June is early season for Brittany resp. the whole of France because in July & August all France goes on holiday. A trip to Brittany was on our holiday schedule for some years, however … Last year we finally set the scope on Brittany – only to learn that during July & August a trip becomes difficult: only very few apartments to rent at sky-high prices even if you look about 3-4 months earlier. Also…
My better half & I: we are back home. So I’m back on my blog. For 3 weeks we lived in France – holidays in Brittany. While it was about 20-25° C as expected for beginning of June, temperatures skyrocketed up to 35° C during our last week. When back home – surprise! – the next heat wave approached … So I decided that we’ll need ice cream … to survive. I thought about a…
I’m obsessed w/ lemon cake. (I’m sure you noticed my passion before …)Each time when I come across a recipe for some lemon cake I think about recreating it in my kitchen. So this time I read about a version w/ olive oil & ricotta. The result is fabulous: a soft & fluffy cake, lots of lemon flavor & a freshness from the moist consistence. I stored the cake on my kitchen counter, covered –…
During May in 2016 we cruised Tuscany for almost 3 weeks indulging in the green rolling hills & their vineyards & olive groves, in the cities from the 1400s & 1500s – and of course in Florence! (…not to mention lots of Italian food & wine…) For many years I wanted to visit Tuscany, but it never happened – always another destination seemed more important or the season seemed wrong. To be honest: except for…
This is a very short post. First of all it’s mid of May & we’ve got some sort of a heat wave – it’s about 30° C! Therefore cooking or balking something for long hours isn’t so attractive. Secondly a heat wave cries for easy refreshing dishes – like salads. My better half & I are very fond of leaf salads. We like it not only during summer or heat waves, but throughout the whole…
If working w/ yeast you need patience. In general I’m meticulous & patient, however, anything w/ yeast never had any priority in my kitchen. When in business & working for too many office hours, handling yeast – meaning to allow the yeast to work for some hours – isn’t so hip. (I think you get it: I’ve always been more the Jamie-Oliver-Nigella-Bill-Granger-Donna-Hay fan!) Nevertheless time & again … Recently I stumbled across a promising &…
It’s a simple & easy pasta dish.(To add some flavorful edge also quite a lot of lemon juice & lemon zest found its way into the pasta bowl.) Do we need a recipe? Is it worth a post?Yes, because there are these great soft roasted pine nuts all over the pasta – freshly roasted just minutes before added. There is also freshly grated Parmesan, fluffy & creamy at the same time, delivering a sharp edge…
We are now full in the rhubarb season … & I like to give you a recipe for an easy rhubarb dessert. (I admit that I posted this recipe years ago, but it hasn’t lost any of its deliciousness!) For this dessert rhubarb is transformed into rhubarb compote, which I often prepare in order to have 2-3 tablespoons together w/ banana & yoghurt for breakfast. Around the Easter weekend there is always a mix of…
Is a pizza w/o tomatoes really a pizza? I think it is a pizza, because I didn’t intend to create any new type of quiche or tarte flambée. Except of the lack of tomatoes the rest fits in a traditional pizza creation. The tomatoes – if like a tomato sauce or tomato pesto or fresh tomatoes?I simply substituted ricotta for tomatoes. So the basic creaminess of the pizza remained & the ricotta mingled w/ the…
Long time, no see – or better: long time, no post. What happened?As you may have noticed about mid of March my better half & I, we made a weekend trip to Maastricht (fine weather, sunshine, having coffee outdoors … a perfect spring weekend!). Beginning of April we made a weekend trip to Strasbourg; unfortunately it was very cold w/ rain and some fine snow. Yes – we had managed to pick just this weekend…
It’s still winter, the nights are bitterly cold under a clear sky w/ sparkling stars while during the day the sun tries to warm up the air. So – the mood is full of spring … This morning I was outside walking for almost an hour in this fresh crispy air invigorating my body & soul. What to eat? I wasn’t up for any elaborate cooked meal, but longed for some freshness on my table.…
I told you that I got a new toy. For my 1st baking adventure I stuck to the rules, however, now it’s time to adjust. At least a little! So: What are oranges in cake? For the orange I worked with: (Of course you may substitute orange juice for orange liqueur, although he flavor will change a little.) … & what is the ultimate partner of orange flavor? It’s dark chocolate. The result was simply…
Time for pizza – home-made pizza. Out of the moment I decided on pizza for lunch for the 2 of us relying on whatever I had in my pantry resp. fridge. I hadn’t any pizza pastry coming out of a pizza pastry mix or any prepared pizza out of a chiller cabinet – so I decided to make my own pizza pastry. … & for the filling: So I started … While the pizza pastry…
Since Xmas I have a new toy: a new baking tin. It’s a classic one concerning the size, however, there is no non-stick coating. So I studied the instruction & decided to work exactly as recommended – meaning to use butter generously for the baking tin & finish w/ flour. (To prevent becoming this last step a mess I worked over my sink when adding the flour, shaking the baking tin & turning it upside…
Last year I wasn’t in the jam business. (It’s mainly because the year before, i. e. 2020, I was a real big jam cooker during summer working w/ strawberries, apricots, raspberries, red currants … So I had a lot of jam jars waiting in my pantry to be opened.) When starting in 2022 I realized that there was no more home-made jam – so out of a moment I decided to cook jam. Which jam?…