Everything is coming up roses.

In the name of Allah, most gracious most merciful.

 

 

 9 September 2014
Subhanallah, when we observe the changing of the seasons, like the seasons in our lives, it seems so gradual and then suddenly out of nowhere it is just apparent. After the winter slumber, the gradual awakening of the gardens sent us little signals of buds forming; of the landscape greening; of the seeds germinating and lots of aatishoos!

 

irises

ranunculi

 And now, each strawberry bush is fruiting and not just sommer so, but huge lush strawberries succulent and sweet. I did mention that it takes 25 plants to feed a family of five, yes? Well we have so many this year that the birds are stuffed and are not feeding from them any longer; we use it in our éclair rings; smoothies and as we are busy working in the garden the fully ripened ones beckon us with red cheeks. Nasturtiums invade every space available and grace it with bright yellow and orange flowers, while mint creepers are running riot.  Now, every flower opens her petals and the vegetables have sped up their progress – onions and beets have swollen, cauliflowers have ripened and rows and rows of spinach, swiss chard and kale may their way to the table. Irises and ranunculi, sweet peas and poppies, daisies and pansies are starting to bloom. Oh sweet bounty of consistent work!

The warm weather allows us to work early in the morning till late at night and so we plant rows and rows of tomatoes, onions, spinach, butternut, African calabash, beetroot, pumpkins, sweet potato, mustard, danya, beans and cabbages. We weed and weed and as soon as the last bed is weeded, the first bed needs attention again, so we are gathering the troops to help with mulching to help stifle weeds as well as conserve water.


Abubakr and crew are busy erecting more under cover spaces and we are giving the food gardens a complete overall – shifting beds and creating a space where we can set up cement table and benches with an umbrella overhead. This space will have many uses I can just see it in my mind’s – early morning reciting of the Qur’an where birds alight in lush surrounds; a space for brioche breakfasts and sundown snacks; a space to clean fruits for konfyts and a place to sit and contemplate the signs of Allah. When my friend Masturah visited from Gauteng we sat there on the paths to give Shukr for all the ni’amah.

My grandson, Mikaeel is up early in the morning not waiting for breakfast, impatient to be outside. Where he gets lifts in wheelbarrows and mimics us trying to dig up weeds while he is busy singing and swiping strawberries as he finds them. He has a delectable lisp when he chats, “Gwannie, I’m too short to weach!” or “Is this stwabewwy wipe?” and stuffs his mouth all day long. Too cute as he helps me pull the hosepipe from the one side of the house to the other or steps into any pair of gumboots lying around. He is a bit scared of bugs though, but delightedly runs after butterflies. And just before Thuhr, he climbs up on any lap that will hold him and wants to doze off.   And wakes as I pull out some beets to accompany evening supper.


Anyway thought I have not posted a recipe for a while. For Abu’s birthday last week I wanted to make some éclairs but because my oven is so small I thought to scoop all of the choux pastry into a bundt, I usually make éclair rings filled with fruits and cream in the summer time. So here goes:

Éclair Fruit Ring

Choux pastry

• 1 cup of hot water
• 1 cup of flour
• 100 g butter
• 4 eggs

Filling:

• A light layer of caramel cream
• 3 bananas sliced with lemon squeezed on it.
• About a punnet of strawberries sliced
• 1 small carton of fresh cream whipped

Topping:

200g dark chocolate melted

1 tin of thick cream stirred in

 

Preparation:

Place water and butter in saucepan and bring to boil, bring heat down a bit and quickly stir in flour and avoid lumps. When the mixture leaves sides of pan, remove from heat and allow cooling.

Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius or 420 Fahrenheit. With a beater, mix in one egg at a time until thoroughly mixed and the mixture is glossy and light. Spray bundt with non-stick spray and fill the bottom of bundt evenly with choux pastry and bake for 20 minutes at hot temperature and then reduce heat to a moderate oven of about 180C or 350F for another 35 minutes. It will be completely puffed up and golden brown. Take a small sharp knife and make incisions in the side to let out the air and return to oven (100C/200F) for a final 15 minutes to dry out until hard and crisp.

Loosen sides gently and remove from bundt when completely cooled. Cut off top about a third of the way and remove any soft filling inside.

Layer lightly with caramel cream, then a layer of fruit and finally a layer of whipped cream. Replace the top layer of éclair ring steadily and criss cross dark chocolate mixture on the top. Voila! Serve on pretty plate.

Plant food and make éclair rings for the summer.

Yasmine