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

For the latest on happenings in Zimbabwe, go to:  http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/  and subscribe to their newsletter, a really good source of current information

Cathy Buckle has started writing again from Zimbabwe, her letter is below.

Here is Cathy's letter:

Dear Family and Friends,

I was about 8th in a queue in a supermarket this week and kept looking to the front of the line impatiently to see why things were moving so slowly. I was waiting to buy airtime for a mobile phone and suddenly the reality of what I was doing struck home. I'd recently heard from someone who wanted "the real scoop" about daily life in Zimbabwe and in fact here it was, right in this queue.

Less than a year ago I wrote about this very same supermarket which sometimes used to open at 9 or 10 in the morning, some days it didn't open at all because it had nothing to sell. Less than a year ago huge supermarkets had only cabbages, condoms or bundles of firewood for sale. Now the shelves are brimming with goods again and if we have money there is food to buy.

This time last year if there was a queue in, or outside a supermarket, you were literally taking your life in your hands if you joined it. Queues for bread, sugar or maize meal were controlled by riot police. People were waiting outside supermarkets all night for the chance to get a single loaf of bread or little plastic packet of sugar. At opening time thousands of people would surge forward, some were injured and others even died in the stampedes.

This time last year we were still dealing in Zimbabwe dollars - worthless paper in denominations of billions and trillions which had expiry dates. We were queuing outside banks for days at a time to be
allowed to withdraw miniscule amounts of our own money. Amounts that weren't enough to even buy a bar of soap or a cup of tea. This dreadful time is also now a thing of the past and the banks are deserted places because most people don't have enough money to save and don't trust the banks who so recently treated their customers and their life savings with such casual contempt.

The reality of life in Zimbabwe this October 2009 is that the basics are back: food, fuel and bank notes. Yes the food is all imported and the bank notes are American but they have given such relief to an existence that had become almost unbearable. Everyone, without exception, knows that the bank crisis, the currency crisis and the food crisis were bought on by bad politics and bad governance and we also know who fixed their mess and what courage and determination it took.

And now, as we are just a fortnight away from the rainy season, it is time for the next battle of the basics to be fought and won. Now its time for Zimbabwe to start growing its own food again. Bad politics and bad governance forced us to import our every need and now its time for the brave and determined people who gave us back money food and fuel, to give us back functional farming and our own food on tables. We've wasted eight good rainy seasons and its time to turn the corner.

Until next time,
thanks for reading,
love cathy
Copyright
cathy buckle 26th September 2009.

www.cathybuckle.com
. For information on my new book: "INNOCENT VICTIMS" or my previous
books, "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears," or to
subscribe/unsubscribe to this newsletter, please write to: cbuckle@mango.zw
 

This South Africa - news headlines

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! 
 

The Recipes

Health bars
Ingredients
190 ml soft brown sugar
125 ml golden syrup
125 ml peanut butter
125 ml margarine
250 ml oats
250 ml puffed rice
4 wheat cereal biscuits, crushed
250 ml coconut
150 ml ProNutro cereal
65 ml dried apple rings, finely chopped
250 ml seedless raisins

Method:
Spray a deep 34 x 24 cm baking sheet with non-stick spray. In a saucepan, mix together the brown sugar, golden syrup, peanut butter and margarine, heating slowly until melted. Remove from the heat and cool. Mix the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl. Pour over the margarine mixture and mix well. Press into the prepared baking sheet and chill until firm, preferably overnight. Cut into bars and store in airtight containers.

Banana health muffins
Cooking time: 25-30 min

Ingredients
125 ml boiling water
2 bananas, mashed
100 ml seedless raisins
250 ml soft brown sugar
15 ml soft butter
500 ml wholewheat flour
100 ml sunflower seeds, toasted
5 ml bicarbonate of soda
5 ml baking powder
2 ml salt
125 ml water
150 ml bran (more if the mixture is too moist)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 ºC and lightly butter the hollows of a muffin tin or spray with non-stick spray. Pour the boiling water over the mashed bananas and seedless raisins and set aside. Mix the sugar and butter with a wooden spoon until well blended. Add the wholewheat flour and sunflower seeds. Sift the bicarbonate of soda through a fine sieve and add along with the baking powder and salt. Mix well. Make a hollow in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the soaked banana and raisins and the remaining water. Add the bran and stir until just blended. Fill the muffin tin hollows three-quarters of the way with the mixture and bake for 25-30 minutes until baked through. Cool slightly, turn out and serve with butter. Makes 12 muffins.

Health bread
Preparation time: 50 min
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients
10 ml instant dry yeast
1 kg wholewheat flour
250 ml crushed wheat
125 ml wheat germ
125 ml milk powder
125 ml sunflower seeds
5 ml salt
15 ml soft brown sugar
30 ml wheat germ or sunflower oil
15 ml honey
750 ml lukewarm water

Method:
Preheat oven to 60 ºC. Mix all the ingredients together to form a soft dough. Place dough in a greased bread baking tin and cover with a towel. Place in preheated oven and leave for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove towel. Increase heat to 180 ºC, then bake the bread for 1 hour, or until cooked through. Makes 1 loaf.

Health bread
Ingredients
1 kg wholewheat flour
225 g crushed wheat
75 ml honey
10 ml salt
10 ml instant dry yeast
180 g bran flakes
15 ml oil

Method:
1. Mix dry ingredients, add 1 litre warm water to oil and honey and mix into dry ingredients. 2. Add 250 ml warm water to form a sloppy mix. Leave to prove in a warm place until double in size. 3. Put into greased loaf tins and bake in a preheated oven at 180 ºC for 50 minutes. Top with sunflower seeds. Makes 1 large loaf or 2 small loaves.

Health muffins

Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
125 ml oil
2 extra-large eggs
375 ml soft brown sugar
5 ml vanilla essence
250 ml milk
250 ml yoghurt
5 ml salt
12 ml bicarbonate of soda
750 ml wholewheat flour
375 ml cake flour
250 ml oats
375 ml bran

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 °C and grease a muffin tin with large hollows with oil or non-stick spray.
Beat the oil, eggs, sugar, vanilla essence, milk, yoghurt and salt together.
Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in a little of the mixture and add.
Combine the dry ingredients and add the yoghurt mixture.
Mix lightly until just blended.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin hollows to about three-quarters full.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until done.
Cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before turning out.
Serve lukewarm with butter and jam.

Health fruitloaf
Preparation time: +/- 15 min
Cooking time: +/- 1 hr

Ingredients
50 g coconut
140 g sugar
60 g oats
30 g bran
210 g self-raising flour
5 ml baking powder
125 ml sunflower seeds, pumpkin pips or pine kernels
200 g sultanas or shredded dried apricots or mixed dried fruit
2 extra-large eggs, beaten
375 ml skimmed milk
poppy seed for sprinkling

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 ºC (350 ºF). Spray a 23 x 13 x 7 cm loaf tin with non-stick spray. Mix dry ingredients together. Add sunflower seeds and sultanas. Mix well. Beat eggs and skimmed milk together until just blended and add to the dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Turn mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Sprinkle with poppy seed and bake for about 1 hour or until the loaf is baked through. A testing skewer should come out clean when inserted into the centre of the loaf. Cool slightly and turn out onto a wire rack. Serve with butter. Makes a medium loaf.

Health rusks

Cooking time: +/- 1 hour
Ingredients
500 g butter
500 ml sugar
3 extra-large eggs
2 litre self-raising flour
500 ml wholewheat flour
160 g bran
250 ml All Bran flakes
250 ml oats
100 g almond slivers
5 ml salt
10 ml baking powder
500 ml buttermilk

Method:
Grease a couple of bread tins or spray with non-stick spray. Cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in the eggs. Mix the dry ingredients and add, together with the buttermilk, to the butter mixture. Mix well and spoon into prepared tins. Cover tins with baking sheets. Place in a cool oven. Heat oven to 180 ºC. After 10 minutes, remove sheets. Bake for about an hour until done. Cool slightly in the tins and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Slice and place on baking trays. Dry at 100 ºC.

Easy microwaved health rusks
Ingredients
375 ml brown sugar
500 g margarine
2 extra-large eggs
500 ml buttermilk
1 kg self-raising flour
15 ml baking powder
2 ml salt
750 ml All Bran flakes
500 ml bran
200 ml sunflower seeds
100 ml raisins
500 ml wheatgerm (optional)

Method:
Spray three 2 litre ice cream containers with non-stick spray. Place the brown sugar and margarine in a microwaveproof dish. Microwave for 3 minutes on full power. Stir well and microwave again for 2 minutes. Beat the eggs and buttermilk together and add the margarine mixture to the egg mixture. Combine the dry ingredients and add to the margarine mixture. Mix well and turn into the three ice cream containers. Place on an upturned saucer in the microwave oven and microwave one container at a time for 14 to 15 minutes on 70 per cent power. Cool slightly before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Break into pieces and place on a baking sheet. Dry in a conventional oven at 100 ºC (200 ºF). Store in airtight containers. Makes about 65 pieces.

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