A springday no one will ever forget

1 September 2012

At about 13:50, I noticed big white clouds just above the roof of the girls house, not thinking much of it at first, but then at secound glance my breath was taken away by the amount of flames and cloud the fire had already caused.

Just on the other side of the Buffel Veld was a puff of dark smoke and flames higher than the trees. We went to the shop and were told to evacuate the people, I was one of the persons that went to the carvan park to evacuate the guests. The fire was getting closer and closer to the main area (the bistro, reception area), I didn't know what was going to happen to anyone or anything on the farm or what damage the fire had already done.

We then went back to the shop area and started evacuating the people to the caltex garage close to Sondela (just over the bridge), where a roll call was done and injured persons were helped.

We were at the Caltex garage from approximatly 2:30 till about 7 that evening, we were all waiting in suspense to hear what the damage was and we worried about our friends that were fighting fire.

Bike race

This event was held at the Main gate of Sondela Nature Reserve.

Friday 18 May 2012 (The set up for the event):

We set up for the bicycle race of that weekend. We took all the equipment and pitched up the main tent which was next to the beer tent. This was quite a big task as we had to hold up a really big tent with only a few hands available and the wind was rather on the rough side that day.

Saturday 19 May 2012 (The Road Race):

This day started off very early (3:30am) and ice cold. There were ±1500 entrants for the road race. 1500 cyclists and one partner per cyclist, and a friend per partner, which gives an average of 4500 cold, hungry persons who would queue for a cup of coffee with condensed milk and a pancake with cinnamon sugar, or a breakfast roll (which contained: an egg, bacon and tomato and onion relish). When we arrived at the Main Gate (the spot to be, the happening allocation), we started three (3) fires where we put our coffee pots. Some pots contained water for tea and the other pots contained coffee.

A cup of tea or coffee cost R5, a pancake with cinnamon sugar cost R5, a breakfast roll cost R15.

We were very busy on Saturday and had a fair amount of interest. The pancakes were sold out before we knew it, it was even at 10am. We had a good number of coffees and breakfast rolls sold as well.

Sunday 20 May 2012 (The Mountain bike Race on Sondela):

Sunday was the mountain bike race. The paths were on Sondela Nature Reserve.

 There was less people cycling today but it still had a good number of orders. The fires were lit at 3:30 and the coffee and water was started. The mise on place was done for the orders such as pancakes, the bacon was fried and the tomato and onion mix was place in the bain-marie. At about 10am we went to the other tent which sold hotdog rolls, chicken rolls, boerewors rolls, steak and prego rolls, coffee, tea, pancakes (which were sold out early in the morning).

Road Trip to KK(Klein Kariba)

There were exhibitors at Klein Kariba and Sondela was invited. The exhibitors included Pillsbury, McCain, tiger brands, to mention just a few. They had products that we could taste, ask questions about or deliver a comment on. They offer products which I never knew came from these exhibitors.

I thought that it was nice that we were invited to see these exhibitors, they provided information about their products and what products they provide other than the everyday obvious products that everybody know about. For instance: Simply Chicken: I didn’t know that they were (are) halaal. I also thought that Pillsbury only made muffins, but they also make various other products such as Chelsea buns, pink sponge cake muffins and many more products.

I also learnt that McCain is a Canadian company and is one of the world’s largest chip manufactures. Many of the products from the exhibitors have a very long shelf life.

I gathered information and pamphlets which can and will be linked to my electronically used POE shortly.

Mocha Dessert Cake

Ingredients:

1.    100g dark chocolate,

2.    150g butter,

3.    250g brown sugar,

4.    250ml strong black coffee,

5.    250g cake flower,

6.    60g cornflower,

7.    1 egg,

8.    Cocoa powder.

Equipment needed:

·         A large saucepan,

·         A wooden spoon,

·         A sift,

·         A 20cm round cake tin,

·         Oven.

Method for recipe:

1.    Mix chocolate, sugar and coffee in a saucepan large enough to mix all the ingredients.

2.    Heat gently until melted and smooth.

3.    Remove from the heat.

4.    Sift in the flour and corn flour.

5.    Add the egg, and beat in with a wooden spoon until smooth.

6.    Line the bottom of a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper and pour in the mixture.

7.    Bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 50-60 minutes until the cake is firm.

8.    Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack.

9.    Serve dusted with sifted cocoa.

Lime Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1.    125g Crisp biscuits,

2.    50g Butter,

3.    2ml Lemon essence,

4.    1 Small lemon,

5.    250ml Water,

6.    125g White sugar,

Filling:

1.    500g Cottage cheese,

2.    125g Castor sugar,

3.    15g Finely grated lemon rind,

4.    250ml Fresh cream,

5.    15g Gelatin,

6.    60ml Water,

7.    3 Egg whites.

Equipment needed:

·         20cm round spring from tin,

·         Sauce pan,

·         Pastry spoon,

·         Mixing bowl,

·         Whisk,

·         Fridge

Method for recipe:

1.    Crush biscuits into fine crumbs,

2.    Melt butter and lemon essence and mix in with the fine crumbs,

3.    Press into the base f a greased 20cm round spring form tin,

4.    Chill while preparing the filling.

5.    Cut lemon into thin slices,

6.    Heat water and sugar until boiling,

7.    Add lemon slices and simmer for 10 minutes until transparent,

8.    Drain and use to garnish the cake.

Filling:

1.    Beat together cream cheese, castor sugar, lemon rind and juice until smooth,

2.    Beat in cream,

3.    Sprinkle gelatin onto water and leave for 5 minutes to soften and swell,

4.    Heat over hot water and stir until dissolved,

5.    Beat into cream cheese mixture,

6.    Beat egg whites until stiff peak forms,

7.    Fold a little of the cream cheese mixture into the egg white,

8.    Then fold into cream cheese mixture.

Amarula Choc Pots

Ingredients:

1.    200g Dark chocolate,

2.    3 Eggs,

3.    10ml Vanilla essence,

4.    15ml Gelatin,

5.    125ml Boiling water,

6.    Chocolate sticks,

7.    15ml Amarula liqueur.

Equipment:

·         Robo coop,

·         Serving dishes,

·         Fridge.

Method for recipe:

1.    Break the chocolate into blocks,

2.    Place in the robo coop with the eggs, vanilla essence, gelatin and water,

3.    Blend until smooth,

4.    Pour into individual serving dishes and refrigerate until set,

5.    Garnish with chocolate sticks.

Conference for 100 people (29 September 2011)

 Today we had a conference for 100 people. Chef William asked me to do the roasted vegetables.

The roasted vegetables were sweet potatoes and butternut.

Ingredients needed:

1. Sweet potato,
2. Butternut,
3. Oil.

Equipment used:

• Large mixing bowl filled with water,
• Oven,
• Roasting pan,
• Peeler

Method for recipe:

1.    Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius,

2.    Peel the sweet potatoes and place into the large mixing bowl with water to prevent them from browning.

3.    Peel the butternut and place into the roasting pan, which has been greased with oil.

4.    Cut the sweet potatoes into rings and place back into the large mixing bowl with water in.

5.    Cut the butternut and place back into the roasting pan.

6.    Remove the sweet potatoes from the large mixing bowl and place into the roasting pan with the butternut.

7.    Place the roasting pan with the cut vegetables into the pre-heated oven and cook until ready (this should take about 10-15 minutes)