Banana bread

Macarons

My brother made us a whole box of these mouthwatering macarons for Christmas. Dark chocolate ones and salted butter caramel ones. They're so delicious (and pretty!) we've had to pace ourselves not to eat them all in one go. We have just a few left and I doubt they'll survive the weekend.

Red onion pizza

My mum makes the most delicious red onion pizza.

Sinterklaas goodies

Yesterday it was Sinterklaas here in the Netherlands.
Just like last year and the year before, I made little presents for my colleagues. This time I baked them biscuits and packed them in pretty jars.

I used empty jam jars and sprayed the outside of the lid with black paint.
And I made little pompoms following this tutorial: so easy and quick! And nice and wintery...

1 - 2 - 3 - yum!

So easy and so delicious: the apple and blueberry crumble

1 - wash and chop the fruits
2 - make crumble (see my dad's recipe below) and spread over prepared fruits
3 - enjoy scrumptious result after a little while in the oven

Yum!



My dad's crumble:
- 1 unit of butter (i used 70 grams because that's what I had in the fridge)
- 2 units of flower flour
=> "sand" together
- 1 or 1.5 unit of sugar
- to taste: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, etc.
=> add and mix
=> spread over fruits
=> bake at 180-200 degrees centigrade until top is golden and fruit is cooked

Choc chip cookies

After a few too many games of this (warning: highly addictive stuff in sight), we were seriously craving chocolate chips cookies. I found an old recipe I got straight from the States years ago (Anne, maybe it was yours? I can't remember...). Anyway, they are de-li-ci-ous, and we have been enjoying them tremendously!

Coconut & lime yogurt popsicles

I've been looking at products like this one for a few weeks already, thinking it would be so much fun to have in the summer... but then reason gets the better of me and I end up not buying anything because a) our freezer is about the size of a matchbox, b) summer over here only lasts for a few days it seems (or at least this year it hasn't really appeared yet) and c) am I really going to spend 50 euro on a machine to make a few ice blocks every now and then? (I just saw that you can get them for slightly cheaper online, but still...).

Anyway. The other day we saw a few rays of sun, and I got the urge to make little ice creams... and so I did with what I had on hand at home. The adorable little dishes I received for my birthday a few years ago turned out to be the perfect shape, and I just stuck mini spoons in there to make the sticks. A bit of the delicious coconut & lime yogurt in there, a few hours in the freezer, and that was it!

10 things about me today

1. I ate our first balcony-grown strawberries of the year.
2. I made Sarah's orange cake again. It's still in the oven.
3. I'm super proud of my mum, who has been teaching and exhibiting all over Europe recently.
4. I started this list yesterday but got distracted, so I'm finishing it today.
5. I spend way too much time helping my smurfs get a better village on the iPad.
6. I love warm, sunny weather like we've had today.
7. I've been (thanks to Mart) listening to a whole lot of 'mash-ups' (for cool examples, see here and here).
8. I like sweets better than savoury stuff.
9. I should start reading a new book.
10. For the long weekend ahead, I wish we could go back to the second house from the left on the photo below...

Sarah's orange cake

Here's the little beauty we took to the park on Sunday afternoon... absolutely delicious and pretty magic as it gets better and better with every day spent in the fridge! We had a piece for dinner; it was divine.

And you know the good news? There's still some left over for tomorrow!

Cloudy goodness

Claire sent me the most adorable cookie cutter for my birthday, and I just had to try it out as soon as I could. I also tried Whitney's way of frosting the biscuits, which took a bit of time but looked really cute in the end. The biscuits tasted quite good too, which doesn't hurt!

Black and white

Photo credits:
Top: left - middle 1 - middle 2 - right
Bottom: left - middle 1 - middle 2 - right

I bought the dress on the weekend; I couldn't resist its adorable little polka dots!

Doilies

I might be slightly obsessed.

Photo credits:
Top: left - middle - right
Bottom: left - middle - right

Pink and green

Pillow and scarf
Dish brush
Baby bottle
Umbrella
Wrapping paper
Fabric
Cupcake liners

Orange, almond and craisin cupcakes

I tried a new recipe from this book today - turned out delicious!


Orange, almond and craisin cupcakes

125 g butter, softened
2 tsp finely grated orange rind
2/3 cup (150g) caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (150g) self-raising flour and 1/3 cup (50g) plain flour (I use 200g of plain flour and a teaspoon of baking powder)
1/3 cup (40g) almond meal
1/2 cup (65g) craisins (dried cranberries)
1/4 cup (60ml) orange juice
2 tbs milk

1. Preheat oven to 160 to 180 degrees centigrade.
2. Beat butter, rind, sugar and eggs in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
3. Stir in flour, almond meal, craisins, juice and milk.
   
4. Divide mixture among cupcake paper cases; smooth surface.
5. Bake cakes for about 25 min.
   

Anzac biscuits

Anzac day calls for Anzac biscuits.
Mart baked and I took pictures and tasted. Yum!


These are some of our favourite biscuits - we had already made them then and then.
The recipe comes from Claire and her mum Jo-Ann, who always made them for me when i was living with them... ah, such good memories!

Garlands and apple-cinamon muffins

Here is a little peek at some of the garlands I made this weekend as well as of the yummy muffins that I baked today for our date with the lovely Teresa and Matilda. I was a bit anxious as I had never tried the recipe before (and some of the ingredients sounded funny; oil? I usually use butter when I bake), but they were perfect!
Find the recipe here (follow the US measurements, not the metric ones - it gave me crazy amounts for the crumble! I managed to balance the mountain of butter and save the day (thanks to my dad's recipe) but now we have enough crumble for the rest of the month!).


Songs of the day (which, as Mart just noticed, have surprisingly similar beginnings):
- Ciao Bella, Rose
- Fake Empire, The National

Happy birthday Fabien!

Today is my little brother Fabien's birthday. I sent him some of these biscuits that I had made last week... and because they were so yummy, I made some again this weekend!