In Season- tomatoes

My tomatoes didn't make it to ripe before the frosts hit. Ok- so i planted them late and everybody knows that tomatoes don't 'do' winter...but I couldn't pull out those little plants that got me through summer. Now there's green everywhere and the plants have been laden with green tomatoes for months with no sign of ripening. so I did what I always do when I have too much of a good thing- google recipes!

The first few searches produced 'fried green tomatoes' which, despite the quirky movie of the same name turned out to be quite a disappointment. Sliced green tomatoes rolled in cornmeal, salt and pepper and fried. I only tried them once, but i suspect they only taste as good as the oil they're fried in - which is why all the recipes recommend bacon fat (clogged artery alert!!) and 'rice bran oil' just didn't cut it.

But persistence paid off and google produced a jackpot- Green Tomato Cake - WOW!
so, thanks to: http://southernfood.about.com/od/greentomatoe1/r/bl10712g.htm
the recipe goes like this:

• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil or melted marg/butter
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup craisins (dried cranberries)
• 2 1/2 cups diced green tomatoes
• coconut (optional)

Beat sugar, vegetable oil or shortening, eggs and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Sift in the dry ingredients, then the walnuts, craisins and tomatoes.
Glob into a greased 9x13-inch pan, top with shredded coconut and bake for an hour... or 2 at 180 deg C until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

someone elses perspective

I just love this post...he describes the nuanced joys and frustrations of being a development facilitator so well...
enjoy!
http://www.grist.org/article/simpson-onesky/P2

the Stables: from feral to livable...almost

The bad news is, a rat has died in (what will be) my bedroom ceiling. The good news is, my 14000L tank arrived last week and the plumber came yesterday and its all 'can do'...and my little house just might get livable before I freeze!!
here are a few pics of the progress over the last 5 months...

a different perspective

I had a look at my blog yesterday and realised what a strange combo it is. African header and side bar- paused in October last year. Sporadic Aussie content. Mixed up author?!

Its partly cos I don’t have internet at home or hours to spend updating things- but i must say it reflects my headspace pretty well. Divided.

I’ve had a few comments since I’ve returned, that maybe its time to settle down. Questions like “have you got travelling out of your system yet?” give me the vibe that people think the mobility of my life thus far isn’t good. Isn’t normal. I agree that it can make it difficult for me to connect. More challenging for me to understand others and them to understand me... But I also think its an incredible gift. The Bible says that as believers, our citizenship is in heaven. It calls us sojourners in a land not our own, and that is my experience. I will never feel a deep sense of belonging in this country or that because this world is not my home – one day I will go ‘home’ and spend eternity with my creator. But in the mean time, I am acutely aware of the transience of our lives on this planet. That all that we have in the West is not a right, but a privilege. We could have been born in the DR Congo, or Uzbekistan. We have obligations as world citizens as well as Australian citizens. I’m acutely aware that time is short and each day is a gift to be used in worship of God, the giver of all; and settled here, settled there, or travelling- I wouldn’t have it any other way.

FOOD!!!

One of the joys of living in the country – and not just the country, but the ‘fruit bowl of Western Australia’ is the abundance of fresh fruit and veggies all year round. Funnily enough, this also presents quite a challenge at times as these glorious fruit and veggies rarely arrive in little half kilo clear plastic bag portions like the supermarket. Nope, they are usually handed to you as you leave someone’s house, or left on your door step as a 20kg box of peaches, or 3 shopping bags full of apples or pumpkins or tomatoes...

Having lived where people don’t have enough to eat I can’t bear to waste food, so I’ve embarked on a eating in season, ‘waste not- want not‘ foodie experience. Although you may not be in the position where you’re being handed all this sort of stuff for free, it IS in season- which means it’s cheap, and if you have a deep freezer and some time on your hands- you might just find the following recipes useful!

Tomatoes Ok- so there not in season anymore, but were the first item I received in bulk. 2kgs from this friend’s garden, 3 kg’s from that friend and another few kg’s...and I started to feel panicy about what to do! Then I remembered the Jamie Oliver recipe I had tucked away in my cook book- and I’ve been on the look out for tomatoes ever since!

Jamie Oliver’s Pizza Sauce Recipe (I use it as a base for pasta sauce too)

1 clove garlic, crushed and fried about 30sec in olive oil. Then add

3 large tomatoes chopped (or a can of tomatoes if you live in the city and haven’t got around to growing your own yet- but seriously- you should grow your own- they’re easy to get started and are happy tucked away in a pot -or tyre! somewhere. I think you’ve gotta wait ‘til Spring now though)

1 bay leaf

6 chopped fresh basil leaves

1 tspn fresh thyme chopped (instead of paying heaps at the supermarket- I bought healthy herb plants from a nursery. Pinched a few leaves for my recipe and used the rest to start my own herb garden!)

And...( I don’t think this is part of Jamies recipe) half a masel stock cube, or salt/sugar to balance the flavour. Simmer for about 25min for a thick pizza base sauce, less for a pasta sauce. It freezes well, so you can have amazing pizza or pasta sauce all through winter!

Pumpkin My Aunty grows pumpkins and squash for market, so I get loads. I chop up as many pumpkins fit in my pressure cooker, scoop out the seeds (and save a few for my garden next spring) and boil in a bit of water till soft. Then cool, scoop out the flesh and freeze. Pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, pumpkin scones. YUM! My fav pumpkin soup is Mums Thai pumpkin soup. This recipe’s been sms’sd all the way from Malawi!

‘just use half tsp cumin n coriander lots of ginger n garlic half can coc milk chick stock cude n sp to taste luv mum’

See how ya go with that one!!

Peaches According to one of the organic magazines I’ve been reading, peaches are the highest absorbers of any pesticides sprayed on them, so if you love peaches- it’s really worth planting one in your back yard...or front yard. I never liked peaches until I got a 20kg boxful from a tree down the back of my uncles paddock left at my caravan door. They were so good, a week later I found myself up that tree with 3 plastic bags getting scratched to bits rescuing the last of the fruit from the 4 rams that were circling me beneath the tree. They knew what was good for em. They camped out under that tree til the wind blew, or that crazy human (accidentally!!) dropped the delicious morsels for them.

Unfortunately peaches really don’t last very long-so, after I had distributed the bounty among friends, I had to stew the rest ( i haven’t got room in the caravan to do any bottling this year!). the texture of the skin puts my teeth on edge, so i roll up my sleeves and spend hours in juiciness peeling them, but once they’re stewed they make a mean pie or crumble without any lemon/sugar help.

Lyn’s Crumble

2 Tbspn butter, 1 cup plain flour, ½ cup raw sugar, 1 cup rolled oats, 1 cup shredded coconut, 1 tspn cinnamon or other spices. Combine to make the crumble. Sprinkle over prepared fruit (fresh or defrosted). Moderate oven until golden brown

Apples and Pears As above, OR they are very nice dried. There are heaps of ways of drying, but the consistent part is- soak thin slices of the fruit in lemon and water- then get em dry as fast as possible! Some people have fancy fruit dryers, some people thread apple rings on strings and hang them on their verandas in the sun. I use a potato peeler to get thin slices, lay them out on every rack I can find, then put the racks on the bonnet of my car in the sun, or in the oven with the fan heater pointed at them for an hour or 2. Warms the caravan, dries my fruit!

Figs, Mulberries and Blackberries These are all in one category, cos I always intend on somehow storing them for later- but usually end up eating them fresh cos they’re just so yummy. Picking blackberries helps reduce the spread of this noxious weed- just make sure the plants haven’t been sprayed. Ie no road side picking. Both Blackberries and mulberries make awesome pie fillings. If you don’t have enough berries- bulk it up with apple. Yum. They also all make great jams.

Figs- I had this wonderful ‘figs poached in port’ recipe that I thought about trying with the several kg’s of fruit I had collected at a friends farm. But the recipe had ALOT of sugar in it and I’m not a huge ‘super sweet’ fan. So I decided to sip some port while eating the figs- which was ok. But to be honest- i preferred the figs straight! Or dried, chopped up on my muesli. Mine didn’t last long enough to dry though (hehe).

Last but not least: Carrots We harvest 100’s of kgs of carrots a week at a friends organic farm where I hang out, so I’m always in good supply of delicious, sweet carrots. My waistline says I’m making WAY too much carrot cake, but I also love substituting carrot for pasta to make a light, refreshing meal. I saw the recipe on a vegan website once. Basically, peel your carrots, then using the peeler, make long strips of ‘spaghetti’. Saute a diced clove of garlic in some olive oil, throw in a few carrots worth of strips, toss until lightly brown on the edges, then serve up with your favourite pasta sauce.

My garden is now full of cabbage, broad beans, broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, Swedes, turnips and beetroot... so I’ll let you know how I go!

Farming life :)

The Stables; my 27th Home

So, besides dog training and continuing the quest to find the biggest and juciest blackberry in the world ( I know its out there!!)...I've also been converting stables to living quarters, because living in a caravan- despite what the grey nomaders will tell you- just ain't that great.

I'll be fair though- there are some positives:

-It's only a small space to clean

-I spend MUCH more time outside so I'm feeling much more in touch with the environment and the seasons- from beautiful full moon nights to raging storms buffeting my 'home', to feeling like i live in an oven on a hot summers day.

-I get to sit knee to knee with visitors

-its an incentive not to put on weight, or grow taller otherwise I just won't fit.

that's all I can think of.

The negatives-

-My (and the dogs) every movement is felt by the whole caravan

-the small space requires cleaning and tidying ALL THE TIME because there is no where to store my stuff, hide the mess and no doors to close.

-it seems to magnify the weather outside. if its hot, its REALLY hot in the van. Cold? Its an ice box. Rain or condensation? it starts dripping through. but as I said, nice to feel at one with the environment!

- I can't sleep straight in the bed cos its too short. The bed is too narrow to turn over freely and the mattress has a 'groove' that just cant be escaped.

.. i could go on...but I won't. Now that you know WHY Ive taken on this crazy project, I'll show you the 'progression' of my 'NEW' home, from goat pen/horse stables/junk yard to glorious hideaway. Ok- so Im not there yet, but its happening.

BEFORE

Jan 2010. im having an issue with blogger. so that'll be all the pics for today- but more to follow!! :)

Re-entry and reverse culture shock and all that

This was written abit in Jan, a bit in Feb...but its still current - so here goes.

Well, I’m not living in the deep dark depths of Africa anymore- haven’t been for 2.5 months... so I’ve been wondering whether there is anything really worth blogging about now? Do you care what I think of Australian fashion? Australian’s addiction to stuff, sport, the weather? How would you react, I wonder, if I started blogging about the Australian culture the way I did about my host one; describing odd little tendencies and trying to make sense of it?

Being a stranger in your own culture is hard to describe. Which is why I thought I’d throw caution to the wind and try and share my re-entry experiences with you. Are you game??!! Am I game?!

Did you know there are books written about what I’m going through right now? The little hand book I have says that:
‘In the process of coming home, it would seem the cross cultural worker may move through a number of stages... the excitement phase...the defensive phase ...the re-establishment phase...’

It goes on to describe that I might find things tough coming back and not to be too hard on myself. So I haven’t been. I’m just bumbling along trying to take it all in.

Two and a half months and I think I’m only just beginning to realise that this is where I’m gonna be for a while. ‘What am I doing?’ is a big question on my mind right now. I’ve written a list of ALL the things I want to be doing and am trying to work towards each goal a little bit each day and week, but the reality is- my ideal life can’t go on much longer. I’m going to have to earn an income fairly soon. So I’ve been applying for jobs. But do I really want the job?! How will this job make the world a better place to live?! Oh that’s right- we don’t ask those sorts of questions here. They make people feel uncomfortable.

I feel like I’ve come back as an expanded version of myself. Not quite 2 people- cos it’s all still me, but bigger than I can inhabit all at once. I had ways of relating, being and seeing the world here in Australia, then I learnt different ways of relating, being and seeing our world in Malawi. And I can’t live both simultaneously. I value what I learnt in Malawi, so I don’t want to let it all go. But I have to let something go to ‘fit’ and live with any degree of sanity in Australia. I think this is where living on a farm has really helped. It’s allowing me time to just ‘be’ and sift through what has changed in me so I can CHOOSE how to respond- rather than just react.

The loneliness is kicking in too. I miss my friends in Malawi and I have a lot of ground to cover and head space paradigm shifts to get back on the same page with my Aussie friends. It’s not the ‘no people’ sort of loneliness; it’s worse. It’s wanting to scream in a crowd. It’s seeking out people for company and realising that you feel lonelier than ever. There’s no quick fixes in this life eh?!
Well, at least my dog understands me (haha!) or at least provides company, entertainment and distraction. Allow me to introduce ‘Sookie’. She’ll be dotted throughout my farm photos from now on. You’ll probably never meet her in dog cos she can be a bit aggro- but we’re working on that :-)

Australia... (not the movie)

I arrived 'home' (Australia) 3 days ago, and, as warned, it's been a bit of a spin. Jetlag aside, I've been seeing this country with a fresh set of eyes, finding myself both excited and appalled by the strangest of things.
But back a step...what was the first thing I did once I hit 'civilisation' (Joburg airport) ? treat myself to a soy latte of course! and photographed it before I took a sip hehe
So, some observations...
After seeing women tie their kids to their backs for 2 years, prams are the most clumsy things I've ever seen.
I thought Australia had an economic crisis? you certainly wouldn't guess by the sheer number of nice cars on the road!
No petrol crisis here! and its only $1.25/L (Malawians pay around $2.15)
I desperately wanted to photograph the fruit and veg shop, but by this stage was already feeling like a freak, so decidied that might not be a good idea.
Fashion- it's just plain overwhelming. Im stuck with the conundrum of wanting to look like everyone else to fit in ...but hating what they're wearing.
There are FIVE different types of soy sauce in the supermarket! everything you could possibly ever dream of wanting food -wise is all in 1 shop!!!
I just watched the garbage truck go by. What a beautiful sight! that menas no acrid smoke wafting through your house. bring it on!
Meat. Its in every meal. Its tender. You can buy lamb.
You can pause TV now??!!
The box is on ALL the time. loud. and everyone just talks over it.
First food item brought at the local food hall??: a HJ's junior whopper. yup they still taste just how I remember 'em. Second? a big plate of sushi (woulda been reversed if I'd found the sushi shop first!)
Number of kilo's put on in 3 days? Im not telling.

We're off for Christmas at a farm somewhere near Coffs Harbour for the next week or so. I Hope you have a fantastic Christmas celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus and enjoying all the good gifts he has showered on us.

I'm still kickin'

wow...its been a whole month since I've posted anything. That's a bit hard-core slack isn't it?!!
well, here is a post I wrote a few weeks ago and forgot to post...
I can't seem to move the photos- so its pictures first! An elephant kiss, Liwonde National Park

The view from the front verandah of our chalet at Nkhata Bay (no zoom used)

My colleague and I at a more formally structured Agriculture lesson about farm planning

So, Where have I been? well, for one- I've been forced to think about leaving and all that it entails. Finishing up well, it turns out, takes a lot of time and energy! So far I've sent 23.5 kgs back to Australia (books!!) in other peoples luggage, 3/4 packed the house, written a huge 'to do' list, started telling people I'm leaving soon, endured several 'we don't want you to leave' speeches and am trying to wrap my head around how I'm gonna face so many painful 'good byes'.

(Addendum- I've now said good bye to most of my groups and packing is still a work in progress)

I've also had 3 friends from Australia visiting the last few weeks, which took us on a tour of the country- from Nkata Bay to Blantyre, from the idyllic lake shores at Cape Maclear to lengthy village meetings in the back blocks of Machinga. Have you ever thought about what you would show people of your life if you wanted to give them an overview? hmm. not sure we quite achieved that, but I gave it a shot and had a great time seeing some of Malawi's highlights along the way!

And...I've finally got an 'official' hobby. you guessed it- photography :) I've joined an online group that advises and critiques, discusses techniques and has online competitions (which is where a fair chunk of ususal 'blogging' internet time and energy has gone). But its FUN! :) learning new stuff, keeping an eye out for 'the perfect shot', debating the strengths and weaknesses of different angles etc. the downside is that I've discovered I'm actually less likely to reach for the camera because I know the lighting isn't right etc. :(

(Addendum- I haven't had much time for this the last few weeks. that's the good thing about this hobby- it can wait :)

I started packing today

I started packing today. it wasn't one of those things where I said 'i'll start packing on Monday', or even a matter of waking up in the morning thinking it's a good day to pack. Nope, I walked into my office with the intention of clearing off a few surfaces so I could move some furniture around to accommodate friends who are visiting Friday and the next thing I know I'm sorting through every bit of paper in the room. With a growing pile of rubbish around my feet, a 'I want that back in Australia' pile and a 'probably not relevant to Australia- but worth stashing for if I ever come back' pile...there was no denying it. Packing had started.
I STILL HAVE SEVEN WEEKS!!!! ok I'm in denial. it felt like just yesterday I still had three and a half months. At this rate i'll be on the plane by tomorrow.

So then I gave in. I brought a suitcase from the awful new chinese shop in town. It is the first suitcase I've ever purchased. The first suitcase I ever remember using was a brown hardened vinyl thing my grandfather? used to use. Then I graduated to backpacks and the style of travel they suit. Coming here I packed everything into boxes, sent it off, then followed at my own pace, taking the scenic route with my backpack through Madagascar and northern Malawi.

Now I own a suitacase that has wheels and points north. You'd think I'd buy a compass, or an airline ticket rather than a suitcase if I wanted to know which direction I was travelling. But now i can pull up my fancy little handle and drag my suitcase down flights of stairs, twisting my wrist and making a terrible racket like everyone else. It's actually the perfect size to not fit in cabin luggage, but to take it on board anyways and obnoxiously demand that it go in the overhead locker while holding up every single other person on the plane. yup my first suitacase.
Or maybe I could just pack it and give it to my parents to add to their weight allowance and stick with my comfy backpack, held together with safety pins... yup (grin) that spells 'adveture' ! now I'm back in my comfort zone.

Decisions Decisions

I slept 11.5hrs last night! The power went off around 6 so I decided to have a candle-lit soak in the tub (with a good book of course!) and it still wasn't on by 7.30 so I thought...'bed time!'... and then I slept and slept with no alarm. Just glorious!

The last few weeks have been busy. The first few days back from my week at Cape Maclear were an up-hill struggle to get back into the swing of things...but now I'm well and truly in the swing!
I think the cause of both the inertia and the sudden activity was the realisation that I only have 10 weeks left!
10 short weeks to finish up all the farm trainings, write up the training outlines, get the translated agriculture brochures finished, prepare M & E and a development frameworks and a proposal, help out with Lake of Stars music festival the permaculture consortium, keep visiting all my friends...

Sort and pack my stuff, say goodbye to everyone and leave well...

Prepare myself for arriving back in the thick of Australian Christmas commercialism, materialism and excesses. Back to a 'home' that has changed since I left. A 'home' that may or may not fit a sojourner whe's been marked by Africa...

And the looming question "what will I do next?''

It's been food for thought talking to people about how they make decisions for the future.
They've all asked different loaded rhetorical questions-

'Where can your life be of most use? -What does God say?' (misso speaking) ...'and the need is really great here and you've already done 2 years and are well into language and culture acquisition so it makes sense to come back...'

'What's the best career step?' (NGO project manager speaking) ...'and by the way, I've got this position that I can't advertise and I think your skills fit and its PAID...'

'What's best for you?- what is your higher self telling you?' (creator of a permaculture hide-away)

"You need to find a husband" (local Yawo friends). ok- that one wasn't a rhetorical question- but I wouldn't expect that from such a straight-speaking culture!

I think each one has a valid point. I do need to listen to God's leading and prompting, and consider how my skills and abilities can best be used...but I don't want to do a job simply because 'there's a need'. There will always be needs.
Career and some form of income aren't bad things either- unless they become the only determining factors.
Making a decision that is best for 'me' is a new one... and quite appealing once I allow the ideas to blossom.
Family- in all it's senses is also something I long for. Yes, a husband and kids would be nice- but bigger than that- do I know my extended family? have I ever made the conscious effort to get to know them and put aside the time that it takes?

Where does the future lead?

Cape Maclear

I'm aware that 2 non-work-related blog entries singing the praises of Malawi's beauty in a row...several weeks apart is going to make it look like all i do is sit around waiting for the perfect sunset shot. But you probably know better. I'll get 'round to actually 'writing' soon, but in the mean time here is a few shots from some time out I took last week in Cape Maclear. I think It's all pretty self explanantory!

having fun. enjoying beauty

I've been realising lately that I don't take much time out to have fun- in fact, I think climbing Mount Mulanje (which I haven't gotten around to blogging about yet) was the first 'fun thing that I didn't have to justify' that I've done since holidays in Namibia in December. Work is important, but so is fun. So yesterday, my Mulanje climbing buddy called and asked if I'd like to climb a hill nearby with her boys in the afternoon? And instead of saying- 'I'd love to, but actually I've got 3 overdue reports to work on and I haven't reconciled my August petty cash' I said 'sounds great'.

So off we went. It was SO much fun! here are some pics.

Intrepid adventurers through the burnt scrub.

View of the Catholic complex below. Somehow it jsut doesnt fit visually with the surroundings...
I've witnessed some pretty beautiful sunsets here- but this one wins. Isn't our God amazing? So gracious not only to allow us life and relationship- but to create a world that has such moments of splendour... and give us the senses to absorb it. Sunsets are good for the soul I tell ya. that's the Shire River down there by the way.So big you wanna just reach out and grab it... and then - it doesn't finish there- you turn around and the show continues!
So anyways ...the petty cash still got done...just after dinner :) And the reports? I'm actually working on them now as I wait for Blogger to upload photos. Multi-tasking!

Hold-Up

Something VERY exciting has happened in this town. Everyone is talking about it....
One of the banks got robbed yesterday!
The story goes that 4 guys pulled up in a car, walked into the bank, started pointing guns around and everyone hit the floor. They then proceeded to bag a million kwacha (about $10,000), walked out and drove off.
The Police were called, but they didn't have any fuel for their cars so the guys got away.
Today there are 2 security guards out the front of the bank. Better late than never?

I've moved a lot...

Ladies and Gents, the 'How many houses have I lived in?' poll is apparently closed,
so the answer:
7 incorrect
13 incorrect
26 correct
32 incorrect
No one voted for the extremes. you probably figured I wouldn't bother making you guess for a measly 7 moves. BUT, 4 out 7 were right- I've lived in 26 different houses (for 2 months or more) in my life... soon to be 27 in Dec when I head back to Oz. yay

haha

I just got acknowledged by no less than FIVE minivan/truck (public transport) drivers on my way down the hill just now. Two were flickers of the headlights, two inside-the-cab waves and one arm-out-the-window exuberant wave...

dya know what this means? (other than that I drive up and down that hill far too often) It means I'm cool. I'm part of 'the crew'. I'm acknowledged. I BELONG!!!! ok, so the mangochi-chiponde stretch of the Muluzi Highway in the backwaters of Malawi...in the back waters of Africa, which is arguably the back waters of the world- may not sound like the most desirable place to belong- BUT...wait for it :)
it's cool because 1. im a girl 2. im white 3. ive ony been here a year and a half 4. Ive never met ANY of the drivers- so my reputation is sight and word of mouth only and 5....i don't think there's a five. i just think its cool that I'm counted part of a really obscure sub cultural group that Ive never met, simply because of my work.
that is all.

Cool video

explanation to follow... ;-)

home sweet home

On our little moutain climb on the weekend, one of the climbers did a survey of random stuff- just for interest, like- how many pairs of socks did you pack, how many languages do you speak, how many houses have you lived in...
well- that one made me pause. It took a while- but I finally figured it out. Can you guess how many houses I've called 'home' in my life time?