On My Way To South Africa Soon ..........

Kilimanjaro's snow covered peak - as viewed from my front garden

Yes, I'm still here ! (And yes - I know that I've been a Really Bad Blogger lately !) Thanks to everyone for still reading, commenting, following and emailing - I appreciate it !

I am heading off to South Africa next weekend (those of you who have read me for a long time will know that my son is due to have an operation there in mid December) - but I promise to keep on blogging once I'm there, to let you all know what I'm up to !

I'll be spending some time in Johannesburg, and also on the Eastern Cape coast - where my parent's live and where I'll also be spending Christmas and New Year. As always, I'll let you know what I'm doing/eating and getting up to on my travels. Can you believe that we're almost at the end of 2010 already ?! (I can't !)

You know that I often post stats and interesting snippets about the blog , and I do feel a little guilty here as I am not blogging as regularly as I used to, yet the blog's ranking is still climbing with my new ranking being no. 13 in Tanzania (no - I'm not superstitious !) and no. 628 in Africa - and all I can say is THANK YOU to each and every one of you, for reading me as often as you do (even though the posts aren't as regular) because if not for YOU the blog wouldn't be ranking as it is !

'Food, Fun & Farm Life' has had 449 299 visitors as I type this post, the majority of my overseas readers currently coming from the USA, closely followed by the UK and then Canada. The majority of my African readers come from South Africa, followed by Kenya and then Zambia. (Tanzanian readers - where are you ?!)

My most unusual readers come from 'ships at sea' & their location is - the middle of the ocean ! I also have readers from as far afield as Macedonia, Indonesia, Japan, Slovenia and Bermuda - greetings to you all, and thanks for reading from your corner of the world !

One of the most popular recipe posts on the blog at the moment is the one over here for 'Tanzanian Chapati' which I posted over 2 years ago and the most popular 'life' post at the moment is this one on 'Typical Tanzanian Road Side Scenes' which shows scenery on the way to the farm.

So, yes - thanks for continuing to read me & inspire me to keep on blogging .... and watch this space !

Easy White Bread Recipe

This easy white bread recipe has a soft texture & was great when used a day or two later to make sandwiches

An old friend of mine (aren't old friends always the best type of friends ?!) forwarded me the link to this easy bread recipe the other day, and I decided to try it over the weekend as we were having guests to stay.

It turned out really well and I will definitely be making it again.

The original link for this recipe can be found over here on the BBC Good Food website.

Easy White Bread Recipe

500 gm strong White flour, plus extra for dusting (I used white cake flour)

2 tsp Salt

7 g sachet of fast action Yeast

3 tbsp Olive Oil

300 ml Water

Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre, then add the oil and water, and mix well. If the dough seems a little stiff, add 1-2 tbsp water, mix well then tip onto a lightly floured work surface and knead. Once the dough is satin-smooth, place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Leave to rise for 1 hour until doubled in size or place in the fridge overnight.

Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Knock back the dough, then gently mould the dough into a ball. Place it on the baking parchment to prove for a further hour until doubled in size.

Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Dust the loaf with flour and cut a cross about 6cm long into the top of the loaf with a sharp knife. Bake for 25-30 mins until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack.

My Garden .... After The Rain

We've been having so much rain on the farm at the moment - and suddenly everything is turning a lush green again. The Jacaranda trees (above) are in full bloom, too ..........

Our garden is like an oasis for the surrounding bird and insect life, I usually have to make sure that our bird bath (above) is topped up once a day - but not when it rains every day as it has been lately.

We have an amazing array of insects in the garden, too - lots of different multi coloured ones like these below, too .....

And a lilac sea of agapanthus ................ (commonly called 'Lily of the Nile' despite the fact that it is not a lily, and is native to South Africa.)


We have hibiscus in the garden in varying shades of pink. Hibiscus make a refreshing Summer drink, and you can see my recipe (published a little over 2 years ago !) for hibiscus syrup (cordial) over here.

A view of part of our house/veranda, below ............

The bougainvillea is in full bloom now, too - lining the entrance pathway to the front door .......

The two windows on the left in the photo below are my kitchen windows .....

The view from my kitchen, below ................... (beyond the garden hedge I can see wheat fields, too - although these are not visible in the photo).

For photo's of my Winter garden (& where I answer one of my most regularly asked questions !) click here.