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,
There’s nothing that can put Zimbabweans into a bad mood quicker than no water or no electricity. Put the two together and you can almost see people’s blood pressure rising. A collapse of the national electricity grid on Wednesday plunged most of the country into the dark. That night the clatter of generators rang out from every direction; the noise was deafening and the air vibrated! ZBC TV ran a crawl line on the screen during the main evening news bulletin calling for people to switch off their geysers and lights to save electricity. What electricity, we all shouted, as we watched battery powered TV’s, because there was no electricity to save.

Ironically the national black out came in the same week that the protest group WOZA delivered 101,000 petition signatures to parliament In Harare for presentation to the Anti Corruption and Monopolies Committee due to sit during the week. WOZA’s ‘anti abuse of power’ petition has long been calling for reduced electricity charges and for a pre-paid metering system to be introduced.

In my home town, calls to the local electricity supply office resulted in a variety of reasons for what very rapidly degenerated into rolling
18 hour a day power cuts. We were told that the hydro electricity generators at Kariba Dam were being maintained, then that the thermal units at Hwange weren’t working and finally, the clearest of all reasons given was that there just wasn’t enough electricity in the country. An article in the press later in the week quoted a Zesa spokesman as saying there was “an unstable grid, resulting in the disconnection of inter connectors.’ The article spoke about a two hour national blackout but in many places it seems the inter connectors are still disconnected because we are still in the dark!

In my home town the power cut continued for the next three days.
Lights flickered on between 11pm and midnight and went off again a few hours later, long before sunrise. If you are lucky it flicks on for an hour or two in the afternoon but don’t bank on it! Coping with five hours of electricity a day, and then only in the middle of the night, is gruelling. We had got used to this a couple of years ago when daily extended power cuts were the norm but it comes as a shocker this time round when many of us are woefully unprepared.

You can hardly hear yourself think, let alone hold a conversation with anyone as you walk around town, negotiating the smoking, roaring generators that clutter the pavements. Everywhere except the government buildings that is, where the norm is, as always, no change.
Outside the passport office people are ordered to queue on the other side of the road providing a deadly hazard for drivers when suddenly a score or more surge across the road, running to be allowed in the gate in small batches. At the Post Office where civil servants and pensioners get their monthly payments, it is utter mayhem which is embarrassing and shameful to witness. With nowhere to sit or shelter, hundreds crowd the car park, pavements and road, standing for hours at a time in the full sun waiting to get their meagre salaries or even more meagre pensions. Payments seem to be dependent on electricity to power computers and people wait without apology or explanation from officials within.

To all this mayhem add no water. No electricity means no water can be pumped and for three days my home town has been bone dry. Not a drop in any tap, sink or toilet. Everywhere we go we apologise to people for smelling and at every stream and shallow well, crowds of women scoop water out into containers to carry home. A borehole has been sunk in the town’s green, a small park which used to have pretty gardens, lawns and benches. Now lines of people wait their turn to get to the hand pump and draw a few litres of water to carry home. The lawns have turned to dust and the plastic water containers are piled up where once the flower beds were. When you have to physically carry every litre of water that you need, everything takes on a very different perspective.

Hard to believe that life is still like this, two and a half years into our so called unity government. Even harder to explain to outsiders who say: but everything’s OK in Zimbabwe now isn’t it?
Far from it and after a bad week it seemed inevitable that something daft would happen and it did, on Friday. An announcement came from Zesa – the electricity supplier with no electricity to supply. They said that tariffs are to increase by 31% from the 1st of September.
Pay more for less must be their new slogan.
Until next time, thanks for reading,
love
cathy
Copyright Cathy Buckle. 27 August 2011.

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

Homemade Ginger Beer

What can I say, it's to die for! There's nothing more refreshing on a hot summer's day!

4.5 litres water
30g root ginger, crushed
500 ml white sugar
15 ml active dry yeast

Boil the water, then add the ginger and sugar. Remove from the stove and cool till lukewarm. Add the yeast and leave, covered, for 1 to 2 days. Strain the beer and bottle in sterilized bottles and seal. Refrigerate and serve chilled, will keep in the fridge for a week.

Pineapple Beer

Be careful, it's got quite a kick!

Skin of one large pineapple, chopped. (Use the entire pineapple, not just the skin for a more intense flavor.)
7 litres lukewarm water
500 g white sugar or to taste
75 ml raisins
10 ml active dry yeast

Wash the pineapple and rinse well. Mix the pineapple , lukewarm water, sugar and raisins in a large container. Sprinkle the yeast over and leave to stand for 30 minutes. Stir well, then cover with a clean tea towel and leave to mature for 24 hours in a cool place. Strain through muslin and bottle in sterilized bottles. Cap the bottles after 12 hours and use after 1 - 2 days.

Rooibos Tea with Orange and Honey Syrup

Mix this syrup with rooibos tea to make a deliciously refreshing ice tea. 

250 ml honey 
125 ml fresh orange juice 
125 ml water 
10 ml finely grated orange rind 
30 ml orange liqueur (optional)

Preparation: 
Bring the honey, orange juice, water and orange rind to the boil. 
Simmer slowly for about 20 minutes or until the mixture has reduced to about 1 ½ cups (375 ml) 
Stir in the liqueur and allow to cool. 
Stir the syrup into 4 liters hot rooibos tea and chill. 
Serve with ice cubes and lemon or orange slices. 

Van Der Hum Liqueur.
6 whole Cloves
1 stick Cinnamon
1/2 Nutmeg, grated
750 ml Brandy
30 ml sliced naartjie peel (Mandarin Orange peel works as well, since naartjies are not readily available in Canada)
50 ml Rum
250 grams white sugar
125 ml water
Bruise the cloves and cinnamon and tie, with the nutmeg, in a muslin bag. Place the muslin bag, brandy, naartjie peel and rum in a clean, sterilized jar and seal. Allow to infuse for one month, shaking the jar gently every day. Strain the liqueur through muslin. Boil the water and sugar until very thick, then combine with the liqueur. Decant into dry, sterilized bottles and seal.

Note: This Liqueur was named after Admiral van der Hum of the Dutch East India Company fleet who was fond of this liqueur to the point of distraction.

Peppermint Liqueur.
250 grams White Sugar
250 ml Water
500 ml Brandy
3 drops Peppermint essence
3 drops Green Food Colouring
Boil the sugar and water to make a thick syrup. Cool the syrup and add to the Brandy. Add the Peppermint essence and green food colouring. Decant into sterilized bottles and seal.

 

Orange Liqueur

6 large oranges
500 g whiye sugar
5 ml ground cinnamon
2 ml ground coriander
1 litre brandy

Using a potato peeler remove the rind from the oranges. Remove all the pith. Chop the rind finely. Squeeze the juice from the oranges and blend it with the sugar, cinnamon, coriander and rind. Pour the mixture into a large jar then add the brandy and mix well. Cover the jar and allow the mixture to infuse for 2 to 3 months. Strain through muslin into sterilized bottles. Seal and store. Wiil keep for many months in a cool dry place.

Lemon Juice

Squeeze out the juice from as many lemons as wanted. Strain to remove the pips.
Measure the juice and allow 12 cups of sugar for every 8 cups of lemon juice
(1 and ½ cups sugar for every cup juice!)
Put the mixture into a double pan or a large jug standing in a pot of hot water.
Stir and bring to boiling point but do not allow the juice to boil.
Make sure all the sugar is dissolved.
Strain and bottle in hot dry bottles.
This does not require sterilising and keeps for ages.

ROOIBOS TEA GINGER BEER

(makes 7 litres)
3 litre strong rooibos tea
20 ml instant dried yeast
800 g white sugar
3 litre cold water
30 ml ground ginger
75 g seedless raisins
5 ml cream of tartar

1. Blend a little lukewarm rooibos tea with the instant yeast.
2. Add the granular sugar to the remaining rooibos tea and stir until the sugar has dissolved completely.
3. Add the cold water and ginger.
4. Add the raisins and cream of tartar.
5. Cover and leave for 12 to 24 hours or until the raisins have risen to the top and the mixture begins to ferment.
6. Strain through a clean piece of cheesecloth and bottle. Store in the fridge.

Additional Income

I have joined and it works, it is not a get rich quick scheme but with patience it can build up to a useful extra monthly income, it does require a little bit of marketing as well as a low monthly subscription, but, bottom line, it works.
This company is definitely not a scam. Be Motivated Today provides a motivational service and has great motivational products. The CEO, Arnfried Klein-Werner, is an International Motivational Speaker. He has tried and studied many systems that don't work and after 13 years developed a system that actually does work and is creating an additional income for many South Africans already. He understands people's fears and therefore offers a 100% money-back guarantee, if you don't make money after 6 months. In other words you have nothing to lose.....
You have nothing to lose. I encourage you to visit the website and register to try the products and service out for free. Click here for more information. Register as a free trial member then upgrade to start your income stream.

I must add that I got just over R900 in commission in February, every little bit helps. It takes some time, but it will happen eventually. Remember to upgrade to start participating in the income stream.

I received this email recently:

Yes, out of curiosity I visited Be Motivated Today during September 2009, but only joined during August 2010, what a waste of time!!!.
If I knew what was happening during the year I wasted, man, I would have joined immediately after I  read the details of the setup.
I now have a waiting list of seven on my downline (one already joined as Silver), the others are bound to join during November and they are jumping around purely from excitement to get started and its rubbing off on me as well.
Just one question: My intention is to place an invitation advertisement on the rear window of my car, do you think it could shake some people out of their dreams and make them joining us?

My Super Duper Recipe CD

I have just added 37 very old digitally scanned (you see the actual pages of the book) recipe books to the CD, at no extra cost. Here is your chance to have a really unique recipe book collection.

Paypal orders also accepted at US$20 per CD overseas postage included. My Paypal email addy is peter@funkymunky.co.za

A List of the very old digitally scanned recipe eBooks.

A Calendar of Dinners with 615 recipes - 1922
A Dozen dainty recipes for preparing wartime canned meats - 1920
A Home Guide - or a book by 500 ladies - 1877
Aunt Carolines Dixieland Recipes - 1922
A Practical Dictionary of Cookery - 1200 tested recipes - 1898
Best recipes for baking - pre 1908
Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping - 1877
Burke's Complete Cocktail and tasty bite recipes - 1936
Catering for special occasions with menus and recipes - 1911
Diabetic Cookery - recipes and menus - 1917
Fifty Choice Recipes for Spanish and Mexican Dishes - 1905
Fifty valuable and delicious recipes made with corn meal - 1917
Heart of the Wheat - a book of recipes - 1910
Hospitality - recipes and enteertainment hints for all occasions - 1922
Hotel Management - quantity food recipes
Household hints and recipes - 1877
Ice Cream - practical recipes for making ice cream - 1886
Information for everybody - 1859
Jane Hamiltons Recipes - 1909
Just the thing - dainty dishes at small cost - 1899
Larger cookery book of extra recipes - 1891
Leather Manufacture - 1891
Light entertaining - a book of dainty recipes for special occasions - 1910
Mom's Cookbook
On Uncle Sam's Water Wagon - 500 recipes for delicious drinks that can be made at home - 1919
Our candy recipes - 1919
Practical Household Cookery - 1000 recipes - 1891
Preserves and Pickles - 1912
Recipes - dainties, salads and clever hints - 1919
Recipes for the preserving of fruit vegetables and meat - 1908
The Candy Maker's Guide - 1896
The Housekeeper's Friend - 1897
The Hygenic Cookbook - 1881
Tried and Tested Recipes - 1921
Two Hundred and Seventy Five Wartime Recipes - 1918
Two hundred recipes for cooking in casseroles - 1914
Two hundred recipes for making desserts - 1912
War Time Cookery - 1917
Wheatless Recipes - 1918
Wrinkles and Recipes, including farming and household hints - 1877