Fall is here again, I can't believe how fast seasons change, they're back before you know it!
Weather wise I'm not the biggest fa of fall but when it comes to nature's beauty it's maybe the best out of the four of them. It's in serious competition with spring I'd say.
As I have a new phone that takes great pictures I snap around as much as I can. On a lunch break stroll around the office, or on a rainy day in the weekend, like today, when we went to visit a small village at Lake Como called Torno.
Here I saw the most beautiful leaves and berries that made a stunning still life against a stone, mossy wall. I hope I'm not the only person walking there enjoying this extraordinary beauty, as it makes me feel so happy to be able to be surrounded by all this.
It's been a few months since my last post, a lot happened lately...
My brother's amazing (!) Wedding end of august for which I had to prepare an outfit or two.
Of course I ended up making my own dress as I had some pastel colored silk lying around, which was perfect considering the theme of the wedding was Pastels. And I collected some silk flowers at a vintage shop in Amsterdam to fix a matching headpiece.
Then, as the sister of the groom, you should come up with a reasonably acceptable present, best made or bought from the heart.
After a bit of brainstorming I came to the idea of making them a personal cooking book.
The book includes all my favorite recipes that I have been perfecting throughout the years. As you can imagine it includes lots of desserts and cakes, but also a tutorial on 'how to make bread' and many other simple but delicious savory recipes.
I realized that making a cookbook takes quite some time and effort, it took me just over six months to complete the project. It starts with the writing of recipes, then the cooking, then I realized food photography is a whole new challenge to be taken on. Then putting everything together so it looks nice is another one...And choosing what goes in and what stays out. Phew!
But I must say I'm pretty pleased with the result and I more than profoundly enjoyed the whole process.
I'm working on a new and improved version now that will hopefully, one day, end up in some people's kitchen (other than my own and my mothers...).
To give you a sneak preview I added some example pages below. In case you are interested in one of the recipes, just let me know and I'll translate it in my next post!
When summer arrives, our ways change. We wear sandals, skirts and dresses with no tights (what a relieve !). We exchange baking cakes for making salads and summer soups. We eat outside, where the last rays of sun shine and the blackbirds prelude the night.
Since last summer we have the habit of eating a pizza on Sunday nights at our favorite restaurant in Argegno.
They have the greatest pizza's there, the dough is different from any other pizza place and the ingredients are super fresh and delicious. I am especially in love with the 'Focaccia del Turista', a pizza with leeks, fresh salmon, cream, mozzarella and fresh tomatoes. How good does that sound!?
As I'm still only good with one arm, my shoulder is healing slower then expected, I tried to make a simple dish with leftovers. It turned out to be a delicious version of my favorite Argegno pizza.
Here is the recipe:
You will need for 1 big pizza:
1 sheet of store bought puff pastry
1 small leek
150 grams of smoked or fresh salmon
100ml of cream
1 small ball of mozzarella
2 organic medium eggs
a teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves
Salt and pepper
(I had some left over mashed potatoes that I added, but this is not necessary at all)
Preheat the oven on 180 degrees Celsius.
Roll out your sheet of puff pastry and fold 1cm of the edges to the inside to make a border.
Finely slice and wash the leeks and sprinkle on top of the pastry. Add slivers of the salmon and mozzarella, poor over the cream. Break the eggs onto the pizza, one on each side. Add the thyme leaves and some salt and pepper to season. For some more body you can add some cherry tomatoes or small potato cubes. You can also leave the eggs out, if you don't feel like them.
Bake the pizza for about 20 minutes and eat right away with a fresh salad!
Last Sunday was a beautiful sunny day, we planned a long bike ride near the lake if Varese where our Dutch friends live. We were well on our way and just coming down a beautiful curvy descent. In the middle of the narrow road there as a big, fat, black car. 4 riders past the car without problems, I was planning to do the same...a door opened right in front of me and all I could do was BREAK! And up my back wheel went, down my face, flying over my bike who parked herself nicely into the bushes. I on the other hand landed on the asphalt head and shoulder first.
The first thing I did, surprising myself, was shout as loud as I could at the driver, then I realized what had happened and I tried to localize my bike and my boyfriend who was already on the phone with 911, trying to explain where we were, which turned out to be rather difficult.
The ambulance came, took me to the nearest hospital going back up all the windy little roads we just did in the descent, which made one of the volunteers feel sick. I didn't feel anything but my shoulder, which was bad enough. In the meantime my friends talked to the police, another friend picked up our bikes and yet another friend came to meet us at the hospital with clothes and food. I was lucky to have so many helpful people around me, if not, what do you do with your bike and how do get home from the hospital...
I think I met 100 new people in that hospital, taking me to different rooms every other second.
The doctor confirmed nothing was broken and I could go home, rest for two weeks keeping my arm in a sling-up and my shoulder iced. So that's exactly what I've doing for the last week. Nowhere to go, nothing to see...except for weed. In the garden and on my little stroll around the block I saw some very beautiful species that I just wanted to share with you.
It was the first time I fell and after all I'm happy it didn't turn out as bad as it could have been.
I hope it will make me an even safer rider, being aware of these dangers. I can't wait to get back on my King 3 though...!
This year I decided to be a little more serious about our garden. I made a plan about what to plant in it and where to put the pots, so they would be in the right sun/shade position.
I wanted a big variety of vegetables and herbs and many of our beloved strawberries.
Organized as I am...I started out with looking at websites of how to plan your own little vegetable garden. mijnmoestuin.nl (my vegetable garden) was a little help to when you should start planting you veg and when to take them out.
We went to the DIY shop to buy enough pots and earth to set up on our little strip along the house.
Then I bought all the seeds I fancied and started the germination in small pots in the window shelf.
This doesn't always work as it's a delicate thing to get the temperature, light and watering right.
But it's such an amazing thing to see a seed growing into a green leafy thing that will later on give you tasty food to put in your all home made salad or cake!
I added a video below about the growth of a bean, I find it fascinating!
The pictures you see below are very recent and you can see that the garden is just beginning to bloom and the veg are at their early stage of facing the real outside weather. It's been kind of rough for them lately as we had a lot of rain and cold. Many of my first seedlings did not survive because of this. The second batch seems to be a lot stronger.
This is my list of things I hope to be eating from my own garden this summer:
- Lots of strawberries, I think I have about 15 plants.
- Beetroots
- Olives, I need to find a good recipe to pickle them.
- Sweet chillies, love them!
- Hot peperoncino, last year we had a very successful plant but it died because of the cold.
- Beans, so nice to see them grow.
- Sage, Basil, Origano, Thyme and Mint.
- Lemons, last year they turned black so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
- Tomatoes, big and small.
- Courgette
- Potatoes from the ground, I planted two types.
- Two types of salad.
It will be a humble crop as I don't have that much space. But it's even more the growing process I enjoy. Every day when I get home from work, I check my plants and there is always a surprise waiting for me to be discovered.
The 'garden'
Sage flowers
strawberries
first rose in bloom
Lemon flower, smells amazing!
Lemon tree buds
Potatoes in the ground
strawberries, beetroot and herbs
Young tomatoes
Our olive trees are growing like crazy
Dinner outside, I now made a terrace on the right side with stones
Yes, I'm back! After a slight hick-up with the name of a whiplash and a more pleasant break from writing in the shape of our trip to the States, I'm back.
As I never like to exclude exciting moments from my blog I thought I'd start my comeback with a post about our Easter Lunch with friends.
I organized this festive lunch because I had the urge to revive family traditions and try some old and new recipes out on my friends.
I had my day planned full with decorating the table, painting eggs, baking the Easter bunnies and preparing all the other delicious things I had on my list.
I wanted to fill the table with a ray of Easter goodies that I knew from my childhood on.
I started with doing some research on how to make the best Easter bunnies with the most fun shape. I got to the recipe of this speedy hopping bunny, I made them with buttery white bread dough and they turned out delicious, soft on the inside and golden and crispy on the outside.
Then I made my all time favorite scones, crumbly and warm, straight from the oven. I took Jamie Oliver's recipe this time, from his Great Britain cookbook. I served them with whipped cream and raspberry jam, as I like them best.
For a more savory touch I baked some wholemeal blini's and served them up with smokes salmon and sour cream and some dille. I also did a plain flour version but we all definitely preferred the wholemeal ones. I you see I was just in time to make a picture before they were gone!
My friend brought some fresh asparagus which I served with a vinaigrette dressing and scrambled eggs. I always make those with cream instead of milk as it makes them so much more silky and fluffy! Mmm!
To round up this scrumptious meal I had a New York cheesecake and a soothing cup of tea.
I could celebrate Easter every Sunday morning, without any problem!
