Lifestyle

Most traditional Christmas food assumes that we all live at the North Pole and need huge amounts of fat and salt to cope with frost bite and snow blindness. So instead of whole sucking pigs, turkeys and geese, here’s a local take on the national bird of Africa, and a homage to the mango, undoubtedly the most astonishing fruit that ever grew in the Garden of Eden.

Traditionally, in the cold northern hemisphere zones, Christmas puddings tend to be elaborate, doughy masses of flour and fruit, drowned in brandy and then set on fire.

Rolled pork belly is the regular presentation of this prize cut, but for this recipe you need to consult your butcher. Ask him to prepare an unrolled pork belly and to cut a pocket into the meat. This should ideally be nearly as wide and as deep as the belly as a whole.

I had a call from a prospective housing developer in Mozambique. He required plans for easy-to-build, cost-effective and stylish homes for the local community.

A bunny from Durbs comes under the heading of extreme handheld food for two reasons. One is the size and the other is the veld-fire flavour of living chilli.

Eleanor is helping a friend with planning a simple two-bedroom cottage. Read on to see Jonno's designs.

Verona and James recently sold their farm to move into a new modern styled house.

This ostrich farm in the Western Cape has diversified into tourism, sport, concerts and other attractions that ensure a constant income stream. Jay Ferreira reports.

Hand-held food is how human eating began. In this recipe, we move beyond the caveman prototype to enclose delicious chunks of Chinese-influenced pork in a roll.

Helga wants Jonno to design a two-bedroom cottage with many glass windows and panels. Let's see what Jonno designs.

Brian Munjodzi lives on a small farm in Zimbabwe. His request to Jonno is to improve his farmhouse.

A pie? How can something so sweet be a pie? Where are the four-and-twenty blackbirds? Instead, here’s heaven in a dessert bowl. Sure tastes better than those blackbirds.

My husband and I have a farm in Limpopo to which we want to retire and leave our current house to our children. We want to build a cosy cottage for ourselves on the farm and have selected a beautiful site.

My elder daughter gave me a new wok for my birthday. And what a wok it is. It has a wooden handle, a flattish bottom and is coated in Teflon. To launch it, I made this dish.

I’ve had a few calls from Farmer’s Weekly readers recently, asking for an easy-to-build, low-cost home design.

Here’s an easy-to-cook take on an old classic in which best beef, mushrooms, sour cream and the brandy of your choice come together on rice or pasta, with or without the reddish presence of paprika …

Curries are an old Indian delicacy filled with a mix of herbs and spices and tantalising aroma. Find out how you can cook up a mouthwatering lamb curry.

Sue and Collin recently sold off a portion of their farm and want to build a two-bedroom cottage.

Jonno assists Rodgers this week by designing a three-bedroom house with a gable roof covered with inverted box rib roofing sheets.

Steak, in my singular view, should be redefined as a staple. While bread and even mealie meal have their place, a well-aged piece of prime beef is very difficult to top. Grilling a steak is one of the most straightforward cooking “techniques” known to man. Yet despite this self-evident truth, it is still possible for the neophyte to mess it up.