I have a dream. I would like to sip a cocktail in the evening that would radiate a nice color according to my mood, all in the normal settings of my living room – no special effects required. Like a glass of gin tonic in the club under the UV lights – it has a […]
Lavender world
Lavender (Lavandula) is an interesting thing. Either you love it or you don’t. There is no inbetween. The only other option is that you don’t know about lavender. But as soon as you get to know it, you fall in one of two camps. I count myself lucky to be in the lavender fan club. […]
Fruit in syrup
There are many ways to preserve fruit. You can either freeze, dry or can it. Another option is to prepare candied fruit, or alternatively store fruit in syrup. With syrup we have to be more careful as with the candied fruit, since it contains more water and can thus be spoiled more easily. In general, […]
Dried fruit pudding
While reading this excellent book – How to feed a dictator – I came upon an interesting recipe for a dried fruit pudding. It immediately caught my attention, with the sentence that it tastes like cake, wine and nuts all at the same time. And dried fruit mixed with wine always promises a delicacy. As […]
Sweet date spread
I definitely adore sweet spreads. The classic Nutella, its wonderful variations or just simple honey and its even more gorgeous mixes are my daily sweets. I must confess, I usually eat them right off the spoon instead of spreading them on a slice of bread. Why dilute a wonderful spread? It is already perfect as […]
Spicy sweet lentil
Lentil is, sadly, not frequent on my menu. But for every new year feast I have some in hope of a plentiful New Year. Truly, this lentil dish is one of my top three dishes that I tried and enjoyed at the new year dinners. And you know that everybody tries to really shine for a […]
Apple vanilla cream
I found another delicious sweet without dairy products. It is very similar to common vanilla cream or vanilla pudding, with the only difference that it does not contain any milk or other dairy products. I first heard about apple vanilla cream on TV, and later found this recipe. I do miss that creamy feeling of […]
Steam cooked dumplings (Wonton)
I am fascinated by steam cooking. In my eyes it is several levels above “ordinary” boiling and stewing. It is definitely a classy, fancy cooking procedure. So I was truly happy when a friend surprised me with a gift of a simple steamer insert. Even the insert looks magical, opening up like a shining, steel […]
Potato baking
Baking potatoes is a fairly straightforward thing. One simply peels the potatoes, puts them in an oven and bakes them. Well, it’s not that simple. As always, there are many tastes, but most people prefer crispy baked potatoes. They should have crunchy skin and soft insides. Naturally, the net is full of more or less […]
Pumpkin (squash) bread
After experiments with bark bread, resin bread and lichen bread, there were some suggestions to try something more palatable. An article about pumpkin history gave me the idea that dried pumpkins could be an excellent substance for bread dough. People have been drying pumpkins for millenia, so it should not be that complicated. And dried […]