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

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

Lead SA

I am spending lots of time in traffic listening to the radio, yesterday evening on the way home the on radio DJ said that he has started greeting beggars on the way home. In the past he didn't even look at them. 


It is strange how things happen but LEADSA an initiative recently launched by the SA press has the same principles of the Star Fish Story entry last month.


Their call to action states;

"We have lost respect for each other, for the elderly, for the young, for women. We have lost

respect for the poor and for the sick. We have lost respect for our country’s laws, and for those

who wrote them. We have lost respect for the downtrodden, for refugees, for those who we don’t

necessarily agree with. We have lost respect for the moral, while giving in to the material.

We have lost respect for our own future.

Now is the time for you to stand up. If you care about yourself, your family, your neighbours, your

friends, your colleagues - about South Africa, you must stand up.

Stand up for what’s right.

Stand up for the law.

Stand up for decency, compassion, and respect.

Stand up for the future you want for your family.

Stand up for your community.

Stand up, and lead South Africa.

Not soon. Not just now. Now. Because if you don’t, who will?"

We all have the power to make a difference, so never think your contribution is to small, it makes a difference to that one person.

For the full call to action

~maisha

The times they are a changin'...

As you would have noticed, there has been quite a bit of change on the blog.
Firstly (and very very sadly) Hibiscus and Maisha have both left dusty Dar and settled in the civilized ways of Cape Town and Johannesburg respectively.
It was hard saying goodbye to two dear friends and we miss them terrible, but as Maisha herself wrote: "I asked a good friend, who was born here how she handles people coming in and out of her life. She had quite an interesting outlook on it all; she finds it refreshing to have this constant ebb and flow of new and old faces. I tend to agree with her, I think we open ourselves up more to meet new and different people we would usually not have spent time with, and in doing so you discover things about yourself."
And I am happy to announce that they are both very much alive and kicking in their new abodes.  While Maisha continues to delight us with reflections on life in Johannesburg vs Dar es Salaam, Hibiscus has decided to focus a bit more on her culinary career.  Go check out this immensely talented girls' stuff at http://www.julesmercer.com/  But do look out for her monthly recipes on this blog - she just can't leave us completely...yet!

As for myself and Frangipani, there has been hook-ups and break-ups, disasters and delight!  After some uncertain months we are back in Dar for at least another year and very much excited for what lies ahead.  We have settled into a nice routine with the boys next door (we provide food, they provide vino) and with the addition of a couple of pieces of furniture (and off course Konyagi!) we are comfortable in Dar indeed!

Through all the chaos, the teary fair wells, the heartache and the drama, Desert Rose has been our constant reminder that sanity does still exist and eventually prevails!  Always ready to feed us with a lasagna in the oven or console us over a glass/bottle of wine, she has an ability to make things better or at least seem better than they appear!  Is that another of the wise gifts that come with motherhood?  Speaking of which...if all else fails, there is always Moo to give you a hug or tell you a story about a "hipopipopotimus" that is bound to make the world a better place!

Andizi

The heart of the Traveller

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

This saying has never rung so true as when I went home to South Africa for a month recently, taking a little time out of Dar for some work and play. This time, something was a little different from my previous experience of returning home. It smelt different, it looked different and it sure felt different!

The soccer world cup was just beginning and we were hosting thousands of people from around the world…The streets were bustling, everywhere around me people were speaking in different languages, I could smell the distinctive Grahamstown Festival air, and there was an electricity and pride amongst all South Africans that was so tangible, it was something to behold.

My trip on the Gautrain was one of my highlights. I felt like a kid about to go on a rollercoaster; taking pictures, minding the gap and entering nervously. It’s everything that it was meant to be - convenient, safe, clean and very comfortable but mostly its just plain AWESOME! A great public transport system is coming into place, it looks hot and everyone who was and is still involved (the assistants at the ticket points are very helpful, as certain people in their excitement don’t yet know how to charge cards uhm) is doing a fantastic job!

Something a little less manifest however, was how I was slowly becoming more aware of the way I understood what ‘home’ to lacked and possessed. I began to see what I had taken for granted before… simple things like being able to drink water out of the tap (I phoned Maisha in a flat panic because I was so thirsty and there was no water in her fridge), a constant supply of electricity (although I would not give up late-night dark chocolate indulgence on our  under the stars on our breezy rooftop), a media that informs and educates, more than adequate health care facilities and access to medicine…These are some of my daily preoccupations here, which at home I accept as the norm. I feel like I had a little more time to think…

…And traveling most certainly opens up one’s heart… Friendships and relationships I have found are much less stratified according to age, occupation or status etc.  It is a gift to share ones experiences with such a dynamic group of people, who constantly challenge me and who are a constant source of delight.  One is surprised, disillusioned, delighted and educated about people, religions, cultures, and mostly yourself.  And I think that’s what’s changed since I last went home, a gift that I have received from my travels and my stay in Dar: self-reflection. And with that comes an awareness of ones’ environment.

It was really amazing to be home, to spend time with my mom and to see the country that I hold so dear, in a slightly different way... And its just as awesome to be back in the heat!!

Frangipani

Harare Happenings

Just incase - on the off chance - that any of the gorgeous people in Zimbabwe:
a) have an internet connection fast enough to read Mangotree Musings
b) can be bothered to read Mangotree Musings.. ;)

Dont miss this - fine entertainment delivered by Mr Alexander himself and a glass of wine - and you can feel oh so good because its all in the name of charity.  It would be selfish not to attend and purchase at least 2 copies...

http://www.kalahari.net/books/Fly-Fishing-for-Sharks/42658/33294147.aspx

Thursday, 24th June 2010

6:30 - 8:30pm

The Parvin Residence, 14 Aintree Road

I would be privileged if you joined me at the Harare Homecoming of Fly Fishing For Sharks, the Alan Paton prize-nominated memoir that I wrote about life with OCD. Much of the book's subject matter is connected with Harare and Zimbabwe, and it means a great deal to me that we are finally able to share it with old friends, family, colleagues and school teachers.

I always wanted to have a launch in Zimbabwe but was thwarted in that regard by my publishers. Literally in the last week - and hence the unavoidable late notice - a young lady named Charlotte Haggie hatched a plan that will hopefully see us all having a fun evening and raising a few shekels for a Guiness Book of Records worthy cause - Zimbabwean orphans of parents who have died of AIDS. Charlotte will be up in the country of her birth working in this area from June of this year.

There will be some comp wine and a snack and, if all goes to plan, a cash bar later. Charlotte will say howdee to the crowd and then I promise to entertain you with a speech about the book. If you are intrigued by my words and iconoclastic views, you can pick yourself up a copy, which I am happy to sign. Most of all, Charlotte and I would like it to be an event focussed on reconnecting with people, meeting new ones and helping out those who can't help themselves.
Hope to see you soon
Andrew 

Mooshi Malva Pud

Ayoba to you all!  What has grabbed (and I use the word because I find it difficult to describe it any other way) all of us here in South Africa, from townships to tea parties, is nothing short of a very infectious fever.  The maddening sound of the vuvuzela that you loathe to hate because it's drenched in patriotism, along with everything else - it's a new experience for me, for South Africa, and Africa.  I like it.  I could go as far to say I love it.
Along these lines, I was thinking of a terribly patriotic dish.  The vuvuzela of the kitchen.  Desert rose has covered the bobotie - and a fine cover that was of finger licking deliciousness - so it left me with the thought of sugar.  Something sweet to follow the spiced mincy meal... why it has to be melva...!
If you havent made the bobotie yet - do it, and then make this to follow.

  The always present in SA recipes - apricot jam - (somebody bless the stuff) in the soft, spongey mixture, which is then drowned in butter, cream and sugar.  Happy everyone?

180g sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp apricot jam
1 tsp bicarb
pinch of salt
15g butter
1 tsp vinegar
100ml milk

For the sauce:
250ml cream
100g butter
150g sugar
100ml water

1.  Beat the eggs and sugar well in a food processor until thick and creamy, add the jam.
2.  Sieve together the flour, bicarb and salt.  Melt the butter and add the vinegar,  Add this butter/vinegar mixture to the milk, and then fold into the egg mixture alternately with the flour.
3.  Pour into an oven proof dish, and cover tightly with foil.
4.  Bake in a hot oven (180C) for 40 minutes.
5.  Melt together ingredients for the sauce and pour over the pudding as it comes out of the oven.
6.  Serve - and yes I'm sorry but you have to - with generous splashes of cream.

~ hibiscus

New Beginnings

Image (jameswoodward.wordpress.com)

In the last week I have turned 30,hurriedly packed my bags for Dar, got home to bubbles and balloons, unpacked my bags in Dar, started work, packed my bags again for Arusha...and this is where I still find myself, in the shadow of Mount Meru.

To all my friends and family back home - thank you, thank you, thank you for taking care of me while I was in SA.  I never expected to find myself broke and semi-hopeless at the glorious age of 30...but there I was...the way you opened your doors to me, spoiled me with treats, fed me good food and wine, took me dancing and always the never ending support meant the world to me!

To all my friends in Dar who kept my house mould free, fed my flatmate (who possibly would have staved in my absence), supported me from afar and welcomed me back in such a wonderful way...wow...i can not wait for another year of African adventures with you all!

This year has been tough to say the least, but I feel older, wiser and more responsible all ready! I am truly blessed for each one of you in my life!  And once again...To new beginnings!

Andizi

vuvuzelas in dar!!

                                                                                 (www.rjrossphoto.com)

Wooohooo for Tanzania..... and vuvuzelas!!

What fun! Tanzania played Brazil last night and we decided it's time to dress the part, get the vuvuzelas and support our team!

We all piled into a local dala dala (specially arranged for us) and set off to the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam. We all had the trademark vuvuzelas that are available all over South Africa for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, with us and we took on the job of being proper football/soccer spectators!

Our fellow supporters were very impressed by the vuvuzelas and we had great fun entertaining them with the hooting and blowing throughout the game!
But I must say we did get sideward glances every now and again.......
it was like, come on guys, SHUT UP! You are making TTOOOOOOOO much NOISE!

We had a blast and even tried to see if a vuvuzela can do the job of being a beer glass.......

down down down down

Enjoy the World Cup everybody and support your teams!!

~ desert rose (with ringing eardrums!)~

Here & Now

So, I spent ages typing this blog and uploading photos - alas the photos didn't upload (or so she thought....) Until I hit the preview button and there they were, just a big ol link of mad letters and numbers on this the editing page.... but they shine on the preview...?!?!? SO.... here's to hoping you see them shine!



After an incredible lunch with the Andizi family (and waaaaay to much food - I will deny this as one of my faults - it was, simply, too damned delicious) I drove home from the cooler valley of Ceres through the windy pass with a bag of naartjies as my companion, I thought again how lucky I am to be here. Don't get me wrong - I'm not only harping on about the cape - I think the same of most of the places I have lived... but it's a great thing when your eyes pick up the small things to be grateful for... don't ya think?

Happy Birthday Andizi, and Happy Living all....
xxxx
"But you, children of space, you restless in rest, you shall not be trapped or tamed.
Your house shall be not an anchor but a mast.
It shall not be a glistening film that covers a wound, but an eyelid that guards the eye.
You shall not fold your wings that you may pass through doors, nor bend your heads that they strike not against a ceiling, nor fear to breathe lest walls should crack and fall down.
You shall not dwell in tombs made by the dead for the living.
And though of magnificence and splendour, your house shall not hold your secret nor shelter your longing.
For that which is boundless in you abides in the mansion of the sky, whose door is the morning mist, and whose windows are the songs and silent of night." (Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet)

~hibiscus

Autumn leaves under frozen souls

I am in awe of Autumn. The smell of decaying leaves, the crunch under foot and the glorious colours in all shapes and sizes around you. After 3 years in Tanzania where seasons blend into each other and confuses the passage of time I am truly enjoying autumn. Granted it is cold but the flaming oak trees and blindingly yellow shapes make it all worthwhile. Enjoy autumn it is truly a magical season.

maisha

wedding in the boland.....

Nothing more beautiful than a wedding in the Boland on a wine farm on a PERFECT autumn day...

My friend, the wine maker, is getting married to another friend, the apple farmer.....

And together they'll create....

While I was doing my hair (which doesn't really happen on a regular basis) this morning, I read an article in a magazine about what you would like to have/see/want/need in your future husband.  I must admit, I had a good chuckle to myself at some of the "requirements". Anyway, someone said the most beautiful thing and that'll stay with me forever:

" hy moet my soen dat my asem wegslaan"  

roughly translated into:  "he must kiss me with such passion that it takes my breath away" 

My dear friends, may this journey be awesome and may it be filled with love, fun and laughter!

~ desert rose ~