What I See From My Back Porch – Miss C’s Challenge

Our friend Celi over at The Kitchens Garden has a challenge for all of us – to share a view from our back porch / step / door / window.  Celi always shares her daily view with us so I think it’s a great idea for us to share our view with Celi.  Please take part in this fun challenge, it would be lovely to see what you see from your back door; remember to link back to Celi’s post over at The Kitchens Garden so she can share it with everybody else.

Here is a portion of what I see from my back door, sitting on the top step.  What you can’t see in this shot is our lapa which is to the left.  If you look at the overexposed tree on the left of the shot (behind the pot of peppadews) – that’s where our little herb garden is going to be.  The rest of the area is mainly ferns, palms and lilies and see that long brown thing sticking up into the air with finger like things sticking straight up, hold on, let me show you from the other side, then you will see what I am talking about…

Back door view for C  1

Back door view for C  2

There you go, now you can see I am talking about our tree fern.  They really are exquisite to have in your garden and just so long as they get enough shade, they will be very happy, although I must say, having it so close to the house causes a wee bit of havoc as the spores on the back of the fronds blow in through the windows and leave brown mini ball type things on the window sills.  A small price to pay for the beautiful tree.

You can also see Pete’s soon to be retired braai which was fashioned from an old gas cylinder cut in half.  We have had so many wonderful meals from it.  Sadly though it is starting to rust through the bottom.  We will use it as long as we still can before the bottom falls out.

Now it’s your turn – what do you see from your back door?  Celi and I would really like to see.

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A trip down memory lane – my 7 links

Joanne over at Fifteen Spatulas was kind enough to tag me in the 7 links challenge yesterday.  Thanks again Joanne. 🙂

I was previously tagged by Anna over at The Hospitality Guru, so this is a repost of my 7 links.

The purpose of the challenge is to select posts from 7 categories from your blog and invite other bloggers to do the same.

The 7 categories are:

  1. Most Popular Post
  2. Most Controversial Post
  3. Most Helpful Post
  4. Most Beautiful Post
  5. Most Surprisingly Successful Post
  6. Most Under Rated Post
  7. Most Proud of Post

This is a great way to unite bloggers from all over the globe and to re-introduce a few old and forgotten posts which may not have received any recognition from when we were still newby bloggers.

My 7 are:

1.  Most Popular Post

I am taking the popularity of this post from the number of views and not number of comments – my normal daily views TRIPLED for this post. 😀

My folks and my beanie

 

2.  Most Controversial Post

I was a little worried about posting this one, but think that it was received better than what I originally anticipated.

Vegetarians

3.  Most Helpful Post

Undoubtedly, this would have to be my post on Abbreviations and Conversions.  This really is a concise list of helpful info.

Abbreviations and Conversions

4.  Most Beautiful Post

I think this would have to be the post a friend of mine in Mauritius photographed for me.

Pears in red wine

5.  Most Surprisingly Successful Post

Not sure how to quantify the successful part but I guess I would have to say my, Getting to know you more post where I asked questions to help us learn more about each others culinary likes and dislikes and 5 fellow bloggers were kind enough to share in the fun.  I have compiled another fun post, which I will share next week with links to the other bloggers answers.

Getting to know more about each other

6.  Most Under Rated Post

I am not sure if I am supposed to take this from my blog stats or in my opinion, so in my opinion and just because this is one of my favourite recipes, it would have to be my post on Carrot Cake Cupcakes.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

7.  Most Proud of Post

Aah, there is a slight catch with this one  as I have not done the post yet – I will soon, I promise, and just to whet your appetite a little… we have printed a few copies of my book to sell – YAY!  These will be “limited-edition” books as when we do a reprint, we will be changing the format slightly and moving away from a spiral bind to a standard “perfect-bind” oh and we will also have it available as an e-book. 😀

The Omnivore’s Hundred

The Omnivore’s Hundred

Tandy over at Lavender and Lime originally found this on Iky’s Blog.

Tandy wrote:  “Here’s a chance for a little interactivity for all the bloggers out there. Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food – but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.”

Here’s what you need to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment linking to your results or link back to this post.

The Very Good Taste’s Omnivore’s Hundred

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake