Posted on by cjdalziel

What a morning!

After a very stormy, windy and cold night this morning has been action packed!

Suffering a little due to lack of sleep – no, I wasn’t out dancing last night! My lack of sleep is a result of the storm which lasted all night long. Here when it rains, it really pours at times. Combine that with the tin and tile rooftops it makes for quite a noise. Add in thunder and lightning and strong wind it is very difficult to sleep through. Last night the storm lasted most of the night off and on with about 40 minutes or so sometimes between the thunder & lightning and downpours. At one point there was even hail.

There are many pluses to this weather though. Rain is desperately needed so any downpours are celebrated. And the chilly rainy weather last night was a perfect reason to curl up in my Goldilocks bed and read. No laptop allowed when there is lightening! Thankfully, we did not suffer our fourth power outage of the week as the power stayed on against the odds. See lots to be happy about!

So the morning dawned cold, rainy and grey! Today is Jetske’s birthday and also preparation day! Not for her birthday – we are having a family dinner tomorrow night to celebrate it if the power stays on.

The preparation is for Jetske’s first official reception as the Honorary Consul of the Netherlands. You can view the official invite by clicking on this link:

Uitnodiging

The event is next Saturday and I am happily assisting Jetske prepare traditional food and drink for the event. So this morning started with me delivering Jetske’s birthday present and getting straight into rolling cookie dough into little balls. Following the first batch of cookies, we immediately went into preparing advocaat, a traditional dutch drink that is very similar to eggnog as it is made with eggs, sugar and brandy.

All I can say is that by 8:30 am this morning I was drunk from the fumes of the potent brew that we were making. After making 3 batches it is truly a wonder that I could still stand, let alone continue to function as a cook! Let’s just say that not only were there lots of fumes to inhale but there was a little batch testing to ensure that it was adequate for consumption at the reception next week. We determined that our first batch was not up to the standard of the next two so that simply means that Jetske & I must force ourselves to consume that bottle on our own 🙂

So, as you can see it has been a busy morning including a trip to Game City grocery shopping for the items that I needed to work my birthday dessert magic for tomorrow night. And now, I have to go as there is another double batch of cookie dough chilled ready to rolled into balls. Just pray that we aren’t making any more advocaat…..I will need to sober so that I can go out tonight!

 

Posted on by cjdalziel

I am forgiven!

It is amazing what a good batch of homemade buttermilk blueberry muffins can accomplish!

I learned early in life that the way to a man’s heart was definitely through his stomach and no truer statement exists.

One of the reasons that I need groceries yesterday and why the basket was so heavy is that I knew that I was going to bake blueberry muffins last night. I had gotten fat succulent blueberries at Woolworth’ s on Friday and was eager to use them to bake up some yummy muffins. With all of the power outages that we are enduring it is impossible to keep meat or things like buttermilk in the fridge. You can only buy stuff that you are going to use up right away or risk having to throw it away when it sits without refrigeration for a day.

So after tormenting Buche all the way home, I immediately set to work whipping up a nice batch of blueberry muffins made with buttermilk. Of course, my kitchen is not equipped for baking so I need to make the very short trek to Peter & Jetske’s kitchen to use the big oven to bake in. While the muffins were baking, Jetske, Peter and I were catching up on the stoop. We had gone all weekend with really seeing each other…Peter was concerned Saturday morning that I was dead in my bed as he didn’t see me. What he hadn’t realized was that I had exited out of the gate early without him knowing 🙂

The socializing continued long after the muffins were out of the oven and cooled so all in all a wonderful way to spend the evening. Buche even got his muffins fresh last night when he came to Peter’s Place to pick up another resident. This morning he was all smiles and grateful for the yummy muffins. He also told me that even without the bribe I would have been welcomed back into the car this morning.

So all is forgiven…we were later in our routine this morning so didn’t see Ms. Traffic Cop…let’s see how the drive home goes…I still have the love note to throw out the window 🙂

Posted on by cjdalziel · 3 Comments

Happy Birthday to Tabuche!

Today is my patron Saint’s birthday!

What does one give a Saint as a present? The planning for his birthday actually began a couple of months ago. Thanks to the wonderful assistance of my parents items that I needed to create a wonderful present for him were sent from Canada. All I needed was the cooperation of the “Gods” so that the parcel from Canada would arrive on time.

Both Tabuche and I eagerly awaited the arrival of this particular package as I disclosed to him about 6 weeks ago what I had planned as his very special birthday present. He was as excited about it as I was. So last week I had a flurry of mail arrive which in and of itself creates excitement in my life. Somehow there is nothing like getting mail, whether it is a simple card or a package containing some special gift. They are all wonderful to get and the notification that I have mail waiting sets off a wonderful feeling of anticipation and excitement to see just who it is from and what it is.

I digress. Sorry!

So last week I received three different notifications that I had mail waiting for me. Luckily one of those pieces of mail was the eagerly awaited care package from my parents. And what a goody bag it was. Not only did it contain the precious items needed to make my Saint’s birthday present but it also contained goodies for me! Along with a bag of the highly anticipated Chocolate Mint Rooibos tea from David’s Tea (it is so yummy and worth waiting for!!!) the package also contained my very favourite chocolate treat – York Peppermint Patties.

It was Lawrence who took me to the parcel outlet of the Gaborone post office to collect this oversize parcel. Having retrieved the said parcel while he was officially taking care of some business at FHI I retreated to our project truck to open it. Which was no mean feat as my mother had securely taped it shut so well that without scissors it took a whole lot of will power and determination to crack that sucker open. Never one to lack either of those attributes and a heavy dose of persistence, the box was eventually partially opened.

Shifting through the contents and a heady sense of exhilaration I first made sure that what I needed for Tabuche’s present was in fact inside. Then I just couldn’t resist….I just had to eat a york peppermint patty.  There was no waiting.  No sooner had I opened it and popped it into my mouth and was savouring every second of it melting in my mouth than I was caught red handed. Sitting in my seat, no doubt looking like the cat that swallowed the canary, Lawrence swung into the truck’s driver seat. One look at my face and he immediately knew that I was guilty of something! I had no choice but to disclose my source of addiction and ultimate pleasure…York Peppermint patties.

With my mouth still somewhat occupied, I attempted to explain to Lawrence my source of happiness. Well, there was nothing else that I could do but actually share one with him. Now this took a great deal of effort on my part. I absolutely love York Peppermint patties and they are no where to be found on the Continent of Africa so now that I have a small supply it actually took great charity on my part to share. However, I did ensure that Lawrence understood that he would get one and “one only”. My extent of sharing stopped at that! Unlike Tabuche, I am certainly not a Saint. So now Lawrence knows the secret to improving my mood (just feed me one peppermint patty and I am instantly happy) and that even my love and adoration has limits.

So what was the other contents of these wonderful care package that held the secret ingredients for Tabuche’s present! Well, it was chocolate chips of course. Another item that can not be found on the Continent of Africa. Thanks to my wonderful parents, I was able to bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies last night. Tabuche has never in his life tasted chocolate chip cookies but he was been eagerly anticipating trying them for the past six weeks. I hope that he enjoys them as they were baked with lots of care,took the cooperation of people from two continents to make along with the use of Peter and Jetske’s kitchen.

So Happy Birthday Tabuche! You truly deserve a birthday present that took lots of planning, the luck of the “gods” and helping hands to make. It is my small way of saying thank you for taking such good care of me each and every day, including making me laugh on a daily basis even when you know that I am frustrated beyond belief. You make my drive to and from work along with other outings truly special times for me and no combie ride could ever replace my getting to sit next to you every day!