Sweets in Jaisalmer

[J.] We tested our sweet Indian tooth today while hunting some samosas in the streets of Jaisalmer. Apparently, this shop is the best to buy sweets and the convincing indicator for us were all the locals busy buying there as well...
So, my teeth only survived a few of these sweets, never thought that too sweet is actually possible!! Still, I am in sweet heaven.

Jaisalmer, India

[J.] Aaaaah, Jaisalmer! What a beauty, what a sight. A town and its amazing fort built of yellow sandstone...

The first day after arriving in this town, we felt like we finally arrived in our holiday. We spent the day at the roof top restaurant of our hotel, super lazy, making further plans, drinking coffee and lassi and enjoyed the stunning view from there onto the fort in the near distance.

The next day, we wandered through the streets and visited the fort, windowshopping all the beautiful crafts and art available for sale, having the idea of inviting all friends and families to join our trip under the condition of arriving with empty luggage so that they can take home all the things I want to buy. *sigh*
We took a break at the little Kuku coffee shop at one inner corner of the fort and had a breathtaking view over the city, the real italian coffee deal and a divine fig milkshake. Totally yum!

Here is a short video that we made to say `Thank you` to our amazing guide Bhawani from the Pleasant Haveli Camel Safari.

One minute in Delhi

It almost feels like Weiberfastnacht in Cologne just without the Kölsch and the music ...

This should be a lot better already

Bikaner, India

[J.] After the hectic days in Delhi, Bikaner was a relaxing stop for us for two days on our way to Jaisalmer. We stayed in a family guesthouse and spent a lot of time resting, organising the next stays and wandering through the old city (while getting terribly lost in this maze of little streets).
The bazaar streets were not that crowded and most of the vendors did not bother us. We did not visit the rat temple nearby Bikaner where rats are considered holy and bringing luck. Other tourists told us though that this temple appeared strange/weird for them as it is very dirty with rat poo all over and walking across this sacred temple required the shoes to be taken off. Uuurgh! Someone even told us that it is believed to bring luck to eat the food from the floor that the rats left behind and that she saw a woman doing this. While I consider myself being open minded, I am really not too sure about this... ;)

Two experiences stood out for me while being in Bikaner and made the stay there really rewarding:
1) When walking through the old city we passed a tiny little shop of a tailor. I have a scarf with me that I bought in Zambia that needed to be fixed and with hands and signs I asked him if he could help me. He did and when I wanted to pay him he refused to take any money, regardless of how hard I tried. That totally made my day after the Delhi experience where it sometimes feels like everyone is out to rip you off.
2) On our way to Jaisalmer, we met an Indian guy in the train who shared a lot of stories with us about his life. He was on his way back from Bikaner to his home after having spent a day with his sister. And he shared all the sweets he was taking with him with us. Super sweet and super delicious!!!

Delhi, India - finally starting our trip!!!

[J.] Finally, after leaving SA and spending some weeks in Germany with family and friends we are on our way to India to start our trip.
For me personally the trip started at the trainstation Schierbrok, Germany where I was catching the train to the airport in Frankfurt. My mom lives here and I was spending the last few days with here and our dogs, who savely arrived in Germany and will stay with my mom and her two dogs for the next year. While waiting for the train I could hear our dogs bark over a field of around 200meters distance and it made me so sad...

Okay, Delhi now!!
We arrived in this big city basically unprepared. We have not really had the time to read up a lot on the Indian culture or anything that we would normally do before arriving in a new country. That paid us back on our first day where we were about to run into a classic scam, so annoying! The taxi driver took us to a street that was apparently blocked by the police and droped us off at a tourist information place where they pretended to call our hotel (was some fake guy) and who told us the hotel is closed during the morning. We were quite confused and tired and stressed but overall their story was not consistent and it became quite apparent that they just want to sell another trip to us... All the time they were very friendly and even offered us a coffee for free.
So, we were leaving this office and gathered our options while I was having a cigarette when the next guy approached us showing us a map and telling us that we need to go here and there and blablabla... Everytime, we asked him to show us on the map where we are and where we have to go, the direction was another... Then I thought, okay, this is not leading anywhere, let me take a picture of this map and then we just walk. In order to do so, I asked Nicolai to hold my cigarette and saw him inhaling twice deeply which he has not done for 5 years!! Haha... So much for starting your journey relaxed!

Lessons learnt so far:
- Dont trust anyone blindly who is approaching you first
- Dont trust anyone blindly who is approaching you telling you that he does not want your money. For sure he will direct you somewhere where you clearly dont want to go
- Be informed, haha!
- Have an offline map installed on your phone that can navigate you. This has already saved us a couple of times and tends to work when you let the rickshaw driver know that you know where you wanna go :)
- If someone tells you without you asking that this and that is closed, with a probability of 99% it is not closed.

All in all, 3 days in Delhi were very interesting, loud, busy, dirty and hectic. We are curious about how the rest of India looks like and are heading west to Bikaner into the desert...

The pic below shows the Main Bazar Road in Delhi where we stayed for the first 3 days.

Springboks in the sky (Ponte City)

[J.] We really miss Joburg and our friends and colleagues there. It is such an amazing city ... This was one of the last things we did before leaving Joburg, watching the worldcup rugby game between the Springboks and Scotland at the 51th floor of the Ponte Tower in Joburg and we had a blast (also, of course, as the Springboks won).
We booked the tickets via Dlala Nje's homepage (who are located at the bottom of the Ponte Tower). As far as I understand, Dlala Nje is renting the apartment on the 51th floor for entertainment purposes. The history of the Ponte Tower was the magnet for us to have a closer look at this building. The view onto Joburg from one of its top floors is absolutely stunning. Few impressions of this evening below...

Vanilla Parfait

I cannot recall where I found this recipe for a vanilla parfait, but I love it as it is easy to make and tastes delicious.

Ingredients:

• 3 egg yolks
• 50 ml water
• 75 caster sugar
• 1 table spoon vanilla extract
• 150 ml double cream

Put the water with the sugar into a saucepan and stir it over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Boil the sugar water and cook for about 7-10 minutes. Cook until the water starts to thicken (syrup).
Whip the egg yolks with the vanilla extract until it has more then doubled in volume.
Add the syrup and let the mixture cool down.
Beat the cream and fold it with the egg/syrup mixture.
Put everything into the freezer.

Serve with fruits, chocolate or anything you like. YUM!

Guacamole

For everyone who loves avocado and especially guacamole, here are the ingedients for our favorite recipe:

• 2 big avocados (very ripe)
• approx. 10 cherry tomatoes (cut into small pieces as you like)
• 1/2 red onion
• Juice of one lime
• 1 fresh chili
• 3 table spoons yogurt
• Coriander
• Pinch of sugar
• Salt for your taste

Mix everything together using a fork, cover with clean foil and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour. Serve with bread or tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

Amazing South Africa: Sani Pass and Wild Coast

Sani Pass:


Wild Coast:

Volia la moto!

This is our first bike ... I would love to say it is a beast but it is actually a kitten.

Next set of photos will be with the woman in our new motocycle outfit. Terrific!

Hochzeitsmenü mit Familie

Leider habe ich vergessen, Fotos von dem Menü des Vorabends unserer Hochzeit zu machen.  Aber hier zumindest die Rezepte und Ideen ...

Rinderzungen-Carpaccio mit Thunfischmayonnaise

1 gepökelte Rindezunge

Speck

Suppengrün (Nelken, Lorbeer, Wacholder)

Ei

Öl

Essig

Senf
Thunfisch
Kapern
Salad

Rinderzunge mit Speck in Brühe für ca. 2 Std köcheln lassen (bis sie weich ist, Brühe aufbewahren für ). Mayonnaise aus Ei, Öl und Senf machen. Thunfisch und Kapern hinzugeben und mixen. Salad mit Vinaigrette anmachen.

Rinderzunge aus dem Kühlschrank in feine Scheiben schneiden und mit dem Plattieren noch dünner machen.

Zunge auf flachem Teller auslegen und mit Thunfischmayonnaise bestreichen. Salad auf dem Carpaccio anrichten.

Tomaten-Paprika Suppe

Tomaten

Paprika

Suppengrün

Limone
Chili
Sahne

Brauner Zucker

Fischsoße (Thai)

Tomaten, Paprika, Suppengrün, Limone, Chili mit Wasser aufsetzen und kochen bis alles weich ist (ca. 30min). Suppe pürieren und durch Haarsieb passieren. Mit Sahne angießen und mit Salz, Peffer, Chili, Zucker und Fischsoße abschmecken.

Waldorfsalat mit Jakobsmuschel, geräuchter Makrele und Flusskrebschwänzen

Waldorfsalat

Wallnüsse

Knollenselerie

Apfel

Wallnüsse in der Pfanne anrösten und grob hacken

Selerie und Äpfel fein hobeln

Mit einer Vinaigrette Selerie und Äpfel anmachen. Wallnüsse über den Salat streuen

Flusskrebsschwänze

ca. 200 gr. Flusskrebsschwänze

Mayonnaise

Joghurt

glatte Petersilie

Alles vermischen und mit etwas Limone. Chili und Salz abschmecken

Jakobsmuschel

2 Scheiben dünner geräuchterter Speck

4 Jakobsmuscheln

Speck knusprig braten (Mikrowelle oder Ofen). Jakobsmuschel in Butter anbraten, mit Salz und Pfeffer würzen. Mit Speck garniernen.

Geräucherte Makrele

Haut entfernen und in 2cm lange Stücke schneiden.

Rehrücken Wellington mit Kürbispüree, Rettichscheiben

Rehrücken

Senf

Meerrettich

Pilze

Schalotten

Soyasoße

Brandy

Sahne

Parmaschinken

Blätterteig

Kürbis

Butter

Weißer Rettich

Rehrücken Wellington

Rehrücken salzen und pfeffern und sehr kurz von allen Seiten anbraten. Abkühlen lassen und dann mit Paste aus Meerrettich, Senf und etwas schwarzem Pfeffer bestreichen. In den Kühlschrank stellen.

Pilze sehr fein hacken und mit etwas Butter in der Pfanne anbraten bis die Pilze gebräunt sind. Schalloten fein würfeln und mit andünsten. Brandy und Soyasoße hinzugeben und einkochen. Etwas Sahne zum Schluss und mit Salz, Pfeffer abschmecken.

Parmaschinken auf Klarsichtfolie auslegen und mit Pilzpaste bestreichen. Rücken in Schinken einwickeln. Blätterteig auslegen und Rücken im Schinken darauf platzieren. Rücken einrollen und festdrücken.

Mit Eigelb bestreichen und in den Ofen (180 Grad und ca. 30min)

Kürbispüree

Kürbis schälen und würfeln. Mit etwas Wein und Brühe weich kochen (Salz, Peffer, Zucker, Muskat). Butter, Sahne hinzugeben pürieren.

Weißen Rettich in 0.5cm dicke Scheiben schneiden und mit Salz, Peffer, Zucker würzen. Mit Mehl bestäuben und in der Pfanne kurz von beiden Seiten anbraten.

Mehlschwitze mit Brühe angießen.

Gorgonzolaterrine, Parmesanplätzchen mit Traubensauce

200 gr Gorgonzola

80 gr Creme Fraiche

60 gr Frischkäse

4 Blatt Gelatine

8cl geschlagene Sahne

Käse im Topf unter etwas Hitze vermengen. Gelatine einweichen und unter Käsemasse geben und verrühren. Masse durch ein Haarsieb geben und Sahne unterheben. Terrinenform mit Klarsichtfolie auslegen und Masse einfüllen.

200 gr Traubensaft

50 gr Zucker

120 gr Trauben

Portwein

Balsam Essig

Zucker karamelisieren, Traubensaft hinzugeben und einkochen lassen (bis Sirup). Trauben entkernen und unter den Sirup geben.

Parmesanplätzchen

55 gr. geröstete, gehackte Mandeln

100 gr. Butter

Rosmarin

125 gr. Mehl

30 gr. Parmesan

Salz

2 TL Honig

Butter in kleine Würfel schneiden. Mit Mehl, Mandeln, Parmesan und Gewürzen kurz zu einem Teig verkneten und eine Rolle formen. 30 min im Kühlschrank ruhen lassen.

In ca. 1cm dicke Scheiben schneiden und bei 200 Grad 8-12 min (Ober- Unterhitze) im Ofen backen.

Schokoladenkuchen mit Minzparfait

Zutaten für 4 kleine Fondants:
50 g Zartbitterschokolade
50 g Butter
1 Ei+ 1 Eigelb
60 g Zucker
50 g Mehl
2 EL Kakao

Die Schokolade mit der Butter schmelzen. Währenddessen die Formen mit Butter einfetten und gleichmäßig mit etwas Kakao bestreuen.
Die Schokolade und die Butter cremig rühren und zwei Minuten abkühlen lassen. Ein Ei und ein Eigelb mit dem Zucker schlagen, bis es weiß wird. Das Mehl hineingeben und weiter schlagen. Dann die Masse aus Schokolade und Butter hineingeben, anschließend gleichmäßig verrühren.
Den Teig in die vier Formen gießen und für zehn Minuten in den Backofen, bei 160°C Umluft, schieben.
Minzparfait

110 GrammZucker
2 Bund Minze frisch
3 Stück Eier
250 Gramm Schlagsahne
150 Gramm Joghurt80g Zucker und 5 EL Wasser aufkochen und sirupartig einkochen lassen. Minz-Blättchen zupfen und fein hacken. Gehackte Minze in den Sirup geben und abkühlen lassen. Danach die Eier trennen und das Eigelb zusammen mit Zuckersirup und Minzsirup aufschlagen, bis die Masse cremig wird. Dann wird sowohl die Sahne als auch das Eiweiß steif geschlagen. In das Eiweiß am besten 30g Zucker einrieseln lassen. Anschließend werden Joghurt, Sahne und Eischnee unter die Eigelbmasse gehoben.

Eine Kastenform(ca. 1,2l) mit Folie auslegen und die Parfaitmasse in die Form füllen, glatt streichen, mit Folie abdecken und mindestens 4 Stunden in den Gefrierschrank stellen.

Anrichten und ein paar Beeren und vielleicht etwas Puderzucker garnieren.

Death From Above 1979 - Trainwreck 1979 [Official Audio]

Finally! The second LP by Canadian band Death from Above 1979...

Warthog Potjie with Beans and Cashew Nuts

This is my version of a Pork Vindaloo with Naan. But SA style ... because we wanted to do a Potjie on a lazy Sunday afternoon and I found a Warthog leg and shoulder at my favorite butcher here in Joburg. The meat and biltong at RM Meats is amazing and during game season they offer everything from Eland to ... Warthog.
For this recipe I combined a couple of recipes that I found on the internet. I do not think that this is a proper Vindaloo but it tasted great and I can only recommend this flavour combination.

Here are the ingredients:


Naan

400g flour
200ml warm water
3 tbs olive oil
4 tbs plain yoghurt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried yeast
1 tsp salt



Warthog Vindaloo
2.5kg Leg or Shoulder
3 Onions
10 gloves garlic
Ginger (same amount as garlic)
Red and green Chili (same amount as garlic, it will help with the colour of the Potjie if you find the bigger chilis because they are much milder and you can use more of them)
35 gr. of Garam Masala
15 tsp of Rice Vinegar (White Wine Vinegar should be fine as well)


1000 gr. Tomatos

100 gr. Brown Sugar
500 gr. Dried Beans (I could not get the black beans so I took speckled beans)
500 gr. Cashew Nuts


Step 1:
Cut the Warthog leg into bite sized chuncks.
Put garlic, ginger, chilis, onios and rice vinegar in a blender and mix it until you get a fine paste.

Step 2:
Add the paste together with the garam masala and some salt to the meat. Make sure everything is properly coated and let it rest in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Step 3:
Heat up the Potjie and add some cooking oil. Add the meat and brown it a bit (5-10 min). Then add the Tomates.You can cut them into smaller pieces but it reallz does not matter much. Add some water but do not cover the meat completely. Let it cook on low heat for two hours.










Step 4:
After two hours you can add the beans. I used speckled beans because I could not find black beans in our Supermarket. The beans had to be cleaned and soaked in water for a couple of hours. But the still need to cook properly inthe Potjie for 2.5 to 3 hours until they were soft. So overall the Potjie will take 4 to5 hours. We removed the lid for the last hour to reduce some of the liquid in the Potjie.













Step 5:
Roast the cash nuts. You can use a pan to do it but you already have a fire going so why not use it brown the nuts (and bake the naan) as well.











Step 6:
Add the nuts to the Potjie just before serving. This is how our Potjie looked like! Use salt, chili, lemon or sugar and season to your liking.

 









Step 7:
For the dough of the Naan mix the warm water with the sugar and the yeast and let it rest for 20 min. You should be able to see some bubbles on the surface of the water. Mix the yeast/water with the rest of the ingredients and knead the dough for a couple of minutes. Let it rest somewhere warm for at least 2-3 hours. 
Divide the dough into 4 pieces and form the naan. Use some oil to cover the naan and bake it on the fire for 5 minutes on each side.

Enjoy!

Our beautiful and sensitive girl...

Foxygen - Shuggie

Emmarentia - Dog Walking Park

This morning I went with the girls for a relaxed walk to the Emmarentia Park quite early in the morning. The dog walking area is close to the botanical gardens and the Emmarentia Dam. You can access the park via various entrences with good parking facilities (e.g. Orange Road or Thomas Bowler Street). This dog walking park accomodates a lot of little lakes/dams, all connected with little natural or man-made streams which makes it perfect for hot summer days. Of course the water offers a lot of fun during the winter period as well... 

The accessible walking area is wide spread and in general it is a good place to socialise your dogs. For really good socialisation I would recommend to visit the park during the week as you meet the regular dog walkers with well socialised dogs while over the weekend the quantity of the "sun-shine-only"- dog walkers is slightly increased and you might meet some not so well behaved dogs. However, in general this park is very nice for dog walks, just always watch the cyclists!

The snapshot below was taken this morning and shows Lula. I cannot believe that she is already one year old now! She is a fantastic swimmer and even enjoys our pool in the garden quite often. She basically lies in the water without showing a lot of moving effort. It's really fun to see her swim as it looks to elegant. Something she very often lacks having solid ground under her feet...You can spot Gogo in the background pretending to go for a good swim as well. In fact, she is not fond of swimming at all and should something in the water accidentally touch her feet you can be sure that she's literally running out of the water. "Don't trust what you cannot smell or see!"... 

Makes perfect sense to me.

Don't shop. Adopt!

I just read some news about the police in Germany who caught a person during some routine check with 78 puppies in the boot of his car. The puppies were between 4 and 8 weeks of age. I mean, really?! Argh, that makes me so angry and feeling helpless at the same time... I guess if there were not so many people looking for a proper "breed" dog for almost no money such things just would not happen. Seriously, there are already so many dogs out there who are put down because they are unwanted.

Our two dogs are from a shelter. They are some unidentified x-breeds and who cares about them not being "proper" dogs? They have phantastic characters and I love and enjoy them every day. I would not want to replace them by any other pure breed dog in the world. 

In addition a high portion of these "ach so cute"-high breed puppies will end up in an animal shelter anyway between the age of 10 months and 2 years, namely then when they are not so cute anymore and terrorise their respective household. I volunteered at such an animal shelter for quite some time and you find all kind of pure breed or crossbreed dogs there. And guess what? All of them are lovely creatures with amazing characters... So please! Please please please: Don't shop. Adopt!

Nerdy Love Song with Added Kitten Bonus

This is so cute...

Atoms for Peace - Ingenue

Snapshot Gogo shaking off water

Just recently when I was walking with Gogo in a bigger group we came past a little lake or dam. Gogo had a blast running in the water and I was lucky to catch the moment when she was shaking off the water. Really love this picture...