Mother's Day ~

It's a special day for us here at Solomon......
our son will be home for Mother's Day weekend.....
I'm trying to contain my happiness since we haven't seen him since Christmas Day...
A weekend propped full of festivity...
a time of pure indulgence........

I do hope you all have a super Mother's Day and are spoilt by your loved ones......

A few of his favourite treats are being baked as I am writing this post.....
his most favourite you can find here
It's also such a good time to reflect on my late mom....
I loved surprising her on Mother's Day.....

Since there will be quite a few people in and out, I set up an informal buffet style tablescape to cope with everyone....
and of course the dishwaher will be working overtime ...

 

I know so many beautiful mothers personally, each unique with their own special touch....

To all of you, Happy Mother's Day!

we will be celebrating with my mom-in-law and spoiling her....

and I will be looking out for that special twinkling star  whom I miss so much!

 

Shel!

 

Pasta with Bolognaise sauce~♥

Pasta screws or any pasta of your choice
500g ground beef
1 x 350g tin of plum tomatoes
1 onion
2 carrots
2 sticks of celery
2 cloves garlic
a generous helping of parsley and thyme (fresh)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp sugar
parmessan shavings

Sweat the chopped onion, garlic, celery and carrots that have all been chopped into small pieces. in a little vegetable oil until the onions are translucent
add beef and brown together with the herbs , salt, pepper and sugar
add the large tin of plum tomatoes and their juice .
let this simmer for an hour until all the flavours have come together and correct the salt and pepper.

Serve on the pasta with parmessan shavings and a nice big green salad.

Such a simple meal but so suitable even for the "littilies" to ask dad to help them make for a Mother's Day lunch to spoil their moms  ♥

Happy Mother's Day to you all!

Namibia~ Embracing life!

A little of my travels for this post makes a fresh change from my last few posts....
some great friends and us decided on the spur of the moment to explore the south of Namibia.....

An extrodinary country it is with vast areas of uninhabitable land.....
the scenery is breathtaking ......
not for the shopper though....
miles and miles of forgotten land,
by far the best gravel roads I have yet travelled on........
and a desert of absolute awe!

Alas, time only permitted us to travel for just over a week......
covering a jaw dropping 5700km!!
Here are some of the highlights along the way.......

                              The Augrabie Falls which lies on the border but still in South Africa....

Then onto the adventure in southern Namibia........

On Dune 45.....

 sheer magic.....

On top of the world......I'm certainly not fit when I think about it....the others climbed it with ease...

A lone oryx.....

And in the Dead vlei......

Then these amazing "fairy circles" ...... just outside the desert on our way to our lodge....
where nothing grows and then they grow smaller over many years and eventually "die"!
Unexplainable??? They gave me goosebumps....

These were taken in the Namib Desert....an eery difference to anything else I have seen.....
it was raining too!

Another highlight was the Fish River Canyon....the second largest canyon in the world.....

This was my most favourite photo I took of my friend....it says it all!
 Embrace life everyday to the fullest!

A strange one street town...Helmeringhausen...where they served the' most delicious apple crumble!

We were treated to many wonderful foodie experiences....

Slept under these romantic mosquito nets that do serve a purpose!

 Celebrate life everyday!!

 

Should this beautiful land tickle your fancy and you would like to experience such a trip, please feel free to drop me a line at my email address or you could go to this website...they were very helpful.

 

Just a few pointers:

 

1. The south of Namibia is malaria free...

2. There are few, if no shops in the rural towns and poorly stocked.....

3. Lots of dust roads....

4. Take clothing that is light with warm, long sleeve tops for the evenings, lots of block out and hats.....

5. Make sure you have a good camera with spare batteries, memory cards etc as there are few towns where you could stock up!......and these will be your only souvernis....

5. The cellphone and internet coverage is very good in the lodges and nearer towns....

6. Prepare to spend many hours in the vehicle travelling from town to town.....distances are vast!

7. Stock up on waters and snacks and happy faces to make it a great trip !

 

Thanks to my wonderful friends and Eddie for this experience!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, as the  sun set on a wonderful holiday, I am reminded that all is good in AFRICA!

 

  

 

 

Shel

Portuguese Custard Tarts~

Enjoyed these!...
the best when eaten straight from the oven~  yummy!!!

the recipe~
for the pastry~
1 roll of prepacked puff pastry
1 egg yolk
dusted with castor sugar and cinnamon mix
roll up , then cut into approx 2.5cm pieces.
Press down into muffin pans
brush with egg yolk
Bake in hot oven blind at 200deg C til nice and golden and puffed.
Remove from oven.

filling for cases~ (custard)
6 large organic eggs
runny honey 4 dessertspoonfuls
dash of good vanilla
zest of lemon
4 tsp lemon juice
565ml cream
Whip up eggs, honey, vanilla and zest in a bowl.
Heat cream til nearly boiling point. Add it immediately to the rest of the ingredients while whipping and whisking for about 30secs.
Add mixture back into pan over heat stirring continuously . It turns thick very quickly so do it vigourously to avoid lumps!. When as thick as yogurt, spoon into pastry cases and I baked them for 10 mins with a dash more of cinnamon sugar mixture!
However, I ate them at a tea and their's were more runny because of not baking them with the custard inside~  a matter of pleasing one's own pallet~

We enjoyed ours with a good cup of coffee whilst watching the sun rise from our balcony over "Chloe's Field"!
A mild winter's morning with the temperature reaching 31deg C that day!!

Bon Appetit!