Pecan Tea Cookies

1 cup butter
2 cup powdered sugar, unsifted
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 egg yolk
1 tbs water
Pecan halves

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, salt and nutmeg. Add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Shape into small balls. Place on greased cookie sheet. Mix egg yolk and water. Brush each cookie with egg mixture. Lightly press pecan half on top of cookie. Bake in 350-degree oven 12 to 15 minutes. Makes 60 cookies.

Courtesy of Powdered Sugar Cookies from the C and H Sugar Kitchen by Jean Porter

Homemade Stove Top Granola

1 cup rolled oats (or kamut or rye flakes) - optional 
1/3 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds or pecans a good choice) 
1/3 cup wheat germ (or ground flaxseed or pumpkin seeds or all) 
1/3 cup sesame seeds 
1/3 cup sunflower seeds 
1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut 
1/4 tsp salt (optional) 
2-3 handfuls of dried fruit (raisins, dates, figs,apples, apricots,etc
anything chewy)
Water 

In a food processor, add the dried fruit and about 3 tablespoons of water. Puree and add water as needed till it becomes fully blended and a sticky ball. Set aside. Add the oats and nuts to a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes, paying attention to turn ingredients over. They will start to become slightly golden and toasted.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the skillet and continue stirring and turning for about 10 more minutes till it’s all golden and smells toasted.

Add the sticky ball of fruit and, using a plastic spatula, chop the ball up until it is evenly divided and coated with the nuts and seeds. Altering the amount of fruit will increase or decrease the sweetness and gives the granola that chewy texture.

Serve warm or cold on its own, over fresh or warmed fruit or with plain yogurt or milk. Would also be great as a topping to a baked fruit dessert! Store in the refrigerator. I don’t know how long it keeps because I eat it so fast.

Muesli

Use the same recipe as above (no salt) and add everything to a bowl except the ground flaxseed or wheat germ and the coconut. You could also try the other grains or even millet or buckwheat. No need to puree the fruit. Fill with water till the ingredients are just covered and store in the fridge overnight. (It would probably be ok on the counter as well?)

Do not drain, as the water is very sweet and tasty! The sugar from the fruit has sweetened the water and the flavour travels throughout all the ingredients.

Then add flaxseed and coconut and stir together. Serve warm or cold in the same way. Add fresh fruit or berries, serve with yogurt or add milk. All these combinations have been delicious!

How Time Flies

It seems so long ago that I said I was leaving South Africa on the 24th of April, but now it is ONLY 3 days away. I cannot believe how time flies and passes us by. It really puts ones life in order.

I am looking forward to seeing my family again after almost 11 years, but it is really a bittersweet time, as I have to leave my husband behind. We are so joined and connected that it is going to be extremely hard for me to cope. It is only for a little while, but noththeless very stressful.

This will be the first time we have been apart in several years, as we both are at home always and do things together. We have a strong marriage, so there are no worries there on either side, it’s just that I am so used to his being by my side or near me and visa versa, it is going to be difficult knowing that he is over 10,000 miles away and I cannot hug or kiss him.

We will see one another via the Internet and yes we will hear each others voice on the phone, but being able to touch and caress one another is a whole different area and this I shall miss ONE MILLION percent, until he arrives back in my arms.

Best Friends Say Goodbye

Last night, Friday the 20th of April was a great night. A couple, whom I feel are our closest friends along with being our neighbor came to our home last night for a farewell dinner.

My husband made his world famous Chicken Curry with rice and curried potatoes and for dessert, I made a Blueberry cheesecake pudding. What a fun and enjoyable night it was.

We all had wine and drinks and spent the night chatting away about the good, the bad, the ugly and the future. It was an awesome time and one that I personally will remember always.

Anne brought a little gift for me as a going away present, which was a wonderful smelling bottle of body lotion and to my surprise an awesome African necklace. When I first opened the gift, I thought it was only the lotion. After dinner and good times, when they left, I was cleaning up and to my surprise discovered the necklace wrapped in white tissue paper inside the outer wrapping of the lotion. Well, you can just imagine my surprise when I found this. I immediately phoned her on the telephone to say thank you and to say how sorry I was not to have discovered it before.

This couple adopted and looked after me when we first moved down here to the Eastern Cape and now the role they are to play is to look after my husband in my absence. They have offered this as a total friendship and have lifted some of the burdens of the small tiny details that frustrates one when making such a hugh move in locations.

We know this for sure, they will be there for us whenever and for whatever reason we might need, this is what I call TRUE FRIENDSHIP.