So, you KNOW you have to exercise regularly, but just don't have the time for it? Then this book, Fitting Fitness into a Busy Schedule might just help you. Just right click here to download the handy eBook.

I came across these simple exercises recently and thought I should share them with you. The article suggested doing it three times a week.

1. Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side. With a 2kg potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

2. Each day, you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer. After a couple of weeks, move up to 5kg potato sacks. Then 25kg potato sacks and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 50kg potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute (I'm at this level).

3. After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each of the sacks.

The UK Lottery never pays less than £3 million every Wednesday and Saturday (± R43 million) with frequent rollovers. You can get your ticket securely by clicking here.

But that's nothing!! The Euromillions Jackpot has has been as high as £ 120 million !! That's roughly R1,740,000,000!!! You can't win it if you're not in it, so click here and get a ticket!

My Recipe CD has now been updated and now includes 50 Recipe eBooks as well as 8 Bonus eBooks (4 eBooks on making, marketing and selling crafts for profit) Click here to take a look and also download your free Low Fat recipe eBook (that works out to about R2 per recipe book! sheessshhh!)

Hello Peter,
Just to let you know that I received my recipe CD today in the mail and I'm over the moon about it.
I'm going to spread the word to others to order copies too. It's most certainly worth every cent..........
Thanks again,
LC

Glenacres Superspar sends out a really nice newsletter full of super recipes. To subscribe, click here and send the blank email. 

Easy Oxtail

2kg oxtail, trimmed of excess fat
2 meat extract cubes
300ml dry red wine
1 leek, chopped
10ml soya sauce
5ml salt
250g fresh green beans, cut in half lengthwise
150ml boiling water
40ml flour
2 chives, chopped
5ml mixed herbs
2ml pepper
250g fresh young carrots

Place the meat in a large casserole dish
Dissolve meat extract cubes in water and 100ml of the red wine, which has been thickened with the flour
Add this to the rest of the ingredients, including the remaining wine
Pour over the meat
Cover and bake at 180°C for 3-4 hours

Go take a look at my Wacky Sarmies page, there are some great sarmie ideas!

Hi Peter
This one comes from by brother-in-law. He once worked for a local security company's mobile patrol section and hence the name "Mobile Special".
Take one loaf of bread and cut it length wise add chips, vinegar, salt etc. like on a sandwich THEN place in a plastic bag and drive over it with an Ingwe ( an Amoured personnel carrier) and enjoy.
Morne

Source: Sunday Times

1944:   D-day, Allied forces land in Normandy, Glenn Miller vanishes on an England/France flight, Bettie Grable is the Allied forces' favourite pinup girl, ANC Youth League is founded.

This dates from the late 1800's

Meboskonfyt (Sugared Mebos)

Place ripe apricots in salt water and soak for 3 to 4 hours until the skin can be removed easily. Drain and lay the fruit on boards to dry in the sun. Turn the fruit over. On the third day squeeze the fruit gently to squeeze out the stone. Pres the fruit flat. Soak in lime water for 5 minutes. Remove and dry the fruit with a soft cloth. Rub white sugar well into each apricot: 750 g sugar to 500 g fruit. Pack into jars with plenty of sugar between the layers and keep tightly covered. 
To make jam from the mebos, soak in boiling water for a few hours and then drop one piece at a time into boiling syrup. (500 g sugar for 375 ml water) Boil until thick. Bottle at once and seal. 

Nature is wonderful. I envy the jobs of the game rangers and their wealth of bush knowledge. I have often wondered where one can read up on all the interesting facts. I would like to make this a regular feature of this newsletter, if you are able to contribute or would like to comment on the contribution below, please email me.

Physical Characteristics
The lesser galago, also called bush baby, is one of the smallest primates, about the size of a squirrel. Despite its size, it is exceptionally vocal, producing loud, shrill cries surprisingly like those of a human baby. The plaintive cries and "cute" appearance may account for the name "bush baby." It and its larger cousin, the greater galago (Galago crassicaudatus), are both arboreal and nocturnal in their habits.

Bush babies have large, round eyes for good night vision and batlike ears that enable them to track insect prey in the dark. Fast, agile and accurate, they catch some insects on the ground and snatch others from the air. As they jump through thorn bush or thick growth, they fold their delicate ears flat against their heads to protect them. They fold them during rest, too.

The bush baby travels through the trees in literal leaps and bounds. In midflight it tucks its arms and legs close to the body and as it lands, brings them forward, grabbing a branch with its hands and feet. In a series of leaps a bush baby can easily cover 10 yards in seconds. The tail (longer than the length of the head and body) powers the leaps made to catch prey, escape from enemies or get around obstacles. The bush baby's other methods of locomotion are kangaroolike hops or simply walking or running on four legs.

Habitat
Both bush babies and galagos often share habitats with monkeys, but as bush babies are nocturnal they do not compete ecologically with monkeys. Bush babies are found throughout East Africa, as well as in woodlands and bushlands in sub-Saharan Africa. They generally do not inhabit areas above altitudes of 6,500 feet. Most often they live in tree hollows that provide shelter. Sometimes they construct nests in the forks of branches, but these are not as commonly used as are natural holes. Bush babies prefer trees with little grass around them, probably as a precaution against wild fires. They will also shelter in manmade beehives.

Behavior
Bush babies are usually found in small groups consisting of a mother and her offspring. These groups move about on their own to feed, but as bush babies seem to love physical contact, they join other groups to sleep together during the day. Aside from their babylike cries, they make croaking, chattering and clucking sounds or shrill whistles in case of danger. They frequently mark their routes with urine. By following their own scent, they can jump onto exactly the same branches each time when they go to or from their nest. Males also urine-mark the boundaries of their territories and will sometimes become aggressive toward intruders.

Females may become very aggressive just before or after giving birth. They may have singles, twins or triplets, with each newborn weighing less than half an ounce. The first three days or so the mother keeps the infants in constant contact with her. She picks them up with her hands or in her mouth, and they cling to her. After a few days she will either leave them in the nest or, if she takes them along, carry them in her mouth or let them cling to her back or belly.

The young are suckled for 6 weeks and can feed themselves at 2 months. They grow rapidly, causing the mother to walk slowly and awkwardly as she transports them. Sometimes the mother takes just one young with her, leaving the other in the nest.
Diet
The bush baby's diet changes according to the seasons. Most of its diet is made up of what is most abundant at that time of the year, including insects, leaves and fruit.
Predators and Threats
Bush babies hide during the day in order to avoid contact with predators such as eagles and large snakes. Since they are easily captured on ground they mostly stay in trees and rely on their extraordinary jumping capabilities.
Did You Know?
A prodigious leaper, the bush baby pushes off with its powerful hindlegs and holds its arms up, leaping more than 20 feet.
In both variety and abundance, the bush baby is one of the most successful primitive primates in Africa. They live a long time as long as 14 years in captivity.

From: African Wildlife Foundation

Do you have family and friends all over the world? Does it cost you a fortune to buy and mail gifts to all of them? Why not buy one Recipe eBook and email it to everyone! Just think about the savings on postage! For my selection of eBooks (and CD's) just click here.

Afrikaans Newsletter

Subscribe to my Afrikaans newsletter . Visit my Afrikaans website
 

Potjiekos recipe

Another new feature, from now on I will feature a potjie recipe with each newsletter. For those of you who are not familiar with a potjie (cast iron three legged pot) you may use a dutch oven.

I call this a lazy man's potjie! However, I happen to like both bully beef and cabbage, so this recipe gets my vote!

Bully beef and cabbage potjie

Ingredients
20 ml oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 baby cabbages, finely chopped
salt and black pepper to taste
600 g bully beef, cut into small cubes
250 g shell noodles, cooked and drained

Method:
Heat the oil in a hot, flat, cast-iron pot and sauté the onion until glossy. Add the cabbage and sauce until the cabbage softens. Season to taste and add the bully beef cubes. Use a fork to mash a few of the cubes. Stir and heat over low heat until warmed through. Add the noodles, simmer until warm and serve. Serves 4.
 

Recipe for Biltong

For 4.5 kg of meat, use the following:(Adjust the ingredients according to the weight of meat used)

Kosher Salt: 140 g
Brown Sugar: 35 g
Bicarb of Soda: 4.5 ml
Whole Coriander: 115 ml

If using whole coriander, scorch the whole coriander seeds in a hot pan to release the flavor. Then grind the coriander and decide if you would like to keep the husks. To remove the husks, pass through a sieve.
Mix all the ingredients and spread on a large plate and roll each slice of meat in the mixture. Sprinkle a little bit of Apple Cider Vinegar in the bottom of a class or ceramic container and layer the salted slices in the container, sprinkling vinegar in between layers as well. Place larger cuts on the bottom and pack the layers tight to avoid pockets of air.

Place in the refrigerator overnight but keep in mind that the longer the meat stays in the salt mixture, the saltier the biltong will be.

Rinsing and Drying
Prepare a container with hot tap water and vinegar (about 1 cup vinegar per 4.5 litre of water). Rinse the meat slices in the vinegar mixture, remove excess moisture and use paperclips to hang in a biltong box or dry in a dehydrator. Inspect the biltong daily and if mold sets in, immediately wipe with a cloth dipped in vinegar. When hanging the meat, make sure that the slices don't touch one another as this could cause mold to develop. In a biltong box, the meat should dry within days, providing that there is enough draft and the conditions are not too humid. The biltong box should preferably be kept inside the house where conditions are typically more ideal.Dry the meat in a biltong box or cool, dry, well ventilated area.

Storing
Store dried biltong in paper bags in a refrigerator but keep in mind that the biltong will continue to dry. Alternatively store in a zip-loc bag in the freezer but never store in a plastic bag at room temperature. 

Biltong recipe by Mark Blumberg
What you need:
an electric fan
a light
1 kg meat-many different meats can be used -if you do not have access to ostrich, game etc then try a cut of beef like eye of the round or flank(my favourite)
some vinegar
less than a table spoon of course salt (or Kosher salt)
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of coriander (whole)(get it at a bulk food store)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
string

Jjust to be extra square you also need a good knife, fridge, electricity, scissors, a couple of bowls, some nails or hooks, a hammer and someone to make fun of you for trying to maintain your South African heritage. A couple other ingredients that I have never used but you may wish to use are bicarbonate of soda (apparently to prevent mold setting in) and saltpetre which acts as a preservative and gives the biltong a bright red colour.

Instructions
Wash the meat.
Cut the meat at an angle against the grain into about one inch strips.
Sprinkle vinegar over the meat
Place the coriander in a bag and lightly crush the whole coriander so that the effect of the coriander will be greater.
Make the "biltong mix" by combining the course salt, brown sugar, coriander, black pepper.
Dip the meat into the "biltong mix" until all the mix is used up.
Place the meat in a tray for a few hours, or over night, in the fridge.
After a few hours dump any blood that has seeped out of the meat.
Dip the biltong quickly into a water/vinegar mixture to remove surface salt.
Hang the biltong by making a very small incision through the slice of meat with a knife about an inch from the end of the meat.
Cut the string into about 10 inch strips which are placed through the meat and tied to form a loop.
Hang the biltong in a place not to far from an electrical outlet by taking the loop of string and place it on the hook or nail or hangar or whatever device you have created to suspend the meat.
To dry the meat turn on the light regular light bulb) and the fan and leave for about 4-7 days depending on humidity, temperature and taste.

My thanks to Mark Blumberg, check out his website

A guy goes to the supermarket and notices a beautiful blond woman wave at him and say hello. He's rather taken aback, because he can't place where he knows her from. So he says, "Do you Know me?" To which she replies, "I think you're the father of one of my kids."

Now his mind travels back to the only time he has ever been unfaithful to his wife and says, "Are you the stripper from my bachelor party that I had on the pool table with all my buddies watching, while your
partner whipped my butt with wet celery?"

She looks into his eyes and calmly says, "No, I'm your son's math teacher."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An airplane is flying over the United States at night. The pilot says:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the plane is losing altitude and all the baggage must be thrown out." A little later, the pilot says "We're still losing altitude, we must throw anything out that is in the cabin".
The plane continues its descent despite more things being thrown out.
Pilot: "Still going down - we must throw out some people".
There's a big gasp from the passengers!
Pilot: "But to make this fair, passenger will be thrown out in alphabetical order. So... A... any Africans on board?"
No one moves.
"B... any Blacks on board?"
No one moves.
"C... any Caribbeans on board?"
Still, no one moves. A little black boy - asks his dad: "Dad,...what are we?
Dad: " Tonight son, we are Zulus!"

Oregano can be grown easily at home in your garden or in planters, so hopefully you have fresh oregano available to you. Most grocery stores now carry fresh oregano in the produce department. Purchased fresh oregano should be rich green in color and not the least bit limp. Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to three days. You can extend the life of fresh oregano by storing whole stems with leaves in a glass of water with a plastic bag loosely tented over the glass in your refrigerator. I stick a bamboo skewer in the glass to hold the bag up.

Fresh oregano may also be frozen, but I don’t recommend it. It is readily available in the garden or store.

To dry fresh oregano, tie sprigs into a bunch and hang in a cool, dark place with good ventilation. Once dried, seal tightly and store away from sunlight. This is better than the store-bought dried oregano.

For the most part, dried common oregano sold in your grocery store is actually a mixture of different varieties of oregano combined with marjoram and thyme.

All dried herbs should be kept in a cool, dark place in a tightly-sealed container and used within six months. It won't go bad if kept longer, but the color and flavor will deteriorate greatly with time.

Oregano cooking tips:

Fresh oregano leaves are always the first choice when possible. Remove and discard the stem.
When using oregano in a bouquet garni, do not strip leaves from the sprigs. Just tie it up with the rest of the herbs.
Oregano can become overpowering and bitter if too much is used on mildly flavored foods. A little goes a long way.
If you find you are out of oregano, marjoram can be substituted. Use 1/2 the amount of oregano called for. Basil, savory, and thyme can also be substituted.
Oregano goes well in almost all tomato dishes. It also compliments meats and vegetables, like lamb or zucchini.
When using dried oregano, crush it in the palm of your hand before adding to the food. This helps release essential oils and revive flavor.
1 tablespoon fresh oregano = 1 teaspoon dried
1 ounce fresh oregano = 1/2 cup chopped

New Potatoes with Oregano
Patate Ariganate

Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds baby new potatoes, cut in half
1 Spanish onion, sliced paper-thin
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
sea salt and pepper
1/4 cup water
1 bunch fresh oregano, stemmed, rinsed and chopped

Preparation:
In a 12 to 14-inch sauté pan, heat the oil until almost smoking. Add the potatoes and cook for 10 minutes, until light golden brown.
Add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper and cook for 15 minutes. Spritz the pan with water and allow it to evaporate. Add the oregano, toss for 1 minute and serve immediately.
 
 

South African Languages

South Africa is a multilingual country. Besides the 11 officially recognised languages, scores of others - African, European, Asian and more - are spoken here, as the country lies at the crossroads of southern Africa.
The country's Constitution guarantees equal status to 11 official languages to cater for the country's diverse peoples and their cultures. These are: Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga.

In each issue I will feature one of the languages.

Tshivenda
Tshivenda is generally regarded as a language isolate. Its is the language of the Venda people, who are culturally closer to the Shona people of Zimbabwe than to any other South African group.

Spoken mainly in northern Limpopo, an area bordering the country of Zimbabwe, Tshivenda shares features with Shona and Sepedi, with some influence from Nguni languages. The Tshipani variety of Tshivenda is used as the standard.
The language requires a number of additional characters or diacritical signs not found on standard keyboards. For this reason Translate.org.za, an NGO promoting open-source software in indigenous languages, has produced a special program to enable Tshivenda speakers to easily type their language.
The Venda people first settled in the Soutpansberg Mountains region, where the ruins of their first capital, Dzata's, can still be found.
• Home language to: 2.3% of the population
• Family: Bantu Language Family
• Varieties: Tshiilafuri (Western Venda; has traces of Sotho); Tshimanda (Central Venda; commonly used by the Luonde and Lwamondo); Venda proper (found in Tshivhase and Mphaphuli's areas); Tshimbedzi (Eastern Venda); Tshilembethu (North-Easter Venda) and Extreme Eastern Venda (influenced by Karanga from Zimbabwe); as well as Tshironga (Southern Venda) and South-Eastern Venda (shows influence of Tonga and Sotho) 

Source: SouthAfrica.info
The all-in-one official guide
and web portal to South Africa.  
 

Recipe Requests

Looking for a specific South African recipe? Email me and I will do my best to find it for you!

Add your suggestions to my Elephant Stew and Wacky Sarmies recipes.
 

Featured Website

Every issue I feature an interesting website with South African links.
 

The Recipes

Biltong pot bread

50 ml melted margarine
500 ml lukewarm water
1 kg cake flour
300 g finely carved beef biltong
10 g instant yeast
10 ml salt

Mix the melted margarine and lukewarm water. Combine all the dry ingredients and biltong. Add the margarine mixture and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Leave for about 10 minutes. Punch down and place the dough in a greased, flat-bottomed cast-iron pot. Leave in a warm place to rise until double in bulk. Place the pot on a grill over medium coals and place a few coals on top of the lid of the pot. Bake for about 1 hour or until the bread is done. Serve with the rump steak and jam.

Leg and chine biltong

Game, beef or lamb leg or chine
BILTONG SPICE MIXTURE
500 g finely ground salt
225 ml brown sugar
15 ml saltpetre
25 ml bicarbonate of soda
15 ml pepper
brown vinegar

Method:
Cutting the biltong: Remove the shank bone from the leg. Cut and remove the chine biltong. Remove the outer membrane. Cut the chine biltong in two lengthwise. Turn the leg over so that the bone side faces down. (The different muscles will be clearly visible.) Remove the first muscle by cutting along the natural seam. Cut along the sinew to remove the muscle. Next, remove muscles 2, 3 and 4 by cutting along the natural seams and along the sinews. Remove the last cut of meat from the bone. You should have five cuts of meat from which to slice the biltong. Cut each piece into long thin strips along the grain. Trim each strip of meat, removing loose bits of meat and visible sinews. (Reserve the off-cuts for making wors.)

BILTONG SPICE MIXTURE (enough for 25 kg meat): Mix the spice ingredients and sprinkle a layer of the spice mixture into a large stainless steel dish. Arrange a layer of biltong on the mixture, placing the thickest pieces at the bottom. Sprinkle the biltong with a little brown vinegar, followed by more spice mixture. (Sprinkle slightly more of the spice mixture than you would of salt when salting meat.) Repeat. Stand the meat overnight. Insert biltong hooks the following day and hang the biltong in a cool dry place to dry out completely.

Biltong spread

g cottage cheese with chives
25 ml finely chopped coriander
250 g biltong, finely shredded
125 g smooth cottage cheese
125 ml mayonnaise
grated lemon rind to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Blend all the ingredients. Season with the lemon rind and salt and pepper to taste. Chill until needed. Makes about 500 ml.

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