Who did you vote for? One of these?

Good old Zapiro

Fuuuck Oooooffffff Jeremy Clarkson

Lamb's car was stolen right in front of our house in the middle of the day today. I am thinking again of the letter on how safe SA is which Jeremy Clarkson wrote. Doing a stint here in SA once a year for two weeks may give one the impression that all is well here. But live here and see how your friends, family, colleagues get robbed blind, murdered, raped or attacked. Visiting SA you may not experience all these things, but try living here... Our house was broken into - I did a post a while back - about a month and a half ago. Not long ago I had our alarm system upgraded - fat lot of good that did. I honestly do not know who I am going to vote for tomorrow. Out of the selection we have, I cannot see, honestly, that any one can make a difference. I am fed up and gatvol.

Potato Soup

Saturday morning Lamb and I decided to invite friends over for dinner. Enthused by my new passion for home baked bread, I devised a simple menu of bread and potato soup. I made a focaccia using the ‘sponge’ method described in the post below. Just before baking, I brushed the top with olive oil, fresh garlic and fresh rosemary (I forgot to sprinkle the salt flakes). This is my own version of potato soup and it is truly delicious, very easy to make and surely will impress your guests. This is one of my top winter warmer comfort foods. 5 large potatoes peeled, quartered and boiled till soft. 1 Chouriço (Portuguese) or Chorizo (Spanish) sausage 1 Kassler chop 2 large onions peeled and chopped 2 chicken and 1 beef stock cubes dissolved in 1 ½ litre of water. (I won’t insist on making your own stock or using expensive concentrate) Olive oil Little bit of lemon zest Juice of half a lemon Freshly ground black pepper.

(Serves 4 generous portions – increase stock & potatoes for more guests – double Chouriço and Kassler if more than 8 people)

Remove the piece of bone on the Kassler (but keep it) and chop together with the Chouriço to pieces roughly half the size of dice. Fry on low heat till browned in a large saucepan (including the piece of Kassler bone). Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and fry the onions slowly in the same saucepan till translucent and light caramel colour and add the stock. Increase the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain the onions with a sieve and discard. Add the stock and meat back to the saucepan. Add the potatoes and carefully mash the potatoes – you want part to remain whole and the rest will thicken the soup. Simmer on a very low heat for 10 mins, add lemon zest, juice and black pepper. (Remove bone) Serve with a nice crusty chewy bread. The Chouriço imparts its wonderful spicy flavour to the soup and the Kassler adds extra smokiness and depth. Do not add any salt and be careful using too many stock cubes or too much stock powder/concentrate as the Chouriço and Kassler are salty already. Lamb contributed this easy and very good dessert. Some foodies may frown upon this, but trust me – it is good. Pour 1 litre Ultra Mel Custard into a bowl. Heat in microwave. Break up 1 box of Romany Creams Chocolate biscuits (not too small) and mix into the custard. Allow to cool completely before serving.

The table the next morning...

The smell of freshly baked bread

Up till last week I never did a lot of bread baking, as I am never satisfied with the results. It always comes out too dense and you have to eat it as it comes out of the oven – I’ve found my own homemade bread becomes stale before the day is even out. Once I became inspired by reading about bread baked the old fashioned way with a sourdough starter instead of commercial instant yeast. I set out to culture my own starter, with a recipe off the net, but failed. Recently I mentioned my desire to make my own sourdough starter at a braai. Most of the guests looked at me as if I am mad, but the hostess got very excited and said she has a book with instructions which she will borrow me provided that I give her a piece of my starter should I succeed. The book – “The Village Baker - Classic Regional Breads from Europe and America” by Joe Ortiz proved to be a treasure. This guy and his wife own a bakery in California. His mission was to produce very good quality breads, so he visited so called Village Bakers all over France, Italy and Germany to see how they do it. This book has cleared up the mystery of bread making and baking to me to a very large extent. Last week Thursday I have started a new sourdough starter, and so far it seems successful. I should be able to bake with it by tomorrow. With a sourdough starter the aim is to capture natural wild yeast in the air into a mixture of water and flour. This starter can then be used as a leavening agent instead of commercial yeast. It is a slow process though. The method I am trying this time calls for ¼ cup of flour to be mixed with 2 tablespoons of water. This is achieved by making a well in the middle of a small mound of flour and pouring the water into that. The flour is then mixed into the well slowly with your fingers. The result will be a firm dough which should then be kneaded for about 8 mins. One should then end up with a little dough ball the size of a walnut. This is then put in a small bowl, covered with a damp cloth and left in a warm draft-free place. After 2-3 days a crust will have formed, which if removed reveals that the dough has started bubbling and will smell slightly acidic. Without going in to much detail, this is then refreshed twice (every time a couple of days apart) with increasing amounts of water and flour till you are left with a cup or more of the starter which should be sufficient for an ordinary loaf. It is not necessary go through this every time, just keep some of the starter and refresh it (daily if you leave it in a warm place and weekly if you keep it in the fridge). In the meanwhile, I have started to experience with other methods, like the direct method with instant yeast as well as the ‘sponge’ method. I made these Hot Cross Buns from a kit sold by Woolworths. Lamb got it as a gift – but I couldn’t see her making it. The enclosed recipe and ingredients called for using the direct yeast method. This means one adds a sachet of instant yeast to the ingredients and knead it till it forms a dough and let it rise (prove) once. The smell from the oven whilst baking was indescribable. They were very nice straight from the oven, but were totally stale the next day. Here I tried baguettes using the sponge method (the one looks like a turkey drumstick or a club though). With the sponge method one use a lot less instant yeast than is called for in a recipe. The first step then is to create a ‘sponge’ by mixing about half the amount of yeast ordinarily required with flour and water to end up with something the consistency of pancake batter. It is then left in a bowl covered with a damp cloth (somewhere warm out of any draughts) 4-6 hours till the mixture has first tripled in volume and then fallen back on itself. The rest of the flour and water, salt etc. as required by the recipe is then added and left to prove for another 2 hours again. After this second rising the dough is knocked back and left for half an hour. The loaves can now be formed, put on a baking tray and left to relax for 15 mins. The baguettes only bake 15 – 20 mins in a hot oven. I tried one of the tips in the book, which is to put the dough in the fridge instead of a warm place for it to prove and rise much slower (up to 12 hours). A much more interesting texture can be created this way, and wow did it work. Inside the loafs were full of irregular large holes and it was chewy and delicious just as one expect from a rustic French loaf. Although the sourdough bread is my aim, I started experimenting with more common methods in order to start practicing the kneading and all the other steps & techniques in baking bread. With Joe Ortiz’s book as my companion, I learned quite a lot – stuff that as I have said, was quite a mystery to me before. Now I cannot wait for tomorrow, so I can try out the sourdough starter which I cultured myself.

Galaxies in the Air, Annoyance and Genes

I have not done a post on Adult ADD / ADHD / Attention Deficit Disorder in a very long while and I think it is time to do so again. This post will be on one of many aspects of having ADD which I am partial to, it will also include one of many aspects of having ADD which I find objectionable and lastly an aspect which I feel ambivalent about. The Good... You have not the faintest what daydreaming is if you do not have ADD. When I start building Castles in the Air, it soon becomes towns, cities, countries, planets, solar systems and eventually whole Galaxies. Being lost in thought if you have ADD is a multi-dimensional, multi-faceted and multi-level experience. I do not have a happy place to go to, I have dizzying Warp Speed flights through a whole star-filled universe bursting with luminous colours. It is a place where I can be anything, where I am everything. I can experience all I want to without taking any drugs – my mind just takes me there. My flights of fancy are elaborate and take place in series and sequels. Sometimes I am the star in my own rock concert / opera / musical / play / movie. I am the DJ, the drummer, the vocalist, the guitarist, the pianist, the violinist, the tenor, the bass the baritone the actor, the choreographer, the set designer. I am attractive, I am talented, I am genius. I smash my guitar, I crowd surf, I hold a note so long that glass shatter. I bring the crowd to tears, I win Oscars. The Bad... People with ADD are notoriously irritable. Nothing, no reason, grounds, catalyst and still I can suddenly get extremely annoyed, wound up, aggravated, irritable, touchy and bad tempered. Fair... we know it is a trait of AD(H)D. (By the way, my Dr. diagnosed my particular type as ADhD. Capitals ADD because I have Attention Deficit Disorder, lowercase h, because I am only mildly hyperactive.) What is funny though, and what is unpleasant, is that I cannot cope with irritability in other people. ESPECIALLY if someone reacts irritable towards me and ABOVE ALL, if I perceive that I am the cause of their irritability. Immediately I feel rejected, silly, not good enough, hurt, self conscious, and hopelessly insecure. I’ll react immediately by lashing out with my tongue and saying horrible and hurtful things. Or I will retract and withdraw so utterly and completely as if it is a shield snapping shut around me. And it is not just a short term effect on my, my self-confidence takes nasty knock. The can be either Ugly or Beautiful... Finally something I feel ambivalent about, is the fact that ADD is hereditary and that there is a good chance that little Image might also have ADD. It is too early to tell, but I really do not know how I feel about this issue. Right, enough of that. I am not even going to bore you with the details of what a struggle I had with Vodakak since Tuesday because of my 3G account. I’ve seen your posts, I know you know what I’ve been through...

The ‘Other Spear’, our Marine Namesake and an Interesting Challenge...

So I am not the only Spear pottering about in the South African blogosphere (and that of its expats and Diaspora). I am referring to a SA guy living in the UAE. He publishes a very cool blog called the The Spear does Arabia. Do yourself a favour and visit. When we comment on each others’ posts, it can be a little confusing to other bloggers, but here is how to distinguish: My comments will be under the name ‘Spear’ if it is blogger and ‘Hardspear’ for the rest. The Spear does Arabia’s comments will be as ‘The Spear’. Naturally our Avatars also differ. With respect to our Marine Namesake, there is actually a shrimp called the Hard Spear Shrimp (Parapenaeopsis hardwickii)

As to the challenge: I’ve found a very interesting challenge on a blog called Betty Noire (worth the read – please visit).The challenge is under a post called Scotch? Irish? Single Malt? The post deals mainly with two books by Douglas Adams of the Hitchhikers’ series fame, called the Meaning of Liff and the Deeper Meaning of Liff. In these books Douglas Adams and another author took the names of towns and villages in Britain and ascribed definitions to it. Read Betty’s post after reading this, she describes it more fully. Anyhow, here follows the gauntlet which Betty threw down: ..... So, to win a bottle of whisky, take a shot at making sentences with all three adjectives below. If you can do it in one sentence, that will get extra credit. Post entries in comments or send entries to bettynoire@rocketmail.com; all efforts will be published on the blog and the winner will be announced when I think I have had enough. It should be not much later than May. Entries will be judged on length; wit; meaning and spelling. And the three words are: swanibost - “completely shagged out after a hard day of having income tax explained to you” duntish - “mentally incapacitated as a result of a severe hangover” climpy - “allowing yourself to be persuaded to do something and pretending to be reluctant” I am tempted to say I will send a bottle of whisky of your choice, but I might have to limit this choice to scotch, irish or single malt.

I am definitely entering! I am also a fan of Douglas Adams’s Liff definitions. Some of them though, I suspect you need to be a guy to fully appreciate. Below are two which made me roll on the floor with laughter. Getting an unwanted, unbidden huby used to be a particularly pesky problem when I was a teenager and the phenomenon of a wimbledon only occurs when wearing tan coloured trousers to work, leaving embarrassing telltale signs that you have visited the urinal, which leaves one having to resort to Mr Bean-esque shenanigans with the hand blower in the men’s room. HUBY (n.)A half-erection large enough to be a publicly embarrassing bulge in the trousers, not large enough to be of any use to anybody. WIMBLEDON (n.)That last drop which, no matter how much you shake it, always goes down your trouser leg.

I’m Back!

Hi there!

 

Phew, I am back in cyberspace! I nearly had a nervous breakdown. As per usual, the recovery of my data was worth much more than anything else. And yes, they managed to recover my data - at a cost, but I am so grateful that I do not mind. They couldn't keep my programmes though and I went to find out what Microsoft Office 2007 Professional cost. Seven fucking thousand fucking five fucking hundred fucking Rands at Incredible fucking Corruption! At the PC Shop around the corner R4500. I aint paying that! I AINT! I am getting a crack copy thank you very much. I try to be good in this respect - not copying copyrighted material, but for crying out loud! Microsoft is a rip-off. I know millions of others also rant about this, so any further rantings will be in private.

J. Hardspear de la Azotea's birthday

It is my birthday today! Image's Christening went well yesterday and we are left with all but one guest. Mother-in-law. She is going to look after Image tonight so that Lamb and I can go out tonight. My laptop crashed this morning and I am posting from an Internet cafe. Please do not follow the links, something went horribly wrong with the crap open source 'office' they are using. I'll post again as soon as my computer are sorted Apart from being my birthday, the day is also significant because of the following: April 6 is the 96th day of the year (97th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 269 days remaining until the end of the year. Other events on this important day in history: 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) in the battle of Thapsus. 1652 - Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck establishes a resupply camp at the Cape of Good Hope, which eventually becomes Cape Town. 1814 - Napoleon abdicates and is then exiled to Elba. 1830 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is organized by Joseph Smith, Jr. and others at Fayette, New York. 1869 - Celluloid is patented. 1917 - World War I: The United States declares war on Germany (see President Woodrow Wilson's address to Congress). 1930 - Gandhi raises a lump of mud and salt and declares, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." Thus he starts the Salt Satyagraha. 1947 - The first Tony Awards are presented for theatrical achievements. 1957 - Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis buys the Hellenic National Airlines (TAE) and founds Olympic Airlines. 1965 - Launch of Early Bird, the first communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit. 1483 - Raphael, Italian painter and architect (d. 1520) J. Hardspear De la Azotea shares his birthday with: 1483 - Raphael, Italian painter and architect (d. 1520) 1890 - Anthony Fokker, Dutch designer of aircraft (d. 1939) 1911 - Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen, German biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1979) 1920 - Edmond H. Fischer, Swiss-American biochemist, Nobel laureate 1928 - James D. Watson, American geneticist, Nobel laureate 1949 - Horst Ludwig Störmer, German-born physicist, Nobel laureate The following people sadly died on this day in: 885 - Saint Methodius (b. c. 815) 1147 - Frederick II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1090) 1992 - Isaac Asimov, Russian-born author (b. 1920) 1998 - Tammy Wynette, American singer (b. 1942) Holidays & Observances Tartan Day, the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320, a day set aside for the celebration of Scottish influence The date of organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Joseph Smith, Jr.. Also the date on which many in The Church believe that Jesus was born. Chakri Day in Thailand, commemorating the reign of the Chakri Dynasty. in the Roman Catholic Church Saint Marcellinus of Carthage (d. 413) St. Sixtus Blessed Notker Feast day of Saint Brychan, King of Brycheiniog, South Wales