My favorite things: Kitchen edition!

So maybe it took a few months, but here is the entry I promised on my favorite things in the kitchen! These are pieces I use on a regular basis (i.e. at least once a week, if not every time I cook!) and when using them, I always think - I should tell people about how great these things are! So here we go...

Le Creuset cookware: Whether its my dutch oven, my heart shaped pot, or my bakeware (perfect for enchiladas!), I swear by Le Creuset. I love it for the even cooking it provides, but adore it even more for its easy clean up - its ridiculous how easy food comes off these pieces! Bonus: it looks great on the stove! Amazon often has deals on Le Creuset, but you can also check out outlets. At the GA Premium outlets, there is a Le Creuset outlet as well as a Williams-Sonoma outlet that also carries very inexpensive Le Creuset. Its worth every single penny and will last forever!

All-Clad copper core: This set was an incredible wedding gift from my parents. We use these pieces on a regular basis, but are specifically in love with the covered saute pan (which I use to make PW's chicken parm and my family's fantastic beef/kudu/impala stroganoff).

Lodge cast iron skillet: If you don't own one of these (we have 4 - no jokes), buy one. It may be the best $19 you've ever spent. I love my cast iron skillet - for making caramelized onions (and blue cheese onion sauce), frying up bacon and cooking eggs in the grease, and more. Here's a tip: I love fried eggs, but I've always had trouble flipping them and keeping them in tact. I cheat my breaking them in the pan and then covering them with this lid - the lid will cook them from the top with no need to flip the egg. Easy!

Microplane 4 sided box grater: I use this guy ALL the time. Its a bit difficult to find grated cheese here in SA so its fabulous to be able to grate my own cheese. This grater makes it super easy. I also love my hand held zester for parmesan.

Oxo Salad Spinner: Another item used practically on a daily basis. I am one of those people that even though it says the salad in the bag is washed, I still give it another rinse before using. In addition, its useful for spinning off excess salad dressing if you've overdressed a salad. I also adore this Crate and Barrel salad bowl - super easy to clean and nice, high sides for tossing. We also use this pepper mill to season our salads - we love how it creates a great fine dusting of crushed peppercorns. We also love this olive oil spritzer.

Rice Cooker: I'm not a big rice eater, but I do love spanish rice, cheesy rice, and wild rice from time to time. I have a tough time making rice on the stove. This microwave rice cooker makes cooking rice a snap! Rice is ready in 12 minutes or less rather than the 24 minutes it takes on the stove top. Its also great for boiling potatoes and green beans as well as steaming broccoli in the microwave.

Martha Stewart citrus press: Looks like this guy is unavailable, but I love mine. The blue color is fantastic and its so handy to have one of these for squeezing lemons and limes.

Chalk board cheese plate: Love it. Love it so much, I bought a 2nd one.

Electric cordless kettle: I can't live without this. I never used one before moving to SA, but these are in every home here. Its great for making tea and coffee as well as pre-boiling water for dishes. It just makes everything that much faster!

Food processor: One day I'll have a nicer one. One day. But for now, this one is really great. From shredding cheese to making PW's restaurant style salsa and caesar dressing to just having something to cut up veggies, it works great and the price is right.

Pizza pan: Will and I disagree on this one (he hates the holes), but I love this pizza pan. Its perfect for tortilla pizzas - in fact, I think its fairly necessary.

Covered brownie pan: Love it! I use it for more than brownies, whether that's right or wrong - I just love the size! Its also great for corn souffle.

Wine decanter: A must for any wine lover. In SA, wines can be a bit corky - the decanter helps the wine breath and also help catch cork bits that would otherwise wind up in your glass.

Krystal burgers

Its no secret: I typically spend my lunch hour scouring the Internet for food blogs and new recipes. My time is mostly filled up by Pioneer Woman because I just flat-out love everything she posts, whether it be about cooking, her house, fun things to buy, or photography. Besides, every recipe that I have ever tried of hers has been nothing short of absolutely fantastic (and might I add, the steps to get to this fantastic-ness have always been relatively simple and easy to follow), which makes me a devout reader of PW.

Thanks to PW, I also browse both the Tasty Kitchen blog and the Tasty Kitchen website, where I contribute recipes and make cooking "friends" under the name mrsnaglich. One day, somewhere in all this searching around, I stumbled upon this: Big Red Kitchen

It sounded fun, primarily because I also want a big red kitchen someday. As I read along, I realized this blogger also loves comfort foods with a healthy twist, but she also provides great commentary on the how to's of life, such as how to behave at the church pot luck. I fell in love with the idea of the 2-for-1 recipe of spaghetti bolognese and "sloppy giuseppes." You know I definitely bookmarked this page and this page for the most perfect idea for a themed dinner, baby shower or not! Antipasto salad, do-it-yourself meatball subs, homemade pizzas, and pepperoni dip??? Yes please. Sounds like my kind of party.

But it was this that got my heart pumping.

Yes, really.

A recipe for do-it-yourself Krystal burgers.

To give you some background, my grandmother was comfortable situated extremely close to a Krystal restaurant. Growing up, almost every visit to my grandmother's house included a trip to Krystal. It was the 80s. Supersize Me wouldn't come out for another 15 years. Sometimes it was a small indulgence of 2 burgers and other times I made a complete and utter gluttonistic disgrace of myself in front of my family as I devoured more than 8 Krystals in one sitting just because I said I could do it. While I have proven that I can eat more than 8 Krystals in one sitting, I'll hold on to that glory of yesteryear and stick to a healthy 2-3 from now on.

What is so special about the Krystal, really? Nothing about it smacks of gourmet eats. Its not even something fancy enough for any other chain to replicate. It is comprised of a mysteriously thin meat (beef?) patty, strange small onions, a solitary pickle, a gentle slather of American yellow mustard, and finally topped by what is almost always a very soggy bun (that I love to slurp on... seriously. its okay to gag here). I loved them so much, I used to beg my parents to buy the frozen ones from the grocery store. Seriously.

At Krystal, I don't care about the fries, the chili cheese pups, the mini corn dogs (although wow... I'd definitely eat a mini corn pup right about now), or even the spicy Krystal chick. I don't even want a Krystal with cheese. I just want a nice, yummy, soggy regular Krystal burger.

Side note: Two nights before my wedding day I have a picture of my now-husband smiling as he held a giant sackful of Krystal. If I wasn't willing to marry him before, this sealed the deal. Love by Krystal burger. Mmmm mmmm good.

So anyway. Back to this recipe.

I obviously live in Africa. As much as I think South Africans would enjoy Krystal burgers, the only American food chains in SA are KFC, McDonalds, and Subway (which is so terrible here I almost didn't list it... g-rody). Therefore, it is impossible for me to get a Krystal burger.

To add more background to this, I must also admit to being bitten by the mini-burger/slider phenomenon that swept through the US right as we were leaving. Our last meal in the ATL airport was at TGI Friday's - Will and I split an order of mini burgers before boarding the plane to Africa. While we were in London, we regularly consumed the mini burgers from Burger King (3 were jalapeno with spicy ketchup, the other 3 were BBQ with little onion rings - YUM).

Naturally, we figured we could make mini burgers ourselves. We got the meat, found little buns, made mini patties and set them on the grill, only to find they were impossible to flip and control. We wound up with a bunch of little hockey pucks. At a party. Lots of little buns went without little patties. It was a sad state of affairs and we wrote off mini burgers from there on.

So then I find this recipe. Krystal burger meets mini burger. Heck yes.

First of all, I was a huge skeptic of baking ground beef. Its just... weird to me. Bake meat? When I told Will what I was going to do, he just raised his eyebrows and blessedly said nothing and happily let me go on my way to try and make these mini yum-yums for the party last night.

Second of all, I had to find dehydrated onion and ground beef that had the right amount of fat yet didn't taste like Christmas (note: South Africans strangely add clove and coriander to almost all of their ground beef). This meant going to the butcher and asking for them to grind up sirloin steak, but add beef fat to it. Again, gag if you must.

So! I found the little buns again (mini garlic buns - yum!), find teeny tiny pickles and teeny tiny tomatoes and set in to make the burgers. Really, its easy. Generously coat the bottom of a pyrex dish with dehydrated onion and then press the meat on top and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Blot grease, add cheese, and bake until melty. Let cool, cut with a pizza cutter, and slide those puppies into the buns.

I set the pickles and tomatoes out to the side, along with ketchup and mustard, so people could make their own sammies. I also grilled up onions and mushrooms in Dale's steak seasoning - its my favorite burger topping.

I made Krystal burgers! It tasted EXACTLY like a Krystal (minus the garlic on the bun). This was one of the easiest appetizers I have ever made. Moreover, with the mini tomatoes and pickles, the presentation was super cute. They were gobbled up incredibly fast - everyone raved and raved over how great they were.

So! If you've got an event coming up and don't know what to take - try these! So simple, easy cleanup, voila!

Happy New Year!

ouch. November 5 was the last time I was here? Sorry friends.

A brief summary of life since November 5:

• I traveled to Mozambique, Lesotho, Botswana, and Cape Town - all were trips for work and all were incredibly enjoyable. No pictures as I had no camera, but all great trips!
  
• I celebrated my 2nd Thanksgiving in South Africa - hooray turkey! We finally fried one up!
  
• We welcomed Maria and Butch, our first friends to visit us in SA in December - it was so good to have friendy friends in town!
  
• I saw my first lion in South Africa (I had seen them before in Zambia, but not here) - big 5 complete in SA!
• I watched a scary movie, which I hadn't done in eons (AHHHHHHHH, Paranormal Activity!). I'm still scared. Poor Will.
  
• I sang Christmas carols at the Ambassador's house! It was so great to be accompanied by an amazing pianist and to be the lead soprano on my favorite Christmas carols.
  
• We celebrated Christmas in Eesterust, bringing Christmas to more than 50 children!
  
• We hosted a fantastic Christmas Eve dinner, using PW recipes (beef tenderloin, rosemary potatoes, burgundy mushrooms) - yum!
  
• I got fantastic Christmas loot, including tsavorite stud earrings from Will (he handpicked these rare gems and then had them set for me - yay!), a copper double bottle wine chiller, silver platters, and heck yes - a camera!!!
• I became mildly obsessed with turning "Party in the USA" into "Party in the RSA" - because, after all, I do bob my head like "yeah..."
  
• I discovered 30 Rock (awesome) and John Adams (awesome)
• Lost Season 5 = absolutely hands down best season EVER. Jacob/John Locke... WHAT????
  
• I read the best book I've read since What is the What and A Thousand Splendid Suns... what is it? Oh heck yes, its My Life in France - the biography of Julia Child! What an amazingly great read!
• Mad Men season 3 is so incredibly dark and depressing I've stopped watching it. BOO.
  

I took off two weeks at the end of December and enjoyed a "stay-cation" in Pretoria, aside from our brief jaunt to Pilanesberg with Maria & Butch. It was so nice to catch up reading, lay by the pool, try new recipes, and yes, rebuild my entire iTunes library. I really needed the time off to relax and I have come back to work 100% recharged.

What's the new year's resolution? Well, I'm continuing to challenge myself to do something I'm scared of.

• Last year? White water rafting on the Nile in Uganda. That looked like this:
• The year before? Horseback riding on my honeymoon and ziplining in Magaliesberg (I still have a massive dent in my left shin from crashing into the side of the mountain - sigh).
  
• In 2007 - a half marathon (yes, scary!) and glacier hiking, both in Alaska.
  
• In May, Will and I are celebrating our 2 year anniversary to go be with the Great White Sharks in False Bay, where they famously breach seals at Seal Island (as seen on Planet Earth). Its going to look like this:

HECK YES.

• Tomorrow I'm getting on a helicopter flight and flying over Victoria Falls. Yes, I'm scared. Not scared like paranormal activity scared, but scared like we're-gonna-fall-from-the-sky scared. Oh well - I'll do it and bring back the pics to prove it. I have a camera now, you see. For now just know it will look somewhat like this:
  

We're also going on a safari, a canoe ride, and a sunset cruise. I am so excited about our weekend vacation to Zimbabwe/Victoria Falls! It will be my 3rd time to the falls but my 1st time to the Zimbabwe side (previous visits were from the Zambia side).

One thing we've been talking about here among friends is grocery shopping - spending too much, wasting food, not having a good plan in place, etc.. I feel like this is something I've recently done well so I thought it might be fun to share some tips for grocery shopping!

Will and I used to go to the store list-free and just buy things willy-nilly. While it was nice to have a stocked fridge and pantry and to make decisions on what we'd eat when we got home from work, this often resulted in us chucking loads of wilted, rotten veggies and spoiled milk and yogurt. It was wasteful, both in terms of money and in food. I just couldn't take it anymore.

For one month, I kept our receipts from our grocery trips and was absolutely SHOCKED. We were spending so much money on groceries and throwing about half of it away in the trash and stocking a good 1/4 of it in our pantry and freezer. Yikes. It was time to overhaul our behavior.

Every Sunday I make the plan for the week.

Step 1: Inventory! What do we have in the fridge, pantry, and freezer that we can/need to use and/or get rid of?

Step 2: Sit down with my cookbooks. I actually love to read cookbooks - I find them fascinating! I have tons of recipes I've clipped from magazines (Rachael Ray, Cooking Light, Food & Wine, Real Simple) and placed into a binder, but I also work from Pioneer Woman (obviously), Cooking Light, Best International Recipes, and Best Light Recipes. I also browse Pioneer Woman Cooks!, the Cooking Light website, and Tasty Kitchen (I'm a contributor there!). I look up the ingredients I have on hand and pull 1-2 new recipes that includes those. Or I just pick something new and fun!

P.S. I'm ITCHING for this and this...

I also work from a set list of our favorite things to eat, which includes:
-- Burgers
-- Tortilla pizza (I actually posted this recipe on Tasty Kitchen!)
-- Rainbow Salad with grilled chicken
-- PW's chicken parm
-- Beef stroganoff
-- Tacos
-- Sloppy joes
-- Soup and sandwich

Step 3: Make the list! I write out S-M-T-W-TH-F-S at the top of a shopping list and write out the dinner that corresponds to that night. I usually plan to make four dinner meals during the week, mainly because I've realized that we'll either go out to eat or eat at a friends house at least 2 nights a week (usually Friday and Saturday) and one night we'll eat leftovers or something simple, like a s. I also make recipes that feed 4 so that we have enough leftovers to eat at lunch and/or breakfast.

I write out the ingredient list for each of those dinners and also add regular things (dog biscuits, laundry detergent, toothpaste, sandwich meat), again, checking to see what we need versus what we already have.

I usually run the list by Will and make sure he's on board with the weekly plan. I really give him major credit for adapting to a scheduled dinner plan! He's been great about it.

Step 4: I head to the store with Will and STICK TO THE LIST. There are no coupons in South Africa so I don't really have the benefit of shopping with clipped coupons. If its not on the list, I simply don't buy it (unless its on super duper sale or its some American product that I've never seen before and am afraid I won't see again - Cholula? Its coming home with us!).

Step 5: Prep! On Sundays, I typically pack my lunch for the entire week and I may even go ahead and make two dinners in one night so I don't have to later on the week (example: maybe I make spaghetti or sloppy joes to eat another day but eat stroganoff that night).

The results?
-- More money in the wallet
-- Feeling less wasteful
-- Use of cookbooks that were previously collecting dust...
-- Feeling in control of my spending and eating habits
-- An emptier fridge and pantry (even our friends have commented!)

Some things we can't avoid. Occasionally we do go out more often than we meant to and wind up having to freeze something that was meant to be eaten for dinner one night. We still stockpile some items - but we really reserve that for things from the US, like Panko bread crumbs and brownie mix. I can't help it. While I don't think I'll ever be someone that prints out a calendar to put on the fridge but I like where we've come to in regards to our meal planning. Yay!

Next steps: I'm trying to do better at turning leftovers into something new. For example, I made carne asada tacos Sunday night (YUM) and Monday night Will and I turned them into steak fajita quesadillas simply by adding cooked onion and green bell pepper and cheese we already had on hand. I'm interested in trying this sometime too... I've been looking for a book and searching the internet, but so far... nothing.

And we're off to Victoria Falls - yay! Picture post to come soon!

update!

From Heidi!

Thanks to everyone who donated to this wonderful cause. We have received about 4,000 so far which is enough to start building. If you are still interested in donating, we will continue to accept donations on the paypal site. The money will go towards buying food for the orphans once the center opens.

We drew a random number for the quilt drawing and the lucky winner is Jimmy Wells. Congratulations!

We will keep everyone posted on the progress of the Karabo Asara (meaning Hope is the Answer) Orphan Center.

Isn't this the best news? We are so thankful for everyone's continued generosity to make Karabo Asara reality! Heidi and I go this weekend to Eesterust to meet with the committee to start plans for building! YAY!

Will and I have battled a mystery virus that presented very scarily like malaria. Luckily, we're both malaria free but it took a few days to beat that monster back.

Our computer has a new hard drive, iTunes is fully recovered, and the camera is still missing. BOO.

Swaziland looks just like Ireland... in Africa. What a fantastic place! I can't wait to go back with Will for a weekend. Swazi has amazing crafts, including amazing glass works from Ngwenya. I've been in love with the glass hippo for years but at R450 (about $60), I've kept passing it by. In Swazi, the glass is CHEAP so I got dear ol' hippo for R115 (about $15)! Except, I of course picked a hippo with a flaw... now I think we need the elephant or buffalo book ends. I'm in love. Now if only Swazi had a good pub with Irish music...

Cooking has been going awesome these days. Last night I made Pioneer Woman's pasta alla vodka - what an amazingly yummy (and simple!) week night dish! I made a thai peanut chicken dish for Will that was fairly good - he liked it better than me. I also made these southwestern egg rolls - Will and I thought they were yummy, but would be better fried (we just can't kick our southern roots!).

The Pioneer Woman cookbook came in the mail and I'm a wee bit obsessed. There are so many recipes I can't wait to make! Quite specifically things that require ramekins. Except I don't own ramekins (but I really want these Le Creuset ones - don't laugh).

For Halloween, Will went as a very scary demon (with black hair and a black beard!) and I was a witch. We went to a fun party we helped cater. I was in charge of helping with dips and I made some really awesome ones, if I do say so myself. Here are some ideas for you the next time you take a veggie platter to a party...

Spicy Black Bean Hummus
Ingredients: 1 can black beans, at least 3-4 cloves of garlic (I think I used 6!), 1/2 cup of tahini, 1/4 cup of plain yogurt, lemon juice, a generous squirt of Sriracha sauce

Simply mix together until smooth in a food processor. Taste as you go and add as you like. I love garlicky, spicy hummus and the sriracha just adds the right flave. Enjoy!

Creamy Avocado Dip
Ingredients: 2 avocadoes, 3/4 cup of plain yogurt, 1-2 cloves of garlic, 2 tsp. of cayenne pepper, lime juice, salt and pepper to taste

Simply whip together until smooth in a food processor and taste as you go and adjust seasonings as you need feel is best. Again, I like spicy so I probably had a teeny bit of a heavy hand on the cayenne pepper! This is so very good with carrots. YUM.

If you've bought a carton of yogurt to make dips, use the remaining to make a ranch dip or a fruit dip for a fruit platter. Yum!

Pavlov's dog.

A couple weeks ago, Bryan, Heidi, and I ordered a 12 pack of cheetos for $11 from Amazon. Really - it was a deal we couldn't resist.

The cheeto's came yesterday. I popped the top (they are in a cannister) and was shocked to find...

I salivated.

Yes, my mouth actually watered for cheetos.

I really worry what will happen when I finally return home and sit down at a Mexican restaurant. I may visibly drool for cheese dip. I ask early forgiveness if you are privy to the 1st Mexican meal upon my return to the US next year.

This weekend I went hunting with Will for his birthday. It was a last minute decision, but I'm so glad it worked out. We went with Beth and Adam. While the guys hunted during the day, Beth and I lounged around the camp, which was actually really nice. We laid in the pool, played with kittens and puppies, read our books, went for walks, watched E! tv (a true treat for those without cable TV), and made scrumptious meals. It was incredibly relaxing and very peaceful. Adam got an impala and Will shot another wildebeest so it looks like more wildebeest enchiladas and sloppy joes in the future.

I still haven't found my camera - have you?

Last night I decided to make this for dinner. I love chicken parm. Its fair to say I adore it. Yum. Its a fave. However, I've always hated making it as it takes too many steps, pans, and ingredients. Without fail, I always slop egg wash onto the floor, get flour all over the place, and make a huge icky mess of bread crumbs and chicken. Then it always tastes too bread crumb-y (or burnt) and the sauce? Forget it. Too much work, too much frustration... I'll just make spaghetti with meat sauce instead.

But this?

This recipe is the answer to all my problems. It cooks in one dish - one! No gooey egg wash, no bread crumbs, just simple boneless skinless chicken breast dredged lightly in flour and cooked in a skillet. No tasteless yucky tomato sauce - instead, a flavorful, garlic-ky tomato sauce for the little chickens to rest in. And melting cheese on the chicken in the pan using the lid and skipping the oven? Brilliant. Perhaps one of the best parts was that I didn't even heat up my kitchen with the oven - this was all cooked right on the stove!

It was such an easy weeknight dinner that earned, "Oh wow, this is really really good" comment from the hubs. It heated up awesome for lunch today too - yay!

If I haven't said it before, I'll say it again: I'm a fan of Pioneer Woman.

I head out to Swaziland early tomorrow morning and am looking forward to adding another country to my list of places I've been in 2009 (South Africa, Zambia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Ireland, Britain)! So far, 10 countries in 2009! But I'll be adding Swaziland, Lesotho, and Mozambique before the year runs out... 13 different countries in one year (not counting layovers where I spent money - that would also count Kenya and Germany) - I don't think I'll ever top that record! The only bummer is that I won't have internet or a camera the entire time I'm there. Oh well! I have a feeling Will and I will head to Swazi one weekend just for fun.

Hope is the answer.

I still haven't found my camera. sigh. And our computer mysteriously crashed and I have to buy a new hard drive. And rebuild iTunes. For me and Will. siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggggggh.

Its just not a good time to be an electronic device and living in the Nagli casa. I'm sweet talking my 5 year old iPod as I type this because I'm sure its going to die a slow death soon.

Maria's Orphanage Update!
We have a name: Karabo Asara!

This means "hope is the answer."

And answer we have! To date, we've raised over $4,000!!! Heck yes! Unfortunately, Heidi's computer also crashed so we are waiting to get it up and working again to pull the exact number and do the quilt drawing.

The blueprints are being drawn and we couldn't be more excited for Maria.

Its still not too late to donate! Supplies, your time, cash... it all works and it all helps.

Recipes
I've been working out after work this week with Rilla. She came over after one workout and together we made an "interesting" meal of falafel, tzatziki (secret recipe - sorry!), black bean hummus, greek salad, and lamp chops. A really light dinner! Next time I make falafel, I think I'll bake it (or at least fry it a bit and then bake the rest of the way). Its too complicated to fry! It took a really long time, but the end result was tasty.

I'm diggin' Pioneer Woman these days (just look at those roasted garlic potatoes!). And I'm a big fan of this too. The baby shower food entry is pretty fantabulous as well as baby brie cups.

Will's birthday is next week and we're celebrating on Sunday night since Monday is a holiday. Yippeee! More recipes after the par-tay...

September? Where'd you go?

I can't believe October begins this week. Wow. It will officially begin the countdown of one year left in Africa.

My fantastic in-laws departed for the US on Saturday night. Will and I were super sad to see them go, but understood that life was calling them home. To put it simply, we had the best time. Will and I learned that sometimes the best day can be spent reading a book in the sunshine with no plans whatsoever. They've learned that their daughter-in-law will argue for a solid 10 minutes that "FAQ" is a word (seriously. its a verb now. I don't care if its an acronym. I'm using it as a verb. there. ha.) just so she can win at scrabble. We've all learned that the best way to start your day is with a glass of bubbly South African sparkling wine and a shower overlooking a water hole filled with elephant, buffalo, hippo, and a croc.

Pictures to come soon, when I finally find my camera. sigh.

In the mean time, there's this!!! Pioneer Woman has A COOKBOOK! heck yes! On October 27, I will be pressing "order" on Amazon so I can get my hands on this bad boy as soon as can be (in fact, I'm really tempted to do my first pre-order on Amazon - its that bad!).

I'm posting because it looks like she may come to a city near you. Yes, YOU. Not me. For some reason, I'm guessing Africa is a bit too far for a book tour. She'll be in Atlanta on December 7. Go. For me. Please? Go see her.

She also posted this recently... I like. And this too (probably just because I love beef stroganoff).

In other news, Will and I have been cooking up quite a bit. A month's worth of dining out will leave you wanting to eat at home. Will did cook up some scrumptious impala tenderloin while the parents were here. Who knew that a dinner of impala, mac & cheese, southern style green beans, and rolls could be so good? Yum.

Will the hunter has stocked our freezer full of warthog, impala, and wildebeest that we must eat over the next few months. I'll post recipes soon. Impala burgers are perhaps the best burgers I've ever had.

Sunday night we had a relaxing night at home with Rilla, who has a brand new puppy (a lab/sharpei mix!). The dogs played and we enjoyed a nice dinner on the patio of grilled shrimp and salad. Rilla made a killer salad of avocado, tomato, onion, and hearts of palm. Paired with some grilled portabellos and onions, it made for a killer light meal on a hot day.

I made round two of spaghetti and meatballs to watch The Godfather Part II with (we've decided to veto watching The Godfather Part III, mainly because Part II wasn't as good as Part I and if Part III is much worse than Part II, then I'll pass) (I love italics today). I think I've decided that while I make a tasty meatball, they are too much work for a week night meal. Besides, my meat sauce rocks.

I'm eating a yummy lunch right now, which I brought from home. YAY! I've decided my new favorite thing to take for lunch is fat free refried beans and spanish rice. I make it Sunday night and divide the beans and rice into several separate containers. I then take a container with some salsa, guac, and tortilla chips and voila! A perfect lunch that's cheap, tasty, balanced, vegetarian, and doesn't leave me feeling hungry at 3:00pm. I won't even abandon it for other offers of going out to lunch because its just that good. YUM. And did I mention cheap? If you figure the beans are $1/can, the rice is about $2/packet, the chips are $3, the salsa is $3, and the guac is $3, then that's $12 total. This makes at least 4 lunches (you could make 3 man-size lunches) which winds up at $3-4 per lunch. It would probably be cheaper in the states as mexican food comes at a price here - its just not that popular yet. But again, yum. Just trying to throw out a new lunch option!

Read: send me spanish rice!

I'm trying avocado enchiladas tomorrow (but am cheating and using can sauce rather than making the recipe here).

This weekend we're headed to Taste of Joburg (hooray free tickets for diplomats!). Me = can't wait!

And by the way, Happy birthday Little Friend!

long weekends = my fave.

This weekend we celebrated Women's Day, which gave us Monday off from work. The long weekend was just fantastic.

On Friday, Will and I avoided mass chaos at the Embassy and didn't stick around for 5+ hours to see Sec. Clinton. Instead, after a busy week at work, we went home and made fantastic burgers and fries and got the complete scoop from our friends that did brave the chaos and saw Sec. Clinton and the new Ambassador to SA. An easy peasy low key night in = good times.

Saturday we hosted a party for the entire CDC-SA office and had the best time! We cooked warthog sausages, hamburgers, and fantastic grilled chicken legs (Will marinated them for hours and then basted with a butter/Texas Pete glaze = SPICY HEAVEN!). Folks enjoyed a lovely spring day in the sunshine - kids ran around our yard, Sanford was petted more than he has been in several years, and we just enjoyed a lazy day. I'm happy to have hosted my first grown-up party where kids of all ages and adults had a fantastic time and nothing got broken! Yay! After that, we headed to Tim and Rilla's for homemade chorizo and fun times with friends. It was a perfect Saturday.

Sunday we slept in. Bliss. I got online and realized that I somehow had ordered a $600 Gucci watch that I had been looking at on Amazon.com (it wasn't even one that I wanted!) and am thankful that the good folks at Amazon were able to recall the package before it got all the way to SA. Yay! I sat outside with the dogs for a good part of the afternoon, reading my book and looking through cookbooks to decide on the week's menu for me and Will (for the record, I'm trying beer enchiladas made with this meat sauce, lasagna roll-ups with meat sauce, and salad with crispy yogurt chicken). We went grocery shopping. We watched three movies (Gran Torino, Yes Man, and the International). A perfect low-key lazy Sunday. And most importantly, I made this for dinner.

I think this meal changed my life. I love patty melts. I do. Something about crunchy buttery bread, gooey cheese, and cooked onions makes me ridiculously happy. Its not something I eat often for health reasons, but oh man, I love them. Obviously, patty melts are not common in South Africa (nor do I imagine they'd be good anyway if I bought one at a restaurant). Cube steak is super cheap here (i.e. about $1/pound) and I happened to have some in the freezer. I found some small deli-type buns, which I thought would be good for portion control and not make a huge portion as seen on the website link above. Most importantly, I decided to buy some provolone cheese to melt on these bad boys. At the end, I put the bottom piece of bread on the cast iron skillet I had buttered the bread in and then put the meat on top and then layered thinly sliced provolone on top of that. I cooked it in the oven to get all melty and voila! Excellent sandwiches.

Yum. Absolute heavenly yum. Definitely try this recipe as its cheap and heavenly and will make the man in your life smile (and ignore the fact that this sandwich requires you to work out). Next time I may add mushrooms and bell peppers to the onions to make it similar to a philly cheesesteak (yet another menu item not found in SA).

Yesterday was another day just spent in the warm sunshine with friends. Hooray for what looks like the end of winter!!! We played tailgate golf, which is quite an interesting game that I'm terrible at. Will and I played Trivial Pursuit yet again and I am happy to report that we won. We love TP. Its true.

excellent weekend!

What a fantastic weekend! What did we do? Nothing too crazy exciting, but it was just good times spent with fabulous friends.

Friday night we headed to Beth & Adam's for take out pizza and Trivial Pursuit on the Wii. The ladies beat the gents (hooray!) but I can't say it was a victory to be too proud of. Its difficult to play on the Wii and is super easy to select the wrong answer by accident. Regardless, it was super fun and a perfect way to spend a Friday evening after a busy week.

Saturday Will and I woke up to rain! I can't remember the last time we've had a rainy day in South Africa, but it was dark, humid, and stormy. We met Beth for lunch at a cute place called Isabella's - yummy. Its a cafe with homemade food, namely salads, casseroles, and quiche. Afterwards, I picked up take out from Geet, where they were so happy to see me, they gave me a free bottle of wine. I love South Africa!

Saturday night we celebrated our friend Atalie's birthday with a girls night in at our friend Rilla's. We had spanish tapas and made terrific Thai basil spring rolls with peanut sauce. I must say - they were pretty freakin' fantastic. We also made homemade naan to go with our takeout indian food. We watched E! and had loads of girl talk. The best part? Will was a fantastic hubby who drove all the girls around so no one had to drive and to ensure everyone made it home safe since their husbands were out of the country.

Today has been fantastic. I slept in, which is always a plus. Will and I went grocery shopping for the week and found cherry coke and Dr. Pepper! YAY! We got McDonald's (I love a quarter pounder with cheese). I sat outside in the sunshine and threw the ball for Muddy in the pool while reading The Six Wives of Henry VIII (so good!). I matched up mismatched socks. I made homemade manicotti and beef stroganoff and my lunch for the week since I have to work late every day this week. I watched tons of episodes of The Wire Season 2. Its just been a deliciously lazy day, which is what I need before a hectic week!

one year.

One year ago today, Will and I said goodbye to the US and hello to South Africa. It seems like we've been here for much longer than a year and I think our families and friends back home would agree.

During the past year, I've traveled to 10 different countries, none of them being the one of my citizenship (South Africa, Zambia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Malawi, Ireland, England). I no longer cringe at flying, although I still give my customary two pats on the plane with my right hand when entering the plane (oh superstition...). I also fell head over heels in love with Cape Town.

I conquered major fears by completing a canopy zipline tour (and creating a permanent dent in my left shin in order to not pitch my husband off the side of a mountain) and whitewater rafting (in class 4 and 5 rapids, no less). Clearly, I survived.

I've learned it can get a lot colder in Africa than I ever thought (yes, 32 degrees farenheit!). I've learned that I can actually slap lotion on my skin and watch it immediately disappear due to living in a high altitude, super dry climate. I've learned that chlorine from the pool will bleach out your dog's hair.

I've realized that its not so bad living behind bars - I hardly notice them on my windows anymore. I still don't know why my hydrangeas died a cruel, ugly death in the yard while everything else thrives (seriously - I had 7 foot tall roses!).

I've added strange phrases to my vocabulary, such as "Izzit?" or "100%" or "Oh shame..." and can actually sound out the various African languages fairly well, even though I have no idea what I'm talking about. My math skills have increased tenfold from doing exchange rate calculations on a daily basis.

I no longer think it strange that people sing out loud in public. I've grown accustomed to life moving slow - traffic, queues, internet service, restaurant orders. I'm used to someone standing at every stop light asking for money, food, or clothes.

I still haven't seen an elephant in South Africa.

I still can't drive a stick shift car.

My eating habits have majorly changed. I enjoy game meat more than I enjoy chicken. I order almost all of my food spiced "hot" - which is super duper hot. I prefer my eggs over medium instead of scrambled. I've fallen in love with Boursin. I still think biltong is gross although I eat warthog cabanossi for breakfast almost every day. I think I need these in my life right about now but the lack of adobo sauce and wonton wrappers will prevent me from attaining this goal. I tell people I miss them more than I miss Chick-fil-a and I only hope they know me well enough to know that means I miss them a heckuva lot.

My lifestyle habits have changed. A night in with friends with takeout pizza and trivial pursuit is a great time indeed. My best weekends are those spent with friends at a cookout with nothing to do but enjoy each other's company (oh yeah, and of course some time devoted to playing in the pool with the dogs). I love dinners out on the town, but also love those nights where Will creates something super tasty and we watch numerous episodes of a TV show on DVD. I guess I've realized that it doesn't take a lot to make this lady happy.

I've been incredibly blessed to share this fantastic experience with Will. Through the ups and downs, we've realized that we have a great thing together. We've built an incredibly solid foundation for our marriage due to our experience here and we are so thankful to have yet another year to keep learning how to be the best spouse we can be for each other.

To put it simply, we love South Africa. One of my favorite songs by is "Africa" by Toto. In the chorus, they sing "We're gonna take some time and do the things we never have." I know that Will and I will always look back on this two year adventure with fond memories because we've done just that. We've taken two years and removed ourselves from our safety net back home and taken on this great adventure with so many unknowns. And its been awesome.

Not the best updater.

Sorry for the lack of updates - I really have no excuses. What have I been doing? Traveling, cooking, and working really.

Our 1st anniversary trip to Europe was absolutely amazing, despite me losing a disk with all our 1st anniversary photos on it (blast!). Ireland was insanely amazing and England was all that and a bag of chips. I was reunited with the Little Friend, her hubby Brian, and her parents in Ireland and we had the absolute best time. It was truly a fantastic vacation and I can't wait to visit both places again! We went so many great places and had such an amazing time - maybe one day I'll sit down and do a complete post about it.

In the mean time, there's this:

On top of Staigue Fort in County Kerry, Ireland

Climbing up the ridiculously small staircase at Blarney Castle in Cork

Have you ever seen two strangers so happy to take a picture with each other?
Me and a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London

Oh yes, self photo time! Will, his fantastic gift of beard, me, and of course, Big Ben!
The lost disk of photos is filled with tons of self photo gems. BOO.

To update on June's food post...
(1) I've made chili con queso twice (thanks for the velveeta mom!), much to the delight of the Americans at post here in SA. I call it "Heaven on Earth" - and it really is. It really really is. YUM.

(2) I made the pasta alla vodka and linguine with chicken thighs. Both dishes were incredibly easy to make and inexpensive! The pasta alla vodka was a bit different than normal sauces I make - a teensy bit on the sweet side, but oh so good. I think next time I'll serve it was ravioli rather than just plain noodles. The linguine with chicken thighs was also superb - it made a ton of sauce! It was nice and light. I also added mushrooms to it because I just can't help myself.

(3) Why am I even posting today, of all days? Well, Will, being the fantastic hubby that he is, made something like this last night. We had a bunch of bell peppers in our fridge that were about to head south. He slapped those babies on the grill and charred them up. After he let them cool, he picked off the charred parts and put the rest in our food processor. Add some garlic and walnuts (yes, walnuts - not pine nuts), parmesan cheese, and presto - its pesto! Will tossed it with some egg noodles and it made a fantastic meatless Monday dish. I love recipes that use what you already have on hand to make something incredibly yummy!

(4) Completely unrelated to food, but noteworthy: Since its so cold outside, Will and I have been watching lots of tv shows on DVD. We're smack in the middle of Entourage, which we both really like. We recently finished Murder One and Damages - both shows were excellent! We're also caught up on Rescue Me and the beginning of The Closer.

Life is good.

Recipes to try when we get back!

Because when I'm bored and don't feel well, I like to look at recipes, specifically on this site...

Homemade Chicken Strips

Shrimp Risotto ...except I want to make mine tomato based... and SPICY!

Apple Tart - not that I'm the best baker or that I really love baked apples, but this looks tasty and fun...

Bread! I want to make bread in a dutch oven!

Chili con queso - because mom sent me velveeta and I have a crock pot ready to make something de-lish and terrible for you.

Strawberry Shortcake Cake - again, I need to be a better baker and this looks like a great one to try.

Homemade Pasta - because I haven't yet perfected my recipe...

And pasta sauces! This and this and this and and this and this (especially the last one)...

Recipes to try!

I'm in love with my Crock Pot. Aside from the fact that I purchased it for $15 from someone moving back to the US when it retails for $50, aside from the fact that it has a removeable insert and carrying case, and aside from the fact that I can run it through the dishwasher when I'm finished so I don't have to battle the monster in the sink... it makes a-mazing soup.

This is all to say: send me Crock Pot recipes!

My mom gave me this recipe a LONG time ago. I love Olive Garden's pasta fagioli soup and thought I'd finally give the recipe a whirl with my new Crock Pot, per Will's suggestion. I prepped everything the night before and just set my Crock Pot insert in the fridge to keep over night. The next morning all I had to do was take it from the fridge, place it in the Crock Pot, and set it to "low." EASY.

I came home to a house that smelled so amazing! All that was left to do was make the noodles to go in it. When all is said and done, this soup definitely makes 14-16 servings. I used lean ground beef and added crushed fennel as it cooked to make it taste like italian sausage. I also added garlic here and there. The soup was incredible and we will be eating it for awhile.


Last night I decided to try a Rachael Ray recipe for sesame chicken that I had clipped awhile back. In addition to the green beans and red bell pepper, I added mushrooms and broccoli. I steamed all the veggies prior to cooking so they'd be easier to stir fry. I also used 1 tbsp. of honey instead of 3 tbsp. and used sambal olek instead of hot sauce. I also added garlic here and there because I can. I steamed the rice in my microwave rice cooker (buy it - it will change your life! its one of my favorite kitchen items - rice in 12 minutes!) and just added the chopped green onions when it was done. The rice tasted kind of like fried rice, but without all the grease. The stir fry was really light and tasty and I loved the toasted sesame seeds. I also liked making my own sauce rather than using a bottled stir fry sauce. This is a great way to use up veggies that are about to turn bad!

Enjoy!

Regular ol' update!

Apologies for the utter lack of posting of Zimbabwe - I have no excuse! I just haven't done it, but I will. I should warn you that almost all of them are taken from a moving car, but c'est la vie, I didn't have time to sight see!

Next week I head off to Angola and Namibia for two weeks. This will officially be the longest period of time spent without Mr. Will since our wedding. Boo! I'll actually be in Namibia over the weekend and will hopefully find something fun to do during that time.

So what have I been up to... Will has been sick lately, which is quite the experience in SA. They keep all sorts of meds behind the counter and everything has different names so you just wind up giving the description of the sickness to the checkout person and they hand you bunches of stuff. Luckily, medicine is inexpensive here, and even better, Advil-CS works like a charm for a sinus infection.

I had some exciting and interesting cooking adventures this week. On Saturday, Beth and Adam invited us over to watch the USA vs. Canada baseball game (ah, baseball! love it!). I decided to make rosemary foccacia because (1) I just wanted to try and (2) I have a massive rosemary bush in my yard begging to be used. I searched online and found this recipe. After making the dough, I realized I didn't have the requisite 10x15x1 pan needed nor did I have the hours and hours of time it said the dough needed to rise. Undeterred, I proceeded using a 9x13x2 cake pan to put my dough and reducing the rising time to 30 minutes on each go. I also added a tbsp of minced garlic to my olive oil/rosemary mixture to brush on top of the bread.

I must report - it was fantastic! It was a bit thick, but it actually ended up being great for dipping in the marinara sauce I had made on Thursday night. Yummy.

On Sunday, we tried our hand at making Chinese food. It was a big fat FLOP. I made horrific fried rice out of brown rice - it was nasty. I have no idea why I made it as I'm not a fan of fried rice anyway - I guess I just wanted to try. We made General Tso's chicken but apparently added too much cornstarch as it was like eating chicken covered in snot-like goo. G-ROSS. The only saving grace was the veggie stir-fry I had made. We've now agreed that if we need Asian food, we should just go straight to Simply Asia, a fantastic little stir fry place where the two of us can eat for under $10.

Since Will felt yucky, we also watched two less-than-stellar movies this weekend: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Casino. Indiana Jones had dialogue so bad it was funny and Casino was just way too depressing and gory to watch before bed. I had nightmares that night!

We're also on to season 6 of The Sopranos. Each episode gets better and better than the last, but I'm also dreading coming to an end of this TV show.

That's it for now! More as I travel...

Cake!

As I've mentioned previously, it is the custom of our office to bring a cake on your birthday. Today is my co-worker Sippho's birthday and he asked if I would bake him a cake since my cupcakes were so good. Since I happened to have leftover frosting and a box of yellow cake, and because flattery for my baking is very rare, I said yes.

I get home after work, pull out my ingredients, and prepare the batter. Realizing that I have extra chocolate chips leftover from holiday baking, I decide to pour them into the batter to make a chocolate chip cake. I pour the batter into a greased pan, realizing only after I've slid it in the oven that I didn't follow the high altitude directions. Ooops. I putter around the kitchen while the cake bakes, only realizing about 20 minutes into it that wasn't I raised to walk gently when a cake was being baked? And haven't my dogs run all through the kitchen, doors been slammed, and who knows what else? Ooops.

When time is up, I pull the cake out to find a distinct valley in the middle of my cake with some charred edges around the side. Ooops. Did I not calculate 375 degrees farenheit accurately to celsius?

Baking genius that I am, I decide to transfer the cake to a long tupperware, thus removing crispy edges. This is when I realize that all the chocolate chips floated to the bottom of the cake pan, making a chocolate crustiness on the bottom of the cake. Ooops. I coat the thing in frosting and sprinkle with the remaining chocolate chips, making what looks to be a 5 year old's attempt at baking a cake. Enter a husband doubled over in a fit of laughter here.

Regardless, Sippho was ecstatic about the cake. It was gobbled up before 9:00am and everyone raved and raved about my baking prowess. If only they had someone that was a good baker making treats for them!

A Zimbabwe post coming soon, maybe even tonight! I just need to upload pics.

New links!

As you devoted readers know, much of this blog is (accidentally) devoted to food. South Africa has some interesting and strange foods (there should be an orientation to strange sausages for every newcomer!) and I like trying them all. I have found that I love ostrich, sweet potatoes are purple and white on the inside (I'd give my big toe for a yummy orange on the inside yam), pumpkins are white or green, biltong is South Africa's answer to beef jerky, and I still have no idea what a hanepoot is.

As newlyweds, we've really enjoyed cooking at home and experimenting with all these crazy foods. This means that I feel like I'm constantly on the Cooking Light, Rachael Ray, KraftFoods, America's Test Kitchen, or Real Simple websites looking up recipes to try. Recently I stumbled across three new websites that I really, really like and have therefore placed them to the right of this post for handy surfing.

First and foremost is The Pioneer Woman Cooks! I've seen these recipes online before, but after clicking on her actual page, I was astounded. Tons of yummy recipes with simple ingredients - I'm a fan. I like this website as her recipes include ingredients I can easily get here in South Africa. Yay! The parmesan crusted chicken is already making me drool... and her whole section devoted to sushi makes me want to have a sushi party sometime soon (if only I can find fresh tuna here!!!).

The second is Reformed Carnivore, my friend Rachel's fantastic vegan food blog. All of you know I am NOT vegan and definitely not a vegetarian (see commentary above on my love affair with all things ostrich), but I do try to eat veggie at least once a week for dinner, if not more than that. I always end up achieving that goal is I find I typically like vegetarian meals - plus the vegetables here in SA are soooo tasty and inexpensive! Not only am I fan of Rachel, I'm a fan of her recipes and pictures that accompany said recipes. Fabulous! Check it out. South Africa is a really healthy country, but I haven't seen much in the way of TVP, seitan, veggie products (morningstar farms and boca are non-existent here), soy-based cheeses, or even true block tofu (I've seen it a couple times, but not often) so a lot of these recipes I can't replicate vegan-ly, but could come close.

The third is a Rachel-recommended site: Vegan yum-yum. Again, I love the step-by-step pictures and the recipes. There's even a really great post on how to photograph food with a fancy camera (tips could be useful on all sorts of other types of photography).

Anyway, just thought I'd share. Enjoy!

Side note: I think I am going to try whole wheat pizza dough soon. I just got this recipe in an email. Hmmm. I've seen wheat pasta in the stores so we'll see!

Uganda and pasta!

All in all, Uganda was fantastic. Even the roads are some of the worst I've ever experienced (potholes large enough to lose a Miata in!) and Will and I are both currently suffering from a mysterious malady we think was caused by swallowing too much Nile water, we absolutely loved Uganda.

The Ugandans are SO NICE! The Zambians are also super nice, but they are very shy and reserved whereas the Ugandans are just so much fun. Understandably, this made the trip really great as every where we went, there were friendly faces. We also felt incredibly safe in Kampala, which also made the trip great.

Even though I was holed up in the hotel for most of the day because of work, Will and I made it a point to go out every night. We went to what could possibly be the best Indian restaurant I've ever been to (which is sad, as I don't think I'll be making it back to Uganda any time soon to go back there!). Another night we went to a great Thai restaurant, which was really yummy. I think one of the nicest things about dining out in Kampala was that everywhere we went, we ate outside. The weather was perfect while we were there so it was nice to spend the evening relaxing outside and enjoying the great weather.

For my birthday we made reservations at Emin Pasha based on the recommendations of some colleagues. It did not disappoint. This place is incredibly breathtaking - I've never seen such a beautiful hotel! The food was incredible. I had a goat cheese and arugula salad and a really yummy butternut squash ravioli - just what I wanted! Will had a great steak. After dinner, we relaxed outside on a cushy bench under the stars in the beautifully manicured garden behind the hotel - it really was a perfect birthday dinner. When we returned to the hotel, we invited some colleagues to share the huge cake and wine the Sheraton had given me for my birthday. There was a karaoke band that convinced me to come on stage with them and sing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" - amazingly, the crowd cheered me on. All in all, it was an amazing birthday and one that won't be forgotten any time soon.

Here is a picture of the fabulous treats the hotel got me for my birthday! Will had asked the concierge for help in finding me some roses for my birthday. When he came back from running an errand, he found all the items above sitting in our room. As you can see, roses, wine, a big fruit platter, a bottle of "Lady Perfume" (eau de toilette de Sheraton!), and a nice note written to me about my birthday. Yay! How nice!

Next thing I know, someone is knocking on our door. Its this gentleman (who is very happy as you can see!) bringing a HUGE cake to my door with lots of birthday wishes. Nice!

A close-up of the massive cake! They even spelled my name right! This cake was HUGE and actually really tasty. We split it between 8 people and still had half of the cake left! One Sheraton waiter was ecstatic to take it home with him that night...

We're now in South Africa - it really feels good to be back! Yesterday we decided to have a pasta party and put the pasta machine I got for Christmas to use. I had seen an article in my Rachael Ray magazine on hosting a pasta party so I thought I'd give it a try. I was not disappointed with the results. We made homemade fettucine, a marinara sauce, and meatballs based on the recipes in the article. Everything was SO GOOD. Of course my meatballs were made with ostrich and panko bread crumbs plus some red pepper flakes and fennel seed, but man oh man, they were, in the words of Rachael Ray, yum-o. The marinara sauce was hands down the best marinara I've ever made. I added diced up carrot to lessen the acidity of the sauce plus some dried oregano and italian herbs to the cooking onions, and of course, lots of extra basil. It was PERFECT. I would highly recommend trying the sauce and/or meatballs as it was so tasty!

We also decided to be brave and try making ravioli. Will looked up our favorite dish from Maggiano's, the mushroom ravioli al forno, and found a cheater recipe online. Although my patience was tried by this sauce as you have to reduce everything (the mushrooms, the wine/onion mixture, the cream!), it truly tasted like the real thing once all was said and done. And that, my friends, is a-mazing. A shout out must be made to Beth, who assembled all the raviolis. The pasta is definitely a two-person job!

Time to BBQ.

We'll be here officially 6 months on February 1. Time has truly flown by! We realized its been a very long time since we've had true southern food so we're throwing a Southern shindig on Saturday and looking forward to it!

The proposed menu!

• BBQ meats (I'm sure traditional bbq on the bone plus pulled meat for a bun)
• Homemade BBQ sauce
• Fried okra
• Hushpuppies
• Corn souffle (going to try this recipe and attempt to make creamed corn from scratch since its not sold here)
• Baked beans
• Gallons and gallons of sweet tea

Guests are bringing healthy appetizers and sides since the menu we're providing is pretty rich and unhealthy, but oh man, so yummy.

Next month is quite the travel month. I'll be in Zambia and Uganda, spending a week in each country. Will is going to join me in Uganda, which I'm happy about as I wasn't looking forward to turning 28 in a foreign country by myself. We're thinking of rafting the "Mighty Whitey Nile" and going to see chimps and gorillas. Excited? Heck yes.

Kitchen creations

Will and I have had some major kitchen success as of late. We've perfected our ostrich spaghetti, homemade guacamole, ostrich burgers, and tortilla pizzas.

On Sunday, we had our friends Adam and Beth over for dinner to see Christy and Steph before they left for the states. When thinking about what we'd make for dinner, I suggested shrimp and grits, one of my favorite meals from back home. Will agreed and I got online and searched for just the right recipe. I ended up printing off 8 different recipes and tried to figure out the common links between them. In the end, Will made his shrimp and grits how he felt like doing so I had to get him to write down ingredients so we can recreate his masterpiece down the road. In the end, it was seriously the best shrimp and grits I've ever had. Will made a terrific roux for the shrimp and the greats were perfectly creamy, cheesy, and garlicky. YUM.

Last night I decided to try making indian food at home. Woolworth's sells spice kits for all sorts of different indian food. All you get are the spices and the matching recipe - the rest is up to you. I picked up dal makhani, butter chicken, and lamb rojgan josh. Will and I have cheated at indian food before, using premade kits and frozen naan from Trader Joe's (although I must give Will props and say that with spices, he can make some fantastic indian tandoori meats). We've always been pleased with the results so we thought we'd try again, just this time, more from scratch. I prefer making something from scratch than eating premade goop that you heat up in a bag anyway.

Since we couldn't find naan in the store yesterday, I decided to make it using this recipe. I didn't grill it; instead, we baked it in the oven. My naan came out quite thick and too sweet (1/4 cup of a sugar is too much, IMHO). It doesn't taste bad at all; in fact, its almost like a yeast roll, just flat. Next time I will try this recipe and see if its better (although I will probably still bake it instead of fry it).

The dal makhani was fantastic! At first I was really worried when I added the tomatoes/onions to the lentils - it just looked funky. However, when I added a small amount of cream and simmered it - tada! It turned perfect. It definitely didn't lack in flavor, but its spice temperature was very mild so I kicked mine up a notch with sriracha. I'm not sure how I could make it hotter without adding red chili flakes. I'll have to think on it. Hmmm.

The butter chicken was absolute heaven. I thought it was just as good as you could get in a restaurant. Again, while spicy, it was not hot (does that make sense? I'm saying it was flavorful, but very mild heat). I felt the sriracha would change the flavor too much so I just ate it as was. I didn't do anything to the chicken before simmering it in the sauce - maybe next time I will marinate in yogurt and spices. I also didn't add the crushed cashews that were in the recipe - to be honest, I just forgot until now! ooops! But to be honest, I think it was just fine as it was and nuts would just add extra calories so its probably just as well that they were left out (save the cashews for a snack!).

I didn't cook the brown basmati rice long enough. Ooops. I was tickled to find brown basmati rice in the grocery store. How nice! I like it better than traditional brown rice. yay!

All in all, I would say it was a successful meal. Indian food is one of my favorite things, but its one of the more expensive types of cuisine here so to be able to make it at home saves some dollars and results in awesome leftovers. I think we're going to have that dal for at least another week - it made so much! You can bet that these kits will be in my shipment back home!

Closing November.

I can't believe its November 30 already. This means that it was just 4 months ago that I was eating at Maggiano's with my family, enjoying my last night in the US. I can't believe 4 months have flown by so quickly and that I'm 1/8th of a way through our time here. To say that we've loved it here would be a major understatement - I guess that's why time flies by so quickly!

It also means December is almost here! I've already started my addiction to Christmas music (p.s. Harry Connick Jr. and Tony Bennett both have new Christmas CDs out this year which are FANTASTIC!). We're getting our house painted tomorrow (no more cream walls!) and once the paint is dry, we will put up our Christmas decorations. I can't wait! Will has agreed to be Father Christmas for when we go visit our housekeeper's town. We're going to give gifts to the orphans she takes care of there. We're excited about it. It also means I need to get started on my Christmas cards...

Thanksgiving went super well. Will made the best turkey on our Big Green Egg - it was amazing! We had traditional cornbread dressing, mac & cheese, and green beans for sides (we realized no mashed potatoes, but oh well!). Steph made a derby pie and I attempted a pumpkin swirl cheesecake, which came out a-mazing if I do say so myself. All in all, it was a low-key Thanksgiving and we were thankful to spend our first Thanksgiving as a married couple with family and friends.

On a side note, have I mentioned the pumpkins here are white and the sweet potatoes are purple on the outside and white inside? Weird!

Last night was the Marine Ball here in Pretoria. We had so much fun getting dressed up and dancing the night away! Pictures soon...