COLUMN
IN THE KITCHEN
Food for thought
To keep on hoping
in a tough world
I
Milanie Vosloo
n a tough world, where we are confronted by many chal-
lenges on a daily basis, it is not always easy to keep on
hoping. Or is it?
George Frederick Watts was known for his paintings which
portrayed ideas and subjects. In a time when people were
desperate to find hope, he did a painting entitled: Hope. It por-
trays a women sitting on a globe (earth) in a fetal position. It is
dark above and around her and she holds a harp with only one
string in her hand - her head bowed in an attempt to hear music
from the one string...
People were upset about the depressing image of hope and
asked Watts about it. “You are not looking properly,” he said.
“Do you not see the light which falls on her from the front? That
is you. You, looking at life and seeing the darkness and then
choosing to shine the little bit of light or a lot of light which is
still inside of you, onto others. And yes, it is dark around her,
but look carefully and you will see the tiny speck of a single
star above her head. That is the splinter of hope which always
shines somewhere. And look: "Can you see how she focuses
on the one string that is left? How she keeps on looking for the
music?” What was Watts trying to say?
You have the light in you. For this reason, you can shine your
light onto others, even in the dark.
Hope is often hidden under a cloud of darkness. Be the one
to look deeper and see the little splinter of hope.
Hope is to - despite all the broken strings in your life - keep
on focusing on the one string of the harp of your life... and to
hear its music.
When your hope is covered by darkness and you have trouble
in seeing anything beautiful, remember: The Light which con-
quered despair a long time ago, is inside you. Under the cloak
of darkness which covers you, is a shining piece of grace. Hold
on to it and know, the music is still there. Keep your ear to the
ground and listen carefully. You may just manage to keep on
dancing... when few others can.
Lord, please help me to look for Your kind of hope.
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80
SENWES SCENARIO | SUMMER 2018
Pear and pecan
nut cake
IT IS RECOMMENDED that you do not make this cake. Once
your people have tasted it, they will pester you to make it for every
opportunity and sometimes just because it is so tasty, which is not
good for the figure.
DOUGH
125 g grounded pecan nuts (most bakery shops stock pecan nut
flour)
345 ml (190 g) flour
pinch of salt
155 g butter
95 ml castor sugar
FILLING
1 tin (825 g) of pears, well drained
1 tin of caramel condensed milk
250 ml cream
5 ml vanilla
2 desert spoons of castor sugar
• Mix butter and castor sugar well.
• Sift flour and ground pecan nuts into butter mixture until it
forms a dough.
• Cover and place in fridge for 30 minutes.
• Divide dough into three equal portions.
• Draw 3 circles of 22-24 cm in diameter on baking paper or
sprayed foil.
• Push a layer of dough into each circle.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes at 180°C until golden brown.
• Handle layers of cake with a flat object to prevent the layers
from breaking.
• Allow to cool.
• Spread a layer of condensed milk on each of the layers of cake.
• Cut the well-drained pears into flat wedges.
• Whip cream with vanilla, a pinch of salt and castor sugar until it
keeps its form.
• Place one layer of cake on a serving plate, put a layer of pears
on the cake and spread a third of the cream over the pears.
• Place second layer of cake on top, repeat pears and cream;
• Do the same with the third layer of cake.
• Decorate to taste.