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Hi everyone!
Well, the holidays are over now and it's back
to the old routine! Are you in a groove? Want to do something new? Why not
make some changes in your way of life, as they say, a change is as good as
a holiday! Try one or more of the following ideas!
-Do you like movies? Well, go see one once a
week. A night out will do wonders for a boring routine.
- Get involved with your church, sports club or society.
- Learn a new language
- Start a new hobby
- Don't work so late, spend more time with your family. You might reach
the top of the corporate ladder, but at what cost to your personal life?
- Here is a work related tip. DELEGATE. A senior manager I once worked for
used to have a clean desk. He was a great delegator. The advantages? He
had no work related stress and his subordinates increased their skill
levels! Think about it!
- Eat properly and exersise !! In other words, look after your body, it's
the only one you will ever have!
- If you are middle aged, go for regular medical checkups! You might just
catch that serious illness in time for treatment!
- Take early retirement like I did and mow the lawn!
OK, enough already, let's get to the good
stuff! As promised in the previous Newsletter this time we feature dips. We normally
make use of dips at a bbq, and then usually use crisp chips to scoop up
the dips. But that's just how we as a family do it, there might be more
ways of enjoying dips. No matter how you enjoy your dips, its fun and
delicious! I tried to find some Traditional South African dips, but I
guess they are pretty universal. If you know of a dip that is JUST enjoyed
in SA, please
let me have the recipe. Also low fat dips?
I want to start a section on my site about
African Folklore, tokoloshes and stuff like that. Also African Customs
like lobola etc. can anyone
help
with content/research?
Our annual church fete (kerkbasaar) is due
again in September, in fact it will be our congregation's 21st birthday! I
am looking for new ideas to make the event more interesting. There will be
the usual stuff, breakfast, pancakes, boerewors, potjiekos, games, tombola,
boeresport, jumping castle etc. But, do you do something different at your
church fete? Please
email me and let me know and I will put a page together on all
the ideas I receive. It could just benefit all of us! English or
Afrikaans is OK!
If you like reading good Afrikaans articles,
Minette Brink has sent me some more of hers. Go
take a look, and if you
like them, please email her and tell her so! That way she will keep
sending me stuff, lol
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Thanks to everyone who has mailed us fridge magnets depicting your
State, City or Country. If you collect fridge magnets, I will mail you
a South African one for every one I receive from another country.
Please
email
me and we can make arrangements. Thanx a lot! |
My website is interactive, there are a few
pages you can contribute to:
Elephant Stew - add
your suggestion
Wacky Sarmies - add your
fav sarmie
Animal Facts - Give
your opinion on the
the ram/ewe/bull/cow controversy, solve the puzzle and add you caption to the lion pic.
Discussion Forum - Add to a current discussion or start a new thread.
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Why not post a message on the
Discussion Forum. The topic can be food, wildlife, travel or
photography related, or anything else of interest. Let's see if we can
get some interesting discussions going |
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Thinking of visiting South
Africa? Or living in SA and looking for accommodation info?
South Africa Accommodation -
1423 Hotels, Vacation Rentals, Bed and Breakfasts |
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Cottage cheese dip
60 ml milk
250 ml natural yoghurt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 large gherkins, chopped
salt and pepper
250 ml smooth or creamed cottage cheese
1. Pour cottage cheese, milk and yoghurt into a food processor and blend
until smooth. 2. Add garlic and chopped gherkin. Blend until smooth and
season with salt and pepper. 3. Store in an airtight container in the
refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Garlic potato dip
500 g potatoes
6 cloves garlic, peeled
100 ml olive oil
30 ml red wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a few sprigs thyme flowers
1. Boil the potatoes and garlic cloves in salt water until tender. Drain and
peel potatoes, mash with the garlic. 2. Add olive oil gradually season well
and mix in vinegar. 3. Place in small serving bowls and garnish with a swirl
of olive oil and a few sprigs of thyme flowers. Serve with lots of warm pita
bread on the side.
Party-time boerewors with chutney
dip
1 kg good-quality boerewors, twisted into shorter, plump lengths
oil
80 ml soft brown sugar
45 ml tomato sauce
30 ml Worcestershire sauce
30 ml medium mustard
5 ml chilli sauce (or more to taste)
Preheat the oven to 200 ºC. Prick each sausage once and fry in a pan until
just done. Snip the sausages to separate and transfer to an oven dish. Mix
the rest of the ingredients and pour over the sausages, making sure they are
coated with the mixture. Bake for about 20 minutes until the sausages just
begin to brown on top. Insert a cocktail stick in each sausage and arrange
on a large platter. Makes 48 sausages, depending on their size.
Roasted red pepper dip
2 red peppers
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped roughly
8 sun-dried tomatoes (not in oil) rehydrated in boiling water
2 ml chilli paste
7 ml white balsamic vinegar
30 ml Italian parsley, chopped
sea salt and milled pepper
125 ml fat-free smooth cottage cheese
Halve peppers, depip and place on a baking tray.
Grill until skin begins to blister and blacken.
Remove from oven, and place in a plastic bag for 15 minutes to help loosen
the skin.
When cool, peel away charred skin, roughly chop flesh and drain in a sieve
for 15 to 20 minutes.
Whizz tomatoes in a blender until roughly chopped, then add garlic, chilli
paste, vinegar and Italian parsley.
Blend until smooth.
Add peppers, cottage cheese and lemon juice and blend again.
Adjust seasoning to taste and refrigerate until needed.
Note: this can all be done by hand - the result will be slightly chunkier.
Sundried tomato dip
125 ml marinated sundried tomatoes
1 tub smooth cream cheese
30 ml mayonnaise
30 ml freshly chopped parsley
15 ml lemon juice
4 spring onions
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
Serve with crisps, savoury biscuits or fresh vegetables for dipping.
Yoghurt dip
500 ml yoghurt
100 ml finely chopped. parsley or fresh coriander leaves (dhania)
1 green chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped (optional)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
10 ml ground cumin (jeera)
2 ml salt
Blend all the ingredients together. Serve with samoosas (see recipe).
Sweet potato chips with avocado
and prawn dip
2 sweet potatoes, peeled
sunflower oil for deep frying
AVOCADO AND PRAWN DIP
75 ml olive oil
4 spring onions, chopped
2 ripe avocados, peeled and stoned
15 ml white wine vinegar
20 ml lemon juice
2 ml salt
175 g cooked prawns
Thinly slice sweet potatoes, rinse and pat dry. Half fill a saucepan, wok or
deep fryer with oil and heat to very hot. Deep fry sweet potato slices, a
few at a time, until golden, about 3 minutes. Remove from oil with a slotted
spoon and drain on absorbent paper. DIP: Heat a little of the olive oil and
stir-fry spring onions for 1 minute. Remove and set aside. Purée avocados in
a food processor until smooth. With the motor running, drizzle in olive oil,
vinegar and lemon juice. (Do not overprocess, as the emulsion may separate.)
Transfer the purée to a bowl, add salt and spring onion. Reserve a few whole
prawns and coarsely chop the rest. Stir prawns into avocado mixture, cover
and chill. Just before serving, transfer to a bowl and garnish with reserved
prawns
Sweet potato and coriander dip
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
15 ml peanut or sunflower oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
20 ml natural yoghurt
20 ml lemon juice
30 ml freshly chopped coriander
5 ml dried crushed chillies
1 ml ground turmeric
Place cubes of potato on a baking tray. Drizzle with oil, cover with
aluminium foil and roast at 220 ºC for 20 minutes, or until soft. Place in a
food processor along with remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
Serve with natchos, melba toast or slices of French bread.
Biltong Dip
125 g smooth cottage cheese or cream
cheese with chives
30 ml mayonnaise
30 ml lemon juice
30 ml chopped fresh parsley
60 g grated biltong
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients. Dilute with a little milk if preferred.
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