MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.....

Seeing that we all away and trotting the globe for the next couple of weeks, we'd like to wish everybody a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and an exceptionally good NEW YEAR!

All the best and more from the Musers in the New Year!

Love is all around!

My little sister is getting married in 8 days time.  I am home and things are crazy but we are deliriously excited!
Just because planning a wedding was not enough (!), she and two friends hosted the first ever craft market in Ceres the weekend I arrived from Dar.  Everything was just so pretty!
And very fittingly...Love was all around! ;-)

All the lovely pictures where taken by Jomeri - Luv Photography (+27833932502)

Andizi

Plastic in the ocean

People can sometimes make weird and stupid choices.

Like for instance: yesterday was a public holiday in Tanzania (Independence Day I think?) and we all sat, sunscreened-up, hats on, drinks ice cold and geared for a mean booze cruise on the tender boat on our way to Dhow Junkie, our friends awesome dhow.

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All of a sardine the engine of the tender boat stopped and cut out completely....... We all looked at each other, oih, dhow is out thhhheeerrrreeeeee and the beach is a good swim away. There were murmurs about plastic wrapped around the engine .... and low and behold, as the "captain" lifted up the  engine, there was a  huge 50kg mieliemeal bag wrapped around it.

No problems, hakuna matata..... He just unwrapped it and unceremoniously chucked it right back into the ocean. I mean OH MY SOUL!!!! Was that necessary? Ready for the next guy to get stuck I guess.
Worst thing is that I couldn't get a word out to SCOLD this old guy for what he just did and the bag drifted away slowly.

I must say, I am pretty disgusted at the best of times with these Tanzanians dirty way of dealing with their rubbish. If you are looking to make good money quickly - start a rubbish plant somewhere and clean up this town. (not a nice job, but you'll make millions, because everyone will pay you to do it!)
Currently their reason for throwing plastic bottles, cartons etc out the windows of the dala dalas (taxis) is because it creates work for someone else. For GOODNESS SAKE!

Where's: Zip dit in 'n Zippy Blik! Hie hie!

Try and teach the people around you about cleaning up. We must start somewhere.

~desert rose~

The Race at Sunrise...or not...

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Every morning in Africa,

a gazelle wakes up.

It knows that it must run

faster than the fastest lion.

Or it will be killed.

Every morning a lion wakes up.

It knows that it must out run the slowest gazelle.

Or it will starve to death.
It doesn't matter whether you are a lion

or a gazelle; when the sun comes up

You had better be running

That is an African Parable. 

According to the above, Dar es Salaam is very un-African, because around here, people are rarely in a hurry and even more rarely running...except for the Masai...but that is not the point as they don't operate the business centers.  The culture around here is very much of the procrastination kind - "hamna shida, kesho" (no worries, tomorrow)!

But I can't really blame them  - if I lived in a place where I didn't need shelter from the cold, I could do a little fishing everyday and when I walk home a paw-paw falls on my head (tada, salad!) - who would want to run anywhere?  Let's rather...DANCE!  Yeah!

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Andizi

Mangotree musers moving up in the world

You guys might remember Hibiscus who delighted us with her quirky and delish recipes! Soon after leaving the craziness of Dar for the bright lights of Cape Town Hibiscus is already making a name for herself. Profiled on Spatula Magainze's 'We like your style' section and her work featured with a recipe for yummy Christmas icecream! And really..with that smile...how can she fail? We wish you the best for the future Hibiscus!

~maisha

Smiling in the pursuit of happiness

Putting a smile on ones face and being conscious in the pursuit of your own happiness is a gift that I have received from a little book, lent after a delightful dinner party on Saturday night. I am trying to smile as much as I can, and when I feel I cant, I try to remember the above - because the flowers will my smile for me until I can again. And if I can realize this, things can never be that bad :)

Frangipani

SPEECH BY ANNA QUINDLEN

This was a speech made by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Anna Quindlen
at the graduation ceremony of an American university where she was
awarded an Honorary PhD. 

"I'm a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know. 
Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. You will walk 
out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. 
There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree: 
there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a 
living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody 
of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your
life at a desk, or your life on a bus, or in a car or at the computer.
Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. 
Not just your bank accounts but also your soul ... 

People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier
to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is cold comfort
on a winter's night, or when you're sad, or broke, or lonely, or when
you've received your test results and they're not so good. 

Here is my resume: I am a good mother to three children. I have tried
never to let my work stand in the way of being a good parent. I no
longer consider myself the centre of the universe. I show up. I
listen. I try to laugh. I am a faithful friend to my husband. I have
tried to make marriage vows mean what they say. I am a good friend to
my friends and them to me.
Without them, there would be 
nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard cut out. 
But, I call them on the phone and I meet them for lunch. I would be
rotten, at best mediocre, at my job if those other things were not true.

You cannot be really first rate at your work if your work is all you
are.
So here's what I wanted to tell you today: 

Get a life. A real life,
not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger pay cheque, the
larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things
if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon or found a lump in your breast?

Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on
a breeze at the seaside, a life in which you stop and watch how a
red-tailed hawk circles over the water, or the way a baby scowls with
concentration when she tries to pick up a sweet with her thumb and first
finger.

Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love and
respect, and who love and respect you. And remember that love is not 
leisure, it is work - hard work. Pick up the phone. Send an email. 
Write a letter. Make an effort. Get a life in which you are generous.
And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no
business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its goodness that
you want to spread it around. Take money you would have spent on beer
and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or
sister. All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good too, then
doing well will never be enough. 

It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, and our minutes.
It is so easy to take for granted the colour of our kids' 
eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears
and rises again. It is so easy to exist instead of to live.

I learned to live many years ago. I learned to love the journey, not
the destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that 
today is the only guarantee you get. I learned to look at all the 
good in the world and try to give some of it back because I believed 
in it, completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by 
telling others what I had learned. By telling them this: Consider 
the lilies of the field. Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the
back yard with the sun on your face. 

Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness, because if
you do, you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived".

If we could all live by this philosophy the world would be a better place...

~maisha

"I do not think of you, that you can ever forget me"...

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A week ago I had to travel to Kenya for work.  Much of my time was spent in Karen. 

Karen is the suburb named after Karen Blixen that wrote one of my all time favourite books - Out of Africa.  The suburb is situated in the area where Karen's farm (Ngong farm) used to be.

I am a little obsessed with the prose in this book and standing in the lush garden of the lodge, I closed my eyes and remember my heroine writing: "The air of the African highlands went to my head like wine:  I was all the time slightly drunk with it, and the joy of these months was indescribable."

Karen tells about her days on Ngong farm that makes your heart ache for the open plains. 

Unfortunately, she was forced to leave and over time the plains gave way to the building blocks of Nairobi.

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I remember how she describes getting letters from her servants back on the farm that "came to me in a strange, unreal way, and are more like shadows, or mirages, than like news of reality."  They could not write and had to rely on the "professional letter writers" who also knew precious little English but tried to show off their skills, making the letters difficult to decipher.  Sometimes however, their message came out more beautiful than even Shakespeare could have phrased it.  On one of the dirty little sheets of paper her African cook wrote:  "We do not think of you, that you can ever forget us."

My beloved friend, today I send you a cheep postcard, bought from the stationary dukka on Kimweri Road and on it I simply write:
"I do not think of you, that you can ever forget me"...
xxx

Andizi

Cold Lemon Papaya Soup

Oh, my soul. I asked my dada (cleaning lady, fairy, nanny, cook....) to prepare some peas, rice and chicken for Moo and myself yesterday.

I came back and had the most delicious meal in a LONG time. I was really expecting, boring old peas and rice, with proper fried chicken ( I even tried to tell her, NO MAFUTA (oil) just KIDOGO olive oil (a little bit!)

We were pleasantly surprised when the meal consisted of: cardamom - and might I add perfectly fluffy - brown basmati rice with coconut peas and a Swahili Chicken Curry, with the most exquisite spices. WOW. I should ask her to cook more often!

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So I thought I'd go through one of my many Swahili cookbooks and find this recipe for the peas so that I could share this with you, but alas, nothing. (will have to wait for that!)
So I chose a recipe I found in the "Swahili Kitchen" cookbook written and photographed by Javed Jafferji and Elie Losleben, my mouth just watered when I read through it! Enjoy with a cold glass of white wine on a warm, tropical afternoon....

Cold Lemon Papaya Soup

1 large ripe papaya
1 cup lime or lemon juice
1 cup orange juice
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp chilli powder (or half a small fresh chilli finely chopped)
Black Pepper and salt
Chopped fresh coriander and croutons to garnish

Mix all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Chill and serve topped with chopped fresh coriander and croutons!

Happy Cooking!

~desert rose~

Papa Shillingi

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My new favourite fish...the whale shark...

"Known as a deity in a Vietnamese culture, the whale shark is called "Ca Ong", which literally translates as "Sir Fish".

In Mexico, and throughout much of Latin America, the whale shark is known as "pez dama" or "domino" for its distinctive patterns of spots. However, they go by "Sapodilla Tom" in Belize due to the regularity of sightings near the Sapodilla Cayes on the Belize Barrier Reef.


In Africa, the names for the whale shark are very evocative: "papa shillingi" in Kenya came from the myth that God threw shillings upon the shark which are now its spots.


In Madagascar the name is "marokintana" meaning "many stars".


Javanese also reference the stars by calling it "geger lintang," meaning "stars in the back"."

"Many stars"...isn't that a lovely name for a fish?! ;-)

Andizi

Sharks, Whale sharks and Whales

Life under the turquoise water of the ocean is a newly discovered wonder to me. Since I hesitantly fell backward off the boot for my first open water scuba dive I have marveled at this new world through the haze of my oxygen bubbles. There for it was with great excitement that I packed my camouflage backpack for a trip to marvelous Mafia.

The above mentioned is an untouched little island off the coast of Dar that boast a magnificent marine park. In fact, the dive sites around this island are world renowned and I could not wait to proudly put my brand new scuba license to the test! And the promise of spectacular diving is only half of it. With great anticipation I logged onto the website of the lodge everyday weeks before to see of news of whale sharks. These magnificent fish could arrive any time from the beginning of October, but they decided to tease us and it was only three days before our expected departure that the website eagerly exclaimed – “they have arrive”! I could hardly sleep I was so excited!

My friend Joey and I stayed at a lovely quaint lodge (Butiama - check it out, I can highly recommend them) but spent very little time in our colourful room. First stop on Friday was the Mafia Marina Park for two dive sessions. I could never have anticipated the sight that awaited me as soon as I equalized my way down to the bottom of the ocean. There were fish EVERYWHERE! I squealed with excitement into my regulator. I wish I was more artistically inclined, then I could draw all of this for you, for my bumbling s cannot begin to describe the coral, the fish, shy garden eels, massive scary looking ones, the gigantic lobsters, the lovely lace-like cowry shells, the luminous sea snails. Joey said at one stage he looked around to see if I was coming and he saw me just spinning around and around like a planet. I simply could not believe the underwater world around me. My favourite, without a doubt was the turtle we chilled with! They are so big and awkward looking and yet so graceful under water. I just wanted to hug it and take it home with me! “Awesome duuuuuuude”!

Saturday morning I could not wait to get on the boat and go and find me some whale sharks! But alas, the giant fish were nowhere to be seen. Hardly able to hide our disappointment we opted for some snorkeling instead. But again I could not get enough of the coral and all the fish! And I love the freedom of movement that snorkeling allows! We dived and dipped and had a great time! At one stage our guide instructed us to go under the water, hold our breath and listen…humpback whales calling to each other…incredible…The rest of the day was spent kayaking, strolling along the beach and lazing around reading our books. Pure bliss.

Sunday morning was our last chance to find the whale sharks. The manager at the lodge had by now all ready warned us that we were probably a bit early and they come and go still this time of year. She did not want us to leave the island disappointed and tried to manage our high expectations. But Joey sang at breakfast “I have a feeling”…and the whale sharks came out to play! When the huge speckled fin broke through the water hardly 2m from the boat I had my doubts, but when Ali shouted “JUMP” I jumped and swallowed a mouth of saltwater as the gigantic fish brushed past me. It was frightening and unbelievably exhilarating at once! I was still recovering from my first encounter when the whale shark turned around and headed back towards us with a giant flat mouth sucking air, plankton and water. My first impulse was to head to the safety of the boat, but Ali grabbed my arm and started swimming straight towards the big guy. And then the whale shark sank underneath me, I ducked the massive dorsal fin and swam alongside him/her looking straight into the eye of the beautiful creature. I could see the hundreds of little brave yellow fish hovering just in front of the massive mouth feeding of the plankton that escape the black throat of the whale shark.

We spent the next two and a half hours swimming with 6 whale sharks. At one stage I had two on each side of me within arm’s reach. The moments I was not worried about being squashed to death I was absolutely amazed by it all. By far some of the most indescribable hours of my life! I have experienced so many wonderful things since moving to Tanzania, but it has been in nature where I have been truly touched by a sense of something Bigger than us mere humans. Swimming with the whale sharks of Mafia was indeed a spiritual experience in a time it was much needed. The mysteries ways…

 

Andizi

"Street Level" Exhibition by Sarah Markes

Graphic designer and illustrator Sarah Markes is holding an exhibition of her beautiful graphic prints at the Alliance Francaise this month. Many of us are familiar with the vibrant street and people scenes, and we now have the opportunity to view and buy the original drawings and paintings (I've been saving!)

I have collected many of the authentically 'Dar' sketches that are now at home in South Africa waiting to be framed, while Andizi's colourful collection is displayed around her room. When my dearest Pop came to visit from SA a month ago I bought her a heap as a keepsakes for everything that she had seen and experienced in this city, as the prints make great gifts (especially for inspiring fellow designers)!

The full range of the prints are also available at the green room, Slipway.

See you all at the exhibition!

Frangipani

Question?

;-)

Andizi

Best Fruit Cake Recipe ever

Guys, you have to try this, it works like a bomb - everytime!

 Tequila Fruit Cake recipe :

1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup water
1 tsp. salt    
1 cup brown sugar
Lemon juice
4 large eggs
Nuts
1 bottle tequila
2 cups dried fruit

Sample the tequila to check quality
Take a large bowl; check the tequila again to be sure it is of the highest quality..

Repeat.

Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.
Add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Beat again.

At this point, it is best to make sure the tequila is still OK. Try another cup just in case.
Turn off the mixerer thingy.

Break 2 eegs and add to the bowl and chuck iin the cup of dried fruit.
Pick the fruit up off the floor.

Mix on the turner.

If the fried druit getas stuck in the beaterers, just pry it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the tequila to test for tonsisticity.
Next, sift 2 cups of salt, or something.

Check the tequila.  

Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table.  Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.

Don't forget to beat off the turner

Finally, throw the bowl through the window.
Finish the tequila and wipe the counter with the cat.

~deshhert rosh~

BFF

Meet Rocco.  Rocco belongs to my friend Paris.  Yes, as in Paris Hilton.  No, that is not her real name, but she looks like her, dresses like her and has a dog like her and I absolutely LOVE the way she has embraced this persona and does not give a damn what anybody thinks!  And seriously, how cool is it for us in Dar to have our own Paris?!
Anyways, back to the picture in discussion.  Rocco came for a play date with Konyagi.  It was the funniest thing to watch! I could see the confusion on Konyagi's face - "is it a cat, is it a rat?!"  He literally did not know what to do with Konyagi, because clearly in his mind, this could NOT be a dog?!  If there is any other dog around, Konyagi arches like a bow and hisses like a giant chameleon.  Faced with Rocco he was like - "should I hunt it, play with it or fight it?!"
In the end he decided to play with it and they had the most fun!  So there Noenie (aka Konyagi), now you know, best friends can come in all shapes and sizes...they might not always look like what you expect, but be prepared to be pleasantly surprised by animals, people and life in general.

Andizi

Wise Dori....

My dear Andizi - in the words of the very very wise Dori, and I quote: "Keep on swimming, keep on swimming......."

You will have your "no ways" moment, I promise - it's around the corner.

~desert rose~

Flight or Fight

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"I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea, and at last wake up in Naples and there beside me is the Stern Fact, the Sad Self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from.|"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea, and at last wake up in Naples Dar es Salaam and there beside me is the Stern Fact, the Sad Self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from."

Andizi

Drama Salaam

For such a large city, Dar es Salaam can become quite small with the disorderly kings and queens that feud for the proverbial crown. And sometimes it is even the jesters that want some face time. A mostly theatrical performance in Pandora's (little) Box, Drama Salaam will often bemuse even the most reticent inhabitants...

To wagging tongues.

Frangipani  x

Beautiful

I recently saw the preview for "Eat, Pray, Love" and something that was said resonated with me in a big way.  I read the book two years ago and it was a fun read, but at that stage nothing particularly life changing. I decided to give it another bash.
Last night I came across this sentence "You where given life, it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight."
When I read that I thought I would write about all the beautiful things in my life, the things that I have to be grateful for, the things I so often forget about and the things that are so amazingly beautiful they fill me with wonder every day.  But when I started the beautiful-things-in-my-life list I realised - it is a looooong one...which in itself was a good food for thought exercise!

So I have decided to choose only one beautiful thing to share that I have recently discovered...my bedroom's balcony...it has been under my nose for nearly 9 months and only now I am starting to enjoy my new found haven of tranquility...well, as much tranquility as you can get on any given day in an African city!
But I have taken to spending dreamy Dar evenings on my balcony with a glass of wine, a candle and a kanga wrapped around my shoulders.  More than once I have fallen asleep there cuddling Konyagi very much against his will.
In the early mornings I exchange my glass of wine for an essential cup of coffee and listen to the sounds of Dar rising.
And it is here that I am doing a lot of thinking..seeking...MUSING...about life, about people, about dreams, the future and the past, about love, about expectations, ambitions, desires.  In Afrikaans there is a quirky saying that goes "die liefde en die leed" - roughly translated as "the good/love and the bad/pain"...so I suppose on my balcony I am contemplating "die liefde en die leed"...and this little tiled space of stars and sunshine is what I have found to be beautiful in my life right now.

Andizi

Shoe Shopping

A friend of mine recently came to visit and I took her shoe shopping...Dar es Salaam style!  Forget Sandton Noc, we've got Mwenge!

Andizi

Bon Matin avec le cafe

It's been a while ladies, but wishing you all a de-caf Monday 

and wondrous week ahead.

J'aime un cafe et un bon rire un lundi matin, n'est pas?

Allez le cafe!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sILvmyNGAI

London in 4 nights.......

TUBE MAP (i know, I'm also VERY confused!)

GAUCHO RESTAURANT (oh my soul - Argentinean Steak and the best Malbec ever!)

CARLOS SANTANA LIVE (tears in my eyes - Maria Maria)

OXFORD SHOPPING (barely made it, chaos and credit card broken)

GORDON RAMSAY'S RESTAURANT ON ROYAL HOSPITAL ROAD (there is NO explanation to describe how AWESOME this experience was)

ALYWNE MANSIONS, WIMBLEDON - Party Palace!

(with some awesome chicken wraps)

( and later - The Alexandra Pub........)

London, done, dusted in 4 nights! Woohooooo! 

Thanks to all you dear people who made this happen!!!!

I had a dream...

Got to love the signage in Dar...a dream about NATURAL (vs other types of) fruit anyone?!  Please note the AIDS ribbon...could be that this vendor is a follower of our very own Dr Manto Msemang, but then again, it is also suspiciously close to the bananas...mmm...I do appreciate the awareness effort though!

Andizi

Love Life Live

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I can't remember where I read this, but I came across it last night in my diary and it made me smile and think..."how true"...
"The gods where bored, so they invented humans.  But the gods were still bored, so they invented love.  The gods were not bored anymore.  The gods decided to try love on themselves. And then they invented laughter to make it all more bearable..."

Sometimes life and love is so utterly messed-up that all you can do is laugh.  In the beginning the laugh might be bitter and hollow, but eventually, however painfully slow, it becomes meaningful and genuine.  Because in the end, despite it all...we do still have a lot to laugh about!

So maybe it's not so much about loving and living as separate entities or carefully constructed acts, but about loving the life you live as a sometimes perplexing, but beautiful whole...

Ps...about the picture - The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli...I remember growing up paging through my mom's art textbook and being completely fascinated by this painting.  I would sit for hours and dream up stories about the mystical creatures spread out on a double page nestled in my lap.  When, years later, I was lucky enough to stand in utter awe in front of this masterpiece in the Uffizi Gallery in Florance, I could not stop the tears.
So while we are on the subject of love and gods and gods in love...I find Plato's interpretation of the above painting quite beautiful..."Venus had two aspects: she was an earthly goddess who aroused humans to physical love or she was a heavenly goddess who inspired intellectual love in them. Plato further argued that contemplation of physical beauty allowed the mind to better understand spiritual beauty. So, looking at Venus, the most beautiful of goddesses, might at first raise a physical response in viewers which then lifted their minds towards the Creator..."
Got to love Plato, man of The Forms, philosopher, mathematician, writer of dialogues and humble admirer of Venus.
Andizi

Gotta love it... painting your nails in Dar

WWAHHHAAAA, I can't download the photo - what is it with these Blackberry's ... (or is it Blackberries?!) Sorry - picture will follow.

Anyway, so Andizi and I went for a pedi/mani combo on Saturday afternoon. It was just great.
We settled in the local "nail shop", feet up, new magazine - courtesy of Impi - jewelry off, kid at the playground with the dada and water on the side table. We were in heaven. Nothing like getting your feet properly scrubbed while trying to make out what the "plastic-nail-attachment-lady"is saying ( in Swahili) to the French speaking, hip, young lady next to me with curlers in her hair.......

You absolutely just got to love the noise, the noise of a local nail shop aka SPA. I'll show you the business card, special.

So while we were sitting in this wonderful establishment, I saw the "plastic-nail-attachment-lady" winking to the sheet guy outside the window. No problem with that, other than the fact that he had approximately 17 sheets on his head and 3 proudly draped around his arm in a  red-rose-with-yellow-trimmings pattern.
So he waltzes in and immediately the bickering starts:

Plastic-nail-attachment-lady: Mambo? (Howzit)

Dodgy sheet guy:                   Poa, mzima (Cool and chilled)

Plastic-nail-attachment-lady:  Bei ghani i shuka ya rangi ekundu....

Dodgy sheet guy:                  ah! EXCLAMATION: Tsh 5000 (approx. R25)

Plastic-nail-attachment-lady: Sawa, asante, kesho! (i.e. bugger off- way too much!)

End of conversations and life resumes with it's normal buzz....

It was priceless.... you had to be there though!
x


~ desert rose ~

Packets of Love

In the quaint little town of Prince Alfred Hamlet, right across from the notorious Hamlet Hotel, stands a little piece of my soul.  What started as a labour of love has turned into a fulyl fledged bakery called MamaMac's.

Even before all things homemade and wholesome became a big news trend, this is exactly the way my mom lovingly made rusks in her farm kitchen. First for us, then friends enquired and soon in 1995 she started supplying to a well-known delicatessen. Using and perfecting traditional, family recipes she has grown the business from a one woman show to a bakery that employs 8 women and my sister.
Given our communal passion for good food and instinct to feed those around us, I suppose this should come as no great surprise.

When I go home to visit, the three of us can sit for hours in the office drinking coffee, "testing" our biscuits (very important by the way!), talking and laughing.  Or my sister takes me into the bakery to teach me the fine art of the perfect shortbread, or better yet, we dream up new products or ideas pouring over magazines and clippings we collect along the way.  On Friday's my sister, a pastry chef by profession, whips up some delicious treat to savour over the weekend and friends from all over Hamlet and Ceres drop in to stock-up on some freshly baked carrot cake, double-chocolate cupcakes of spicy cinnamon buns.

I recently had friends that came to visit from South Africa.  The biggest treat the stuffed suitcase revealed - a packet of MamaMac's Health Rusks and Shortbread Biscuits...a crumbly piece of home, packets of yummy love.

Contacts:

Lourensia Mackenzie

Mamamac’s

Tel +2723-3134338

lmackenzie@xsinet.co.za

or

Rina-Marie Mackenzie

Missmac’s

Tel +273-3134338

rinamack@gmail.com

Andizi