March 2018 – Sibo

Lentil Patties

I got this recipe from a very dear friend of mine, Anisabel, who is sadly no longer with us. I enjoyed many Saturday lunches in the Van Zyl’s home back when I was barely out of school and I dated her brother. Lentil patties were a staple in this vegetarian household and were always totally delicious.

I had not made them for ages and had to rack my brains for the recipe the other day.

I knew that potatoes, onions, carrots and garlic were involved, with some flour and eggs to bind them. I also knew for sure you did not soak the lentils like you do beans. After racking my brains some more I just decided to wash them.

Turned out I had forgotten to boil them.

That’s what you have to do – boil the freaking lentils for 45 minutes first.

The patties were unbelievably tasty but the lentils were like little rocks. Upon consulting Mr Google it was discovered that eating uncooked lentils was not recommended. We decided to try microwaving the patties to see if that helped at all. Indeed it did not – just made them worse.

So instead of having lentil patties and potato bake that night we just had potato bake.

The next day I was not taking any chances. I soaked the lentils for a couple of hours (upon the advice of a friend of mine – she said they do this when making biryani).

This is what I did after soaking…

(NB – I’m cooking for 6 people – the quantities below made around 20 patties – so down- or up-scale accordingly.)

Boiled half a packet of lentils for 45 minutes.

Added the following veggies to the boiled lentils:

2 potatoes – grated
3 small onions – chopped (but you could grate them if you want)
3 smallish carrots – grated
teaspoonful of smooshed garlic (the stuff you buy in a bakkie in the shop)
dash of soy sauce
salt & pepper

Mixed everything up and then added two eggs and enough flour to bind.

(At this point Luan came into the kitchen and looked at the uninviting mixture in horror. “That looks DISGUSTING” he grimaced. Luckily he had tried the failures the night before and knew they did not taste too shabby.)

I then plopped tablespoonfuls of the mixture into hot oil and fried the patties until they were nice and brown.

Chris and I scarfed a few down in the kitchen before supper. They were all crunchy and delicious.

But don’t do what I then did… kept them in a covered up bowl for 20 minutes until I had finished cooking the basil pasta – so they went all gross and soggy (although they still tasted good).

Probably best if you serve them immediately rather cooking.

Incidentally… Gemma thought the lentils were quite tasty too and demolished all the left over bits that Emma had refused because she said the texture was revolting. Happily they are not toxic for dogs. In fact some dog food suppliers use lentils as fillers instead of corn. But they did make her a bit farty though. Jack on the other hand refused to even sniff them.

Lentils are a part of the legume family. These small seed-like vegetables are nutrient dense and inexpensive, making them an ideal superfood. They are a fabulous source of molybdenum and folate. They’re also a great source of dietary fibre, manganese, copper and phosphorus. Not to mention being a good source of iron, protein, vitamin B1, B6, pantothenic acid, potassium and zinc.

The Kindness Book Project

The Kindness Book is in the final stages of editing – we have 18 authors (from various countries) who have contributed stories. It will be available very soon.

The cover was done by Kaisa Koponen who is the most fabulous artist. You can follow her on Instagram to see more of her gorgeous work.

Here’s the back….

If you want to know how this project started….

Greetings and salutations fellow writers!

You are receiving this email because you want to write children’s stories… right?

I am continually inspired and enthused by all the people wanting to write children’s stories.

Imagine a storybook filled with short stories from different cultures and races – all on the same topic… KINDNESS!
Kindness makes the world go around! We have to start instilling this value in our children while they are young, and what better way than stories.

Would you be interested in participating in such a project?

How it works:

Write a story – no more than 500 words (excluding the title and your name) on the topic of KINDNESS. In English please.
You can write in prose or rhyme – it can be funny or sad or poignant – but it needs to have the message of kindness – something that any child would listen to, enjoy and then maybe pay it forward.
If you can illustrate your story – go for it – but please stick to black and white sketch type illustrations, and only one or two.
If you can’t draw – no worries – paint your pictures with words.

I will then compile all the stories into a book that will be printed and you will be able to buy copies – to keep, to sell, to read to your kids at home, in class etc.

Cost of the book will be determined by how many pages and the final quantities ordered. Thankfully digital printing makes this possible.

The result – a melting pot of short stories for kids about kindness.

If you are interested in participating – please hit reply and let me know.

This is NOT meant to be some sort of spammy stuff – but an opportunity to have your story published in an anthology called “The Children’s Book of Kindness” – for us all to share and read.

Answers to some questions you might have…

Due date for story submissions – April 15^th 2018.
Topic is kindness – nothing else will be considered.
500 word limit – can be less but not more.
Prose, rhyme or poetry welcomed.
Specify what age you think your story appeals to and we’ll have sections.
Yes, I will edit any spelling errors or glaring mistakes.
No I will not change the flavour of your story or the way it is written. I will do nothing without your permission.
Yes – your name will be prominently displayed next to your story and we can have a list of authors, emails & websites (if you have one) at the back of the book if everybody agrees. This will allow somebody who likes your story / style of writing to contact you.
Yes – you will always be able to order more books (but the price might vary).
Yes, you can share this email with other children’s authors who might be interested.
Maybe we could have a competition amongst the illustrators in the group for the cover artwork?
No, we won’t get rich from this, but it will be fun and we’ll be sharing our work and having it read in places we never imagined. Who knows what will come from this.
If there are too many stories for one book – we’ll split it into two or three books – age targeted.
Yes, if this works we can do story books on other topics.

Anything else – feel free to ask directly.

……………………………………………………………………

You can stop reading here and start writing… but if you want to know a bit more about who am I and why I am doing this… carry on reading.

…………………………………………………………………….

My name is Ginny Stone and I am a published author. I’ve written 20 books – 17 of those have been published by reputable publishers. I’ve also gone the indie route and self-published 3 books.

People often say to me… I wish I could have my story published. I always tell them – don’t wish – just do it.

Problem is… many people dream of writing a story, having it published and becoming rich overnight.

Ain’t gonna happen!

I can tell you (and any of the published authors reading this will probably agree) that you don’t make lots of money writing children’s stories. My Sibo Series (14 different titles) are being read in schools and libraries all over the country. Same with the Sello series and yet I am still poor as a church mouse (financially that is – in other ways I am extremely rich!).

I know what you’re thinking… my writing is bad! But if you’ve read this far you might be just a little intrigued and feel free to go see for yourself:

The Sibo Series
The Dog’s Blog
Imaginaeries of Faerie Glen These projects all have FB pages too.

YES! I have made money but it is not really enough to live on.

Wrote a weekly blog in The Springs Advertiser for more than 8 years – from our SPCA dog’s point of view and am in the process of turning those blogs into books… however Indie books need to be marketed and that is my downfall (am working on this).

Currently write a weekly blog in the African Reporter from Sibo’s point of view on a variety of topics (runs as a real blog too).

Our latest book called “The Imaginaeries of Faerie Glen” is available as an eBook on Amazon and Smashwords, plus I’ve printed some copies. A genuine South African fairy story set in a nature reserve. I had great fun writing this in collaboration with my daughter, Igz, who also did the all illustrations.

I edited and produced a newsletter for the science centre community in Southern Africa for a number of years, as well as producing proceedings of conferences – so have experience in the graphic and editing fields. I also have access to a jazzy old pensioner whose command of the English language is awesome and flawless. (You could employ her services too.)

My main aim in life is to empower children with knowledge. I try to do this in any way I can. This is one of them.

Please do join in on this adventure!

Greatly looking forward to working with you.

Ginny

Dirt roads, spiders and heat stress

When I’m not writing books, keeping track of the science centres in South Africa or doing a bit of creative meddling, I develop and design board games.

I don’t even like playing games, but I’ve discovered it’s a great way to learn. It’s interactive, promotes team work, gets kids (and adults) to read and problem solve.

I’ve developed quite a few to date.

One of my more enjoyable projects was being asked to help create a game on the topic of thermal stress for mine workers. In South Africa we have many gold and platinum mines and they operate deep underground. Heat stress is a killer and it is covered by about half a page in the manuals. Our brief was to create something interesting and innovative.

The team consisted of 4 academics and my own very un-academic, irreverent, creative wacky self. The academics had the experience in mines and social work. I had experience in creating and developing games. Things did not always run smoothly.

Fast forward two years….

We’d done all the work, visited mines, soul searched, tested and eventually created a fabulous game that everybody loved.

Then it mouldered for ages whilst the Mine Health and Safety Council decided whether they wanted to actually manufacture and invest in copies of the game that we had all worked so hard on.

Out of the blue they decided they did – we all sprang into action.

A video explaining how the Iyashisa Board Game worked was produced. I had a fine time (not) reproducing the art work – having changed graphics programmes in the interim.

Eventually 1000 games were produced and were ready to roll out to mines in Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Free State.

One of our team members had decided she no longer wanted to be involved in the project (I think I pissed her off) and another one was sadly undergoing cancer treatment – so it was mostly down to Nico and myself to do the roll out.

A trip was planned to Limpopo.

We’d had one successful day of driving all over the place – demonstrating how the game was played to mine workers and were on our second day. We were in Nico’s bakkie, with a trailer full of games… on our way from Polokwane to a mine in Penge.

Being new to the area we were using Nico’s floozie – his cell phone’s sat nav.

We gaily left the main road and tootled through a township area. The road became a tad less traveled.

The tar gave out to dirt. The dirt got narrower and narrower and petered out into something barely better than a pathway.

Nico and I looked at each other… were we still on the right track?

But he consulted his trusty sat nav and determined that we had not gone wrong.

By this time the road, if you can call it such a thing, was littered with humps and rocks. A few goats regarded us curiously from the side of the hill. I was immensely grateful that Nico is experienced in the art of 4×4’ing. I blocked the fact that dragging a trailer had not exactly featured in said experience before.

A large baboon appeared and sat on a rock watching at us.

We felt a bit like idiots, but the wet tracks on the road kept our spirits up and told us that a vehicle had ventured along the same path not too long before.

In any case, it was not possible to turn around, especially with the trailer, so our only option was to carry on.

The baboon kept us company along the way.

The scenery was magnificent – sweeping valleys of vegetation, rocky outcrops – all green and incredibly lush. Part of me was really enjoying the trip. The other part was stressing mightily that my cell phone had long since lost contact with the outside world and we actually had no clue where exactly we were.

We were traversing down a particularly steep and rocky incline when I suddenly spotted the most disgusting, revolting, spine-chilling sight.

I gasped and screeched – causing Nico to almost chuck us all over a mini-cliff. He ground to a halt giving me an exasperated look.

Wordessly I pointed…

A huge tree was completely encased in spider webs. I mean completely. Clearly visible were huge tufts of spiders – a ruler length apart.

The tree was literally crawling with ginormous spiders. The stuff nightmares are made of.

I hate spiders. Give me a fat rat any day but I freaking hate spiders!

Nico saw what I was looking at and did his own gasping thing.

To this day I am a little miffed that I did not have the courage to get out of that bakkie and take a photo, but our baboon guard was a little intimidating and frankly – no way in hell was I leaving the safety of the car.

We carried on and a few metres from the first tree we spotted another web covered tree encrusted with enormous spiders.

The road deteriorated even further.

My heart sank. Was I ever going to see my husband and my lovely Fudgie again? We crawled on… humping and bumping over rocky outcrops and dongas.

Eventually the road started getting a fraction better and we spotted some civilization in the distance. We breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps we were not going to be lost in the depths of lush Limpopo after all.

The guys at the mine in Penge were horrified and amazed that we had not only taken but survived the back road over the mountain that is seldom used. It had taken us more than two hours when, had we stayed on the main road; we would have reached our destination in a mere half an hour.

Irritatingly we discovered the Penge is an open caste mine and they were not even very interested in our game.

Our adventure was for nothing.

I found out later that the spiders were Orbital Web Spiders – but nobody I’ve spoken to has ever seen a tree like that themselves.

Toolkit for Teenagers and Twenty-Somethings

A few simple rules that will get you far in life.

Please and thank you will get you far. Seriously. They will.

If you receive a gift (it does not matter if you think it’s crappy) thank the person who gave it to you. This can be done in several ways:

Thank the person personally
Pick up the phone
Write a letter
Send an sms or whatsap
Send a message on Facebook
Leave a post on the person’s wall
NB – Generic messages on your Facebook wall do not count.

If you get into a car (like you are getting a lift or something) say “hullo” as you get in. Don’t wait until you’ve finished your text or whatever. It is not the other person’s duty to greet you first.

Put your fecking phone in your pocket or bag for the first five minutes. The world will not come crashing to a halt if you miss a couple of posts or texts.

Grunting does not count – you need to actually enunciate your words.

Be cheerful – it won’t kill you. God forbid but a smile might also be nice.

Ask the other people how they are. This will get you plenty of brownie points.

If you think you are cute and gorgeous – the world does not owe you one.

Even if you are cute and gorgeous – the world still does not owe you one.

Amazingly enough – you do not know everything. No! Really. You don’t.

Have some respect for those around you. Life is not all on your terms.

At a restaurant – sit up straight and put that fecking phone away. Pretend like you are a grownup and have a conversation in real life. Face to face.

Don’t drop your crap all over the house the minute you come home. Put it in your room or wherever.

Get off your ass and offer to help every now and then. No matter where you are.

Your parental agents do not owe you one, nor are they your slaves. Without them you would not be having this beautiful life experience. Be grateful.

If in doubt refer to Number 1 and put your fecking phone down.