‘All you touch and all you see,
Is all your life will ever be.’

Pink Floyd, “Breathe”

Nikki steering ‘Oom Piet’ (Oom Date’s riverboat), en route to Vermaaklikheid about 10 km up the river

Jorina capturing our beautiful journey up the Duiwenhoks river

“Brulsand” – opposite Kleinefontein on the Duiwenhoks, where the sand roars beneath your feet

Our afternoon burger braai – Tannie Marie’s farmhouse on Vermaaklikheid

5 interesting facts about Garlic

 * According to Christian mythology, when Satan left the Garden of Eden, garlic grew from his left footprint.

* April 19^th is National Garlic day.

* Alliumphobia is the name given to the fear of garlic.

* The greater health benefits from garlic are attained by chewing raw garlic.

* Garlic was used, in medieval times, as a cure for drunkenness and over-eating.

Salt processing dates to around 6,000 years ago, when people living in Romania were boiling spring water to extract the salts

Olivea scouting in tannie Marie’s kitchen

Nikki, Schalk & Oom Date – taken by the view and peace of the picturesque Vermaaklikheid

Puntjie Coleslaw

This colourful coleslaw adds great texture, crush and tangy taste to a burger.  An absolute must have on your burger. If you like a bit of ‘’zing’’ – add a chopped red/green chilli

Ingredients:

2 cups Grated Carrots

2 cups Grated White Cabbage

2 cups Grated Red Cabbage

½ cup Mayo

½ cup Full cream plain yogurt

Salt and pepper to taste

1tbsp Chopped coriander

1tsp Wholegrain mustard

Method:

Mix ingredients together and ‘’slab’’ it on your burger

 

 Home made burger patties in the making

Hamburger Patties
Nothing beats a succulent home made burger!! You can go wild with your meat selection. Play around with using Kudu and Ostrich mince or a combination of Beef and Lamb mince. For extra ‘’oemf’’you can brush the patties with a marinade just before it is ready to come off the fire. YUM

Ingredients:
500g Beef Mince
4 tbsp. Greek yogurt
3 tbsp. All Gold Tomato Sauce
1 tbsp. Worcester sauce
1 tbsp. Wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp. Soya sauce
½ packet Brown onion/ Mushroom soup powder
2 slices White bread – soaked in milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Mix all ingredients together and rest for 20 minutes.
Form into patties and braai. You determine the time because you decide the size!

The face of anticipation….

In a state of readiness….. hunger games…..

The ladle….

Tannie Marie prefers her eggs dirty….could it relate to the dirty dozen?

Puntjie’s lookout from the braai, featuring the Duiwenhoks river mouth, looking towards Witsand which is more or less about 17km from the Puntjie, as the crow flies.

Hands
Handling
Dangling in water
Making and shaking
Slapping and clapping
Warming and warning
Hitting and fitting
Grabbing and rubbing
Peeling and feeling
Taking and breaking
Helping and giving
Lifting
Sifting sand
Hand holding
Hand

By Peter Young

Chilli, Coriander & lime pesto

This is such a cool ‘’foodie thing’’ to have in the fridge.  Pesto is such a versatile ingredient and can last for up to two weeks in the fridge.  You can add it to pasta, drizzle it over chicken, serve it with cheese and bread or serve it on a pizza with salami

Ingredients:

20g Mixed Nuts

½ cup Basil leaves

½ cup Rocket leaves

½ cup Coriander on stalk

2 Garlic cloves

60g Grated Pecorino cheese

½ Red chilli, chopped with seeds

7tbsp Olive oil

Method:

Blitz all ingredients together.

Mix with cooked pasta of your choice.  Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with cocktail tomatoes, fresh wild rocket and feta cheese

 Rooikrans fire – with Basjanbaai as the backdrop for great things about to happen.

Sticky chicken basting sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup Sweet chilli sauce

1 cup Mrs Balls chutney

¼ cup Soya sauce

½ cup Lemon juice

Method:

Mix ingredients together.

The secret:  only brush the marinade over your meat/ sosaties about 5 minutes before it is ready!!

Rosmarinus officinalis

Garlic & Rosemary fried mushrooms

Ingredients

2tbsp Canola oil

½ Onion, thinly sliced

1 punnet Button mushrooms, halved

1tbsp Chopped garlic

Fresh chopped rosemary

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Add canola oil to pan and add onions.  Fry onion until soft and add button mushrooms, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper and fry for 5 minutes.

Tip:  Add a dash of cream and you have a sauce for a steak or pasta or fresh toast!!

Duiwenhoks Baked Beans

where the “Long drop”(an old custom toilet) may be your best friend

Ingredients:

Canola Oil

1 Big onion – chopped in slices and then cut slices in half

3 Cloves of garlic – chopped

3 Chilli’s – chopped

2 Canned Bake Beans

2 table spoons of Chutney

2 table spoons of Tomato Sauce

4 table spoons of Jimmy’s Sauce

Salt & Pepper to taste

Method:

Add Canola oil to the pan and fry the chopped onions until crispy and darkish in colour, move the onions to the side of the pan and add the garlic and chilli on separate open spots in the pan and fry until the garlic shows signs of colouring.  Then mix the onions, garlic and chilli together and add the canned baked beans, turn the heat down one notch, add the Chutney, Tomato sauce and Jimmy’s and mix everything together.  Let it slow cook for about 5 to 10 minutes, constantly stirring your mix, the sauces can easily burn to the pan if the pilot is not in a state of consciousness (babbelas).  Do a taster, if you are satisfied with result, take it off immediately, add salt and pepper if needed.

Tip and Warning:  not to be eaten by the overly health conscious, and if it is not hot enough, be my guest and add some more chilli’s, yebo yes!

 

 

“One should not attend even the end of the world without a good breakfast”

 – Robert A. Heinlein

South Africa 15 – Ireland 29 – Springboks outgoing tour 2014 – Fuuuuuuuck!!!

Potatoes is such a versatile creation, a starch, useful and delicious in many forms, almost as versatile as Captain AB de Villiers (Proteas – Good luck for the 2015 Cricket World Cup!!)

We had a lovely time in a place that took our minds for the weekend.  The trouble is we need it more and more, eish, so little time.  Special thanks to Tannie Marie and Oom Date for your hospitality on Vermaaklikheid and arranging a clean house on the Puntjie and lots of Rooikrans.  We surely enjoyed the beauty, food, wine, music, travel, snores, hills, sea, river, smells and the company of friends.  To be continued….(or at least in our minds, ha ha haaa!)

 “If all we seek is an escape, what does that say about the world we live in. We are desperate with our dreams. What – oh, what – does that say?”

― Steven Erikson, “The Crippled God”