911 viewed through autistic eyes

Each of us can remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard about the terrorist attacks in our country and it affected us in many ways: sadness then anger. Karla has autism and through her eyes she communicates her feelings in this memorial of pictures and her tribute to all those who died and suffered at the hands of terrorists.

CLICK on the above picture   to see her dedication page .

Nothing makes me prouder

… and NOTHING makes me sadder… Paul Krugman has no shame

africhef and fusion cooking

How far will you go to discover a culinary adventure?

There is no secret that certain parts of the world have food that I find intriguing, delicious and worth the effort. Sometimes old recipes find modern day adherents because the food is timeless and wonderful. In other posts I have talked about the ‘one pot’ cooking method that is duplicated around the world, although I am most familiar with recipes of European origin. In Europe, at one time, a pot continually was cooking and things were thrown in and periodically a portion was drawn out for a meal. I love the story of the famous French tavern that cleaned out their famous pot once a year to the loud objections of their regular patrons!

The early Dutch settlers of southern Africa brought with them in the 1600’s, a large three legged iron pot and a meal they called  ‘Potjiekos’ pronounced pot·jie·kos [ póykee kàwss ].  In America our electric ‘crock pot’ does much the same sort of thing, although cooked in the outdoors near or around a fire with hot coals makes a big difference n the final result.

I wanted a Potjie recipe designed with wild game in mind, particularly Elk or Moose and I knew who exactly would be able to give me a start and that was  Africhef  Michael Tracy.  I smiled when I saw one of the ingredients was ‘Rashers’, a term for a particular type of bacon that I haven’t seen since I was a kid…. but I found some and plan to use!

CLICK on the above picture to travel to the Capetown home of Africhef Michael Tracy You can down load his recipe book for about $12

Another favorite of mine is Boerewors… or a nice Afrikaner sausage of beef and pork. I will make plenty of this for the holidays …when we all can sit back over a fire and pour down a cold  ‘Castle’ …if I can find a case or two.

Happy Labor Day 2011!

Be thankful for the time you have earned and that others fought to give you and are continuing to fight for you each day!

Samuel Gompers  once said:

“Time is the most valuable thing on earth: time to think, time to act, time to extend our fraternal relations, time to become better men, time to become better women, time to become better and more independent citizens. “

Enjoy the day!