Lifestyle

Mauritius, Ile de Maurice… the mere name conjures up images of never-ending white beaches and sapphire blue waters. Annelie Coleman visited the island earlier this year – and found it was everything she expected, and more!

Jonno designs a single storey mechanically movable house for Lorna who is relocating to Zimbabwe.

For traditional human carnivores, a salad is good to look at but nothing to eat. To shatter this illusion, here is a salad to add goodness and taste to your next braai.

I had a call from a previous client who had bought an old farmhouse in the foothills of the Drakensberg. The farm was being sectionalised and he wanted a house built on one of the sectioned-off sites.

Why spend endless hours labouring on your Christmas dinner when you can get mouthwatering results with less effort? For the turkey, I’ve chosen a delicious recipe from my 85-year-old aunt in Brooklyn, New York.

You might like something a little less sweet for Christmas pudding. For that, try this mango pudding recipe.

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.