Johannesburg Climate

From my point of view Johannesburg has the best climate in the world.
It has the dry heat of southern (and northern) Africa which is my absolute favourite. It also has the cool nights of the high elevation (Jo'burg is at 1800m).
I love the cool morning with the sun already bearing the promise of hot days. I love the noon sun which feels like hot peppers on your skin and the slowly cooling evening air steeping with all the scented plants which grow in this climate.
Xmas of course here is in summer and it will make it very easy to totally ignore it this year, which is my plan.

"Cocoa" or "Cacao"?

Early I posted about my new vice: eating "100% cocoa" and then today I noticed that the product I eat is labeled "cacao"!
I always thought that in English it was "cocoa" and in French "cacao", which of course I thought was quite funny, but now I am not sure....Well I am sure it is funny to me but I am not sure that in English it is truly "cocoa".
I had to go and check to see if these were actually two different things and it turns out that they are.
"cacao" is the evergreen tree which produce cocoa fruits and seeds (note they are not beans).
Whereas "cocoa" is either the fruit, the powder from the roasted, husked and grounded seeds of the cacao, or the drink made from the powder.
Or at least this is the way this online dictionary defines it.

So to following this the label my post was right to read "cocoa" instead of "cacao" regardless of what the product is labeled since this is not 100% of the tree and even though it is 100% of the seeds they are processed, they are not just seeds sitting there .....

The Concise Oxford Dictionary says:
"cacao": seeds of tropical tree, giving cocoa and chocolate; the tree.
"cocoa": Powder made from crushed cacao seeds often with other ingredients; drink made from this or from the seeds.

At the end I still don't know if I am eating cacao or cocoa!!!
Anyway enjoy your end of year festive chocolates, that at least is clearly called chocolate.

De Villiers Chocolate (which does not produce what I am eating these days) has an interesting post on their website about the how cacao is processed. What I get is from Willie's cacao and they also have a great site explaining how they do it.
Turns out that in a very similar fashion than coffee the cacao seeds are roasted and the husks are removed. After this the grinding, refining, conching and tempering are of course not like coffee anymore since one of the particularity of cacao is that about 50% of the cacao seeds is cocoa butter. (notice how you go "cacao seed" to "cocoa butter"!! interesting!!!). I have to admit that the process seems quite tricking but then again we all know that chocolate can take that weird texture when heated if it is not done carefully.

More Modern African Fabrics

In between all my meetings in Jo'burg I somehow have to pass the time. Honestly I am starting to get quite bored so I made up some sawing project (and I am NOT a seamstress even remotely). Part of the pleasure for me is of course to choose the fabrics. I don't sew but I love fabrics. Go figure!

Anyway today I went downtown with Michelle (she is a seamstress, in fact she has a clothing stores of her own stuff and I own a  lot of simple dresses with crazy bright African prints that I bought from her) and this is what I bought:

Today we went to a store called Ismail's. It is a great fabric store with loads of choices, lots of Da Gama shweshwes, Fascos and Woodin London Elegance Wax prints.
The store is at the corner of Market Street and End Street at 224 Market.
I recommend this store.

My Temporary New Place

While I am in Jo'burg I have to go to a all bunch of meetings. I took a new place within walking distance of where I have to go. It is quite nice but unfortunately it has to be a temporary arrangement because I can't afford to stay there long term. However this Saturday I am visiting two places that I can afford.

the best thing about the place where I am right now I think is the small terrace at the back. Because the place is on the side of a hill I have a view above everybody else's roof.

This is a small courtyard type of thing with banana trees.

Evening view from the terrace.

 .
The hill at the back of the house

The stairs of the house next door. This is all I can see of that house so it is quite nice and private.

A very South African fence made of sticks just to block the view in a pleasant way.

Another view of the little courtyard with a view through the hallway to the pool of them main house. Loike most houses in Jo'burg they have a poo but never use it.

My door back into my place from the terrace.

100% Cocoa, My New Bad Habit

Here in South Africa you can get 100% cocoa. Because I cannot eat sugar once as a treat I bought myself some. Now I am in trouble. I like it, though I realize that it may be an acquired taste. I already know that I do not care for the Indonesian cocoa as much as the others. So far I find cocoa from both Madagascar and Venezuela quite nice. I think Venezuelan cocoa may be a little easier to like, smoother while the Madagascar cocoa has more punch....And there are more to try!
I should say that without any sugar cocoa is bitter, since I started eating this 100% cocoa stuff I once had a "nice" chocolate with 85% cocoa and I thought the sugar was ruining it. I am in deep trouble. Where am I  going to find single provenance 100% cocoa when I am not in South Africa!!!!

 

Columbia Valley Skulls October 2011

I don't understand such disrespect. At least take the entire head!
did they do this while there was still skin on the bones? I really do not understand. I hope I never understand.

No crown can really undo the arm.

This one was spare the infamy and is still complete, obviously not killed by a hunter.

I don't hunt but I understand hunting to eat but I do not understand trophy hunting. Also I should point out that both these skulls were found in a nature reserve.

Agapanthus

I have grown to realize that the name of this blog may be more appropriate than I had realized at the time. I realize now that I am for ever smelling things around me, noticing smells and particularly the smells of flowers. This alone would make it worth it for me to be in South Africa right now.
Truly I enjoy all type of flowers and the agapanthi (I imagine this is the correct plural form of agapanthus) are not scented flowers but still I think they are stunning.

 

These are not small flowers either. 

and the bees like them too.

Kid's photos

I always wondered why women would wear yoga outfits while shopping or generally away from yoga classes but now I know. As illustrated below: sometimes it is hard to tell where life will take you and you can find yourself in a spontaneous yoga pose.
Charlotte demonstrates the case in the photo below. One second you are walking around having a perfectly normal day. Then Kaboom, next second your body is taken over by a previous reincarnation when you were a master yogi.

Isn't she cute !?!?  And not to brag or anything (OK, I'm bragging) but she let's me hold her.

Her brother with another fruit. Contrary to what the photo seems to suggest he is her BIG brother... it is not that he is small it is just the pineapple is very big!

In fact he is so big that he was a scary warlord as Halloween this year.

Exhibition of African Photography in Bamako, Mali

You just have to go to BBC World coverage of this exhibit. How I which I could be there to see it "live".

Here is an example of the photos they show. This one is by Akintunde Akinyele.

Photos of a Normal Walk in the Area Where I am

It is hard to remember what I used to notice, but here are some totally plain and random photos of what I see when I take my friend's dogs for a walk.

Jacaranda trees lining the street.

Before the walk one of the dog is resting. It is a dog's life!

View of a house above its wall.

Hadeda sitting on the roof.

Metal representations of  guinea fowls on my front steps.

Petals on the ground.

Security, security! It is Johannesburg after all.

More jacaranda shots. I never tire of them.

View of a garden from the other side of the wall.

The back of my friend's house.

One of the garden I like walking by.

African see-saw.

Yellow!!

Cacti growing back to their wild state.

They mean it. They come with AK47s. It happened to me once because of a simple misunderstanding. I was living at fourth eleven street and when they ask my name their were checking the name they had for the previous renter at 4th eleventh street. My name of course appeared wrong to them which they took as a sign that I was telling that I was in trouble and they stormed into the house with their AK47. But it all ended well.

Eleven Eleven Eleven

Today is 11-11-11. (I felt I had to post a blog just to capture it)

It is going to be an easy birthday to remember for babies born today. But you want to be born in a culture where 11 is viewed as an auspicious number!

Funnily enough I remember where I was the evening of  07-07-70. As a kid I though it was pretty special and I remember noticing it in the evening while my parents were watching the news and when the newscast said the date out loud. But I can't remember where I was for 07-07-07, thirty seven years later things were not so magical anymore.

Fabulous summer days in Johannesburg

Weather for Johannesburg Wednesday November 10th 2010

30°C | 86°F

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

Clear

Wind: NW at 19 km/h

Humidity: 15%

31°

17°

27°

14°

30°

17°

30°

12°

It is finally summer in Johannesburg.
Last week was in the low to mid 20C (mid to high 70F) which is not quite warm enough for my taste. But now the days are fabulous and the evenings are heavenly.
I should explain that in Johannesburg you don't get the real hot African temperatures because we area ta 1800m (5760') elevation, which is significant. As a result Johannesburg probably has one the best climate in the world....... I don't have to be here so obviously I like it.

Punjabi Lamb Curry with Spinach or Palak Gosht Punjab

I thought I should show you how nice the recipes from "50 great curries of India" were.
Remember this is a book by Camellia Panjabi


I made this one last night. It really is very nice, try it. You can choose how hot you want it and regardless of what you choose it is a very flavourful dish. I have to admit that this is one of the rare dishes for which I was unable to accurately imagine the flavour just by reading the recipe. It actually tastes a lot better than it reads.

- Fresh Ginger
- Garlic
- Green chilies (choose the heat you want right there)
- a little cumin powder
- Yogurt
         Puree together.

- Cubed Lamb
         Mix in yogurt mixture and let sit for at least an hour.

         While the lamb is doing its thing either defrost
- a package of frozen pureed spinach
             or blanched and chopped some
- Fresh Spinach

              In the pot where the curry will be cooked
- Oil
- Bay Leaves
- Black Cardamon (black only and not too many)
      temper

- chopped onions (quite a bit)
      add to spices and fry until soft and maybe even a little brown

- Coriander powder
- Cumin powder (about half the amount of Coriander)
      add to onions and fry for a couple of minutes then add a little water and let cook for another couple of
      minutes
      Add meat and marinade and cook


      Not too long before you are ready to serve add spinach and
- a little bit of nutmeg

Plastic Bottlle House

I am always interested in different cheap and practical ways to build small houses. In fact even though I have never built a house in addition to my collection of bread cookbooks and other cookbooks I also have a quite a collection of building books. My  favourite is one which is more theoretical than practical (but I also have very practical books such as a book about electrical wiring and about plumbing) which is called something like "build like you care" or maybe "design like you care". I can't remember its title and I am trying to find it on the internet to give you the real title but so far I have not found it.

Added later::
I found it at amazon.com it is:
"Design like you give a damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises";
Author: Architecture for Humanity; (come on go check them out!)
Editors: Kate Stohr and Cameron Sinclair.

All this to say that I found an interesting article about a house built with plastic bottles filled with sand. The technique is not entirely new. I remember clearly that the book I mentioned as my favourite had at least one building built with bags full of dirt, but just the same I thought it was interesting.
My one concern about it would be that the base of the bottles exposed to the outside and so exposed to the sun will become brittle and break. This of course would release the sand they contain which in turn would mean that they loose their structural strength. I would worry about the life span a house like this. In any of those container-packed-with-dirt/sand techniques the life span of the container (bag or bottles or anything else) pretty much defines the life span of the house. Or at least this is the way I see it. However the article mentions that not only is a house like this a third of the price a house built with bricks and mortar but it is more "more durable". I just can't beleive it.

Photo from the BBC World  News article, link below

 You can see how the bottles are exposed to the elements.

This is an article in BBC World News (which yo must know by now is my preferred source of internet news when traveling. You can find it here.
Of course another interesting thing about this is the fact that this project should make it to international news.