Growing Your Own Garlic

When I was in Hondeklipbaai towards the end of last year, I found it a struggle to find the things I'm used to have handy in the city. This location is so remote, that one has to adjust and learn to make do without. One day, one of the local women came to visit and, spotting some garlic in the kitchen, told me she could teach me to grow my own. I was intrigued, and even though it was not my garden, I decided to nurse some garlic into life, with the help of my new friend. I share what I have learned in today's blog.

This is the garlic my friend spotted in the kitchen.

It would only require one clove of this garlic, to grow our own plant.

We found a clear plastic bag and cut it smaller.

We added a drop of water to the bag.

The clove of garlic was placed in the bag, with its growth side in the water.

The bag was then suspended in the fridge.

After a couple of days, the garlic was starting to sprout roots.

A few more days, and it was growing nicely. Time to plant it in soil.

There was a pot with soil in the vegetable garden and I decided to plant the garlic here, after consulting with the groundsman cum gardener.

We made a hole in the middle of the pot.

The garlic was then planted in the hole and covered, with the top being allowed to show. My visit was unexpectedly cut short, and I could not see the end result, but I believe it is doing well and they are already harvesting from it. Enjoy!

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my 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.
You can follow Miekie's daily Bible Study blog, Bybel Legkaart, here in English & Afrikaans.
You may prefer to follow the traveling blog, A Pretty Tourist.
For more crafty ideas and great product reviews, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
If you are in a literary mood, follow Miekie's musings, stories and poetry on A Pretty Author - Miekie.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making life PRETTY.
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Making Roosterkoeke On The Braai

The family was all going to come over for a braai, and as per our custom, we went all out with the preparations. I decided to make us some roosterkoeke for the occasion, but this time I borrowed a recipe from the trusted Kook en Geniet recipe book. I show you how to bake the ordinary noenmaalrolle on the kettle braai in today's blog. These turned out so good, that my carnivorous family went back for seconds on the bread!

Credit to the source of today's lovely rolls!

The recipe as it appears in the book.

Measure 1 cup (250 ml) milk, 2 tablespoons (25 ml) sugar and 1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt in a measuring bowl.

Add 1 packet of Instant Yeast, 1 cup (250 ml) cake flour and 1 cup (250 ml) water.

Mix well.

Add 3 tablespoons (37,5 ml) melted butter or oil and 1 egg together and beat well.

Add this to the mixing bowl.

Add enough cake flour to bring the dough together. Approximately 5 cups (1,25 L) of cake flour will be required.

Bring the dough together.

Knead the dough well on a lightly floured surface.

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

The risen dough.

Knock the dough back by kneading it a second time on a lightly floured surface.

Roll the dough out to approximately 1 cm thinck.

Cut circles from the dough.

Place on a lightly floured baking tray, cover with plastic and allow to rise a second time for about 30 to 60 minutes.

Letting the rolls rise in the warm summer sun, is a good idea.

Place on the grill and close the lid. Bake for about 10 minutes. The dough will pop up in the warm kettle braai.

Turn over and braai the other side for another 10 minutes or so, with the lid on. Serve warm off the braai with butter.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my 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.
You can follow Miekie's daily Bible Study blog, Bybel Legkaart, here in English & Afrikaans.
You may prefer to follow the traveling blog, A Pretty Tourist.
For more crafty ideas and great product reviews, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
If you are in a literary mood, follow Miekie's musings, stories and poetry on A Pretty Author - Miekie.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making life PRETTY.
You can subscribe to any of these blogs and receive regular updates by email. Simply register your email address at the top of the applicable blog.

Baking Muffin Tin Quiche

It had been a busy day and I had clean run out of time to make dinner. Fortunately, just as I was about to start, my niece arrived to announce that she felt like baking. I immediately decided to combine her idea of baking with my need to prepare dinner and the two of us quickly put together these muffin tin quiches for dinner. They are simply delicious and remain a quick fix to many a culinary dilemma.

You will need 6 eggs, half a cup of milk/sourmilk/cream, salt and pepper to taste, and add whichever herbs and spices you like. Mix all of this together in a medium sized bowl.

Add a cup of cake flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder. Stir everything together.

The mixture should have a runny consistency.

Now fry some onions, mushrooms and bacon. Mic it in with a good measure of cheese.

Or, add some spinach, onion, feta and mushroom. The choice of fillings is up to you, and will largely be dictated by two things; what you like, and more importantly, what you have available in the house.

Scoop the fillings into muffin pans. We opted to use mini bread pans instead.

Now pour the runny mixture over the fillings.

Leave some space for the quiches to rise.

Bake for roughly 30 minutes in a preheated oven at 180°C, or until done.

Allow to cool slightly on a wire rack.

Enjoy straight from the oven.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my 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.
You can follow Miekie's daily Bible Study blog, Bybel Legkaart, here in English & Afrikaans.
You may prefer to follow the traveling blog, A Pretty Tourist.
For more crafty ideas and great product reviews, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
If you are in a literary mood, follow Miekie's musings, stories and poetry on A Pretty Author - Miekie.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making life PRETTY.
You can subscribe to any of these blogs and receive regular updates by email. Simply register your email address at the top of the applicable blog.

School Holiday Project: Making Coconut Ice

In the previous blog I told you how my niece helped me to make chili preserve. When we were done, she still felt like making something in the kitchen. I thought it was time to make something that everyone could enjoy, but which wouldn't take too long to make. Coconut ice seemed to be just the thing to appeal to everyone. This is a very simple recipe to do with youngsters of any age.

You will need 500 g (2 cups) icing sugar, 400 g coconut, 1 tin condensed milk, 5 ml (1 teaspoon) vanilla, and a drop or more red food colouring.

Mix the vanilla with the condensed milk and then mix everything together in a large mixing bowl, aside from the food colouring.

The mixture will eventually start coming together, although it may seem to be too dry to start with.

Divide the mixture in half.

Press one half of the mixture into a large pan or bowl.

Add red food colouring to the remaining half of the mixture.

Mix well to colour it.

Press the pink mixture onto the white ones. Refrigerate for an hour or two for it to harden.

Cut into squares with a knife or pizza cutter.

The coconut ice squares are now ready to eat. Lift it out of the bowl.

Hurry up to snap a quick photo before the rest of the family arrive to share in the decadent pleasure.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my 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.
You can follow Miekie's daily Bible Study blog, Bybel Legkaart, here in English & Afrikaans.
You may prefer to follow the traveling blog, A Pretty Tourist.
For more crafty ideas and great product reviews, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
If you are in a literary mood, follow Miekie's musings, stories and poetry on A Pretty Author - Miekie.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making life PRETTY.
You can subscribe to any of these blogs and receive regular updates by email. Simply register your email address at the top of the applicable blog.