Kitchen Diary

The sun sets on 2009. 

Photograph taken from Chapmans Peak Drive. The South Easter was pumping!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year

'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'

And he replied, 'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!'

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God

Trod gladly into the night

He led me towards the hills

And the breaking of day in the lone east.

So heart be still! 

What need our human life to know

If God hath comprehension?

In all the dizzy strife of things

Both high and low,

God hideth his intention."

- Minnie Louise Haskins 1908

With much love to all my friends and readers of this blog. 

May 2010 be your year and may you achieve all your dreams and goals. 

Thank you, thank you for all your love, support, care and prayers during 2009!

Be safe as you celebrate

browniegirl xxx

& brownieboy  )

Tuesday 29th December….the day dawned bright and clear!! A good sign for this part of the world. There was not a breath of wind and everything was plain sailing…..down by the bay!! My pain had subsided somewhat…….more good news!! I had lots to do. All year long Side View and I had been bantering back and forth about meeting when she came to Cape Town on holiday….and of course the death by chocolate cake always came into the mix somewhere. So finally the time had come….Sidey was safely in Cape Town on her long looked forward to holiday and my general plan (in my head still) was for her, Griet (ai shamepies!!) and granny to come and have lunch here at home in brownieville with me. Mr & Mrs Griet were travelling to Cape Town from their Garden Route home on Saturday when they had a car accident and although they were both fine they were unable to travel any further so their son SS drove to where they were and returned them back to their home safely. What a disappointment. My SIL had caught me a delightful snoek earlier in the day and I had decided that it would be snoek on the braai on Sunday when they came to visit. So we ended up braaing the snoek on Saturday evening instead (it was soooooo delicious) and Sunday, instead of entertaining the Griets we went to the nursery and bought a whole lot of stuff for the garden that was sorely in need of some TLC…step-son and I got stuck in and that is where it all fell down. Well, actually I fell down HAHA!! I have now blamed my soulsista Griet because if they had not had the accident and were here with us on Sunday I would not have been working in the garden and would not have tripped where I did…well, that is my story and I am sticking to it anyway ) And I can think of better and less painful trips to take!!! I have bruising in unmentionable places…………

So back to Tuesday. The umbrella was put up and the table set outside in the postage stamp sized garden. Seeing as there would be one empty seat at the table I asked sweet daughter if she would fancy a nice ladies lunch and of course she jumped at that idea. First to arrive was Side View – a delightful soul with an armful of flowers and chocolates…some for me and some for granny. I have hidden mine away from brownieboy who has recently taken over as chocoholic of note in this house and I am having one as a little treat every now and again. Thank you Sidey ) Then granny arrived and we chatted up a storm over our iced waters as I prepared the lunch that I had in mind for us. When sweet daughter and my gorgeouses arrived it was time to eat. But as that was about to happen the doorbell rang and in skipped brownieboy to meet and greet sidey and granny. He said there was no way that he was missing out on some hugs and kisses hehe. He only stayed long enough to show them his scars “,) then went back to work again.

I prepared (with the help of my sous chef Tyler) Norwegian Salmon brushed with soy and ginger, pan seared and then finished off in the oven, served with oven roasted vine tomatoes, lemony/olive oil & black pepper asparagus spears, just blanced fine green beans and sliced avocado pear. This was accompanied by a large healthy garden salad lightly dressed with Lemon Infused Olive Oil (Willow Creek of course) and Black Gold. We had champagne and orange juice to wash it all down. Tyler did a sterling job of serving the meal to all the ladies and he was a grand paparazzi impersonator. He spent most of the time hiding in the bushes and taking candid shots of all of us (some definitely not blog material waahaaaa!!) and the girls were fascinated by how he made me use the salad servers and hold up a helping of salad so that he could get a macro shot of it…..he is pretty sharp with a camera that lad.

Little Jay just ran around being his cute self and stealing hearts. So did Tasha the hound hehe.

For desert the much touted death by chocolate was served, with some brandied cherries (granny had given me a bag full some time ago so I ate half and brandied the other half) and a dollop of mascarpone.

Suddenly, in the midst of  the mix of happy chatter, laughter, clinking glasses, clattering cuttery against china plates and the oohing and aahing over the meltingly delicious chocolate torte something big happened……an adventure!!! The “paparazzi” who happened to be hiding in the fir tree near the (empty as yet) koi pond gave an excited shout that there was an animal in the pond. I questioned his mental stability and excellent vision and checked to see where Tasha was – she was lying in the shade under the table. “There is one Nan, I promise you, It is a furry little animal.” So I got up from the table and ambled over, relaxed from the little bit of bubbles buzzing in my blood but careful enough to give that darn tripping paver a miss…..I peered into the pond and sure enough…….there was the “furry animal” rolled up into a tiny ball in the corner blinking in the bright sunlight……a MOLE!!! For a moment I must admit that scenes from past posts on Madmom’s blog about that snooping Cilly Bogger came to mind……I mean wouldn’t you think the same??? Here we had a flippin photographer hiding and peering from the shrubbery, now a “mole” appears…….it stank of skullduggery to me and I wondered how the mad woman had got hold of my grandson to organize it all. The lengths that some people would go to frightened me. I walked around the entire complex looking for Supa, her zimmer and her knitting needles and the cackling Madmom with her notepad and pen. Once I had convinced my overactive imagination that there were no uninvited bloggers lurking around, although I did find a pair of abandoned crocs outside our gate, sweet daughter climbed down into the empty pond and managed to rescue the little critter without her getting sliced and diced. Would you look at those teeth and claws Belinda!! After we all had a good look at it in all its cute hideosity, and I had managed to get a photo, SD and Ty went and set it free in the open field outside the complex. Tyler was very concerned that it would not find its family again. I had to convince him that there would be a happy ending.

And so ended the lunch. SD, Ty and Jay took their leave and peace reigned as us three ladies sat idly chatting. Eventually granny spoke to her grandkids and had to take her leave. She disappeared into the house and after a few minutes I said to Sidey…I can hear noises in the kitchen. We went through to investigate whether Cilly Bogger had finally made her appearance and there was granny, arms up to elbows in hot sudsy water washing the dishes. Aiaijai!!! So Sidey got a towel and I did the packing away. After the sudsy water had gurgled down the drain, and granny had driven off in her bright yellow Jasminemobile, sidey and I retired to the table outside with another cup of coffee (and another slice of death by chocolate hehe) and chatted the lazy afternoon hours away, just catching up with each others lives. I cannot begin to tell you all how uplifting and precious times like this have been to me this past year. I had moments with my soulsista Griet earlier in the year, moments with Ilze our ex food24 editor and all the lovely food bloggers that I met at the wonderful luncheon and Simonsberg cheese tasting at foodie dynamo Marlene van der Westhuizens food studio in Green Point, extravagant delightful moments at the Captains Table with Granny Hen & OC, magical moments with Dinx, pressured funfilled scary moments with Jenny in front of the cameras, moments with Nina and Taz, other moments with granny. It has all meant so much much to me and has made a difficult year much easier to handle. In fact when I look over the year that I think has been so awful….in so many ways my life has been incredibly enriched and overflowing with abundant blessings. And you blogland have been a great part of that. Thank you all so much for all that you mean to me.

And now let me go, I have one more blog post planned for 2009 so best I go get on with it. Before you know it the day will be over and we will be watching 2009 sliding into oblivion & celebrating the arrival of 2010. I am hoping that the clouds will do their bit and stay away so that I can witness one more spectacular sunset this evening that I can share with you all, and as a bonus…….the BLUE MOON rising. Will you be partying under a blue moon tonight?? Take it easy and be safe!!

Hugs and lots of love,

browniegirl xxx

Just a quick pop in to let you know I will be absent from blogland for the next few days. I of course couldnt let this year slide into its glorious end without further drama…this time caused by Moi myself and I….was working in the garden late this afternoon and tripped over something and fell headlong with an almighty thud. Split my forehead open a nasty shot and injured my wrist, abrasions and bruises to both knees and now my whole body is aching. And the head the worst….Had stitches put into the forehead, xrays taken of the wrist. No obvious breaks but they are concerned about it as it is the wrist that has the titanium wheel in it to fuse it. So I will call in tomorrow to get the official report from the xrays and if it is still sore after 5 days I am to have it re-xrayed. The final humiliation was having to have a tetanus shot as I had been working with fertilizer, compost and potting soil and I fell bang onto the edge of a concrete paver, bled like a stuffed pig all over the garden.

So excuse me for not visiting as now I will take my drugged self off to my bed, I keep chewing sand so best go wash out my mouth too.

See you in a little while blogland….remember to keep it real. Travel safely please. The roads are hectic.

Love browniegirl xx

Luke Chapter 2
1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.

 4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 

6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

© 2006 Jaimie Trueblood/New Line Productions
http://www.starpulse.com/Movies/Nativity_Story,_The/gallery/Nativity-Story-movie-27/

 To all my family, personal and blog friends …

WISHING YOU ALL A BLESSED CHRISTMAS SURROUNDED BY LOVE, PEACE, HOPE & JOY. AND MAY THE NEW YEAR BRING RENEWED BLESSINGS OF HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY TO ALL.

 To those who don’t celebrate Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, happy holidays, merry feasting & stay safe!!

Thank you once again to everyone for all the love, support, prayers and good wishes during the last 5 months. Brownieboy is doing very well and is back to working full days again. We are so grateful for God’s goodness to us.

browniegirl xxx

Summertime is apricot time……I cannot get enough of this slighty tart yet sweet fruit. It is one of my favourite of the deciduous fruits and when I see them in the shop I get very excited. They are so versatile and there is so much that one can do with them….other than to eat them of course. Every year I make at least one batch of apricot jam. Years ago when I first made it my kids were still small and when gorgeous IT son (GITS) wanted some on his toast he would ask for “that beautiful jam” so in the brownie household it has always been fondly known as Beautiful Jam….here is how I do it. Grateful thanx to Auntie Steyn for her recipe and tips - which I have pimped over the years – just because I can )

Apologies for the slightly blurred photo. I am still practising with Big Boy )

MOO’S BEAUTIFUL JAM – WHOLEFRUIT APRICOT JAM

1kg Apricots – use unblemished fruit

750g White Sugar

250ml water and small piece dried ginger OR ½ Vanilla Pod can be used instead – YUMMY!!

8 pips broken open to expose the kernels – bruise the kernels lightly with a mallet or the back of a  chefs knife

Juice from ½ a Lemon

• Place the apricots in colander and wash gently. Leave excess water on fruit
• Cut fruit in half and remove stones – reserving 8-10 of the stones
• Lightly butter just the upper insides of a large saucepan – this stops the jam from boiling over
• Place fruit in saucepan with sugar together with a few of the stones – layer the fruit and sugar and stones. If using the ginger or vanilla add it in now too (Cut the vanilla pod into 1cm strips or bruise the dried ginger with a mallet)
• Leave overnight without stirring (covered)
• Early next morning add the water and lemon juice, turn on stove plate to lowest heat. Leave saucepan of fruit over this low heat until all sugar has dissolved (about ½ – 1 hour). Do not stir as this breaks up the fruit. You can gently shake the pot to move contents around. Use a pastry brush dipped in hot water to lightly brush sides of pot to remove all traces of sugar. If you don’t do this your jam will start forming sugar crystals in it as it stands.
• Once all sugar has dissolved (test by gently pushing a wooden spoon through to bottom of pot and feeling for granules) increase heat to high and bring to a rapid rolling boil
• Reduce heat to medium and allow saucepan to boil for about 20-40 minutes until correct consistency. Gently stir quite often to avoid burning.
• when it is about ready large bubbles the size of big marbles rise as it boils rapidly
• Remove from heat, skim off any scum that might appear and then do the wrinkle test to see if the jam is done.  Do a test by placing a clean saucer into the freezer just as the jam starts to boil. When you think the jam is ready place a spoonful of jam on the saucer and place in the fridge for about 5-10 min. Push your finger forward through the cold jam, if it wrinkles over your finger and leaves a clear path behind your finger then it is ready for bottling. If not ready return to heat and boil a few more minutes then test again
• Bottle in hot sterilized jars, cool the jam then pour on melted wax to make a disc and then seal with lids. Or use a disc of waxwrap same size as jar opening instead of the melted wax

***Remove the pot from the heat while testing.

***To sterilize jars – wash them well then rinse in hot water, place on a baking sheet in the oven at 110°C (the lids too if not plastic) for about 20 minutes. Remove and fill immediately. Pour on hot wax once the jam has cooled. Once the wax has set seal tightly with lids. Label and date your jam jars

Another gift to please delighted recipients.

Enjoy, have a great pre-Christmas week. I hope you have all done all that you want to do at the Malls….they are WILD!!!

browniegirl xxx

PS I dont know about you lot but I am seriously looking forward to the new year and the promised bug fixes. I am so not impressed with the Editor……… 

Hello blogland, its the weekend baby and YAAAY for Pinky Friday!!!!I am just taking a bit of time out from babysitting my two little guys and popping in to say cheerio to those who are going on leave today and travelling to far off exotic places – like the seaside teehee.

On Tuesday evening Ty came and slept over and we took him to Adderley Street to see the Christmas lights. WOW!! They are beautiful and his little eyes glittered like diamonds in the dark I took a few photos of the lights. They are not that great, I am still finding my way with the new camera, but loving the journey hehe!!

The time has come to wish you lot all a very Merry and Blessed Christmas & New Year, to ask you to please drive carefully and be aware of the other mullets on the road. There are plenty of irresponsible people out there behind the other steering wheels!! Be alert at all times, be courteous, take regular rest intervals. Drink plenty of fluids to keep you alert. And have a wonderful holiday. Dont forget to pack the suncreen, sunglasses & hats and the cellphone rechargers LOL!!

Looking forward to seeing you all on the flip side of the new year.

Remember that Jesus is the reason for the season.

Lets celerate Him.

Love’s  ya bunches,

browniegirl xxx

At this time of year it has become a regular outing for me to go out to the berry orchards near Franschoek and fill up on divine, luscious, healthy berries. I buy a selection of any that I can find and also a few bags of the frozen mixed berries.

I turn them into the most delicious berry preserve that has turned out to be a big hit with those who receive bottles of them in their Christmas goodie bags.

This is how I make this delightful gift

MOO’S SUMMER BERRY PRESERVE

500g Mixed Summer Berries (thaw overnight in fridge if frozen)

450g Sugar

Juice of 1 Lemon

6 Apples

750ml Water

Method:

Start the evening before to make the pectin

• Wash and cut the apples in ¼ ‘s and place in a medium saucepan
• Add the water and the lemon juice
• Bring to a rapid boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer for about ½ hour or more, stirring often, until the apples have almost totally cooked down and what is left is a watery looking apple sauce with peel and cores in it
• Strain through a muslin or cheesecloth over a sieve into a bowl. Don’t squeeze the juice out, let it drip out over a couple of hours or overnight (a piece of old white t-shirt material is also good)
• Save as much of the apple puree as possible, discarding the peels and cores and any pips
• Place the berries and their juice into the saucepan
• Add the pectin, the apple puree and the sugar
• Stir the sugar into the berries then leave to macerate for about an hour
• Heat gently while stirring until all the sugar has dissolved
• Bring to a rapid boil, reduce heat to medium and boil until jam consistency (doesn’t take long – about 10-15 minutes
• Remove jam from heat and test a bit on a saucer for consistency Remove scum from top
• Bottle in sterilized jars and seal

Enjoy!!

browniegirl xxx

If you are fortunate to have a glut of home grown sun ripened tomatoes, or you are able to get them from family, friend or foe, then this is definitely one way to use them up, especially if you are a granny who has run out of ooomph and can’t make jam. I love doing this because then I always have a tomato sauce base to hand….most convenient if you are tired after work or rushed and just want to make a quick meal )

ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE FOR PASTA OR PIZZA, MEATBALLS ETC

1kg ripe tomatoes – washed hulled and cut into halves (or left whole if cherry tomatoes)

250g Onions – peeled and cut into quarters

1 Whole head of Garlic – unpeeled and sliced clean through the middle

1/2 Chilli – seeds and pith removed (use more chillies if you like it hot!)

Few sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried Thyme

Few glugs of Olive Oil

Drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar (optional)

2 tsp Brown Sugar

Salt & Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 180⁰C

Spread the tomatoes, onions & garlic halves into a roasting pan

Drizzle over the olive oil & Balsamic Vinegar

Sprinkle with salt, pepper, sugar and the thyme

Roast for about half an hour until all softened

Allow to cool a bit then squeeze the flesh from the garlic skins (discard skins)

Blend the sauce until smooth – I use a stick blender for this or you could pulse it in a processor or blender if you have one. You can even push it through a sieve if you dont have any of the appliances

When cold you can divide it up into serving sized portions and freeze – either in Ziploc bags or bottled. Label before freezing with name and date

Keeps well.

To use:

Remove from freezer and thaw until room temperature

You can use it as it is as a pizza topping before putting on your other topping choices

You can use it warmed and poured over meatballs for meatballs and spaghetti

You can use it as a tomato based sauce for any pasta by adding sliced pitted olives, tinned tuna, sliced zucchini a Tbs of Basil Pesto (or fresh sliced basil leaves if you have) or any other combination of flavours that you want to add. Grate parmesan over the top and you have a wonderful meal )

Here are 2 examples of how I have used this sauce in recent months:

Have a fab weekend blogland, take it easy on the roads as the festive season holiday has begun .

Enjoy your school holiday young readers and to those of blogland who are on leave from today……ENJOY!!!

And remember………don’t rock the Weber )

Hugs,

browniegirl xxx

Here is my recipe for red pepper jelly….FINALLY!!! Apologies to Jo over at Rockstar Rehab who has been waiting for ages for the recipe. Thanx for being so longsuffering MWAH!!

This is one of brownieboy’s favourite jellies. You can use it as an accompaniment to cheeses, hot or cold meats, chicken and fish or just enjoy it spread onto those otherwise naked crackers when it gets close to payday hehe!! BB loves it with his fishcakes )

Enjoy! If you have questions, please ask!

MOO’S MILD RED PEPPER JELLY

Ingredients:

2 Large Red Peppers – deseeded and very finely chopped.

250ml clear vinegar

80ml Cider Vinegar

180g Granulated Sugar for boiling with the vinegar plus

2–3 kg Sugar (250g for each 250ml liquid)

½ Onion – peeled

½ Garlic Clove – peeled

1 tsp Peppercorns

1 Bay Leaf

Ginger – 1cm knob of peeled fresh ginger

Scant sprinkling of Chilli Flakes

1tsp Maldon Sea Salt Flakes

1 Litre of Apple Pectin

500ml water

250ml Red Wine Vinegar

METHOD:

• Place the white and cider vinegar into a small saucepan together with the 180gm sugar, the onion, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaf, ginger and the sprinkling of chilli flakes
• Bring to boil gently so that all the sugar dissolves then simmer for 10minutes
• Strain off the spices and chilli, ensuring all the chilli pips are removed
• Return the onion, garlic and ginger to the vinegar syrup
• Add the finely chopped red peppers
• Bring back to boil over low heat and simmer for just 5 more minutes
• Add the salt
• Turn off the heat, cover and leave to stand overnight

Next Day

• Remove the onion and garlic and discard but retain the ginger
• Strain off the vinegar liquid from the peppers, set peppers aside.
• Measure the liquid (should be about 250ml) and then add it to the pectin, water & red wine vinegar in a large deep pot. Add the ginger to the pot
• Now add sugar at the ratio of 250g/every 250ml liquid
• Heat gently stirring until all the sugar completely dissolves.
• Add the chopped peppers to the mixture, turn up the heat and bring to a rapid boil. Continue until it reaches setting point – 105⁰C on the sugar thermometer. If you don’t have a sugar thermometer this might take about 20 minutes or more….start testing from 15 minutes onwards. Usually when setting point is reached the liquid starts boiling up towards the top of the pot and wont stir down. It will also “sheet” off a wooden spoon rather than run off in droplets
• Test by placing a bit on a very cold saucer. (I pop one in the freezer when the mixture starts boiling). Leave in fridge for 10 minutes then run your finger forwards through the mixture. If it has reached setting point it will wrinkle & pucker over your finger and leave a path on the saucer before slowly coming back together.

• Always take the pot off the hot plate while waiting for the jelly on the cold saucer to set – if you don’t you might cook it for too long. If not ready then turn on heat again and boil for a bit longer and test again
• When set remove from heat, strain off any scum that has formed on the top, then stir and pour into hot sterilized small jars
• Cover immediately and tighten lids to create a vacuum seal.
• Keeps very well for 9 months to 1 year.

To sterilize jars I wash in warm soapy water then rinse well and place (with metal lids) on an oven tray. Place in preheated oven at 120⁰C for about 15 -20 minutes. If you have plastic lids you can microwave them on a plate (on High power) for a few minutes

Hope the pics come out in proper sequence, it has taken ages to do the post with all the photos and I STILL havent been around to visit you guys ( Have been babysitting Wildman Jay hehe

browniegirl xxx

Greetings blogville,

I have been MIA for the past few days as my pc died. I finally got it back last night (after much frustration) so today I have to get my fix so that the withdrawal symptoms will go away ) I have so much catching up to do around here that it is going to be difficult to get around to everyone but I shall do my best.

This is just a quick post to let you know that I am up and running and to share some news with you lot….

First off, I want to pay tribute to a very faithful companion, one who has accompanied me wherever  I have gone, took up almost permanent residence in my kitchen, and has given me faithful service over the last few years. I could not have wished for a better one and it is with great fondness that I say…….

So long little buddy………….I am going to miss you, I’m sorry that you got so ill after that water bath in my bag and that you finally expired because of it *sob* I am going to miss your lightness, how well you fitted into my hand and my bag…..I will miss the beautiful photos you took!!! You might have been small but you were a giant in my book!!

BUT…………….all good things have to come to an end some time hey???

And now…………..

………………………..

……………

……….

……

…

..

.

.

.

HELLO BIG BOY!!!!!!!!

It’s time for you and I to become closely acquainted )

Yes, I am a seriously excited bunny to announce the arrival of my new camera…..at LAST!!! This stunning gift to me is from my brownieboy as a thank you for taking care of him so well and for practising my excellent nursing skills so well over the past 5 months. I am blessed indeed. A husband who is well on the way to recovery and a beautiful new companion )

On that note. Let me go off and find that Red pepper jelly recipe. I do apologize for keeping those who are interested in it waiting so long.

browniegirl xx