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The information and contributions contained in this newsletter are received from various readers local and international. Views and opinions reflected in our newsletter are not necessarily those of Biltongmakers.Com and its team members. Keerbergen The “Aegean Jet” was skimming the waters at a fast pace. The spray of the wake thrown up by the catamaran’s twin turbo diesel engines sometimes shooting as high as 10 feet into the air. The sky was deep blue and the breeze coming from the Aegean sea cooling on the skin. We got up at 5.30 to be at the harbour on time to catch the boat. The trip to Rhodes was relaxing. A lovely boat with airplane-like seating and a speed to almost match it! I stood outside at the bow for most of the 50 minute trip. We arrived in the little harbour of Rhodes at around 10.30 and were soon through customs. Outside taxi drivers were vying for our custom. They were all offering an hour long guided tour around the town. We haggled a bit (even June is getting quite good at it!) and were soon shown the most important sights around the small town. I did not know that this is the best preserved and fully operational medieval village in the world. Complete with walls and the original houses and buildings. The trip to Rhodes Island in Greece was one of the things we promised ourselves during our trip to Turkey. Just days before ….. We were coming from the theater and were walking down Curetes street. The afternoon sun was beating down on my capless bald patch and we were hot. Walking down towards the library on the square at the end of the road, we passed the Memmius Monument and Domitian Place and we were talking amongst ourselves how incredible well this whole town was kept. Just past the public lavatories on the right, were the terraced houses of the rich and famous and just ahead of us was Hadrian’s temple. We were in Ephesus the ancient town in western Turkey. Ephesus was first heard of over 4000 years ago but the town we walked through was from the Roman time – around 30-100 AD. I always wanted to see Ephesus because it has such an incredible history. Not only biblical but long before that as well. We arrived there on Sunday afternoon after a harrowing journey during which June found out that our driver of our small 16 seater bus was dozing off behind the wheel. Needless to say he was fired with full support of all. A new driver was installed and although he was wide awake and did not fall asleep behind the wheel he only knew one speed up and down the mountain passes. And his hooter of course! Even I was worried – which says a lot!! But let me start at the beginning …. We were on holiday in Turkey. We stayed in a little village called Icmeler, a lovely small place on a beautiful bay. We needed to get some sun in and on our bodies and this was the place to do it. It was quiet. The tourists had mostly left with only a few remaining. It was the middle of October and soon most holiday places would close down completely not to open again till next April. One of the things, apart from lazing by the pool or on the tiny beach was a trip to Ephesus and Hierapolis with its beautiful terraced baths. It turned out to be the highlight of our holiday. I cannot even start to explain how incredible well preserved Ephesus is. And till today only 30% has been unearthed! I also cannot even start to talk about the history of the town. Artimus was their goddess and both the apostles John and Paul spent time there. Just little away from the town is the house where Mary spent the last days of her life To put it in a nutshell, if that is at all possible, you cannot possibly do all of this in one day . There are so many buildings to see and read up on. From the library built by Celsus (see top left, that’s our little group in the front), the Grand Theater that could seat 25000 people, the terrace houses of the rich to the plague of Nike, the goddess of victory. Can you see where Nike took their emblem from? We left walking down harbour street with in the distance the prison [where Paul was held for three years] looking down on us from it’s mountain perch. From there we went to Hierapolis but I cannot go in to that as well unfortunately. I would need another 10 pages! If you are interested in this type of history please click on the link for Ephesus and Hierapolis. Enjoy it! For the rest it was a sun break.. We soaked up the sun, para-sailed, went on a trip to Rhodes Island in Greece and visited the small little markets in Icmeler and Marmaris. We needed the break! The last Saturday we watched South Africa win the Worldcup sitting in a small road side restaurant. We were the only South Africans amongst the dozens of England supporters! I felt good when we won. We cheered every move, English or Bokke. Do you think for one moment that even one of the UK supporters would cheer a good move by us? No Sirree! Well, winter has really hit us early. When June went to work early this morning (at 6.30) it was -4C! When I got myself out of bed eventually and looked out of the upstairs windows, all I could see was white frost. Brrrrrr! Sitting here looking out of the study window it looks nice and sunny but believe me, there is a bite in the air. The gardener came this morning to clear up some of the leaves. He is standing outside right now with the leave blower. Poor chap. I feel sorry for him. But, he needs the work. I think he is Albanian and does not speak a word of anything that I speak so communication is by means of showing him what to do and how to do it and through a complicated system of hand signals we have developed between the two of us! His name is Ashok and he is the husband of our “poetsvrouw” or cleaning lady (that’s what they call them here). I can’t believe that there are just 24 days to go before it is Christmas again. June and I have decided to stay home this year. But, last year was her turn when she took three weeks off to go to Singapore. Now it’s one of her colleagues! One last little story At the end of October it was little Caitlyn’s birthday. We went to Den Haag to be at her little party. She turned four. Towards the end of the afternoon she was quietly dressing her playmate. One of the presents she got was a little box of a kind of rhinestone stickers. The kind that you can stick on paper or your dolly or yourself for that matter. Very carefully she put another star on its back and then a couple of coloured buttons It crawled slowly across the table having to carry this extra load seemed a bit difficult. The little eyes on their stalks turning around to see what is was on its back. Eventually she was told to go and put it back in the garden which she dutifully did, complete with adornments. Soon afterward we heard a splat and a crunch. Tony had gone outside for a smoke …….. At least it went looking beautiful! Well, that leaves me to say cheers. If you don’t hear from me before the time please have a lovely time over Christmas with your friends and family and may the New Year bring some peace and quiet in this world for a change. We all need that! Lo Where there is hope,there is light.
Flanders’ Poppies Ever Ask the Question……… What have Red Poppies have to do with Veterans Day? For many years I have found myself asking what the significance of the red poppies were in relation to Veterans or Armistice Day. I just had to find out the story behind the symbol and what a lot of interesting information I found! Here it is, put together as well as I could from all kinds of bits and pieces I read ….. Throughout history is has been noted that after most major wars poppies popped up in the battlefields and on soldiers graves. It seems that poppy seeds can lay dormant in the soil but when the soil is heavily turned or dug up they start to grow! The most detailed of this event took place in World War One in Flanders, Belgium. In the craters where bombs fell and on the mounds of rubble, poppies bloomed everywhere. The heavily churned earth and the high concentration of lime from the limestone buildings made the perfect catalyst for the poppies to grow. Near Ypres (Ieper), where the fighting was at it’s fiercest, the soldiers were greeted by an amazing sight as they ventured out of the trenches in early Spring. This, and perhaps the death of his close friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helme, in the second week of fighting during the Second Battle of Ypres (Ieper), was the inspiration for Canadian artillery officer and military doctor, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, to pen his now famous poem on a scrap piece of paper on May 2nd, 1915: – McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields” remains to this day one of the most memorable war poems ever written. It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres (Ieper) salient in the spring of 1915. “The poem was very nearly not published. Dissatisfied with it, McCrae tossed the poem away, but a fellow officer retrieved it and sent it to newspapers in England. The Spectator, in London, rejected it, but Punch published it on December 8th, 1915, where it was seen as an invitation for recruits. In Flanders Fields In Flanders fields the poppies blow We are the Dead. Short days ago Take up our quarrel with the foe: John McRae’s commanding officer records that ‘this poem was born of fire and blood during the hottest phase of the second battle of Ypres’. This battle began on April 22 1915 and lasted 17 days. Total casualties have been estimated at 100,000 on either side. Half the Canadian brigade to which John McRae was attached were killed. Shortly afterwards a profoundly weary McRae was posted away from the front line to a hospital in Boulogne. Friends were worried by the change in him. He worked at the hospital until January 1918, and was about to take up a post with the British army when he fell ill with double pneumonia and meningitis, and died on January 28. He is buried in the cemetery at Wimereux, France. After its publication in Punch the poem soon became the unofficial anthem of the soldiers in the trenches where it was memorised and passed on by word of mouth. One of the many readers moved by it was Moina Michael, the American War Secretary of the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association). In November 1918, Moina Michael penned a response to McCrae’s poem entitled “We shall keep the faith” where she promised to wear a red poppy each year in remembrance. We Shall Keep the Faith Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields, We cherish, too, the poppy red And now the Torch and Poppy Red The Tradition grows In 1918, on the 11th day of the 11th month at 11 o’clock in the morning the Germans signed the armistice and World War One was officially over. That day is now remembered as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day. The idea of wearing silk Poppies caught on and soon became a tradition amongst those wishing to remember the soldiers who had not returned. Wearing a poppy in November is a way of remembering those who gave their lives for their country. The first Poppy Day was held on November 11 1921 and John McRae’s poem has been associated with the Poppy Appeal ever since. On Armistice Day in Ieper (Ypres) in Flanders, the idea for The Poppy Umbrella was inspired by the powerful image of poppies growing amongst the soldiers’ graves in John McCrae’s poem. Note by the editor: Some years ago when I went to Ieper (Ypres) for the first time I came back and said to June that the whole trip had been kind of eerie. The old bunkers, the abandoned airfields and the tank defenses still there make you feel that it could still be war. [Footnote: Did you know that more than 3000 years ago Poppies were taken to the graves of the dead as a sign of respect!]
A happy and a sad story ….. It is said that a picture paints a thousand words. This is particularly true with the picture Neil Rossister from England sent us. He reckons that even the lady at the Post Office has staked a claim! Good luck and happy Biltong Making Neil. It’s so nice to see a smiling face! Please email us if you need any help. And then …. there is the sad story about Bill, an ex-Rhodie from Canada. He runs a little chat web site. Bill ordered his biltong maker at the end of September to be delivered by surface mail from South Africa. He paid with PayPal. Needless to say that Bill did not send us his picture.:-(( Exciting News about Rockey’s Home Biltong Maker! All of our products are constantly being upgraded in order to maintain the high standard of workmanship we have become known for over the last 12 years. However, it is not often that we can announce a major development! At last, after months of testing and preparing we can announce that Rockey’s new Age Home Biltong Maker will be supplied with a fan option. A fan will assist with the drying of the meat especially in areas where high humidity is experienced at times. Although not necessary, the fan will certainly reduce the drying time giving those people who make Biltong on a small commercial basis a chance to increase their output! Talking about small industrial manufacturers I must think about one of our customers in England who makes Biltong at home and then sells it on EBay! Apart from making money out of it he also keeps himself supplied with Biltong free of charge! The fan option will be available as an accessory in our on-line shop and will cost only R 155.00 fitted or It will be available from the middle of January. As an additional improvement all Rockey’s Biltong Makers will be fitted with an on/off switch and both Home Biltong Makers will be fitted with a standard EU cable with a moulded two-pin plug. And so, once again, we have improved on previous models and have made it easier and quicker than ever before for you to make your Biltong. Not convinced yet? Just read about what people are saying (we only started keeping records in 2001) on our customers comments page. So, to all of you who have not tried it yet, now is the time! ESPECIALLY WITH SOME VERY NICE SPECIAL PRICING WE HAVE UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR! (SEE BELOW!) You too could be making your own Biltong in a very short space of time. Details on ROCKEY’S 5kg Home Biltong Maker can be found by clicking on this link. You can have a look at the BILTONG BUDDY here.
Special Christmas Pricing for Special Customers!
Free with all Biltong Maker orders placed
Click here to go to our on-line shop. [These special offers are for a limited period only and can be changed without prior notice!]
Some months ago whilst watching a cookery program on DSTV, I came across a visually pleasing potato tip which I tried immediately and I found it immensely satisfying to prepare potatoes in this way and I would now like to share it with everyone who reads this. This works best with small roundish potatoes. Start by peeling them and try to improve the roundness when peeling. Cut the potato in half. Take an apple-corer [usually a stainless steel circle shaped utensil with serrated teeth at the end] and shove/turn it into the middle of the flat surface that you have just cut, about half-way. Leave it there and take a knife and cut a 10mm “skirt” horizontal to the flat surface into and towards the corer which is still in the potato, whilst turning. The “skirt” is now loose and can be broken off or slid down the corer shaft, to be used elsewhere. This may sound like hard work, but I found that after a few minutes I could churn them out at a rapid rate and they look so good! They look and taste so good and everyone is very perplexed as to the taste and as to what they really are. Everyone loves them as we all “eat with our eyes”, don’t we? Enjoy! Our spices are Kosher and Halaal! It will certainly interest our Jewish readers that our biltong spices are certified as being kosher by the Beth Din of Johannesburg. Anyone interested can mail us for a copy of the certification. (new 2007 certification is now available) South African Meat Cutting Charts
These are displayed with the compliments of SAMIC.
Welcome to Apartment Oberholzer in Vienna, Austria The Vienna city center is within 10 minutes walking distance. Public transport is right at the Guest house. Our well-kept, 54 m² newly renovated non-smoking holiday flat is suitable for 1-4 people. It is central, quiet, charming and very reasonably priced. For further information please see our website www.netland.at/wien/oberholzer
As in every newsletter, here is our regular section with some of the many questions we receive from our readers all over the world. QUESTION Hi there, Saw your website and am looking for a Kudu Potjie recipe. Please could you send me one or does anybody have one? Thanks, QUESTION Hello all, I am interested in an old fashioned biltong drying cupboard. Thanks a lot QUESTION Hi Team Can you perhaps tell me how do I make biltong wheels and biltong chips. I bought my own equipment to make wors and I want to sell droëwors and biltong on a small scale. Do I give some potential buyers a taste first or where do I begin .I also got myself a scale ,packages and a sealer. Your soonest reply will be appreciated. Cheers QUESTION I am still looking for a cheese wors recipe. Can anybody help please???? Kevin Hayes
Pampoens weren’t impressed with the celery … I used to be a keen gardener, especially when it came to growing vegetables. Not long ago I was asked to address a garden club in the next street to where my fame as a gardener had spread. The subject: “Gardening as a therapy”. When I sat down to think about the subject, I realised most of my gardening was pure therapy anyway, because most of what I grew was thrown away. My family was unable to keep up with production. You cannot plant one cabbage just as you cannot plant one potato or a single bunch of carrots. So, in midsummer you end up with a dozen full-grown cabbages, kilograms of beans, clouds of cauliflower, brinjals by the bag and tomatoes enough to stock Woolworths. My wife would say: “We cannot possibly eat a cabbage a day.”
I think there’s a by-law. There are exceptions. For instance, in the event of a fire next door one is allowed to call out “Fire!” three times; and again, in the event of an earthquake registering 9 on the Richter Scale, or, say, in the event of a catastrophic flood such as we had in 1994 when I last had cause to address a neighbour. There was a howling gale, I recall. The rain was lashing down and my neighbour was frantically smashing a hole though the back wall of his garage. Flood water was damming up against the back of his house and the pressure had to be relieved. “Having a spot of bother, are we?” I called over the fence. “Yes,” he shouted over the roar of the water. I clucked – loudly, in the hope he could hear that I was concerned. But neither of us went on and on about it. Eventually the wall burst and he was washed away, probably ending up in the mainstream Jukskei. I kept meaning to ask our maid to ask their maid if they found him. Anyway, these particular neighbours were wary of me because they once saw me talking to my vegetables. Talking to vegetables provides excellent mental therapy. I have often wondered what would have happened had my neighbours learned that when they were out I peeped over the wall and talked to their vegetables, too. (I just said “Howzit?” and things like that.) My modest success in growing vegetables was not due to any innate farming genius within the Clarke family. In fact the Clarkes, right back to the time of Ethelred the Unsteady, have been intensely urban people who mostly ended their days by being run over by buses or falling down manholes. My success with beans and things was, I am convinced, because I talked to them as equals. Many people do not believe me but, sometimes, vegetables talk back. I have recorded elsewhere (see Annals of the Cruciferous Soc., Nat Arch. Vol III 8673:1 op cit. sit op.) how cabbages enjoy talking politics. Pumpkins, too. The latter sometimes get into parliament. Onions can be so emotional they bring tears to one’s eyes; turnips can be hilarious. When I suggested to a particularly healthy lettuce that she went into politics with the pumpkins she said the celery… wasn’t good enough. Oh how we laughed.
In the last newsletter (August) we had several bread recipes. This month something different from long, long ago. Here we go …. Ron Warren’s biltong recipe This is a Biltong recipe sent in by Ron Warren from South Africa in November 2003. Ingredients for the spice mix
How to use the spice mix and make the Biltong
I have lines in my pantry above my fridge and deep freezes with a fan mounted to one side and this works like a dream especially in muggy damp weather. For my dry wors I use a dry wors premix but add 1/3 chili-bite biltong mix to it and even my kids love it. All the best George Wolvaardt se Potjiekos This recipe was sent to us by George Wolvaardt in July 2003 Hierdie potjie is altyd lekkerrrr!! Dit kan binneshuis op die stoof gemaak word as die weer baie sleg is, gebruik platboom potjie vir die stoof. Wat om the gebruik
Metode:
Moenie vergeet om ‘n lekker wyntjie saam voor te sit nie. George Wolvaardt Click below for our handy cooking converter
Is South Africa on the brink of a total blackout? Escom’s system of rotating existing power supplies – known as load shedding – will be with the country for between five to seven years while systems are upgraded to cope with increased demand, the company said on Thursday. “We expect the reserve margin to continue on a downward trend for the next five to seven years until (a) new base-load power plant is built,” the company’s media desk said. Over the last decade, South Africa had experienced a steady growth in the demand for electricity linked to increased economic growth. This had exhausted Escom’s surplus electricity generation capacity and reduced the reserve margin progressively. In response, it accelerated the implementation of its capacity expansion program and would invest R150-billion in the upgrading of the country’s power supply infra-structure. The biggest percentage of that expenditure would go towards improving generation capacity and would include the construction of new power stations. Meanwhile, to cope with the reduced reserve capacity, the company had introduced load shedding, rotating power supplies nationally, to avoid a total blackout. On Thursday morning supplies were powering ahead, but customers were urged to continue conserving energy by switching off non-essential equipment and geysers to reduce demand. Businesses were asked to switch off non-essential lighting and office equipment during peak usage periods between 7am and 10am and 6pm and 9pm. Escom thanked customers already carrying out these measures. Prepare for seven years of blackouts! Blackouts are here to stay – for up to seven years, says Escom. An Escom spokesperson said demand and supply for electricity was “tight”, and that load-shedding was “not short-term”. His comments came as South Africans endured another cycle of load shedding across the country, the result of unplanned outages and equipment repairs at a number of Escom’s power station units. Load shedding was stopped temporarily on Wednesday afternoon, but was likely to resume towards evening, said Escom. Escom spokesperson Tony Stott said load shedding would begin again “as we move into peak hours… probably at around 5pm or 6pm”. Stott said power stations hit by unplanned outages “usually” took between half a day and three days to repair. The need for repairs arose from “normal wear and tear” at mechanical power stations. “We have been running them hard for the past few days to meet demand for electricity because there is not enough spare capacity.” On Wednesday morning about 10 percent of plants were undergoing planned maintenance and about seven percent unplanned maintenance, Stott said. This was an improvement on Tuesday night, when about 11 percent of units were undergoing unplanned maintenance. “We were able to bring back some units last night. Load shedding could be expected (today), but may be prevented towards the weekend as demand for electricity decreases.” Stott said South Africans should be aware that load shedding was a reality to deal with for the next few years. Crime News Update And you thought that crime only happens in the big cities and not in the small coastal towns? 79-year-old ‘hero’ recovering La Lucia, November 15 2007 Roger Wright will forever be his family’s biggest hero. And as he celebrated his 79th birthday on Wednesday, he was surrounded by his loving wife, Myra, his children, Julia Paterson, Simon Wright and Diane Whittaker, as well as most of his 10 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. They described him as a great man with a strong will and fighting power. Wright and his wife Myra were attacked in La Lucia on Monday night, when an intruder armed with a knife broke into their home on Wilden Place and attempted to rob the couple. Wright’s sheer determination and love for his family helped him fight off the armed attacker, who fled the scene. However, Wright was seriously wounded in the chest and at the back of his neck as the intruder stabbed him several times. He is now in ICU at St Augustine’s Hospital, where he is recovering. Myra is traumatized and will receive counseling. On Wednesday, with a traumatized Myra by her side, Whittaker said her dad was everyone’s biggest hero. “He’s the greatest father ever. Our parents are the best, they’re wonderful, loving and the most supportive parents,” she said. She said on the night they were attacked, her parents, who celebrated 55 years of marriage this year, were having a romantic candle-lit dinner when the intruder walked into their home. “My mum said the evening started off so beautifully. She and my dad were enjoying their meal when my mom noticed the intruder, but because she couldn’t do anything, my father got up and looked for him. “The intruder then attacked my father from behind and a huge scuffle ensued. The intruder stabbed my father many times and he was bleeding profusely.” Whittaker said her mother then began screaming and the intruder went into the kitchen, picked her mother up and threw her across the room. “The intruder flung my mother so hard that she hit her head on the fridge. He then tried to throttle her, but my father, although he was seriously injured, came back into the kitchen and pulled the man off my mother. I don’t know what happened, but the man then ran away.” She said she was also thankful to her parents’ neighbour, Anton Lailvaux. “He saved my dad’s life. He helped by trying to stop the bleeding and by calling the necessary emergency officials.” She said although the entire family was traumatized, they were grateful that her parents’ lives were spared. “They loved their home, I mean they lived in it for 35 years and I would have really hated it if their lives ended in a place that’s so special to them. Whittaker described her family as just another victim of crime in South Africa. Friday, November 2, 2007 “They are hurting her, they are hurting her……” These were the anguished words a Pretoria man heard as his domestic worker described to him over her cell phone how his wife was being attack by armed thugs who had broken into their home in Lynnwood Manor. Gideon Odendaal, who was in Cape Town on business, listened as Fransiena Majadibodu described the attack in a whisper while hiding under a bed. The men – three of whom were arrested within hours of allegedly torturing, sexually assaulting and killing Cathy Odendaal on Tuesday – are believed to have overpowered Odendaal while she was walking through the garden of her home in Farnham Road. It is believed the men may be linked to a spate of house attacks in the area, including the shooting of the three-year-old child of Musa Ebrahim’s domestic worker during an attack on his home, also in Farnham Road, on Sunday. It is believed that Odendaal, who ran a raw material trading business, surprised the men when she returned after going shopping. They overpowered her as she tried to run into the house. It is believed she was killed when, after being tortured and left for dead, she managed to press a panic button. The security company then called Gideon to inquire if the family was all right. He frantically called their home and her cell phone. He then called Majadibodu. Whispering, she told him how she was hiding under the bed and there were men in the house attacking his wife. “She kept saying that Cathy was calling for help. “She kept saying: ‘She is crying, she is crying.’ She said Cathy was calling her and that her killers were hurting her. “She kept saying: ‘They are hurting her, they are hurting her, they are hurting her,'” he said. He called the police, his security company and the neighbourhood watch. “I did not know what to do. I did not how I could help my wife. I did not know what was happening to her. “All I wanted to do was protect her,” he said. He said it was clear from the state the property was in that his wife had put up a fight. Her body was found in a washroom. “It is terrible. I do not want to know what she went through. I cannot bear to go inside.” “My wife is dead. What am I going to do? What am I going to do now?” he asked, adding that their children no longer wanted to live in the house. “We cannot bear to be in the house. It is just too awful,” he said. He said it was not known how the killers got into the house. “There is no sign of forced entry. It is a complete mystery”. Police spokesperson Inspector Paul Ramaloko said that three people who had been arrested in connection with Odendaal’s murder, would appear in court soon. He said a gun as well as jewelry believed to belong to Odendaal had been recovered. So, consider the following: The USA has been at war in Iraq for some 4 years, approx 3500 soldiers killed in action. The scale of this conflict has resulted in effectively a regime change with both the US Senate and House changing from Republican to Democrat. The scale of the conflict in South Africa is that every year, some 30 000 people are killed, someone raped every 2 minutes (our government seeks to withhold accurate crime statistics from us, probably due to the scale of the slaughter) and one of our ministers calls those who question and criticize him “WHINGERS” who should leave the country! Our President must agree with him, since there has been no public retraction, let alone rebuke.
Bits and Bobs from people around the world Has anyone seen or heard from David Lewis from Whakatane in New Zealand?? Hi, My name is Stephen Coote and I live in Nelson, New Zealand. This afternoon I made some sausages based on your Whakatane Wors recipe. I used the meat from an Australian Brushtailed Opossum, and the casings were the intestines of the same animal. I have a question. Can droe wors be eaten without cooking (like biltong)? Many thanks in advance Hi Lo Trust everything is OK on your side. I say this, because I notice you are depriving me of my monthly “fix” of your excellent newsletter. You have no idea how much everyone I know looks forward to your newsletters. I hope that it is merely pressure of business keeping you too busy for the newsletters and not something more serious. Anyway, hope to hear from you soon! Annie Sieber That’s nice Annie and all the others at Crown National! Your mail will keep me going again for a while. You talk about your monthly “fix”. Well, your mail was a good “fix” for me! PS. I wonder if Liekie and Fernando read it (get it)? Hello, Thank you once again for a great newsletter. Here are a few things that you may like to use as contributions…. The first is an answer to Moira Cochrane who asked for a good Milktart recipe – here is mine and it is REALLY good. I don’t bake too well but this seems to work every time and I have even been brave enough to make it as a Christmas gift for various locals. Traditional Melktert Pastry Ingredients
What to do
Filling Ingredients
How to do it
My second contribution is a joke I read in the 5th of July edition of You magazine – my husband brings them back to me when he travels home for work so that I can catch up on the general skinner. Men Megastore: There are six floors and the men get better as the shopper ascends the building. Women may choose a man from any floor but may not go down again except to exit the building. A woman goes to the store and on the first floor finds a sign that reads, “These men have jobs and love the Lord.” The sign on the second floor reads, “These men have jobs, love the Lord and love kids.” The sign on the third floor reads, “These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids and are extremely good-looking.” “Wow,” she thinks but feels compelled to keep going. “I can’t stand it!” she exclaims and rushes up to the fifth floor where the sign reads, “These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-dead gorgeous, help with the housework and have a strong romantic streak.” The woman is tempted to stay but eventually goes up to the sixth floor where the sign reads, “There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building and have a nice day!” Finally a response or question for Chris who wrote in your August newsletter; “Has the penny finally dropped”? I so wish that I were back in South Africa to somehow be part of the solution, any ideas of how I might be able to play any small part while stuck here? Looking forward to next month’s edition. [Thank your for putting in the effort and giving us a lovely contribution. Wish there were more of you! – Ed] The following is a contribution from Carol James from Worthing in the UK. HANDBAGS… Have you ever noticed gals who sit their handbags on public toilet floors – then go directly to their dining tables and set it on the table? Happens a lot! It’s not always the ‘restaurant food’ that causes stomach distress. Sometimes “what you don’t know ‘will’ hurt you”! While we may know what’s inside our handbags, do you have any idea what’s on the outside? Shauna Lake put handbags to the test – for bacteria – with surprising results. You may think twice about where you put your handbag. Women carry handbags everywhere; from the office to public toilets to the floor of the car. Most women won’t be caught without their handbags, but did you ever stop to think about where your handbag goes during the day? “I drive a school bus, so my handbag has been on the floor of the bus a lot,” says one woman. “On the floor of my car, and in toilets.” “I put my handbag in grocery shopping carts, on the floor of the toilet while changing a nappy,” says another woman “and of course in my home which should be clean.” We decided to find out if handbags harbor a lot of bacteria. We learned how to test them at Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake. Most women told us they didn’t stop to think about what was on the bottom of their handbag. Most said at home they usually set their handbags on top of kitchen tables and counters where food is prepared. It turns out handbags are so surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who tested them was shocked. Microbiologist Amy Karen of Nelson Labs says nearly all of the handbags tested were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful kinds of bacteria. Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus aurous can cause serious skin infections, and salmonella and e-coli found on the handbags could make people very sick. In one sampling, four of five handbags tested positive for salmonella, and that’s not the worst of it. “There is fecal contamination on the handbags,” says Amy. Leather or vinyl handbags tended to be cleaner than cloth handbags, and lifestyle seemed to play a role. So the moral of this story – your handbag won’t kill you, but it does have the potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places where you eat. Use hooks to hang your handbag at home and in toilets, and don’t put it on your desk, a restaurant table, or on your kitchen countertop. Experts say you should think of your handbag the same way you would a pair of shoes. “If you think about putting a pair of shoes onto your countertops, that’s the same thing you’re doing when you put your handbag on the counter-tops” – your handbag has gone where individuals before you have sneezed, coughed, spat, urinated, emptied bowels, etc! Do you really want to bring that home with you? [Thank you Carol – never thought of that really -Ed]
You will have seen this before, it’s been around for ages in one form or another, but it always makes for a good read, especially if you are a cat lover!
HOW TO GIVE A DOG A PILL: Nursery Rhymes? Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall It’s Raining, It’s Pouring. Mary had a little lamb Simple Simon met a pie man going to the fair. Mary had a little lamb Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie Jack and Jill Mary had a little lamb
Why the Springboks deserve to be champions Two weeks on from the World Cup and still I keep hearing idiots say that the Springboks are somehow not worthy champions because they did not play New Zealand or Australia along the way. This makes no sense. New Zealand never got to play South Africa at the World Cup because they weren’t good enough to beat France in a quarter-final played on neutral territory. That same French team then returned to French soil and were beaten by England. England, already hammered 36-0 by South Africa in a pool game, were then comprehensively outplayed again by the Springboks, who always seemed to have something in hand, in the final. The French who beat the All Blacks were also outplayed twice by Argentina, who in turn were beaten by 23 points by the Boks in the semi-final, again in a match where John Smit’s team never really appeared to raise a sweat. In the case of Australia, they lost to England in the quarter-final in Marseilles, and the ease with which the England forwards destroyed the Wallaby pack suggests the Boks probably would have done the same. The Boks have a lot more skill at the back than England do, and would have put the Wallabies away given the same forward dominance. If Australia were not good enough to beat England and New Zealand were not good enough to beat a weak French team, then they didn’t deserve to win the World Cup, and to their credit, most Kiwis and Aussies of my acquaintance agree with this assessment. Most of them reckon the Boks were the best team at the World Cup because they were best equipped to alternate between the various types of game strategy required to win the tournament. And ultimately, Bob Skinstad is right – the only way to become world champions is to win the World Cup. The All Blacks haven’t done that since 1987 so they are not world champions. In athletics it is all about who wins the Olympic gold medal every four years, and it has become the same in rugby, just as it is in soccer and cricket. I did feel a bit cheated by not seeing the Boks and All Blacks clash at the World Cup. It was the clash everyone was waiting for. I would like to have seen them play because I am convinced that, given the type of rugby that prevails in the knock-out stages of the World Cup, as well as the brainless rugby the All Blacks play when the pressure is on, South Africa would have won. In the only full-strength meeting between the two teams this year the dice was loaded against the Boks, who were feeling the effects of fatigue after several months of non-stop rugby because of South Africa’s success in the Super 14. For those who forget, the Boks were also that day without Bryan Habana, Fourie du Preez, a first choice No 8, Juan Smith and skipper John Smit. Most of those players were hugely influential at the World Cup. It was also before Graham Henry had his brain explosion by dropping backline playmaker Aaron Mauger, so the All Blacks were arguably also a much better team in that Durban Test than they were at the World Cup. And yet the Boks led the All Blacks most of the way, and it was only the Kiwi depth on the bench that got them home as they came from behind. I doubt they would be capable of coming from behind in a high pressured World Cup final for the simple reason that over and over again they have proved they just don’t have the temperament to handle the massive expectation of their nation. That is why they are perennial also-rans in the tournament that matters and why they are not world champions. Those who disagree should just go and look at the names inscribed on the Webb Ellis trophy, and then go buy a couple of sacks of lemons that they can suck on for the next four years. Snippets from the papers ‘New coach must choose his assistants’ England felt like a pub team – Dallaglio Smit overjoyed to be at Clermont Proteas ready to devour NZ top order Third World realities weigh on 2010 World Cup -How to watch Rugby from your armchair-
Let’s make the next issue a Bumper one! Our regular readers (like Annie and her comrades at Crown National) may have noticed that I have gone from a monthly issue to a bi-monthly one and even worse! The reason is simple. It is impossible to do a newsletter of this size on my own. I am an editor and rely on you the readers for input! You are probably sitting at the computer right now so how about it. Let our readers enjoy your story! You might have a nice recipe to part with or perhaps a question to ask? You never know how you could help somebody else with your own hints and tips. Share it with other people around the world! Click right here to start now or you can mail us at webmaster@biltongmakers.com
Next Tuesday (November 20th) it will be up at 5 am again and freezing my fingers off mixing and spicing meat for our wors. I never want to be a butcher. Perhaps I should teach someone to do this for me! Thank goodness I don’t have to do the whole job myself! Ever seen a Springbok enjoying one of our boerie rolls (in Montpellier, France – the Fuji game)? All you do is to go to www.boerewors.be and fill out the order form. You can either collect or we can mail it to you. All our customers in Holland, Belgium and in fact, all over Europe are raving about the packing of and the condition in which the wors arrived at their doorsteps. Just imagine some “lekker” pap and wors with a nice tomato and onion sauce! Our Boerewors is vacuum packed in quantities of about 500 gram. You can also place your order by simply clicking here. Now also available at STONEMANOR DIE WERF
Droëwors, as it is known in South Africa, is as much part of the country’s culinary culture as Biltong, Pap, Boerewors and Potjiekos. Fresh droëwors is available right now and we normally have ample stock. The price is € 40.00 € 30.00 per kilogram vacuum pack or € 4.50 € 4.00 per 100 gram packet. Droëwors (like biltong) travels well and posting is an ideal option. We are not responsible for packets confiscated by customs in your country. Now also available at STONEMANOR DE WIJN KRAAL DIE WERF
Biltong is without doubt the snack most associated with South Africa! Biltongmakers.Com has for more than 12 years supplied their Home Biltong Makers to the South African expat so they could make their own biltong away from home. We were often asked why we don’t make Biltong ourselves and then make it available to the poor and deprived ex-South Africans! So, from now on you will be able to get your biltong directly from us. The price is Euro 40.00 per 1kg vacuum pack or Euro 5.00 per 100 gram packet. Biltong travels well and posting is an ideal option. To place your order please go to www.biltongmakers.be and click on one of the order form links. You can also call us on +32 (16) 53.96.25 We will get right back to you with how much the postage will be. (For outside the EU we must mention that we are not responsible for packets confiscated by customs in your country. Now also available at STONEMANOR DE WIJN KRAAL DIE WERF
Keep this in mind for next summer but book early! Lamb on the Spit is a way of entertaining as only known by very few mainly because it is thought to be very expensive ……. Not so! We will do a lamb on the Spit for parties of between 30 and 50 people for just € 18.00 and € 15.00 a head respectively. Together with the lamb we will treat you to a big pot of curried potatoes, a tomato/salsa salad as well as a choice between a pasta salad or three-bean salad. Garlic or bread rolls are included as well. Start planning now for those special occasions! Just keep in mind that quite a number of dates up to September are already booked! Booking early is essential and you can do so on
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