Lowveld - Dec 2020 / Jan 2021
Our gorgeous festive edition! We wish all our readers a wonderful season and prosperous new year ♥
Our gorgeous festive edition! We wish all our readers a wonderful season and prosperous new year ♥
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
puts something special on the tree,<br />
something that is significant to them,<br />
and fairy lights are a must, inside<br />
and outside. “Oh yes, and we love<br />
popping crackers! We don’t always<br />
sit down to a full-on home-cooked<br />
Christmas lunch or dinner, we like to<br />
serve all kinds of snacks (warm and<br />
cold) with a variety of wine (white and<br />
red) and champagne. Non-alcoholic<br />
champagne for the children is always<br />
something they look forward to<br />
and enjoy!”<br />
Snacks are always a winner. They love<br />
to make new things for the Christmas<br />
table, normally everyone brings<br />
something that they’ve made and<br />
love to eat and share. “Then, we end<br />
the festivities off with different kinds<br />
of nice, snacky deserts. After a hectic<br />
<strong>Dec</strong>ember 24 at Rooikat, it is always<br />
nice to relax on Christmas Day and<br />
enjoy it with loved ones. I love to see<br />
the kids’ faces during this time, their<br />
eyes light up with joy when they see<br />
the table filled with festive goodies;<br />
how excited they are to celebrate. It<br />
is a tradition that the story of Jesus<br />
Christ’s birth is told. We all gather<br />
together around the tree while one of<br />
the family members reads the story,<br />
and afterwards we sing Christmas<br />
songs. The gifts of time and love are<br />
the basic ingredients of a truly merry<br />
Christmas!”<br />
The festive season and especially<br />
Christmas Day, are significant for three<br />
reasons when it comes to André and<br />
his family. “From a spiritual point of<br />
view, of course, it is of great import,”<br />
he says. Christmas Day and the days<br />
leading up to it are spent together,<br />
remembering the significance of the<br />
holidays. “In such a fast-paced and<br />
commercial world, we need to show<br />
the respect and honour that is due,”<br />
André says. “Then there is the fact that<br />
being in a family business means that<br />
Christmas Day falls under the two<br />
busiest weeks of the year for us, but<br />
this time also gives Dad a chance to<br />
take a breather - even if it is just for<br />
one day,” he laughs.<br />
The third reason is the opportunity<br />
to spend the day with the rest of the<br />
family. “Christmas Eve was always such<br />
a treat for the children as they got to<br />
see Santa Claus (usually the brother<br />
STRAWBERRY DAIQUIRI<br />
Ingredients<br />
• One cup of frozen strawberries<br />
• 4 blocks of ice<br />
• ½ cup of sugar<br />
• ½ cup of lemon juice<br />
• ¼ cup Lemon Twist<br />
• ¾ cup Bacardi rum.<br />
Instructions<br />
Pour into a blender and blend<br />
until smooth. Here is the secret:<br />
serve it in a classy cocktail glass<br />
with a straw and a few fresh<br />
strawberries. Delicious!<br />
MA SAARTJIE’S GINGER<br />
BEER<br />
Ingredients<br />
• 5L warm water (not hot)<br />
• 4 cups of sugar<br />
• 2 tsp ginger<br />
• 1,5 tsp cream of tartar<br />
• 1,5 tsp tartaric acid<br />
• 1,5 to 2x 10g sourdough<br />
• A handful of raisins.<br />
Instructions<br />
Pour the sugar into the<br />
water and once it has<br />
dissolved, add the rest<br />
of the ingredients. Leave<br />
it to stand overnight.<br />
Drain the mixture using<br />
a cheesecloth. Bottle and<br />
enjoy chilled.<br />
whose figure most resembles that of the old man himself ), who, dressed in<br />
the traditional red North Pole clothing, had the task of telling the youngsters<br />
how well behaved they were and handing out gifts. I made sure I ate healthily<br />
throughout the year so as not to be assigned the task. Now that the kids have<br />
grown up, there is much less pressure!”<br />
The family’s Christmas feast is distinctive to the Afrikaner culture, complete with<br />
beer bread, home-made ginger beer and cold beef tongue served with Ouma’s<br />
famous mustard sauce. And in true festive fashion, this is accompanied by lots of<br />
laughter, stories and masses of cheer.<br />
<strong>Dec</strong> <strong>2020</strong> / <strong>Jan</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Get It <strong>Lowveld</strong> 15