EASTER DECORATIONS

METHOD
Boil eggs. Unless you're considering a career as a freediver dont even attempt blowing the egg out the shell.
Fill paper cups with warm water, teaspoon vinegar and food colouring.
Dip the eggs.
Dry in carton.
You can get fancy and make patterns with wax crayons, elastic bands, stickers etc but we like to keep it simple.

EARTH HOUR

I hope you all turned off your electricity last night.
And no, leaving home and going to the mall does not count.
We made a bonfire.

THE COMMON MARCH

PINEAPPLE KEBABS

This is such an easy braai pud.
Cut up a pineapple into chunks.
Place on skewer and roll in brown sugar and chilli flakes.
Braai.
Serve with icecream or vanilla joghurt.

THE GREEN SALAD

I am a fan of the green salad
especially when it comes from one's own garden

FOWL

These chickens and eggs belong to The Major & Jen.
We would like chickens and eggs.
So would Luger.

SEA COTTAGE SPCA

This is rescued bunny.
Rescued bunny needs a name.
Rescued bunny needs a home.
Rescued bunny is very cute.
Rescued bunny might have a home.

HOEKERS SECRETS

Most Noordhoekers know about a little confectionary shop situated near Shorties but for those of you on the other side of the lentil curtain here's the scoop.
They make the fudge and meringues for Melissas.
Its Sublime.
Its half the price.

LEFTOVERS

We had a fush braai this weekend.
This is my attempt at fish cakes with the leftovers + a few garden ingredients.
The Major makes the best fish cakes.
These aren't bad.
They are nice and light not the type you might use when entering a shotput competition.

300g Potatoes mashed
150g White Flaky Fish
3 Tbsp Coriander Chopped
3 Tbsp Spring Onions Chopped
1 Red Chilli Finely Chopped and de-seeded
1 Egg
Grated Zest of 1 Lime
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

Peel & boil your potatoes. Drain & Mash.
If you're using leftover fish, break up into small flakes otherwise steam first then break up
Chop up coriander, spring onions and chilli
Combine all the ingredients (you can just use a food processor if you want)
Add lime zest + lemon juice
Mix together
Add egg
Take about 2 tbsp of the mixture in your hand, roll into a ball, flatten into a patty.
Heat oil in pan. Fry till golden.
Serve with wedges of lime + a green salad

* The fish from the fishery is so fresh it swims in the door. The bonus is that they sms you when it arrives. Its worth signing up. Call them on 021 783 5382

THE SCENT OF A ROSE

Just over the mountain is The Chart Farm.
Its beautiful there.
You can have a cup of tea.
You can pick your own roses.
You get a bucket + blunt clippers and it only costs R4 a stem.
Take your gran.
Have a cup of tea.
Pick beautiful scented roses with exotic names.
My gran will be mad.
I went without her.

MAKING A COMPOST PIT

1. Step 1

   Select a piece of ground that gets both sunlight and partial shade during the day. Mark a square on the ground that is at least 3-by-3 feet.

2. Step 2

   Dig out the marked area to a depth of at least 6 inches. Pile the removed soil near an edge of the pit to add back into the pit later. Remove and discard stones, roots and debris from both the pit and the stacked soil.

3. Step 3

   Deposit household scraps, garden clippings, coffee grounds and other fresh organic material into the center of the compost pit. Add in dried leaves, chopped twigs, brown organic material and small amounts of shredded brown cardboard.

4. Step 4

   Turn the contents of the pit with a pitchfork every two weeks. Heap the material to the center of the pit each time. Add a shovel full of the set-aside soil into to the compost each time you turn it. Poke holes in the stack with a long sharp stick, providing places for air to reach the inner layers.

5. Step 5

   Maintain a state of dampness by sprinkling water on the pit contents if they become dry in the summer months. Cover the pit with black plastic during rainy spells to keep from getting soggy. Hold down the edges of the black plastic with heavy bricks or stones.

6. Step 6
   
   Compost is ready to use

   Use the compost when it is thoroughly decomposed and crumbly.

PESTO

The great thing about pesto is you can experiment. You can play with different cheeses, herbs and nuts and you can add as much or as little as you want.
And, you don't even have to eat it with pasta. Try thinning down with more olive oil and lemon juice for a great dressing.
I made a classic basil pesto just because the basil needed to be picked but another favourite is parsley & walnut pesto - just substitute the parsley/basil and toasted walnuts/pine nuts.

Bunch of basil
Garlic clove
1/2 Lemon
200ml Olive Oil
50g Pine Nuts
50g Parmesan (organic pecorino is also good)

Wizz up too your desired consistency.

BRINJAL / AUBERGINE / EGG PLANT

We have only produced 3 brinjals so far.
I wanted to do something different.
Something that didn't include tomatoes.

Brinjal sliced into rounds. (I usually put them on paper towel and salt one side to remove excess water - pat dry)
150g Flour
Tsp Bicarb
200ml Soda Water
Sunflower Oil for deep frying
Maple Syrup

Whisk together flour, bicarb and soda.
Cover and leave for 15 minutes.
Heat the oil till really hot.
Dip the brinjal in the batter and deep fry till golden on one side then turn and fry the other side.
Remove and drain on paper towel.
Drizzle with maple syrup.
Tuck in.

WHAT I DONT LIKE ABOUT NOORDHOEK

We have an arsenal of fly repellants.
They don't work.

NOORDHOEK TRANSPORT

One of the things I love about Noordhoek is that kids main mode of transport is either the skateboard, the jay board, the pony or the bike.

THE ARGUS

I hate cyclists. I have friends that are cyclists and they are very nice people but something seems to happen to the human psyche as soon as a pair of spandex pants becomes part of the equation. They become road vultures. Taking over the road sometimes 3 or 4 abreast. Totally oblivious of road signs. They have their own sign language which you have to be a cyclist to understand. I mean how am I supposed to know a fist means "watch out for the pothole" and not "Im going to moer you if you drive so close behind me" Come on, what is wrong with you people, do you not know why they invented the yellow line? Try driving chappies when you're late and have to sit behind a group of wannabe Lance Armstrongs.
I now drive the Landy when I go on Chappies. It has a bullbar.
I might be rambling a bit but that is because I have time on my hands right now, maybe because I can't leave the house for the entire day while all those spandex wearing freaks are streaking past the front door!
Noordhoek however, really does come to the party in their support of the Argus. Early morning boerie makers, line dancers (they know how to use the yellow line) drummers, fire eaters, "unofficial" masseurs, random flashers. Noordhoek definitely offers the cyclists a warm + colourful welcome.
Did I mention that Simon has a bike. Simon doesnt ride his bike. Simon's bike has done the Argus 3 times.
Well done The Stead. Well done Black Beauty.
Here's a pic of the leading guys, yes that is Lance.

NOORDHOEK EQUESTRIAN HAPPENINGS

I love horses but horse-shows bore me to tears.
This was Countess first show.
I was happy to watch + cheer.

EYE OF THE ELEPHANT

Walked to Elephant's Eye this weekend. Its a great walk, not too long, a few parts that raise your heart rate but generally easy going and really scenic. You can finish off with a dip in the dam. You can see from the pics of the dam how misty + drizzly it got. Had a chuckle at the sign above (strategically placed at the most strenuous part of the walk)
Got to love the locals on their weekend hike "April dis duidelik, jy moet nou in low range engage as jy wil af klim".

I WILL NOT EVER NEVER

The tomatoes are finished.
This is how I feel.

GROWTH SPURT

My new veggie garden is taking really well. The rocket, beans and mielies are thriving. I especially love watching the beans grow. Every morning's insepction reveals another new tentacle that's wrapped itself up + around the trellis, its actually a little creepy. They find their way all on their own, without help, they just reach out and wrap around, makes me think that beans are clearly smarter than tomatoes, it also makes a think that we might wake up one morning with a "Fee Fi Fo Fum" at the door ....... mmm .......

I forgot to finish the "deck building 101" post with the sanding and oiling segment. As I said before, a master builder doesn't give away any of his tips so here are the visuals but I have slipped in the secret ingredient for the oiling part! I kid you not, it works.

SCORCHER

We dont have a pool. We tried a portable pool but that ended up being Willow's daily playpen and I was starting to feel a little "trailerparkish". Usually we descend on Megan en masse but the heat made us think this time we needed to go large - Silvermine dam. Seemed were werent the only ones with the same idea (clearly they dont know about Megan's pool!) It really was beautiful, the dam was warm and there were kids and dogs everywhere. So often on the drive home in the evenings I just set my inner gps to Sea Cottage Drive and never take the time to actually look at the beautiful scenery that I pass, whether its going over Chappies or Ou Kaapse Weg. We really live in the most spectacular place. Just taking a little detour to the dam was the perfect way to end a scorcher of a day and gives you a minute to actually take a minute to stop, breathe and appreciate.

FASTA PASTA

Bacon chopped
Broccoli
Baby Tomatoes
Pasta
Garlic
Goats Cheese or any cheese you fancy

Boil the pasta, fry the bacon in a little garlic, add the broccoli & baby tomatoes
Drain the pasta
Crumble the cheese over the pasta
Add the bacon, broccoli & tomatoes
Nothing could be easier or tastier!

RIDING IN THE VINEYARDS

GOATS CHEESE SOUFFLE

I love souffles! Here is a recipe for a simple cheese souffle. I didn't make enough mixture for the dish which is why there isnt a huge beautiful puffy souffle featured but it was delicious. Its such a quick and easy meal to make during the week and love the fact that you can just make up your own combinations, more to follow with the seasons.

150g Goats cheese
2Tbsp Butter
3Tbsp Flour
400ml Milk
4 Egg Yolks
5 Egg Whites whisked to form stiff peaks


Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees.
Melt butter in a saucepan then stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add the milk stirring regularly until you have a thick bechamel sauce.
Remove from heat, add goats cheese, stir, add egg yolks, salt & pepper.
Fold the egg whites into the mixture with a metal spoon.
Pour mixture into souffle dish and bake for 30 minutes if you're cooking the souffle in individual ramekins then bake for 15 minutes.

Serve with green salad or a tomato & basil salad is a great combination

DECK BUILDING

Apparently a master builder should never give away any of his secrets so here are a few "visuals" of building a deck.
Sanding & Oiling to follow.