Oatmeal Cereal Cookies

Crisp & crunchy, these Oatmeal Cereal Cookies are a hit every time !

These Oatmeal Cereal Cookies are delightfully crisp and crunchy & are always a hit with our entire family ! They’re great with tea and make a nice lunchbox filler, too.

The recipe states that it makes 14 cookies, but I always manage to get 30 decent sized cookies (rolling walnut sized balls before flattening). These cookies do spread out a little during baking – so be sure to place them a little distance apart on your baking sheet -:

Oatmeal Cereal Cookies (taken from the book ‘Cookies’ published by ‘Pick ‘n Pay’ Supermarket)

175 gm/6 oz/¾ cup Butter (at room temperature, plus extra for greasing)
150 gm/5 oz/¾ cup Sugar
1 Egg Yolk
175 gm/6 oz/1 ½ cups plain flour, plus extra for dusting
5 ml/1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
2.5 ml/½ tsp Salt
50 gm/2 oz/scant ½ cup rolled Oats
50 gm/2 oz/scant ½ cup crunchy Granola type cereal (I use puffed rice or cornflakes)

With an electric mixer, cream the butter & sugar together until light & fluffy. Mix in the egg yolk. Sift over the flour, bicarbonate of soda & salt, then stir into the butter mixture. Add the oats & cereal & stir to blend. Chill for at least 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190’C/375’F/Gas Mark 5. Grease a baking sheet. Roll the dough into balls. Place them on a baking sheet & flatten with the bottom of a floured glass (I use a fork & also sprinkle brown sugar over the tops before baking). Bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes 14.

Typical Scenes Along The Road To The City .....

So much to see along the road into the city ..... I thought I'd share some of it with you today ..... homes along the roadside (above) with a young girl laughing as she carries 2 buckets (probably to fetch water in - few people have water on tap in these rural villages) .... with washing hanging on the line behind her (click on any photo to enlarge for more detail).

Early morning time, and many people are fetching water for the day .... carried on foot, bicycle or donkey - you can see the donkey's in the photo below, with yellow plastic water containers strapped to their sides (I often think of that when I switch on a tap - and lecture my children about wasting water and the 'luxury' of having it on tap !)

This is a fairly new shop on the roadside below - selling slasto/sandstone - I think it's lovely, and would make a great veranda floor surface (or even an interior chimney/fire place covering ?)

A truck carrying goods (probably from the city of Dar es Salaam) with woven baskets balanced atop his load filled with oranges and other fruit (which makes me think he originated from a coastal area, where they grow and are sold very cheaply along the roadside). Never mind the vehicle overtaking this truck on a solid white line with oncoming traffic - that's very common here, too !


Would you like to hire a motorbike (called 'piki piki's' here) to get you around for the day ? Well you can take your pick from those below at the local motorbike hire shop ......

And you can fill up with fuel at the nearby filling station, too .................

Then stop off at another shop to buy yourself a soda ...... (or even a beer - if that's your choice of morning beverage !)

Another roadside shop selling soda's and snacks ......





In the photo below, people are busy making cement building blocks .... there is so much building and development going on in Tanzania at the moment, which is always a good sign ...


I love the local shops and the buzz of activity along the roadside wherever you go .... sure, I love travelling away to the 'first world' where sprawling, shiny shopping malls welcome you into their airconditioned comfort and where you can buy anything your heart desires - but you know what ? Call me crazy, but I'll take this over that anyday - somehow, it's so much more fun !

Quick & Easy Pasta Lunch

This quick & easy pasta dish is an easy, filling lunch - perfect for those days when a sandwich is simply not enough !

This is not so much a recipe, but rather an idea of how to put together a quick and easy pasta lunch – this is ideal for those days when you’re feeling a little hungry, and when a sandwich, soup or salad just won’t cut it for you !

I always have a large bowl of cooked pasta in the fridge – I usually cook enough to last 2 days or so – as we eat a lot of pasta (& my daughter loves eating it cold as a snack !) So when I need a filling lunch in a hurry, I simply take some out of the fridge & throw this easy lunch together (with the added bonus that our generator runs between 1 pm and 2 pm, which means I can use my microwave to heat this all up !) -:


Quick & Easy Pasta Lunch

1 cup cooked Pasta Shapes (e.g. Macaroni/Penne)
½ cup Cherry Tomatoes (or large tomatoes, chopped into cubes)
handful of Rocket* (Arugula) leaves, washed & torn
28 gm (1 oz) Cheddar cheese, grated
Garlic flakes – to taste
Salt & Freshly ground Black Pepper – to taste

Place all the ingredients into a microwavable bowl, toss to blend and then heat for around 2 minutes until warmed through & the cheese has melted. (Or you can toss all the ingredients except the cheese together, and sprinkle it on top after you've heated it, if you prefer).

* Rocket (also known as Arugula) is a salad leaf with a hot, mustard/pepper taste which is typically mixed with other milder flavoured salad greens (like lettuce) in a salad to give it a nice, balanced flavour