Baking Kachakuri With Chakalaka Using A Sourdough Starter

Kachakuri is a traditional Georgian bread parcel filled with cheese. However, down here in the South of Africa, we like our meals with a bit of zing and what better way to add it than to use good ole traditional Chakalaka? I show you how to give this ages old tradition an African twist in today's blog. As always, I use my Sourdough starter to give rise to the occasion.

Add 2 1/2 cups (625 ml) White Bread Flour and 2 teaspoons (10 ml) salt to a large mixing bowl.
Option 1: If using Instant Dry Yeast, add a packet to the dry ingredients.

Add 100 ml melted butter and 150 ml lukewarm milk.
Option 2: If using Active Dry Yeast, add a packet to the milk and wait for it to froth before adding it.

Add 250 ml Sourdough starter.

Bring the dough together.

Knead on a lightly floured surface for about ten minutes. Return to the bowl, cover with plastic and allow to rise.

I was visiting a friend when baking this bread and had access to this marvelous herb garden.

I came back from the garden with some fresh celery, basil, parsley and mint. These were all finely chopped.

I also chopped an onion and sliced a medium sweet potato into thin slices.

Brown the onions in oil and add the sweet potato slices. Let it fry for a few moments.

Add the chopped herbs.

Add crushed garlic, salt and pepper to taste.

Add about a cup (250 ml) of milk and 50 ml butter.

Add roughly a quarter can of Chakalaka.

If you don't mind it hot, you may choose to add a little Cayenne Pepper as well.

Now add 2 cups (500 ml) grated Cheddar Cheese.

Allow the dish to cool a little and then add a lightly beaten egg.

Prepare some muffin tins with non-stick spray and flour.

Once your dough has doubled in size, knock it back by kneading it for another five minutes.

Roll the dough out.

Cut out 12 dough rings.

Fill your muffin pans. Stretch the dough to fit loosely over the sides of the pans.

Fill with the chakalaka mix.

Bind the parcels together by pressing the dough together between your fingers.

Cover with plastic and allow to rise in a warm dry place. Brush with milk.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for about 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Cover with a damp cloth to prevent a hard crust from forming.

Enjoy fresh from the oven. Best served hot. It does not require butter or condiments.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
For more crafty ideas and great products, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
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Starting Your Own Wellness Journal 1

When visiting a friend recently, she gave me a very pretty notebook. I immediately knew that I would be using it for journaling and writing. As my friend was going through a tough time, having lost her husband to cancer a few weeks before, I naturally steered towards creating a wellness journal, realizing once again how important it was that we should all work hard at finding the right words to express our feelings in order to deal with our emotions. I decided to share the journey with you, hoping that someone will benefit from the ideas contained in it.

My friend gave me this journal as a gift and this is what inspired me.

I started by writing a poem about the things that were heavy on my mind. Even though this was not my tragedy, it was still a tragedy I needed to deal with as I became entangled in it through my friend. It is extremely important that we find words to deal with the issues we confronted with so that we can find a way  to come to terms with it.When writing a poem, you may want to use a pencil until you get the draft just right. I'll share my poem, titled A Time To Grieve, with you:

There is a pain that transcends thinking,
is not limited by understanding,
and refuses to be captured in words.

The soul has a space that embraces anguish,
where sadness is caressed and nurtured,
where grief sprouts beds of blooms.

And when pain, sadness, anguish and grief reaches maturity,
the heart opens up and gushes out its sorrow,
bleeding tears down stricken faces.

It bleeds again and again, over and over,
everyday anew as if for the first time,
until one day, finally, it is cleansed.

On that day the heart's wounds start closing,
It accepts, restores and heals, albeit gradually,
until at last the heart fondly cherishes memories.

Miekie

Once you have written the words, it may lead you to the picture you want to add to it. Sometimes, though, I find the picture first and that guides me towards finding the right words.

I liked the idea of drawing a 'wreath' around my poem as I found it fitting for my topic.

I used Derwent Graphitint for my drawings. This is a watersoluble pencil which made it possible for me to paint the drawing with water afterwards.

First, I would need to rewrite the final draft of the poem in pen. The brilliance of art journals is that they invite you to use as many colours as your heart desires.

I rewrote the poem in a colour matching the leaves on my wreath.

The title and my signature was written in blue. You may want to use even more colours than I did.

I could now erase the pencil draft.

I then painted the drawings with water.

The brush I used has a reservoir for the water which makes it very convenient to use.

I still advise using a high quality brush like Pentel. This cheaper version 'bled' water, soaking my drawing in unwanted places.

By the time I was done with this page,  I was feeling a whole lot better and could return to bed to catch up on much needed sleep, after tossing and turning earlier in the evening.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
For more crafty ideas and great products, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
You can subscribe to this blog and receive regular updates by email by simply registering your email address at the top of the current blog.

Making Delicious Cheese & Corn Flapjacks

I had been sewing all day and did not even look in the direction of the kitchen, when it suddenly dawned on me that it was time for dinner. It was a wild scramble deciding what to put on the table that could be achieved in a very short time. My mom suggested flapjacks and we brainstormed until we settled on cheese & corn flapjacks. I grabbed the camera to record what we did in case it worked out brilliantly and we wanted to do it again. It did! And we will! Fortunately that means I can now share this brand new family favourite with you as well.

Given a little more time, you can make your own sweetcorn. I've blogged about that before and you can read that blog here. If pressed for time, as I was, you simply open a can and empty it into a mixing bowl.

Add four eggs.

Now add 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) milk.

Add 2 cups (500 ml) cake flour and 3 teaspoons (15 ml) baking powder.

Finely chop 1 small onion or half a large onion and add that.

Add 2 cups grated cheddar cheese.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything together.

The mixture should have a slightly runny consistency.

Heat a little oil in a pan and drip the mixture onto the hot oil. Once small bubbles start to form on the top, it is ready to be flipped.

Flip with a spatula.

Serve hot of the griddle. No need for butter or condiments. The flapjacks are delicious as is.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy her books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
For more crafty ideas and great products, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
You can subscribe to this blog and receive regular updates by email by simply registering your email address at the top of the current blog.