favourite flamingo

Hi there!How are you beguiling the time during this long,cold October evenings?Any good ideas I can steal?

I’m hibernating cocooned in a warm, thick blanket, with an iron teapot filled with my favourite flamingo green tea and a stack of books to read on my bedside table. Finally I’ve got time to read!(Although I wouldn’t mind to have more time for more reading.)I’m glad that winter is coming as my book wish list hit number 56(!!!Am I crazy or what?!), so I’ve got a lot of reading ahead :) When I browse through the books on cold days like these I always have this urgent cinnamon cravings(and I’m not pregnant!) So I can’t help it but read, eat cinnamon(in any form) and sip tea.These are my kind of evenings.I might be the most boring girl in the world, but the best thing is I’m not bored at all!

These plums are not only great for bookworms.You’ll love this aroma! It’s just a pure insanity!I don’t know how I could buy fragrant candles in the past to fill my house with a cosy smell,if all I needed to do was place some plums with cinnamon, vanilla, honey and oranges in the oven. And in contrast to candles,you can also eat them.And they taste damn good

the famous test gardens

These popsicles are almost embarrassingly easy to make, but when you have a mobile toddler demanding constant attention and you didn't get your grocery store run in for the day, a dessert that almost makes itself is a lifesaver.

Since they're meant to be kid-friendly, I used as little sugar as possible: the strawberries are sweetened with honey, which give them a lovely lazy-hot-June vibe, and the bananas are mixed with yogurt and a touch of agave syrup.

The trickiest and most time-consuming part is making the layers. Just like with ice cream, if you chill the fruit mixtures first, they will freeze faster in the molds. Budget about 25-30 minutes for each layer to set enough before you pour the next layer. If you're short on time, you can reduce the number of layers. Also, having your fruit mixtures in a cup with a pouring spout will make it much easier to fill the molds in a controlled fashion.

These popsicles are full size - I think I'll pick up some mini-size molds next that are more toddler-portioned, but believe it or not Isabelle powered through a whole bar on her own. You can see the determination on her face. She's definitely developed a will of her own in the last few months!

P.S.You'll probably notice I haven't got a photo of her smiling with a popsicle, either at the festival or at home. I tried really hard, but when it's just you and a camera and a baby, it's tricky! I think she was still getting used to their chill: she would bite into it and screw up her face at the cold, but she'd keep at it because it was so tasty and she didn't want to give it up. Babies-hilarious!

Thanks for the summer kickstart, Sunset! Isabelle hit her nap time wall so we had to leave before we could see everything, including the famous test gardens, but hopefully I'll be back for a return visit and more inspiration!

my favorite summer flavors

Happy Summer! Here's a quick review of one of my latest cookbooks and a summer-ready recipe to get your weekend started:

Donna Hay has long been one of my big inspirations, from her trendsetting food photography to her accessible approach to cooking and design. Her cookbooks are dog-eared references in my home, so I was thrilled to get a copy of her latest one, Fresh and Light, which pretty much sums up the Donna Hay philosophy.

Although I've always found her recipes to emphasize fresh, clean, seasonal flavors, Donna Hay has decided to bring an even lighter touch to her repertoire. The cookbook emphasizes vegetables, alternative grains, and lighter forms of cooking. Donna Hay mentions in her foreword that she doesn't like the word "diet", and I like that this cookbook doesn't sacrifice any of her signature mouthwatering style or culinary creativity. Without reading the book description I don't think I would have noticed it was meant to be a "light cooking" book.

I'm also pleased that there's a substantial dessert section, with frozen yogurts and light breads and fruit tarts. I was particularly drawn to the gorgeous berry slice, which looked sleek and cool and perfect for a warm weekend.

This is essentially a slimmed down cheesecake made with cream cheese and ricotta. There's no crust, but because I like a little crunchy contrast to my cheesecake I threw in a simple graham cracker crust, since these days I always have a lot of graham crackers around the house for hungry toddlers!

I also added in some lemon verbena, one of my favorite summer flavors. Although I usually infuse the leaves into cream or milk, since there are no liquids in this recipes I ground up the leaves with the sugar to make a green-speckled, super fragrant lemon verbena sugar. You can use this sugar in other recipes as well, wherever you want a lovely floral hit of lemon.

energizeaza organismul

Chiftelutele cu sos de rosii si soteul de mazare sunt preferatele mele, foarte gustoase, sanatoase si cel mai important pentru orice gospodina, este ca in 40 de minute avem gata si chiftelutele si garnitura. Simplu si gustos LED Color Temperature!

Exista foarte multe moduri de preparare a sosului pentru aceste chiftelute, sos alb, sos rosu, cu ciuperci, insa acesta cu rosii mi se pare cel mai potrivit la acest fel de mancare si garnitura de mazare proaspata, de inceput de sezon este perfecta. Cred ca stim cu totii cat de benefica este mazarea pentru organism. Ea intareste oasele, energizeaza organismul si este o alegere foarte buna pentru persoanele care incearca sa slabeasca, datorita continutului scazut de calorii. Perfect nu loop?

Stiu ca pentru majoritatea gospodinelor este o reteta banala, cunoscuta in toata lumea, insa multi dintre noi au uitat sa manance sanatos si sper ca prin aceasta postare sa ne aducem aminte de anii in care nu renuntam la mancarea sanatoasa de acasa pentru un fast food aratos…..Merita sa incercati baby carrier!!

some tomatoes or asparagus

Let’s face it…sometimes you just have to eat right now! no really, like RIGHT NOW! you know what I mean. No time to fuss around in the kitchen. Here’s an easy go-to 10 minute option when you find yourself in that predicament 3g.

Creamy goat cheese folded into easy to prepare scrambled eggs and a few snippets of fresh chives make this a delicious and quick option. The goat cheese gives the eggs a super creamy texture and together with the chives they create a savory morning treat. Although, you don’t need to save all this goodness just for the morning. They make an excellent brunch, lunch, or dinner option as well tourism industry events.

Feeling creative? Add some tomatoes or asparagus. Serve with toasted Artisan bread and some fresh fruit and you’ve got a company worthy meal, that’s simple enough to serve any day of the week white wine.

my eardrums won’t survive

I know what happens at five o’clock in houses all around the world.  Exhaustion.  Chaos.  Craziness.  Screaming.  Oh…is that just my house?  There is a lot of screaming at five o’clock at my house stainless steel travel tea mugs.

Kai has recently discovered a new octave.  And it’s a high one.  The kind that could shatter mirrors, send dogs howling, and drive me completely crazy Necklace online.

He gets particularly ‘screamy’ around dinner time, when he is over-tired and super cranky.  Which makes cooking and eating dinner a bit of a gong show.  Hopefully this phase won’t last too long…my eardrums won’t survive!

These cheesey-gooey-spicy-creamy stuffed pasta shells make dinner much more relaxing.  For very little effort, you are rewarded with a seriously delicious dinner Managed Security Service.

So good it actually {almost} drowns out the screams.

I had to do something

Going from the Dorista assignment list to the recipe itself  felt like something of a “bait and switch” – even though I knew already it probably would not involve a glass of champagne with a splash of fresh orange juice. Still, you can’t blame me for being just a little let down seeing as how I had just rushed home from work quite late with little time left to make these broiled leeks vinaigrette with mimosa and get posted.  A mimosa at the end of a busy day would have done me nicely thankyouverymuch Neogen Korea.
I’ve had several dishes plated with a heavy dusting of finely grated hard boiled egg yolks before (or both yolk and whites as is called for here) before but I didn’t realize that there was a fancy schmancy name for this treatment: mimosa. “Mimosa” in this context is an allusion to the Acacia dealbata which is a bright orange flower which evidently is also called “mimosa”.
Guess which cocktail is also colored orange like this flower?  Right otterbox review.

Broiled Leeks Vinaigrette with MimosaThe original recipe can be found here and does not include the broiling step which I have added here after the initial poaching . Doing this lightly caramelizes the leek interiors, softening them up further. Something my larger than desired leeks required.
Smaller and more tender leeks may be available at country produce stands and Paris markets but at the supermarkets I must frequent rushing home on a work night don’t usually carry them storage cubes.
They do carry champagne, however.  I had to do something!

Absolutely not

But something in my brain broke a few months ago, and instead of walking on by, I said, “Yes, Black Garlic. I will take you home with me today.” And then I let it sit in my pantry for two months while I built up the courage. I went for a chocolate Bundt cake base because Bundt cakes make me feel safe. Whereas black garlic makes me feel like I’m walking down an unlit alley at 1 AM. In Detroit Alexander Hera.

Since Irvin used a whole head of garlic for half of the brownie recipe, I used a whole head for the cake. Because go big or go home, right? I had read that black garlic has a molasses overtone, and since raspberries go well with chocolate and molasses, ta-da! Raspberry sauce.

This cake is pungent. As I lifted the pan from the cake, a strong, garlicky flavor wafted into my nose. So, naturally, I stuck my nose right down into the center of the cake and took a big ol’ sniff. Yep, smelled like a meat cake. Uh, perfect. Just what I was looking for versace bags?

Once the cake was cool, I cooked up my raspberry sauce and doused it, then took photos before tentatively trying the cake. And I don’t hate it. Which makes me seriously question my mental state.

I think this is one of those recipes that most people are going to be like, “Nope. No. Absolutely not.” and then some total weirdo will make it and be like, “Yeah, I can get on board with this.” My theory is that if you are open to baking a cake with black garlic in the first place, you’re probably adventurous enough of an eater to enjoy it on some level. Either that, or you’re the type of person who likes to troll your friends by bringing a garlic cake to their housewarming party. You jerk headphone amp.

Marble Brownies

Sigh. So here we are again. You, looking at me like I’m incorrigible, with slight disdain and a little fear. Me, looking sheepish, avoiding eye contact, shuffling my feet hair loss treatment.

In my defense, I have a psychological condition in which I want to put savory ingredients into dessert all the time. I’m working on a way to incorporate beets, broccoli, and kale into a recipe. Not the SAME recipe. That might ruin our friendship altogether. But if I can manage to make broccoli cookies that taste really good, wouldn’t I be kind of a hero? (My definition of “hero” is a bit shaky Interactive LED.)

Over a year ago, I funded a Kickstarter campaign for a business in my neighborhood called “The Kitchen.” The idea was that you could pay to go and cook your own multi-course dinner, something they call “Participatory Dining.” Cooking class meets eating out, sort of. When they finally opened their doors, one of the events they had listed was a garlic-themed dinner. The dessert was a black garlic marble brownie. I did a search for the name and landed on Vanilla Garlic, in a guest post by Irvin Lin from Eat The Love for Black Garlic and Vanilla Bean Marble Brownies otterbox review.

Much like black garlic, this idea fermented in my brain for about a year. I knew at least one local grocery store that carried black garlic, and every time I would pass it I was like, “Still too weird for me? Yep.”