Winter in the Karoo

Winter has officially arrived – well as far as we here in the Karoo are concerned. 
Definitely soup, comfort food and fires weather. 

And although it is very difficult getting up early in the morning, once up, it is nice to be dressed warmly with a freezing cold nose and pink cheeks for a change.  In a month or two we will be sick and tired of the weather, but for now we are enjoying the change in seasons.  Of course, knowing that the next season is Spring makes it worthwhile having to endure the cold.

I enjoy the late afternoon scenes and sunsets, but once the sun has dipped behind the mountains, the cold descends very quickly. Nights are so clear and crisp in winter and Kate has enjoyed being able to take stunning photos.  She finds the centre pivots especially interesting as seen below.

Well, we can all be pleased that we don’t have to do the job which our current guests are doing.  They are professional divers.........in the Karoo???  Yes, they are working on the refurbishment of Grassridge Dam which is not far from us.  And although they have spent many weeks on and off with us, we hadn’t been to see them on the job until Friday.  We certainly have a new and profound respect for them!  It is quite an operation and a lot of equipment is necessary.  But I am in awe of them diving into freezing water, staying under for up to an hour at a time and doing work that most of us would consider dangerous on dry land.... drilling, breaking up huge rocks etc etc.........and all by feeling their way as the water is muddy brown and visibility nil. The weather has been particularly cold – Friday brought sun, wind, rain and sleet and Saturday was icy cold with wind coming off the distant snowy mountains!  Monday was minus 3 degrees and bakkies battled to get going in the early morning - before sunrise when their day starts! So, imagine going off to work knowing what awaits.  Brave and tough men each and every one of them and so nice as well. 

We really enjoy having them here with us and providing all their meals which are much appreciated.  On Sunday they had a melt-in-the-mouth tender Karoo lamb roast and veggies with Chocolate Cake for pudding / afternoon tea.  And supper was beef and vegetable soup, homemade bread and Macaroni Cheese. I have decided to share my recipe which I always use for the Macaroni Cheese which our family enjoys and any leftovers freeze well for a quick and easy light meal.

Quick and Easy Macaroni Cheese

1 cup    Macaroni (dry)

2 cups  Milk

2           Eggs

1 cup    Cheese - grated

1 Tbs    Butter

1           Tomato - sliced thinly

2 tsp     Maizena

2 tsp     Dry mustard

Salt and pepper

A dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

Boil macaroni in salt water until tender and drain
Put cheese in a bowl and reserve some to sprinkle on top
Add mustard, maizena, salt, pepper and cayenne to cheese
Add eggs one at a time and mix well
Boil milk, butter and macaroni together
Add to the mixture in the bowl
Pour into a buttered dish, sprinkle cheese over the top
Decorate with tomato slices
Bake at 180 deg for 30 +- minutes until browned and set
Serves six

Until next time, stay warm and cosy!

Regards,
Anne

The Possible Pecking of the Pecan Pie

We are continuing our saga with the chickens – simply because they offer hours of amusement. 

Our little black hen is still sitting on her eggs in the pot pourri basket in the dining room. We had a group of 14 wonderful people staying for the weekend, so there has been lots of food and fun! Little hen was not disturbed in the slightest by all the party noise and mayhem going on just two feet from her nest. Such a dedicated and special mother!  She sits there day and night as still as a stone, only going out for half an hour a day to stretch her legs, grab a bite to eat, a drink of water and fluffing her feathers.  Then after her ablutions she sneaks back into her nest, shifts the eggs around, as they need to be turned every so often and there she lies looking after her brood.  Actually, it is quite comical to see her off the nest because she has a genuine problem with walking and looks like a cat with socks on.  She can’t quite decide what to do with her feet after all the sitting!

On Saturday for dinner we served roast lamb, venison pie with vegetables and two puddings – one of them was Pecan Pie (this is a pecan producing farm, so all our guests get a pecan pie experience at least once!).  While I was out of the kitchen, one of our guests, Linda, who was sitting on the stoep like a dassie in the sun with her knitting, heard a noise in the kitchen and found our darling, cheeky (foul) fowl “Chicken Pie” in the kitchen on the counter sniffing around for a tasty morsel.  The Pecan Pie was cooling on the counter and she was fast approaching it with serious intent when she was shooed out of the door.  I then came in to hear of this near disaster and on telling the story to my daughter, Kate, we decided to name the incident “The Possible Pecking of the Pecan Pie”!  I was relieved to see that she had not started on her snack and the pie was unscathed all thanks to Linda, “The Protecter of the Pudding”!  It was enjoyed by all and soon the recipe will be posted on this blog for all to enjoy.

Right, enough about the chooks and on to the change in the weather.  Spring is springing and it is just bloody marvellous!!  Everywhere there are signs of new life.  Newborn lambs, blossoms, pale green new leaves on the trees, especially the willows.  There is almost no sight more heart-warming for me than to see than the willows coming back to life after a hard, cold winter.  Having grown up here in the valley, I have always had a soft spot for willows in particular.  We had them in our garden and one of our favourite playtimes was grabbing a branch and swinging over the furrow – so much better than a jungle gym!  Also, they were very climbable so we spent many an hour pretending to be monkeys and other creatures.  My ‘cuz’ Alan did the best impression of a monkey – but more of his antics as a child another time.  A legend and still naughty to this day!!

Oh, so much to tell you and so many recipes to share!  Today’s recipe is for Easy Cheese Puffs.  And the name describes them to a T.  I made them for breakfast this morning to wide acclaim. So here goes:

EASY CHEESE PUFFS

Flour                      - 1 cup (250 ml)

Baking Powder    - 1 dessert spoon

Cheese                  - 1 cup (grated Cheddar)

Milk                       - 1 cup

Oil                          - 50 ml (mixed in the milk)

Salt                        - small pinch

Cayenne Pepper - small shake

·       Mix all the ingredients together

·       Put into muffin tin

·       Bake at 180 deg - +- 20 minutes

 See how easy it is?  They can be baking while you set the breakfast table or if a friend pops in for coffee, while she (I am presuming it will be a she, but you never know!!) is talking, you can mix a batch while the oven is heating and the kettle is boiling and you are hearing about the latest shopping expedition/bargains/husband irritations (but don’t we just adore them!? – most of the time!) you can sit down and enjoy soft cheesy puffs with butter oozing out of the centre and forget about any angst for a few minutes.............. YUM!

Regards,

Anne