six hours after hatching, a nestling is able to slide or jump from a ground-level nest without adult help but in response to encouraging vocal calls from the female. Chicks which fall from elevated nests are usually stunned (!) after hitting the ground but recover after approximately four minutes. Young are escorted to the water by both the parents leading in front.

Many years ago my husband and I halted our vehicle just outside our town and watched a pair of Egyptian Geese leading a brood of fifteen ducklings across our path to a roadside dam. Unfortunately I wasn’t blogging in those days so, no photo!