The FunkyMunky Herb eBook is now available. 48 popular herbs, descriptions and uses with photos. Immediately available, will be emailed to you. Only R50 , send me an email for payment details.
I'm very impressed with what I've read so far. What I really like is that your book is a combination of medicinal and culinary advice, unlike many other herb books I've read.
And the format is great - thanks very much. I have an ambitious project to make a herb garden this year - so your section of herb gardens will come in very handy - Shelagh 
 

Zimbabwe update

Dear Family and Friends,
The will of the people. It is impossible to believe that 140 days after Zimbabwe voted for an MDC Parliament and an MDC President the will of the people has yet to be accepted or implemented. After nearly five months we remain locked in a truly horrible state without sworn in legislators, without a parliament and without legitimacy. Everything around us is falling apart so fast now and yet the people and party in power for the last twenty eight years simply refuse to go.

The electricity is now off more than on - in my area its only been on twice during daytime working hours in the last week. Urban water supply seems to have virtually collapsed and in my home area taps are dry for at least 20 hours a day. Massive environmental devastation is being done as people have no choice but to cut trees down for fuel wood. Shops remain barren of virtually all goods and banks have become nightmare places where hundreds of people queue for hours at a time to withdraw the maximum daily allowance which is now handed out as a small bag of coins. At some banks the situation is so bad that the doors stay closed and locked all the time and people are only allowed to enter in small batches.

Much as the old leadership would have us believe, we are not a country at war, no one is trying to invade us or take us over and the future is waiting, just out of our reach. It is very hard, however, to stay sane, healthy and focussed on the Zimbabwe that the majority voted for on the 29th March 2008.

One afternoon this week I went with a friend to a small environmental education centre and game park at a local school and the magnificence of the Zimbabwean bush helped revive flagging spirits. The Msasa trees are coming into new leaf and putting on a spectacular display of copper, caramel, burgundy, port and hot red. The wild oranges are starting to turn yellow and they hang heavily from branches of leafless trees. On rocks and kopjes there are unexpected and vivid scatterings of lime green and bright orange lichen. In between trees and rocks, superbly camouflaged, there were giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and impala. This small environmental education centre, a vision from the past, giving knowledge and understanding to our children in such troubled times and promising hope for the future of our beleaguered, broken Zimbabwe. Until next week, thanks for reading,
love cathy.
Copyright cathy buckle 17 August 2008.
www.cathybuckle.com
To subscribe/unsubscribe to this newsletter or for information on my books,
please write to:
cbuckle@mango.zw 
 

This South Africa - interesting facts and information

The A to Z of South African culture (each newsletter features a letter of the alphabet) see archive

L is for Literature
Thomas Pringle, Rider Haggard and Olive Schreiner , Wilbur Smith, JM Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer, Bessie Head, Athol Fugard, Credo Mutwa, Sol Plaatjie, NP van Wyk Louw, Andre Brink, Etienne Leroux, C.Louis Leipoldt, Can Themba, Breyten Breytenbach, Alan Paton, Eugene Marais and Herman Charles Bosman all wrote from these shores.
South Africa has produced two Nobel literature laureates: JM Coetzee and Nadine Gordimer. The country has had a rich history of literary output. Until relatively recently, realism dominated the production of fiction - perhaps because authors felt an overriding concern to capture the country's turbulent history and the experiences of its people.

Fiction has been written in all of South Africa's 11 official languages - with a large body of work in Afrikaans, in particular. Many of the first black authors were missionary-educated, and the majority wrote in either English or Afrikaans. One of the first novels by a black author in an African language was Sol Plaatje's Mhudi, written in 1930.  
 

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 .

One of the great magazines that I subscribe to. 

The Recipes

Egg and onion spread
Ingredients
8 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped
2 medium onions, grated
45 ml mayonnaise
100 g grated Cheddar cheese
5 ml lemon juice
2 ml black pepper
5 ml salt
20 ml fresh parsley, finely chopped

Method:
Combine the eggs, onion, mayonnaise and Cheddar cheese in a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice and seasonings and mix well. Refrigerate and use as required to make sandwiches, rolls or on biscuits. It's unnecessary to butter the sandwiches when using this spread.

Egg in a cup
Preparation time: 15
Cooking time: 25

Ingredients
6 White mushrooms
1 tbsp butter
4 tbsp cream
4 tsp butter
8 eggs

Method:
Melt butter in a pan. Fry the mushrooms for 10 min until light brown. Flavour with salt and pepper. Divide mushroom in four portions and place in ramekin-cups. Place a teaspoon on butter on top of the mushrooms and a tablespoon of creme. Brake two eggs in every cup and flavour with salt and pepper. Place four cups in a baking tray and fill tray with water until it covers a half measure of the cups. Place in oven for 20min at 180 degree C. Bake until eggs have settled, and egg yolk still runny for easy dipping with toast.

Egg pie
Ingredients
CRUST
3 medium potatoes, cooked and peeled
salt and pepper to taste
25 ml milk
15 ml butter or margarine
FILLING
2 onions, chopped and fried
2 tomatoes, diced
250 ml grated Cheddar cheese
6 eggs, hard-boiled and sliced
4 rashers bacon, chopped and fried
250 g mushrooms, sliced and fried
1 packet thick white onion soup powder
500 ml water

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 ºC. 2. Mash the potatoes and add the salt, pepper, milk and butter or margarine. 3. Line a pie dish with the mashed potatoes. 4. Arrange ingredients for filling in layers as follows: fried onions, diced tomatoes, grated cheese, egg slices, fried bacon and mushrooms. 5. Mix soup and water in a saucepan and heat until it thickens. 6. Pour over the layers. 7. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes. 8. Serve with salad.

Eggs with curried banana
Ingredients
25 ml butter
2 leeks, sliced
1 rasher bacon, chopped
1 banana, sliced
50 g prawns (optional)
5 ml curry powder
2 eggs
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:
Melt the butter in a pan and fry the leeks (or use 1 onion) and bacon lightly. Add the banana, prawns and curry powder and stir-fry for about another minute. Move the mixture to the sides of the pan and break the eggs in the centre on the exposed base of the pan. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover with a lid and reduce the heat. Heat until the eggs are set and done. Serve immediately. Serves 2.

Eggs with peanut curry
Preparation time: 15 min
Cooking time: 15 min

Ingredients
30 ml peanut oil
10 ml curry powder
5 ml ground cumin
10 ml ground coriander
10 ml paprika
400 g coconut milk
10 ml sugar
30 ml fish sauce
125 ml peanuts, chopped
8 hard-boiled eggs
125 g green beans, sliced and blanched
fresh coriander, to garnish

Method:
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan and add the curry powder and spices. Cook for 1 minute, then add the coconut milk, sugar and fish sauce.
Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir in the peanuts just before serving.
Cut the eggs in half and arrange on a platter with the beans.
Drizzle with the curry sauce and garnish with fresh coriander.
Serve hot or cold with salad or rice.

Eggs Benedict
Ingredients
4 English muffins or soft rolls, cut in half
4 slices smoked ham
15 ml white vinegar
4 jumbo eggs
HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
3 jumbo egg yolks
15 ml cold water
15 ml lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
125 g salted or unsalted butter, diced and heated until foaming

Method:
1. HOLLANDAISE SAUCE: Process the egg yolks, water, lemon juice, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Slowly add hot, foaming butter, drop by drop. Do not add the sediment at the bottom of the saucepan. 2. Process sauce until thickened. Set aside and keep warm over very low heat, such as a candle burner. 3. Toast muffins until golden and crisp. Butter lightly and keep warm. Sauté ham in an oiled pan for 1 to 2 minutes, or until hot. 4. Fill an enamel or stainless-steel saucepan or frying pan with water to three quarters full. Add vinegar and bring to simmering point. 5. Break 1 egg into a saucer or ladle, hold it as close as possible to the water and slip the egg quickly into the water. Immediately gather the whites towards the yolk, using the back of a spoon. 6. Simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Slip into a soup place containing a little hot water. Repeat the procedure for remaining eggs. 7. TO ASSEMBLE: Place a slice of ham on each muffin. Lift eggs out, one by one, with a slotted spoon, drain off water and place on top of ham and muffin. 8. Immediately cover with Hollandaise sauce and serve on heated individual plates.