Tuesday, July 12, 2011

On Our Way

When we left off our tour in Marigat, we were just finishing lunch and making our way east. I thought it would be interesting to show you some of the photos I took along the way. The trip took several hours along a very bumpy road. So for much of the time, I didn't even try to take photos as they wouldn't turn out without a steady hand on the camera.

Julius my driver on the far left of the photo. Patrons of the restaurant in the middle and on the right.

A street scene as we drive through Marigat and set out for the village with the new borehole.

One last street scene in Marigat.

We pass by a mosque. Click on the photo to see the bird flying overhead.

We are now on the long road to where we are going.  At this point I have no idea just how long this journey will be.

The "road" in these parts is still reasonable. It will get much bumpier. But I think you can get an idea of how dry and dusty it is here.

Along the way we meet people....

...and lorries.  We are actually still in the city limits if you will.

Soon you can see the change in roads.

The greenery along the road side is due to the Perkerra River which flows there. It isn't very filled with water at the moment.

I love to take photos of the countryside where I can as it is so very different to where I live.

A nice large tree though I'm afraid I do not know what kind.

These cows are crossing the small river.  I was struck on this journey with all the cattle and goats in the area. These people are pastoralists more than farmers.

I thought this bike against the tree made a nice vignette.

Here is the same vignette but a little farther away.

I love this countryside where the land is flat, the acacia trees are forming their lovely branches and there are big bunches of cacti.

We now must cross the river. The driver and the village community leaders who accompany us discuss what to do.

Here they get out and survey the situation.

The river is not too high so we look for the shortest distance across.

And here they go.
I decide to walk across and cool my feet but I keep  my flipflops on.

I snap photos of the mud huts and laundry along the way.

More cattle. These seem to be a special breed as they are all white.

We are very close to our final destination of the borehole.
The journey took about 3 hours on a dusty bumpy road. We had to drive very slowly. This was supposed to be a shortcut but I think it ended up being a long ride because we had to go so slowly. We will return a different way. Stay tuned. Life and travel in Kenya is always interesting!

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Monday, July 11, 2011

A Sweet Tooth

Lately, I've been craving apple pie so I purchased a few small apples last week in anticipation of making it.  Today I noticed the apples were going a bit soft and as I wasn't up to making pie crust, I decided to make some apple crumble instead.

This was my first attempt at making this dish though I have eaten it from time to time. I knew before hand that it is not too difficult to make so I googled a diabetic recipe.  The following recipe came up but somehow I don't think it is that diabetic friendly. I'll have to look for another one but in the meantime, this one will be eaten.  I did reduce the sugar and the oil and increased the oats so that will help a bit.


Recipe from IFood

Ingredients


* 4 large cooking apples

* 4 tbsp olive oil

* Zest and juice of 1 large lemon

* 3/4 cups of sugar (any kind will do). I like brown.

* 2 pinches of ground cinnamon

* 1/2 cup of cold unsalted butter

* 1 cup plain flour (I increased this slightly by about 1/4 cup)

* 5/8 cup sugar (I reduced this to about 1/2 cup)

* 1/8 cup porridge oats (I increased this slightly). 

Directions


1. Peel and core the apples and cut into large chunks.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the lemon zest and juice, sugar, cinnamon and then add the apples. Cook for 5 mins to soften slightly.
3. Tip into a large baking dish.
4. Place the cold butter and flour into a food processor and pulse until you have a fine breadcrumb consistency.
5. Tip into a bowl and stir through the extra sugar (1/2) carefully. Spoon over the top of the stewed apples and sprinkle over the oats.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 mins or until well-browned. Serve your apple crumble plain or with custard or ice cream.  Today we had French vanilla ice cream to go with the crumble.


This dish was delicious and I highly recommend it. It was made special by the addition of the lemon juice and lemon rind which really enhanced the overall flavour of the dish. 
Bon appetit!


Road Trip - Part 1

Hello friends, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas  Day however you spent it. I love Christmas but I always feel good when the day has ...