HAPPY CHRISTMAS 2010 !

Wishing all those of you who celebrate it, a wonderful Christmas day today ! Thanks, too, to everyone for all the emails that have been coming in since yesterday - I'll get around to replying soon ;)

I have a special message today for all those of you who are spending Christmas alone, or without their loved ones - I know how hard it is for you, and I will be thinking of you especially today - those of you who have lost loved ones, or who's children have flown the nest, single parent families or those of you who have loved ones working far away from home, or perhaps in hospital during this time .... may you have extra strength today to get through the Christmas season which I know, is not an easy one for many.

Lots of Love

Lynda XXX

Mother's Day !

07th December 2004 with my newborn baby daughter - the day I became a mother for the first time ..... and my life was forever changed !

“Just as there is no warning for childbirth, there is no preparation for the sight of a first child. There should be a song for women to sing at this moment, a prayer to recite. But perhaps there is none because there are no words strong enough to name that moment.

Like every mother since the first mother, I was overcome and bereft, exalted and ravaged. I had crossed over from girlhood. I beheld myself as an infant in my mother’s arms and caught a glimpse of my own death. I wept without knowing whether I rejoiced or mourned. My mothers and their mothers were with me as I held my baby.”

(taken from ‘The Red Tent’ by Anita Diamant)

Wishing all the Mum's out there .... a wonderful Mother’s Day today !

Lynda

xxx

Lot's of Easter Food ... & Fun !

I baked a chocolate cake to take to our neighbour's farm for afternoon tea, topping it with mini Easter eggs from my precious (& closely guarded !) stash

My Easter weekend was wonderful ..... despite lots of continued rain, the Easter bunny managed to make it up our muddy roads in time to hide lots of chocolate eggs in the garden for our daughter on Sunday morning (our 10 month old son is a little too young for chocolatey delights just yet .... !)

On Friday afternoon we were invited to friends who live on a farm around 40 minutes from us (they are fairly new to the area - an Avocado growing bachelor who moved here 2 years ago and who now has a lovely girlfriend who is living out on the farm with him - wonderful to have another couple in the area !)

Anyway, we were invited for 'Good Friday Afternoon Tea & An Easter Egg Hunt' ... there were lots of other families there, and our hosts had laid on egg & spoon races, sack races and hopping races for the kids - and adults - I took place in a Mum's race with my daughter but you are not going to see any photo's of that - he he !!

Our hosts had laid games on for the children (and adults, too !) in their garden ... egg & spoon races, hopping races and sack races ( their dogs joined in the fun, too !)

Our hostess is a fabulous cook - and she had laid on a spread fit for a king .... and guests had also brought tasty treats with them ... meringues, chocolate & other biscuits, carrot cake, cucumber sandwiches, sliced ham, carrot sticks and dip, decorated cup cakes, chocolate pyramid shaped cake, scones, hot cross buns .... with lots of tea, coffee and a 'welcome' drink of champagne with a rhubarb coulis at the bottom of the glass - delicious !

Our hostess is a fabulous cook and had a table full of tea time treats laid on for us ....

We were expecting some friends out for Easter who could not make it in the end, so on Sunday we drove to a town around 1 1/2 hours away from the farm, where we had a wonderful lunch of Indian food .... and even brought some home for supper (Murgh Chicken and Chicken Tikka Masala) .. which we enjoyed with a good bottle of South African red !

Sunday night saw us eating some delicious Indian food ... enjoyed with a good bottle of South African red ...

Hubby also requested a chocolate cake for us to keep at home, so I baked one and iced (frosted) it with white chocolate butter cream (made by mixing icing sugar, butter and hot white chocolate powder together !) and decorated with chunks of caramel chocolate ... well, it was Easter, after all !

I made a second chocolate cake to keep at home for the family - topped with white chocolate icing and caramel studded chunks of chocolate ... yum !

And that was my food filled, fun filled easter weekend. Needless to say, this week we are back to the healthy eating and grilled, steamed and poached methods of cooking .... drinking lot's of water and trying to make up for a weekend of excesses !

Hope that you all had a wonderful Easter, too .........

Have A Wonderful Easter !

Wishing everyone a wonderful and very happy Easter (and lot's of chocolate too, of course !)

Love,

Lynda

xxx

Happy New Year !!!

Mt Meru viewed from our farm last week

To all my wonderful blog readers, a very 'Happy New Year' to you !
Thanks for reading my blog - the whole year through ....

From kitten rescues to baby’s being born to elephant’s on the farm too,
I’ve enjoyed writing and being read during 2009 by you

Your comments make me smile (and sometimes shed a tear)
Each and every reader of ‘Food, Fun & Farm Life’ I hold dear ….
The emails, the cards, the gifts sent from afar
I can’t believe what a wonderful bunch of people you are !

Although we live all over this big, wide world & are spread out afar
Blogging only brings it home even more, how very alike we are

No matter our background, religion or views ....
No matter which sort of lifestyle we choose ....

Whether living on an urban street or a quiet country lane -
At the end of the day, we are all very much the same

So …. I hope that you’ll enjoy another year of ‘Food, Fun & Farm Life’ with me
Who knows what 2010 holds in store ?

Well - we’ll just have to see !

Wishing all my readers a wonderful, peaceful 2010 !

My Christmas & Boxing Day ......

Did you think I'd disappeared underneath a pile of Christmas wrapping paper ? Floated away on a sea of brandy sauce ? Sorry I haven't posted since Christmas day, but I've been enjoying some festive fun with friends & family & haven't been online much !

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas .... mine started off with a cat underneath the Christmas tree - as you can see above ! (No, not another 4-legged addition to our family, but rather That Tessa Cat !)

I spent the entire day before Christmas on my feet in the kitchen, preparing food to take up to our neighbour's farm for Christmas lunch (we split the cooking between us) .... their farm is around an hour from ours, and this is their driveway/entrance below ....

Before we hit the bumpy part of their road, I asked hubby to stop the car so that I could check that all the food in the back was still okay. Here's our car below - just after we'd stopped on our neighbour's driveway to check that all was still intact !

I had packed everything into large plastic crates with old bath towels layered between them to prevent spillages and breakages .... turkey, stuffing, chippolata sausages, gravy, roast potatoes, strawberry cheesecakes .... then of course there were the bags of presents, coolerbox of booze, case of beer .... not to mention spare clothes, books, toys, nappies & gear for baby son - and everything else you need for 2 kids for a day out ! (Oh. And hubby's gun. Just visible in the photo. Incase of 'bandits' on the road home at night - I kid you not).

Everything made it there safely - thank goodness ! The Christmas table (below) was laden with all manner of goodies, including ..... honey glazed ham, cauliflower in a cheese sauce, minted peas, brussel sprouts cooked with bacon and chestnuts (brought over from the UK in someone's suitcase !), roasted pumpkin slices, sweetcorn on the cob, green beans in butter, spinach gnocchi, bread sauce, apple sauce, cranberry jelly and raisin gravy (first time I'd ever tried the latter - which was delicious !)

The dessert table (below) consisted of .... fresh plums, strawberry cheesecake, vanilla cheesecake, pavlova (our hostess is an Australian and pavlova is commonly served in Australia over the Christmas season) with raspberries and kiwi fruit, carrot cake, brandy tart, trifle, custard and cream. (So much for my post pregnancy 10 kg/22 lb weight loss - I think I gained at least half of it back after sampling EACH and EVERY dessert ..... I have such a sweet tooth !)

Oohhhh ... and should I mention the champagne, red wine, tea, coffee, Bailey's Irish Cream, Van der Hum (Orange) Liqueur and Mince Pies ? Or the delicious Boxing Day "tea and sundowners' spread laid on by my dear friend J. at her house the following day ........ traditional mince pies with brandy butter, meringue topped mince pies (I've GOT to make these next year - they were fab !), cucumber sandwiches, cheese & marmite biscuits (recipe to follow soon !), Christmas cake, fudge, cheese and biscuit platter, cold sliced ham, Panettone ..... Pimms Punch and Mulled Wine. Ah ! My thighs are moaning just thinking about it !

On our way home on Boxing Day we hit heavy rain (which - although annoying, is still better than bandits !), which delayed us somewhat. We also managed to somehow get ourselves STUCK in the mud for around an hour on the farm itself. Luckily I had blankets and pillows etc in the car for the kids, and I never travel anywhere here without bottles of water, juice and 'snack boxes' for my daughter .... we got back home just before 10 pm and still had to bath the kids and get them to bed - on battery power (generator was already off for the night) and tepid bathwater (rain had made all the wood wet so we could not heat the boiler properly). But it was a fun couple of days (and we had a long lie-in on Sunday morning) & we are just catching up before heading off to the African bush for a few days over New Year. But more about that later.

In the meantime, pass me the Mince Pies, won't you ? We can't let all that brandy butter go to waste ;)

Happy Christmas !!!

T'was The Night Before Christmas ......

Christmas table setting from when we celebrated Christmas with my parents before we left South Africa last month

Tonight it’s Christmas Eve ! (And – by the title of this blog post, can you tell which bedtime story I’ve been reading to our daughter this week ? I think I must know it off by heart by now !)

Christmas Eve has always been a magical time for me …. I guess it goes back to when I was a child … the excitement, the expectation for Christmas morning. This evening, we will allow our daughter to stay up a little later than usual as we place all the Christmas presents under the tree together before she goes to bed. We will also leave a beer and some mince pies out for Father Christmas near the fireplace, as well as some carrots for his reindeer, of course !

Tomorrow morning we will wake up early & rush through to the lounge to see what Father Christmas has brought ! He will place the presents he brings for the children under the tree, and will fill the kid’s stockings which are hanging on the mantle piece.

We will drink tea (coffee for hubby !) and eat mince pies as we open our gifts …. sent from friends and family all around the world ….

Late morning, we will head up to our neighbour’s farm (which is about an hour from here), where we will be celebrating Christmas day together again (you can read all about that last year over here). There will be 14 of us for lunch, and as I did last year, I’ll be cooking and taking the turkey with me (along with the stuffing, gravy, chipolata sausages, roast potatoes and a lemon & strawberry cheesecake for the dessert table !) I think it’s going to be a lovely day !

On Boxing Day (you can read over here what we got up to on Boxing Day last year) we are heading out to dear friends of ours who we often spend Boxing Day with and who have recently bought land, (and built a house there) on the border of one of our National Parks …. I am taking along a platter of snacks for this as they are expecting around 25 people.

So, with all this cooking to do I’ve been keeping busy (we’ve also had lots of visitors out to the farm this week and past weekend, people for lunch etc & it’s been a – wonderful – non-stop social whirl in the lead up to Christmas !) …. so I’d best be off now and get in to the kitchen … with baby son in his ‘bouncy chair’ beside me to keep me company, and my daughter bobbing in and out (completely and utterly hyped up & excited with the prospect of it being Christmas day tomorrow !)

Will I be posting tomorrow, on Christmas day ? Absolutely - see you then !

Novelty Christmas Crackers

The animal print Christmas cracker in the foreground is handmade here in Tanzania. The red & green foil covered cracker in the background is made in South Africa

(I have my friend Shannon in Texas to thank for the inspiration for this blog post - as it was through her that I discovered that Christmas Crackers aren’t found all over the world and used by everyone at Christmas time – so I decided to write about them & share the tradition with those of you who may not know what they are. Thanks, Shannon !)

Christmas crackers (the novelty type – not the edible ones !) are very much a part of Christmas for us. They always feature on the table at our main Christmas meal (which is lunch time on Christmas day in our home) as part of the table settings. Each person usually finds a cracker on his/her side plate and tradition dictates that they are ‘pulled’ before the meal begins.

The Tanzanian cracker above (which my daughter & I 'pulled' today) is a top quality handcrafted one and contained a green crepe paper 'crown' hat, a handmade African bead necklace and a joke ('Why do lions eat raw meat ? Because they don't know how to cook it !')

The crackers are basically cardboard tubes covered with brightly coloured paper twisted on each side - much like a large wrapped sweet or candy. Inside the cracker you will usually find a paper hat, a really silly joke on a separate piece of paper, and a gift of some sort - plastic toys such as whistles, magnifying glasses etc in the cheaper crackers and nail scissors, key chains etc in the more expensive ones.

The fun in pulling the cracker (with the person sitting next to you) is that it makes a small ‘bang’ when it is pulled, and then everyone is usually left scurrying aound and under the table, looking for their gift ! Everyone then puts their paper hats on (which look like flimsy crowns) & take it in turns reading their corny jokes before the meal begins !

The shop bought cracker contained a red plastic 'crown' hat, a silver paper clip/holder & a joke which read 'What do you call a rocking chair fitted with wheels ? A Rock-and-Roller !'

The story goes that crackers were invented by a man called Thomas Smith in England in 1847. They were created by him as a development of his bon-bon sweets, which he sold in a twist of paper. Sales of bon-bon’s had been slumping, so Smith came up with the idea of adding a motto into the bon-bon wrappers (much like fortune cookies) - after limited success with this, he decided to replace the sweet with a gift and add a ‘crackle’ element by pasting saltpeter (potassium nitrate) on to 2 thin strips of cardboard that when friction was generated by them being pulled apart, created a small ‘bang’. (The inclusion of paper hats and jokes were introduced later on).

I have quite a few Christmas crackers this year, so we will use them for both the Christmas and the Boxing day meal

Over the past few years, Christmas crackers have finally become available in Tanzania - as one of the local leprosy homes makes them and sells them to raise funds each year. In my opinion, these are the best Christmas crackers I’ve ever come across as they are not only beautifully handmade, but also contain lovely quality handmade gifts such as beaded milk jug covers, necklaces and leather key tags. I’ve included some photo’s of these, along with the shop bought variety (these ones pictured come from South Africa) and what the contents look like once pulled – my daughter was thrilled as I let her pull/open 2 of them today so that I could photograph them for the blog !

I believe that Christmas crackers are found in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and a few European countries. Do you have them in your country ? If so, what are they like ? I’d love to hear from readers who have them, and what they are like in each different country.

Happy Christmas cracker pulling, everyone !

'Food, Fun & Farm Life' Christmas Recipe Round Up - Savoury Eats

If you're looking for some Christmas meal inspiration, I've put together some of my favourite recipes for festive meal ideas from last year for you to browse through .......

The 'Cheese & Mustard Straws' pictured above make a great snack to serve with drinks before your meal & as they are quite light, will still leave you with enough of an appetite for the 'main event' ! The recipe for these is over here.

I often serve asparagus as a starter dish on Christmas day .... sometimes with ham & cheese and sometimes with a tangy mustard sauce (as pictured below). You can see my recipe for 'Fresh Asparagus with Mustard Sauce' over here.

Turkey always features on our Christmas table (we have to order them some time in advance as they are usually imported into the country - sometimes from as far afield as Brazil - for the big day) - with a nice stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce (bought in a jar as cranberries definitely don't grow here !) The 'foolproof' method I used to cook the turkey below, can be seen over here.

What would your Christmas meal be without some 'Perfect Roast Potatoes' ?! You can find my recipe for them over here. This method is so simple and produces the perfect roast potato ... I promise !

Glazed gammon ham with pineapple & cherries also always features on our Christmas table. I do 'cheat' a little though, and buy mine pre cooked. You could also choose to cook a different type of pork dish for a change - my 'Pickled, Smoked Pork Leg' is shown below and in this post over here you will find helpful tips on things like cooking times for various cuts of pork.

If you missed my recent post on the 'Food, Fun & Farm Life' recipe round up for sweet Christmas treats, you can find it over here.

Happy Christmas cooking, everyone !

'Food, Fun & Farm Life' Christmas Recipe Round Up - Sweet Treats

Christmas for me is a very traditional time of year and because of this, you'll find the same things on my Christmas table year in and year out. I do experiment with a couple of new recipes each year, but my 'core' Christmas treats remain the same - and probably always will ! Most are made from scratch as we cannot simply go out here and buy ready made Christmas treats ('homemade' is always better, anyhow !) So, I thought I'd do a 'round up' of sweet Christmas treats that will be appearing in our home again this Christmas - all of which I blogged about last year and by clicking on the links below, will take you back to each specific post / recipe. Enjoy ! (My 'Round Up' of favourite savoury festive treats can be found over here).

Last year I made these brightly coloured 'Christmas Cupcakes' (above) for my daughter's school Christmas concert - they went down a treat with both the children and parents alike ! You can find my recipe for these over here.

I love making my Christmas Cake from scratch (see a photo of last year's cake below) & after experimenting with many different recipes over the years, finally found one which I simply love, love, love (thanks to my mother in law as she makes this recipe each year, too !) It's Marguerite Patten's and you can find my step-by-step instructions on how to make it over here.

We're not great fans of marzipan in our house, so I've come up with another great topping/icing for the cake which I make each year .... Santa (below) seems to approve of it, too ! You can see that over here.

What is Christmas without a fully stocked biscuit barrel, 'eh ?! (Or a Cookie jar - depending on whereabouts in the world you live !) These 'Christmas Cookies' below are easy to make, and go down a treat with a nice cuppa ! You can find my recipe for these over here.

Frosty the Snowman (who just popped down from the snowy peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro !) enjoys nibbling on these boozy 'Mince Pies' to warm himself up. Brandy and Christmas go hand-in-hand in my book, and the brandy added to the fruit mince in these pies makes them .... very moreish ! The recipe for these *hic* is over here.

Crisp, buttery 'Shortbread' .... made with real butter ..... mmmmm ........ there's nothing quite like it and this has to be one of my all time favourite Christmas treats .... this melt-in-the-mouth recipe can be found over here.

Since becoming a Mum, I've added a few fun kiddies festive treats to the table each year .... try these 'Festive Chocolate Crunchies' below (recipe over here).... sprinkled with red & green sugar strands & served in colour co-ordinated cup cases, the littlest members of your family will just love them !

The 'Treacle Toffee' below makes a great hostess gift .... if it lasts that long ! Try my recipe for this sticky treat over here.

Christmas only comes around once a year, so I wouldn't worry too much about over indulging and all those extra calories .... make one (or all !) of the tasty sweet treats above, and I guarantee you that you won't regret it ;)

Happy Christmas baking, everyone !

BABY HAS ARRIVED !

I'm thrilled to be able to finally let you all know that our - surprise ! - son was born on Tuesday 02nd June at 09h30 in Johannesburg, South Africa. We are thrilled to bits to welcome a much wanted (& totally unexpected !) son into this world & to compete our family at last .....

He has been born with a couple of problems and has been in the Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit since Wednesday. I'm still in hospital & our return to Tanzania has been delayed.

It's been both a joyous and emotionally draining time for our family, and we thank you all for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers during this time.

Lynda
xxx

Happy Easter !

Due to a serious lack of Easter eggs in the Tanzanian shops this year (as is the case every year !) I opted to decorate my Easter cake with melted chocolate & coloured sprinkles instead of multi coloured mini eggs. Anyway ..... the Easter bunny popped in to voice his approval, & hung around long enough for me to snap this quick photo ;)

Happy Easter to all those of you who celebrate it !

We were woken up this morning by our daughter’s delighted cries as she opened her eyes to find a couple of Easter egg gifts at the bottom of her bed from my husband & I, and from my parents. After quickly getting up and dressed we then headed into the garden to see if the Easter bunny had been – he had !

She had great fun hunting for a selection of chocolate eggs (I ordered a whole lot from South Africa & my Mum couriered them to me – they arrived just in the nick of time, too – a little melted and battered but as we explained to our daughter, the Easter bunny had to travel in the hot African sun and on some rather bumpy roads to get here !)

We are now getting ready to head off to our neighbours farm for Easter lunch. We are flat-out busy with planting at the moment, & seeing as my husband has been/is working for the entire Easter weekend, he has taken today off to spend with the family – which is better than all the Easter eggs in the world, if you ask me !! (Especially as this time last year we missed spending Easter together by a day. I was in South Africa last Easter, if you’re interested you can read what I got up to that day over here).

Yesterday my daughter & I baked a chocolate cake (pictured above) to take with us to our neighbours for tea, seeing as Easter and chocolate seem to go hand-in-hand ! (If you’d like to try another great Easter treat, why not try my Chelsea Bun recipe over here ?)

I hope that you all have a wonderful, peaceful Easter Sunday with your family – and lots and lots of chocolate too, of course !

New Year On The Farm

Our farm drive took us on some roads which have not been used in a while !

We set the dinner table out on the veranda, where we saw the New Year in (don't you love the giraffe inspired Christmas crackers ? They are made by our local Leprosy Centre, & I buy them every year - much better than anything you'll find in the shops with such great handmade gifts inside, too !)

Well, I can hardly believe that it's 2009 already. These past 2 months have been a very busy time for me - what with my daughter's birthday party, Christmas concert, my parent's arrival and visit with us for 6 weeks, our holiday on the Tanzanian coast and then another holiday in Nairobi, plus visitors for the weekend, horseback safari clients staying in the farm guest house, people coming out to the farm for lunches etc plus Christmas and New Year and all the catering that went with that - I feel like I've squeezed a year's socializing into just 2 months, & I must admit that I am looking forward to a quiet(er) January !

My daughter starts school again on Tuesday. I just cannot get my head around the way the school terms work here for our school. Crazy, if you ask me as they actually start the school year in November, and the school Christmas holiday's are short and sweet. Which limits you a lot if you are travelling overseas for a long period, as many expats here do over the festive season (lots of kids will be starting school much later this year as a result of this). Our school year - when I was a child - used to start in January & end in December, with a good 6 week holiday over Christmas. Oh well ! (Can you tell I'm not looking forward to the return of the weekly school runs ?!)

My parents left back for South Africa yesterday, after having them here for 6 weeks & being so much a part of our lives & routines for those 6 weeks, I am feeling really sad and empty without them around ! My daughter, husband & even all our animals (my parents are both animal lovers, which is where I think I get it from !) are at a loss. Anyway, I console myself by thinking that we will all be together again in almost exactly 4 month's time, when my daughter and I fly to South Africa for a long stint to have the baby (hubby will join me a week before the birth).

Our last day of 2008 was spent relaxing and going for a nice drive around the farm. We took my parents to show them the old German Homestead and Country Club, as they had not seen either before. That night, we set the table on the veranda and saw midnight in with a gorgeous meal of honey mustard roasted gammon ham (with pinapple & cherries - yum !), cauliflower & broccoli in a cheese sauce, sweet peppered carrots, green beans and roast potatoes and we finished it all off with a delicious imported Christmas pudding and homemade brandy sauce.

The local people around our farm welcome the New Year in by beating all their cooking pots outside their homes (like drums) at midnight to chase away the evil spirits from the previous year, and clear the way for the good spirits to enter for the coming year. This is accompanied by much singing, chanting and rejoicing aswell as dancing. We could hear all the villages around the farm, aswell as our own staff quarters, trying to outdo one another with their singing, and at around 1 am a large group of women went singing from village to village, home to home and they also walked all the way over to our farm and sang outside our garden fence - it was really lovely (but of course very dark outside so I could not get any decent photos). They were singing a song like a blessing, singing in the local Kiswahili language about blessing the children in the new year, blessing the elderly, blessing all the people etc and it was really lovely.

(These people have so little yet they are still happy and joyous to see a new year in, and celebrating life and the future - yet we who have so much, are always quick to complain. Just listen to me above, complaining about the school terms when I should be grateful that we can even send out daughter to school, and give her an education !)

On New Years day we drove to one of the neighbouring towns and had lunch out at one of the Indian restaurants there, stopped for ice creams on the way home and got back to the farm just before nightfall. My parents had to pack for their 3 am start the following morning, so an early night was had by all after eating some of the cold leftover ham and watching "Fawlty Towers" on the BBC satellite station we get here.

So, that was our New Year on the farm and I look forward to visiting everyone's blogs to see what you all got up to, and how you all celebrated. Sorry I have not been around or commenting much on other blogs lately but I am slowly getting back into my normal routine and will have more time on my hands again in the coming weeks.

I hope that everyone has had a great start to 2009 so far !

HAPPY NEW YEAR ! (& My Big Announcement !)

Kilimanjaro's lower slopes - viewed from a different angle on our farm - taken on the last day of 2008 (I bet she's seen a few New Year's in !)

Happy New Year ! I wish each and every one of you a wonderful, happy and joyous 2009 where all your hopes and dreams come true !

I won’t be posting any of my resolutions here - because I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, simply because I never stick to them & because I try to make changes that need to be made throughout the year & not just at the beginning of the year. (well, in theory - it doesn’t always work out that way though .. ha ha !)

Anyway jokes aside, I really do try not to take any year – no matter how good or bad it has been – for granted, because I treasure my life and the fact that I am healthy & living to see another year. I know that might sound a bit dramatic, but I have lost both family and friends at young ages and I am forever grateful for each year I have on this earth, and I do celebrate each year of my life regardless (even though life’s road can sometimes be a bit bumpy & unpredictable !)

The saddest event of this year for me was losing my beloved Zonde. She walked by my side for so long that I cannot remember a Christmas or New Year without her, & although I know she is still walking (softly, quietly, loyally) beside me in the shadows, life is just not the same without her, and I will never forget 2008 as being the year that she finally left me.

On a much more joyous note though, I want to share the wonderful news with you that I am just over 4 months pregnant, & expecting our baby towards the end of May this year ! I do not really talk about it on the blog – those of you who are regular or old readers will have seen me mention it only a couple of times – but we lost our second baby 2 years ago & through botched local emergency treatment I could have lost my own life too, & at one stage it was not known if I'd be able to have another child so this, for us, is truly a miracle and something we have wanted for a very long time !

There are those close to me who say I am crazy, as my pregnancy is considered a risky one and we live far from medical care & that I should not even consider having another baby whilst living on the farm ! But I always follow my heart, my gut instinct and I have a feeling of peace about this pregnancy and that all will go well. So now you see, another reason for my recent regular trips to Kenya (pregnancy check-up’s !) and more planned in the New Year, plus an almost 2 month stint in South Africa later this year, where I will have the baby in Johannesburg.

Don’t worry, this won’t become a “Baby Blog” lol but I just wanted to let you all know (I must admit that I’ve been feeling a bit guilty not sharing the news with you all sooner, but was waiting until I was over the risky first 3 months !) as it will, of course, have an impact on my blogging this year ….. especially around the time the baby is due ! (But my blogging will not stop, I promise !)

Well, let me stop waffling on now and just wish you all a wonderful day, a wonderful beginning to 2009 & may all your dreams come true in the new year. And never forget that yes, miracles do happen and that anything is possible, because 2008 has brought me my own miracle which we never thought possible. Never stop believing !

Boxing Day on The Farm ...

The stockings are empty, the decorations beginning to droop - but I still have Christmas cards to enjoy, sent from friends & family all over the world

So, Christmas is behind us and we are celebrating Boxing Day here today. As a child I always grew up being taught that Boxing Day was so named because it was the day you boxed up all your leftovers and things you didn’t need, to give to people less fortunate than you. As I got all my food parcels ‘delivered’ the day before Christmas, I guess you could say that the 24th was actually my “Boxing Day” !

I can’t believe that Christmas has gone by so quickly ! We had a wonderful Christmas day yesterday, and got home to the farm quite late last night – completely full from all we had to eat, and feeling quite relaxed and lazy after a fun filled day spent with friends !

Today we’ve been invited to a lamb on a spit Boxing Day celebration but have passed on that one, instead we have some of our nearest and dearest friends coming out to the farm to spend some time with us – we haven’t seen them in ages so it will be lovely to catch up with them again, and it will generally be a very laid back and easy day.

We were all thoroughly spoiled yesterday, in fact I am embarrassed to even tell you what gifts I received because there were so many of them, my husband completely and utterly spoiled me as did my parents and amongst all my presents I received some wonderful new African cook books - so watch this space !

I also received a very special present this year – one which came a little earlier than Christmas and I will be posting about that special present soon. (Hint – a living, breathing ‘present’ with a wet black nose and a wagging tail !) On New Year’s day I will also share some very special news with everyone on my blog, as this news will relate a lot to what I will be doing in the new year 2009 !

Well, I suppose I’d better be off now as my husband is busy trying to fly a kite in the garden with my daughter (this was one of her Christmas gifts), my Dad is watching the cricket and my Mum is on the veranda reading a new book and I want to go and spend some time with all of them before our guests arrive.

Wishing you all a wonderful Boxing Day !

Happy Christmas From Kilimanjaro !

One of my beaded African Christmas tree decorations from South Africa, made from an old wire coathanger

Our Christmas tree (fake, as no firs here !) with all the presents underneath which we set out on Christmas Eve

A Father Christmas ornament made from dried banana leaves which I bought at Lake Manyara earlier this year

Happy Christmas, to each and every one of you – I hope that wherever you are in the world today, and however you are celebrating this special day, and whoever you are celebrating it with … that it is simply wonderful !

This morning we will get up early to see what Father Christmas has left under our Christmas tree. We will also swap presents with each other over tea and mince pies. Later on, we will pack the car with gifts and food and travel around an hour or so to our neighbours farm, where we have been invited for Christmas day lunch.

There will be 11 of us in total, and we’re splitting the cooking between us - one of the things I’m carting ‘up the mountain’ (well, not literally !) is an almost 7 kg turkey which I cooked yesterday – one of us will balance it on our knees as we bump along the potholed road, dodging goats, cattle and passerby as we go – it could only be Africa !

The farm which we are going to is an historic farm in Tanzania’s history and used to belong to David Read. David Read is a well known East African character who grew up as a young boy here amongst the Masaai people. He is also a writer, and has written several fascinating books about his life in Tanzania (Tanganyika of old). You can read about David and his books over here.

Our neighbours live in David Read’s gorgeous old homestead, which he lovingly built many years ago out of local rock & with it’s solid wooden floors, thick stone walls, fireplaces in almost every room, floor-to-ceiling windows and sweeping views out over a soda lake - it has to be seen to be believed !

I am always aware – guilty ? – of the excesses of the festive season when surrounded by so many people who live in poverty. I try to do what I can to help those that I can, because of course I cannot help them all & my philosophy in life and in so much of what I do, is to help even a few people rather than to turn my back completely because the overall picture is too overwhelming for me to tackle on my own.

I make sure that our immediate staff and the farm staff and their families are looked after over this season, and that all have enough food and money for their families during this time and that no child goes without. Yesterday afternoon my daughter and I spent a couple of hours putting food packages together (rice, sugar, tea, oil, juice, fruit, vegetables, biscuits, sweets, soap) which we then gave to our immediate staff (those who work in our home and garden) and today there are gifts under the tree for a few of our close staff like Justin. We have also donated crates of beers and sodas to some of the local village organizations, to help them with their Christmas celebrations today.

So, I will end off now, let you get on with your Christmas festivities & wish you all a truly wonderful Christmas day !

XXX

Christmas Is Coming .....

I am sending out locally made Tanzanian Christmas cards this year to friends & family. I always support local craftsmen, & these cards are exquisitely made from dried banana leaves & Maasai cloth. (Can you see Kilimanjaro in the background ?)

I am completely crazy about Christmas/the festive season – it’s my favourite time of the entire year, & has been since I was a little girl. I still get as excited as a child around Christmas, and I’m so glad that the magic is still there for me now, even as an adult !

Growing up as a child in Zimbabwe, Christmas Day was a huge family affair where we would gather for lunch with Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins, taking it in turns to host at different homes every year. It was always hot yet we would still serve a full, hot ‘traditional’ Christmas spread and after lunch we would usually cool down with a dip in the swimming pool, as everyone had them in those days.

Back to the harsh reality that Africa breaks families up. It really does. Now we are scattered all over the world – as are every single one of the friends I grew up & went to school with.

Both my & my husband's families are split between South Africa, England, Australia and Zimbabwe. All of us, who used to celebrate together each year, are now on opposite ends of the earth. Last year, some of us met in the UK for Christmas and this year, my parents are coming to spend Christmas with us (as they did 2 years ago). They arrive tomorrow night are here for 6 weeks. (I am so excited I could scream !)

I am very close to both my parents, and miss them terribly. Never a day goes by when I am not in email contact with them, and we talk on the ‘phone or Skype as often as we can. (My Mum probably knows more about my day-to-day life now, than she did when I was still living at home !) The only thing I dislike about living in Tanzania, is being so far away from them – so we try to see each other as often as we can and so far it is working well especially for my daughter who is very close to both of them, too.

A lot of people, due to religious reasons, don’t celebrate Christmas in Tanzania. A decade ago, you would hardly know that it was Christmas but nowadays more shops are starting to put decorations up and stock Christmas food items. Most of the local Tanzanian people celebrate the day by going to Church and then having roast goat on a spit and some soda’s afterwards, and the children are all bought new clothes and shoes. I also love the fact that the local buses hang decorations & “Merry Christmas !” banners up in their cabs and across their windscreens !

For Christmas we loosely follow (& have since we were children, & I am carrying these traditions into my own family) British traditions. The house and tree (sadly a plastic one as we can’t get fir trees here) are decorated in early December and on Christmas Eve we put mince pies and beer out for Father Christmas (yes, even before we had children !) & hang our stockings up. On Christmas morning we wake up early to see what Father Christmas has brought us (!!) and open presents from each other over steaming mugs of tea and homemade fruit mince pies.

Christmas lunch is a full cooked meal consisting of -: A cold starter (Asparagus or Melon based), a joint of ham cooked with pineapples, honey & cherries; a stuffed turkey with gravy; chipolata sausages; roast potatoes; rice; broccoli/cauliflower in a cheese sauce; carrots & brussel sprouts (if we can get them) and is followed by (my favourite part !) Christmas pudding & brandy sauce.

Anyway, the reason why I mentioning Christmas now is because for the next month a lot of my posts will have a Christmas-ey feel to them as I share with you all the preparations I’m doing for the festive season – baking, cooking, crafts and decorations. Christmas day will be celebrated this year with friends in a special spot (& one that I haven’t shared on the blog yet) – but more about that later ….. !

And, just incase you were wondering ….. will I be blogging on Christmas day ? Why, of course !

Mother's Day Lunch

The delicious meal we enjoyed included a Spicy Lentil dish (front), Murg Chicken Tikka Masala(back left), Pilau Rice (back right)& some Naan Bread

We had a lovely Mother’s Day lunch out yesterday, in a town which lies almost at the base of Mt Kilimanjaro. The restaurant we went to, is one we’ve gone to for years now … their menu boasts “Indian, Chinese & Western” cuisine. The “Western” part of the menu includes things like hamburgers, toasted sandwiches, chips (French fries) and omelet’s !

Unfortunately their Chinese chef was ill yesterday, so we had a choice of either “Indian” or “Western” food. We opted for the Indian and I’ve posted the photo above, so that you can see what we ate …

My husband had their Murg Chicken Tikka Masala and I had a Lentil dish described on the menu as “Tender lentils cooked in a gravy, with tomato’s and Chef’s secret blend of spices”. We shared a portion of Pilau rice with that, and some buttered and garlic naan bread. We shared everything between us, and it was all delicious - our daughter enjoyed the rice and a toasted cheese sandwich as the curry dishes would’ve been too hot for her.

Pilau spices (or Pilau ‘Masala’) can be bought here in Tanzania ready mixed and usually include ground Cummin seeds, Cloves, Cardamom, Cinnamon and Black Pepper. Added to rice with some vegetables (the pilau rice we ate yesterday contained onions, green beans, cauliflower and tomato) it makes an easy and tasty accompaniment to any meal !

Happy Mother's Day !

Roses from our garden, given to me with a lovely card by my daughter this morning ! (The stone carved baby in God's hand was given to me by a Dutch friend for my daughter's Christening a few years ago)

Today it is Mother’s Day here in Africa. I’m not sure which other countries are celebrating it today, too. I know that Australia is because my dear childhood friend Di, who lives in Oz now, mentioned it to me earlier this week. An American 'foodie' site I’m a member of has been featuring Mother’s Day recipes this week too, so I think that America also celebrates today ?

Well, to all the Mothers (and Grandmothers) out there reading this today, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to you – I hope it’s a good one for you !

Being a mother is the BEST thing I’ve ever done, and out of everything I’ve achieved in my life, it is my proudest accomplishment yet. I know it sounds clichéd, but honestly, my daughter has brought me so much joy in the past 3 ½ years she’s been on this earth that I realize now, how very empty my life was before she came into it, and the love I feel for her is – indescribable !

Mother’s Day is a bittersweet day for me, because I should be celebrating it with two children instead of just the one. I lost my second baby a little over a year ago now. I’m still heartbroken – and know that I probably always will be. But I choose on this day, to celebrate my daughter’s life and try not to dwell on what could have been …. and suppose if I could have a Mother’s Day wish, it would be that this time next year, I am celebrating the special day with not one, but two children.

Anyway, on a brighter note, although my husband is still busy with the planting (only another 10 days or so to go), he is taking a few hours off the farm today and we are going out for lunch, to one of my favourite restaurants in a town which lies almost at the foot of Kilimanjaro. We haven’t been there for months, so it will be nice to take a drive out that way again, and I hope to be able to take some nice photo’s to put on the blog, too.

Have a wonderful Mother’s Day, everyone !