Last Weekend ......

I was so busy on Sunday that I forgot to take many photos ! However, I snapped a few photo's just before everyone arrived - this was the adult's lunch table set out on our veranda (the kids had a separate table just next to it)

Last weekend was a busy one on the farm. We had friends (from the city) out to stay - with children similar in age to our daughter - so that was great for her ! I planned special kiddies meals and snacks and had lots of activities lined up and things to keep them busy - it was great fun and kept them occupied so that I could get on with other 'important' things like .... catering .... for a Sunday lunch party for 11 friends last Sunday (plus 4 kids).

My stove is quite small, and as we run our house on generator/battery power, it is tricky keeping everything hot - so when I cater for a crowd, I usually do a big cold spread. On Sunday we started off under the big fig tree at the bottom of our garden - we moved couches/chairs down there and big cushions and a picninc rug, coolerboxes filled with beer, wine and soft drinks and snacks - biltong, fat free hummus with breadsticks and chips and dips.

The cold spread/main meal (which I served on the veranda) consisted of ham (on Saturday I cooked a joint I had in the freezer pre ordered before Christmas), cold chicken pieces in a sticky marinade, meatballs with a mustard dip, Greek salad, potato salad, coleslaw and smoked chicken & mango salad (the latter my own invention and no - I didn't take a photo to put the recipe on the blog ! Silly me !) .... then for pudding I served the good 'ol Malva Pudding & Custard, and a kid friendly jelly and evaporated milk whip delight topped with fresh fruit (and also forgot to take a photo of that !)

One of our guests was Vegan, so for her I made a separate salad and Thai style tofu and then for pudding I did her pineapple in a rum butter glaze on the stovetop- much to Justin's amusement as the alcohol in the pan flared up into magnificent blue flames which just would not go out & I acted as if this was NOT supposed to be happening & was desperate for him to help me put the fire out !

View of part of our garden as seen from the dining table above - I love the overgrown and not-quite-tidy feel it has at the moment after all the rain !

After lunch I served tea, coffee and a cheeseboard with local and imported cheeses and also a platter of chocolate fridgecake, cut in to tiny squares.

Then hubby came out with a tray of liquers, brandy, whisky etc ..... needless to say, everyone had a great time and the last guests left at 8 pm that night .... and promptly got stuck on the farm road in the mud (as it had rained quite hard during the latter part of the afternoon) .... our askari (guards) came running up to the house to tell us that they'd seen their car (Landrover) headlights on the road for ages so we figured they were in trouble & hubby said "Well what do you expect if you drive a Landrover ?!" (as he is a pro Landcruiser anti Landrover man and I am a Landrover Lover, so he always gets a dig in where he can ! I once crossed a raging river in a Landrover with water coming up over the floorboards/through the doors and the good 'ol Landy just kept going - so since that day - you can keep your Landcruisers !) Anyway, hubby went to help them and eventually they were all (merrily - as they had a coolbox filled with beer in the back !) on their way.

Maxie looked so pretty lying on the lush green grass with flower petals scattered all around her - at the time I took this photo, she was thinking "Mmmmm .... I wonder if there's a way I can steal that ham off the serving table when Mum's got her back turned ?!"

We have been to so many friend's houses for lunch over the past few months that I thought I would just invite everyone back to our place at once - also some friends we had not seen over the festive season as they/we were away - so it was a nice mix of old and new friends, city and farm friends and although it was a lot of work for me, I really enjoyed it ! (As odd as it sounds, I really enjoy cooking for a crowd and hosting a meal like this - it makes me feel all peaceful and happy inside, and I love cooking food for others to enjoy !)

I planned my 'menu' about a week beforehand, shopped for everything I needed in the city the Monday before, and slowly started cooking stuff up during the week. Justin and I set up most of the chairs, tables etc on Saturday so on Sunday it was just really putting the finishing touches, flowers on the table etc ....

So, don't ask me what I'm doing this weekend ! I'm relaxing as much as I can (hubby is working today !) .... catching up on homeschooling with my daughter as we are waaaay behind .... spending time outside in the garden ... as you can see by the photo's, it's looking really inviting lately .... and tomorrow we are off on a little trip somewhere for the day. Going to a really scenic part of the country - not too far from here - and picking up something special to bring back home. Where ? What ? Hey ? Well, you know how I like to keep you all in suspense .... so ..... more to follow soon ;) Have a great - and relaxing - weekend wherever you are as you read this !

**P.S. I know I should've been a good little blogger and added links to all the recipes/dishes I mentioned I'd served on Sunday in this post ..... but, honestly ? I'm feeling too lazy to do that ! If you want to find any of them, you can just search for them in the 'Search' box in the top left hand corner .... hope you don't mind ?!?

Cheese & Herb Scones

These Cheese & Herb scones taste delicious served fresh out of the oven with lashings of butter !

Scones are always so quick and easy to make, and I tend to make them several times a month, at least !

Sometimes I make plain scones for breakfast or afternoon tea, and sometimes for a change I’ll make cheese scones with a touch of cayenne pepper or freshly chopped herbs added to the dough.

Here is my recipe for ‘Cheese & Herb’ scones below -: (If you’d like to see one of the very first recipes I ever published on the blog almost 2 years ago now, you can see my recipe for “Felicity’s Breakfast Scones” over here).

Cheese & Herb Scones

2 cups Flour
4 tsp Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
3 tbsp Margarine (or Butter)
1 cup Cheddar Cheese, grated
1 tbsp fresh Herbs, chopped (Thyme or Rosemary work well) – if no fresh, then use dried
1 Egg, beaten
½ cup Milk

Sift the flour, baking powder & salt together. Rub in the margarine (or butter), until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Add the grated cheese and herbs and stir. Then add the beaten egg & milk. Mix with a fork, until mixture leaves the sides of the bowl. Knead gently (and quickly) on a floured surface. Roll out quite thick – about 1 to 1 ½ cm – and cut in to rounds. Bake at 200’C/400’F/Gas Mark 6 for +- 10 minutes.

And The Winner Is ..............

A bowl full of ..... comments ! (My daughter holding the bowl of comments yesterday - just before picking the winner out)

Thank you all so much for leaving your comments and entering the ‘draw’ to win the Maasai beaded items. I loved reading though your comments to see which posts you voted as your favourite/s.

I was also really touched by the people who commented and let me know their favourite posts, but asked not to be included in the draw (as they have already visited Africa or are friends who I’ve sent similar things to over the years, or whatever) - so giving others a better chance. It was also lovely to hear from people who have read the blog for ages but had never commented before - lovely to 'meet' you !

I must say I was surprised at some of the ‘favourite posts’ chosen – some which I had considered to be ‘a bit boring’ when I published them (like the ones on our various crops, or my garden views) and some others (like the kitten rescue one which came up a lot – my critics told me that it was too long winded & when I wrote it I actually thought to myself ‘are people really going to read through this entire story and be interested in it ?!”) … so it just goes to show, you never really know which posts are going to be ‘hits’ and which are going to be ‘misses’ !

The post on the death of my beloved Zonde came up a lot – it probably still remains the most difficult and emotional post I’ve written – I felt that my heart was spilling out onto the ‘pages’ as I wrote as I felt so much raw emotion at that time … and I am pleased that my pain (and baring a very personal part of myself) was not in vain as many of you said this was one of your favourite posts, which I found really touching - thank you ! (P.S. You can search for any of these posts mentioned, by typing the title of the post or keywords into the search box in the top left hand corner of the blog).

So, it is now time to announce THE WINNER !!!! Yesterday my daughter and I cut up all the comments & placed them into a wooden bowl (she helped me to fold them and felt very important getting to draw a name out !) ...................... and the winner is *drumroll please* .......

MARI ("I'M SASSY") from Minnesota, USA - CONGRATULATIONS, MARI !!! (You can see Mari's blog "Just Once Around The Sun" over here) Mari's comment was as follows -:

'I started reading your blog sometime during 2009 and became hooked after the very first read. Although all of your blog entries are extremely interesting, my favorites tend to lean towards the wild animals that wander onto your farm. I have never been to Africa, it is on my bucket list! Things to see before, well, you know!When i saw your blog where the giraffes and wildabeasts wandered onto your farm i imagined how breathtaking it must be to look out the window and see that! Amazing! I`m waiting for an elephant now.Also i enjoyed the post where you mentioned weavils in your flour, the commeter who replied rudely that SHE never had bugs in her flour. Your response was perfect, and brought a smile to many of us readers.Thanks for such an interesting blog!Mari'

Mari, I hope that you'll love the African items on their way to you ! If you could send me an email with your postal address (just click on the 'Contact Me' link in the right sidebar of the blog) I will pop the package into the post for you when I am next in the city (in a week or two ?)

Sorry to all those who were not lucky - but this was so much fun, so maybe we can do it again sometime hey ? What do you think ?!