"Be the change you want to see in the world" -Gandhi


Sunday, February 13, 2011

Earth, Wind, Fire and Water

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."  
~John Muir

We have discovered Sophiya's favorite thing to do.... no, it's not playing with the many toys found in her beautiful toy box made by Dad.... it's playing with dirt, sand or rocks outside.  It's amazing how a child with so many princess-like tendencies can have such a fascination with getting absolutely head to toe filthy dirty, but she loves it!  

 We have been utilizing our new baby hiking backpack as much as possible, taking advantage of the many gorgeous hiking trails that Cape Town has to offer, as well as getting out of town for weekend camping trips.  The summer weather is perfect now for outdoor fun, sunny and warm, with a nice breeze to keep us cool while hiking.

  Cecelia Forest to Constantia Nek 

Last weekend we braved another camping trip with our little "monster" which was lovely.  We did a short trip to Kleinmond, only about an hour outside of Cape Town.  It brought back memories from waaay back in 2006 when Dana and I went on a rock-climbing trip with UCT's Mountain Club.   This recent trip certainly did not include any rock-climbing, as we wouldn't be able to belay one another effectively with Energizer Bunny crawling and getting into everything!  Our campsite was right on the beach, with a perfect trail along the coast for us to take a leisurely stroll together.  We enjoyed cooking over the fire, enjoying some local Pinotage wine, playing Cribbage together and watching the bright stars above.



We hope that she continues to love the outdoors as much as we do.  We will definitely carry on with our camping and hiking adventures throughout her childhood and beyond!  Hopefully her love for getting dirty and being outside will persist as well.  Dana and I find that after a weekend of camping, we are rejuvenated, at peace and the stress of life melts away.  To be surrounded by nothing but the sounds of the wind in the trees, the river bubbling and the birds chirping is a little slice of heaven for us.

Sophiya is on the verge of walking.  We can't believe it, but all of a sudden it's getting so close.  She spends her days forcing her little hands around our fingers and using us as her walking aid.  Walking up and down, round in circles, back and forth, she just wants to get up on those legs and move!  Once she has her hands around your fingers, she basically wants to break out in a sprint.  We think she is busy now...

Lastly, I'll close with a little recipe that I tried a few weekends ago while having a Sunday braai at our place with some friends.  Jamie Oliver has become my new absolute favorite cook!  I received "Jamie's 30 Minute Meals" for Christmas and it is fabulous!  His recipes are not only simple, healthy and great tasting, but it is what he stands for that is the most appealing for me. 

Not only is he a big family man with four children, a professional chef owning/running many restaurants, but he spends a lot of time & energy appealing for the UK government to change the standards of school lunches for children/teenagers across the country.  Instead of serving pre-packaged chicken nuggets, french fries and burgers full of preservatives and additives, he is pushing for school kitchens to prepare healthy meals using fresh produce such as stir fries, curries, pastas, sandwiches, salads.  I think this is absolutely brilliant and more schools worldwide should be doing the same. 

This Summer Pasta Salad turned out amazing and I definitely will make it again, as it was pretty easy and I didn't have to buy many ingredients as most are staples in my kitchen.

Ingredients
• 310g/11oz small shell-shaped pasta (I used small shells)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 255g/9oz yellow cherry tomatoes
• 255g/9oz red cherry tomatoes
• 1 handful of black olives, pitted
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives
• 1 handful of fresh basil
• ½ a cucumber
• 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar, or to taste
• 7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Throw in the pasta and cloves of garlic, boil until al dente, drain and run under cold water to cool. Put the garlic to one side to use for the dressing. Put the pasta into a bowl. Chop the tomatoes, olives, chives, basil and cucumber into pieces about half the size of the pasta and add to the bowl. Squash the garlic cloves out of their skins and mush in a pestle and mortar. Add the vinegar, oil and seasoning. Drizzle this over the salad, adding a little more seasoning to taste.

I added some shredding Parmesan cheese, you could also add roasted red peppers or a bit of red chili pepper flakes if you want a bit of spice.

Leaving it for about an hour in the fridge to soak in the flavors makes it really tasty too. 

Enjoy!



Check out Jamie Oliver's TED talk "Teach Every Child About Food"