Late Posting Today !

My beautiful Maxie (taken on a walk around the garden this afternoon) turns 2 next month ....

Regular readers will know that I usually post around 11 am Tanzanian time each morning ..... well it's around 11 pm now, so I'm only 12 hours late today ;) Actually, I have been having a problem with Blogger this weekend (anyone else had the same thing happen to them ?) I could not post or moderate comments Friday/Saturday until quite late last night - so had no blog post prepared for today yet, by the time I finally managed to get online again.

We had a really relaxing family day at home today, with hubby taking the day off work and I didn't spend any time at the computer. So, no post from me today but instead I just wanted to pop in to let you all know why you hadn't heard from me yet !

Also thought it would be a good chance for Maxie to show her pretty face on the blog (the photo above was taken this afternoon) as it's been a while since I've 'featured' her. You can read about her and how she came into our family over here, aswell as see what a cutie she was as a puppy ! Maxie turns 2 years old next month, and is a very special girl - a real sweetheart who has a special place in my heart & is living a wonderful, carefree life instead of a miserable, unloved one chained up as a guard dog on a mine somewhere. (Which you can read more about in the post about her as a puppy).

I'll be back soon .....

Cheesy Herb Twists

I used ready rolled made puff pastry to make these - so easy !

The 'Cheesy Herb Twists' are pictured on the left of the plate (clockwise from top - if you're interested - were cubes of cheddar & mozzarella cheese; marinated sundried tomatoes; biltong (dried beef) and in the blue & white bowl were stuffed/marinated olives

This is a really simple ‘cheats’ way of making a quick and tasty snack which is great served with pre meal drinks. I say ‘cheats’ because I use shop bought puff pastry to make these. This is still somewhat of a novelty for me, as up until a few years ago and the opening of a large South African supermarket in our nearby city, you could not buy puff pastry here – so if you wanted it, you had to make your own which, let’s face it, can be quite a time consuming task !

I used a packet of ‘Cheese & Herb’ puff pastry to make these (it was the first time I’d ever spotted it on our shelves here as we can usually only get the plain type) but you could just as easily add your own dried herbs and finely grated cheese to plain puff pastry, or just sprinkle these on the top before baking -:


Cheats Cheesy Herb Twists

1 x 400 gm packet of ‘Cheese & Herb’ Puff Pastry
¾ cup finely grated Cheddar cheese
Garlic flakes (dried)

Carefully unroll the puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface. Roll lightly to flatten if necessary (it should be a little bit thicker than a piece of cardboard). Sprinkle the cheese & garlic flakes over the surface, and pat down lightly. Cut thin strips around 1 ½ cm in width and 15 cm in length. Twist each strip a few times by holding one end firmly between 2 fingers and twisting the bottom of the strip with your other hand. Place on a lightly greased baking tray and bake at 190’C/375’F/Gas Mark 5 for around 12 minutes until brown. (I turned mine over once during baking so that they could brown on both sides).

All Sorts To Talk About Today .........

Thanks, everyone, for the comments on Saturday’s post. The day was a great success and the weather was, thankfully, warm enough for us to sit out on the veranda and enjoy our lunch.

Now, I was so busy that I forgot to take photo’s of the table settings, dessert etc – but I do have a few photos to share with you – ones that I remembered to take, that is !

Justin, as always, is a star and helped me so much I could not have done it without him – the photo above is of him, as we were just getting ready for everyone to arrive (& serve them snacks, below). Over the nearly 10 years we’ve worked together, Justin has helped me host 100’s of people and helps everything to run smoothly – setting the table, laying stuff out, checking on drinks, clearing up etc. He remains calm and is unflappable (whereas I like to shout, throw things in the air, take swipes at hubby if he gets in my way & generally, get in a bit of a tizz !) so we are a good team.


The friends on Sunday included both old and new as well as neighbours. The men mostly sat on one side and talked farming all day *boring* and then broke their monotonous conversation with talk about boats *yawn* and cars *double yawn* (with apologies to all my male readers !) whilst us ladies sat on the other side and gossiped about the latest Tanzanian expatriate scandal/s, child rearing, Tanzanite stones, bandit attacks and holiday’s !

Everyone enjoyed the food and it all went quite smoothly. I changed my main course at the last minute, and instead of serving the Chicken Broccoli Bake I made the Spicy Chicken Casserole instead (you can see that marinating above !) I added red & green peppers & drizzled fresh cream over the top (see photo below, of one of the 3 dishes) which I didn't do when I originally posted the recipe on the blog.

At around 8 pm that evening (yes, having guests stay on that late is quite typical of Sunday lunches here !) someone asked if they could go up to see the Guest Cottage, then someone else decided to come, then the kids all grabbed their torches and before I knew it, we were all (well lubricated with good South African red) staggering in the dark up to the cottage .... with excited dogs at our heels and hubby’s workshop askari looking at us in bewilderment as I gave everyone the grand tour ‘Kilimanjaro is over there – although you can’t see her now as it’s pitch black’ ….

Now on a completely different note, 3 great African blogs which I’d like to mention which I know that you'll all enjoy reading if you haven't found them already ….. first off, my *favourite* African blogger 'One Stoned Crow' is back and blogging from Namibia, so pop on over and say hello & welcome back & enjoy some of his magnificent photography.

My brother-in-law Chris (who is the reason this blog exists, as he suggested to me that I start one all that time ago !) has recently started a blog 'Mpumalanga Journal' about his farm & life in South Africa & memories of farming in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. Pop in and say hello and leave a comment if you like, as we all know what it’s like when we are just getting our blogs off the ground and how nice it is to have visitors from afar ;) and then my dear friend Jo, who I have met twice ‘in real life’ is back in the Sudan this week and blogging from there about all the exciting things she’s getting up to over there on her blog, 'Memorable Meanders'.

And .... welcome to all my new 'Followers' and thanks to everyone for all the comments and emails, too. Sorry I haven't had as much time lately to visit and comment on everyone's blogs but I hope to visit you all soon !