Pizza party al fresco in Umbria + a delicious pizza dough recipe

 Hello everyone! Today is the first day of September and it already feels like autumn here. Nothing against Autumn, but I just feel the need to remember those long summer nights we had in Umbria at the beginning of August with my family. We stayed for a week in a beautiful villa surrounded by woods of oaks and chestnut trees, with a stunning view on the valley. One of the great things about the casale del gallo, was its patio, where we had candle light dinners every night, and its outdoor pizza oven, which made us truly feel like we were in Italy! My nephews and nieces decided to make some pizza for us one evening and it was so delicious and beautiful that I wanted to share the recipe with you as well as some impressions of this beautiful evening.

 So here comes the recipe!

[yumprint-recipe id='3'] 

I wish you a great day! and lots of outside dinners to come! Talk to you soon! Elodie

Ich backs mir: mini Gugelhupf with yuzu, basil and lime

Hello everyone,

Today is Gugelhupf day! and it's Claretti day! My friend Clara from the German Lifestyle Blog tastesheriff is collecting Gugelhupf recipes on her blog today. It is my first food post in a long while and it makes me very happy because I really love styling and photographing food.  A Gugelhupf, Guglhupf, Gugelhopf or Kougelhopf  is a southern German, Austrian, Swiss and French (Alsatian) cake specialty. The gugelhupf is a big cake and has a distinctive ring shape. I prefer the mini version of it. You can find a special baking mould here for instance. The Yuzu I used in the recipe is a citrus fruit, commonly used in Japanese cuisine, which I love and discovered during my honeymoon in Japan in 2008. 

You can find the recipe underneath and print it if you want to try it at home.

Have a great day and don't forget to buy some carnation for the #2flowergirls on Friday! Elodie

[yumprint-recipe id='1']

LOVEly guest post by Jeanny from Zucker, Zimt und Liebe - „Boy or Girl“ Meringues with white chocolate

Hello dear readers, Today I have another blogpost in German for you. A blogpost from my dear friend Jeanny from the food blog zucker, zimt und liebe (sugar, cinnamon and love). Jeanny is a lovely mum herself from a little boy and wrote this beautiful post about being a mother and this sweet recipe for us, and for my baby love. Speak to you soon,

Elodie

Junge oder Mädchen, oder gar beides, das ist eine Frage, die so manche hoffnungsvoll erwartende Paare beschäftigt. Einige möchten es ganz genau wissen, manche lassen sich lieber überraschen und wiederum andere erfahren es zufällig, weil es sich auf dem Ultraschallbild einfach nicht verleugnen lässt (was in dem Fall meistens bedeutet, dass Strampelanzüge, Decken, Nestchen, Schnuller, Kinderwagen & Co in bleu und das erste Fußballtrikot geordert werden).

Mein Mann und ich wollten es unbedingt wissen. Während ich der felsenfesten Überzeugung war, ein Mädchen zu bekommen und mich schon auf Ponyhöfen, Balletstangen, in der rosa Klamottenabteilung, beim Shoppen und Liebeskummertrösten sah, plante der Gatte vorsorglich schon mal die Fanmitgliedschaft im Lieblingsfußballclub, montierte gedanklich Basketballkorb und suchte im Netz nach den coolsten ersten Sneakers für seinen Sohn. Als der Arzt dann verkündete, dass bald ein kleiner Ballsportler unser Leben bereichern würde, war ich erst überrascht  und in der zweiten Millisekunde überglücklich. Denn egal, wie es kommt, das ist ein kleines Wunder. Ein Menschlein das geliebt wird und ein ganzes Leben vor sich hat. Das man begleiten wird und für das man alles tun würde. Das einem ganz viel über bedingungslose Liebe und die Größe eines Mutterherzes lehrt, sicher schlaflose Nächte bescheren wird aber um ein millionenfaches dafür belohnt.

Egal ob Junge oder Mädchen also, das Leben mit kleinen Zwergen ist so viel süßer und voller. Wer sich überraschen lassen möchte, was ich ganz bezaubernd finde, dem seien an dieser Stelle die Boy or Girl Baisers empfohlen. Wunderhübsch auch für eine Babyparty oder die Verkündung an Verwandte, was denn nun die Familie bereichern wird. Die Baisertuffs backen sich über Nacht selber, sind auch schön als Deko für Eis oder Törtchen.

Jeannys Boy or girl Meringues 3 Eiweiß

225g Zucker eine Prise Salz Rote und Hellblaue Lebensmittelfarbe, am besten in Gelform 40g weiße Kuvertüre, geschmolzen

1.) Ofen auf 175°C Ober- und Unterhitze vorheizen. Zwei Backbleche mit Backpapier auskleiden. 2.) Eiweiß mit dem Handrührgerät schlagen, bis es leicht steif ist. Dann vorsichtig nach und nach den Zucker sowie Salz hinzufügen und mixen, bis das Eiweiß sehr steif ist. 3.) Die Eiweißmasse dann in zwei Hälften teilen und jeweils vorsichtig mit Lebensmittelfarbe einfärben. Lieber erst spärlich mit der Farbe umgehen, man kann immer noch etwas hinzufügen, aber meist reicht schon ein Tropfen. 4.) Die beiden Eiweißfarben nun jeweils in einen Spritzbeutel (oder aufgeschnittenen Einfrierbeutel) geben und kleine Tupfen auf die Bleche spritzen. 5.) Den Ofen nun ausschalten (ja, wirklich. Ausschalten!) und die Backbleche über Nacht  in den Ofen geben. 6.) Die Kuvertüre über dem heißen Wasserbad schmelzen und dann wieder abkühlen lassen, bis sie etwas dicklicher wird. Die Baisers dann mit der Unterseite in die Schokolade tauchen und auf ein anderes Baiser setzen. Die zusammengesetzten Baiserküsschen dann entweder bei Raumtemperatur oder im Kühlschrank fest werden lassen.

Et voilá!

Liebe Elodie, ich wünsche Euch einen bezaubernden Start ins kunterbunte Familienleben mit der kleinen Fee <3

All the love in the universe, Jeanny

LOVEly Guest post by Katharina from Katharina kocht - Going wild

Dear readers, today I start my  little LOVEly guest post series with my friend Katharina, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did! I need to return to baby love now! See you on Thursday with another guest post. I will be returning myself on the blog with our #2flowergirls flower styling challenge on 2nd October. I wish you a great day and thank you so much Katharina for the great recipe and your beautiful photos. xxx Elodie

Going wild - with eco-friendly tableware for children (plus: a pasta dish recipe to serve upon)

Are you in for a bit of eco-chic? Then today's post might be just the thing for you.

But let me first say hello and introduce myself! I'm Katharina, a German food blogger. You can find me over at Katharina kocht., where I share the yummy things that make their way from our small kitchen to the dining table. I've known Elodie for a while now through our regular blogger meet-ups in Hamburg and I was very happy to participate in her Virtual Baby shower. And of course I'm absolutely looking forward to meet Baby Love sometime soon!

When Elodie asked fellow bloggers for guest post while she and her new little family take time to get to know each other I totally wanted to join in, however my mind was pretty blank. I don't have kids (yet), so I wondered what food-related and child-related idea I could come up with. And just then Birgit of kinderzimmer-haus.de asked if I was interested in checking out some of their infant tableware manufactured by the brand Zuperzozial. Inspiration hit just in the nick of time!

Zuperzozial is a Dutch brand who design tableware from organic material, such as bamboo, corn or sugar extract. Add soy-based ink for the print and there you go: eco-friendly, bio-degradable and, most importantly, really cute plates, bowls and cups for little food adventurers. The dishes’ characteristics are a bit like those of plastic tableware as they not prone to breaking from a little banging on the table or throwing on the floor (rumour has it some kids actually do this - not your little angel though, I'm sure), but it's made from a 100 per cent organic material. It can even go into the dishwasher! Eco-chic at its best, don't you think? And the "Hungry Lion" print makes meals a wild party. As for the goat - I just pretend it's the lion's BFF.

I wouldn't be a food blogger if I hadn't brought a recipe along with the tableware. As probably any child’s, my favourite childhood food was pasta. Oh yes, definitely pasta! I loved the days when little spare time only allowed for a quick pasta lunch, preferably spaghetti with tomato sauce, “sprinkled” with a cheese layer almost the height of the pasta itself. And my grandmother even started cooking tomato sauce, on our constant nagging. She must have been past 70 at that time… Looking at the peas on the product pictures I also remembered how we loved to swarm out into our grandparents’ garden and “harvest” anything that was remotely ripe. No berry and no pea would be safe from us! Combining both memories I cooked a pasta dish for you that is not only extremely versatile but will (hopefully) please both children and parents alike. At my house we call it the "let's see what's left in the freezer-pasta” as any sort of preferably green veggies may go in there. You can basically change or leave out certain veggies that aren't your child's favourite. But who knows, maybe a lion's strength may encourage the little one to brave the green monster formerly known as broccoli?! ;-)

The Zuperzozial "Hungry Lion" tableware was sponsored by the webshop kinderzimmer-haus.de. However, my views and opinions are my own, and I think this stuff really rocks. There's even a girlish variety with a pink flamingo… and a travel mug made of bamboo for mom's caffè latte. Cool, huh?

Veggie pasta with loads of grated parmesan cheese

Here's how I prepare the dish - change and adapt according to your little gourmet's tastes. This makes about 4 servings.

Favourite kind of pasta, I used 300g of conchiglie pasta, but orechiette or farfalle will also work well.

• 1 garlic clove
• 1 TBSP olive oil or butter
• 150 g frozen broccoli
• 150 g frozen green string beans - basically take a handful or a cup of each of the frozen veggies
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1 cup of cream
• Salt and pepper
• 150 g frozen green peas
• 1 cup or 1 handful of grated parmesan cheese or any hard cheese of your preference.

Bring water to the boil and cook the pasta according to instruction.

Meanwhile, chop or mince the garlic clove. In a large pot on medium heat, heat olive oil or butter and gently fry the garlic until it is soft and golden (don't burn or it will taste bitter). Add the still frozen broccoli and beans (or whatever veggie strikes your fancy) and fry it for a minute or two along with the garlic. Then add vegetable stock and cream and season with salt and pepper. Leave to simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes, stir occasionally. Then add the frozen peas - they don't need to cook for very long so they can go in last. Add some of the parmesan as well (about one third) and simmer for another 2 minutes.

The pasta should be nearly done by then, it's perfect when it's still pretty al dente. Drain but keep some of the cooking liquid, a cup or so, then add the pasta to the sauce.  Stir well and let the whole thing simmer for a few more minutes, so that the pasta is cooked and the sauce thickens a bit. If it gets too dry add some of the cooking liquid and/or some more cream.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with looooooads of grated parmesan.

Note: If this dish is just for you, you can add some chili flakes as well to give it some zzzzzing!

Theresa's flower diary #1

Good morning everyone, Today I have a special guest on the blog: let me introduce Theresa. Theresa is a blogger and one of my readers, and she sent me the sweetest email a couple of weeks ago with a picture of flowers from her garden and a link to her lovely blog. I asked her if she wanted to regularly guest blog about flowers and cooking with flowers on madame love, and I am so glad she accepted. She will be guest blogging on the 1st of each month with treasures from her garden in Luxembourg. The post is going to be in German and English. I will be back on the blog, I hope next time with some good news about baby love's birth. I will take a little blogging break in September, but my lovely blogger friends from all over the world have prepared some beautiful blogposts for you. Inga and I will also be back in October with a new edition of #2flowergirls and a great flower for you to style!

Talk to you soon, xxx Elodie

Eine Homage an den Küchengarten!

Nichts geht über ein frisch gebackenes Brot mit Schnittlauch oder wilder Rucola aus dem Garten, dekorativ verziert mit essbaren Blüten! Ich liebe es, wenn ich ab dem Frühjahr frische Kräuter in die Küche holen kann. Und da ich oft und großzügig ernte, habe ich von den meisten Sorten gleich mehrere Exemplare im Beet. Von vielen Kräutern lassen sich nicht nur die Blätter, sondern auch die Blüten verwenden. Für eine orange-rote Farbpalette auf dem Sommersalat sorgt z.B. die Kapuzinerkresse. Die Blütenblätter des Borretschs hingegen leuchten in zarten Pastellfarben von hellblau bis dunkel-violett. Der meterhohe Fenchel ist besonders prachtvoll und um einiges robuster als der feine Dill.

Ich bin immer auf der Suche nach neuen Inspirationen für meinen Kräutergarten! Fündig geworden bin ich im Bauerngarten von Hannelore Eggelmann aus Niedersachsen. In ihren liebevoll angelegten Beeten wachsen verschiedene Sorten Thymian, Petersilie, Pimpinelle, Raute, Salbei, Schafsgarbe, Lauchzwiebeln und was auf keinen Fall fehlen darf: Französischer Estragon. Diese Varietät ist geschmacklich viel zarter und feiner, als die weit verbreitete russische Sorte. Angesichts dieser Kräutervielfalt im Beet gerate ich ins Schwärmen. Wir ernten von jedem etwas und machen uns gleich darauf an den Herd! Die Kräuterrolle von Hannelore Eggelmann ist ein wunderbares Rezept für das späte Frühstück oder als Appetizer zu einem erfrischenden Sommerdrink!

An homage to the herb garden!

There is nothing better than freshly-baked bread with chives or wild rocket from the garden, with edible flowers for decoration! I love being able to bring fresh herbs into the kitchen from springtime onwards. And as I "harvest" frequently and in large quantities I have numerous examples of most types of herb growing in the garden. With many herbs you can use not only the leaves, but also the flowers. For an orange-red colour palette on a summer salad you can use nasturtium for example. Borage petals on the other hand light up in soft pastel colours from light-blue to deep purple. Metre-high fennel looks particularly splendid and is quite a bit more robust than fragile dill.

I'm constantly on the lookout for new inspiration for my herb garden and made a discovery in the form of Hannelore Eggelmann's farm garden in Lower Saxony. Various types of thyme, parsley, burnet, rue, sage, yarrow, spring onions and what absolutely has to be there: French tarragon are present in her carefully arranged beds. This variety has a softer, more refined taste than the more common Russian type. When I see this amount of variety in the herb beds I get really excited! We took back a little bit of everything into the kitchen. Hannelore's herb roll is a great recipe for a late breakfast or as an appetizer with a refreshing summer drink!

Kräuterrolle mit Blüten aus dem Küchengarten

Zutaten: Für den Teig:

• 300 ml Milch
• 4 Eier
• 2 EL Öl
• 100 g Mehl
• etwas Salz

Für die Füllung:

• Ein Bund mit verschiendenen frischen Kräutern aus dem Garten oder vom Markthändler (z.B.: Schnittlauch, Bärlauch, Kresse, Fenchel, glatte Petersilie, Kapuzinerkresse, Lauchzwiebel, Pimpinelle, Dill)
• 200 g Frischkäse
• 200 g Schmand
• 100 g Quark
• 100 g Kochschinken
• 1/4 TL Salz
• 1 gehäufter TL Meerrettich
• etwas Cayennepfeffer

Zubereitung:

Den Backofen auf 200° C Umluft vorheizen.

Die Milch erwärmen. Die Eier trennen. Das Eigelb in eine Schüssel geben. Das Eiweiß mit dem Salz steif schlagen. Die Milch unter Rühren nach und nach zum Eigelb geben, bis die Masse schaumig geschlagen ist. Das Öl unterschlagen. Schließlich erst das Mehl und dann das Eiweiß mit einem Schneebesen unterheben. Ein Backblech mit Backpapier auslegen, den Teig darauf verteilen und 15 Minuten im Ofen goldbraun backen.

In der Zwischenzeit die Kräuter waschen und fein hacken. Den Kochschinken in feine Würfel schneiden. Die Kräuter und den Schinken mit den restlichen Zutaten verrühren.

Den Pfannkuchen vom Blech auf ein sauberes Handtuch stürzen, das Backpapier abziehen und den Pfannkuchen lauwarm abkühlen lassen. Die Kräuter-Frischkäse-Creme darauf verstreichen und gleichsam wie eine Biskuitrolle einrollen. Mit Klarsichtfolie einwickeln und für eine Stunde in den Kühlschrank stellen. Zum Servieren die Kräuterrolle in feine Scheiben schneiden und mit Blüten aus dem Garten verzieren.

Ein gute Gelingen und Bon Appetit!

Herb roll with flowers from the kitchen garden

Ingredients:

For the roll:

• 300 ml milk
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 100 g flour
• a pinch of salt

For the filling:

• A bunch of mixed fresh herbs from the garden or from the market (e.g. chives, wild garlic, cress, fennel, Italian parsley, nasturtium, spring onions, burnet, dill)
• 200 g cream cheese
• 200 g sour cream
• 100 g curd cheese (quark)
• 100 g cooked ham
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 heaped teaspoon horseradish
• a pinch of cayenne pepper

Preparation:

Pre-heat the fan-assisted oven to 200° C.

Roll: Warm the milk. Separate the eggs. Put the yolks in a bowl. Beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff and leave to one side. Mix the milk bit by bit with the egg yolks and beat until the combination has a slight foam covering . Mix in the olive oil. Then mix the flour and then the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture with a whisk. Put baking paper on a baking tray and spread the mixture on it and put it in the oven for 15 minutes until golden brown.

Filling: In the meantime wash and finely chop the herbs. Cut the cooked ham into small cubes. Mix the herbs and the ham with the remaining ingredients.

Remove the roll on the baking paper from the baking tray and flip it onto a clean tea towel, then remove the baking paper and leave the roll to cool until it is luke warm. Spread the filling on the roll and then roll it up as for a log roll. Cover in cling film and leave in the fridge for an hour. Cut the herb roll into thin slices and decorate with edible flowers from the garden to serve.

Enjoy it!

(c) All photography by Theresa Baumgärtner

Mr. Love's British cheesecake

Hello everyone, I have a new recipe for you today. This one is not French but British and is from my husband Mr. Love. I told you last week, when I gave you the recipe for the French clafoutis, that Mr. Love is very sceptical and and critical when it comes to clafoutis; I must admit I used to be a bit the same regarding cheesecake. My friend Stephanie who was visiting us last week, insisted in having a cheesecake, so we made one - British style (completely without an oven - which is quite cool in the summer), and I really liked it... So there you go - here comes Mr. Love's cheesecake recipe:

Ingredients: 

• 200 g digestive biscuits - can be found in British shops if you don't live in Britain. We found ours in the British shop Sweet Suburbia in Hamburg-Ottensen. You can also order online.
• a few handfuls of blueberries
• grated rind and juice of 1 organic lemon
• 1 sachet gelatine
• 200 g low fat cream cheese
• 200 g quark or fromage frais
• 150 g natural yogurt
• 50 g caster sugar
• 50g salted butter
• 1/2 sachet vanilla sugar
• sprinkling of yuzu powder (optional)

1. Crush the biscuits into fine crumbs by placing them in a food bag and crushing with a rolling pin. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then mix with the crumbs.

2. Press the buttery crumbs into the base and up the sides of a (pre-greased) 20 cm loose-based flan tin. Refrigerate for circa one hour.

3. Make the filling. Pour the lemon juice into a small heatproof dish and sprinkle over the gelatine. Leave the mixture until the gelatine absorbs the liquid, then microwave the mixture on low power for circa 30 seconds and repeat until the gelatine dissolves.

4. In a large bowl mix the cheese and quark or fromage frais. Add the yogurt, citrus rind, sugar, vanilla sugar and yuzu powder (optional). Beat until smooth, then beat a small portion of the mixture into the dissolved gelatine. Add this gelatine mixture to the cheese mixture and beat well. Pour into the crumb crust and wash a few handfuls of blueberries and sprinkle them on the cheesecake. Refrigerate for 3 hours until set.

Remove the cheesecake from the tin. Serve with a fruit coulis, e.g. pureed blueberries mixed with icing sugar to taste.

Have a lovely Sunday evening!

Elodie

Clafoutis - The French Cherry cake

Hello everyone, Today I have a very French recipe for you: Clafoutis. It is a French cake with cherries, which is very easy to bake, that is eaten a lot all over France in the summer. The recipe is very easy to make, and children love it. My husband Mr. Love  really doesn't like clafoutis, I must say, and I had to wait for my sister's visit to bake one with her. He says that Clafoutis tastes like an omelet with cherries... which is not completely wrong, but I still love this cake and its wonderful smell! Nowadays, you see a lot of clafoutis recipes with various fruits, but the real one is made with cherries - and they are really delicious at the moment. I hope you will enjoy it too! xxx Elodie

Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes Ingredients (for 8 people):

• 600 g cherries
• 40 g salted butter  + 20 g for the baking tin
• 4 eggs
• 20 cl milk
• 100 g flour
• 60 g caster sugar
• 1 sachet of vanilla sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• icing sugar

Preparation:

Pre-heat the oven to 210°C (thermostat 7). Wash the cherries, remove the stalks and dry them. You don't remove the stones, the traditional recipe states that you leave them in, and I think it tastes much better that way. Melt 40g of butter in a small saucepan with a thick base. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt and the vanilla sugar. Add the eggs bit by bit and then the milk, also in stages whilst continuing to mix. Add the melted butter. Butter the baking tin, put the cherries in and then pour in the mixture. Place in the preheated oven for ten minutes at 210°C and then reduce the temperature to 180°C and bake for a further 20 minutes. Serve the clafoutis cold or luke warm, covered with icing sugar.

the Speculoos stars - Post aus meiner Küche

Good morning dear readers, This week I took part for the third time in the German food swapping project, Post aus meiner Küche (mail from my kitchen) initiated by my fellow bloggers Clara, Jeanny and Rike. The theme this time was Christmas, and I must say it was a bit tricky for me. The concept of Post aus meiner Küche is that you cook or bake something in your kitchen, and send it by mail to your randomly picked swapping-partner.

In France, we don't have this tradition of baking small biscuits (Plätzchen) before Christmas, so I hope my wonderful partner in crime, the lovely Sabine from the blog azurweiss will forgive me for having only sent some simple home-made speculoos. I received on Wednesday an incredible delivery from the south of Germany: what was in the box can be seen here. I hope the star-shaped biscuits tasted good. I had the idea of making them after our trip to Belgium in October. They don't really look the same as the ones you find in France and Belgium because you have to use "Vergeoise" which is a very dark brown sugar that you find in the north of France and in Belgium, and it gives the biscuits a very dark golden colour.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Receipe for the Speculoos dough:

for 40 to 50 pieces - preparation : 10 minutes

500g flour 180 g salted butter 300 g brown sugar (Vergoise) 1 egg 1 teaspoon yeast 2 g of salt 8 cl milk 2 soup spoons of speculoos spices

Preparation:

Mix the flour, brown sugar, spices, yeast and salt in a bowl. Add the egg and the (not cold) butter cut into small pieces. Mix the ingredients together gently. Start to add, bit by bit, the milk and continue mixing until a consistent dough is formed. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for at least two hours.

Remove the dough from the fridge and leave for one hour. Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Flour the work surface. Use a rolling pin to achieve flat dough around 3-4 mm in height. Cut into shapes using your form of choice. Place on baking paper on a baking tray and place in the preheated oven for around 15 minutes. Ensure that the speculoos are golden before taking out of the oven.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

I wish you a nice Sunday afternoon.

xxx

Elodie

cone pine candle-light holder from the shop Nordlys in Hamburg (I don't remember the brand) wooden candle-light holder - Frau Sieben (soon available in the online shop), black plate - Habitat, little vase from Miss étoile, from the shop Rubios in Hamburg

Antwerp #3 - Where to eat?

Hello everyone,I have got a restaurant tip for you from our holiday in Antwerp with Mr. Love. I already gave you an overview of Antwerp by day and of Antwerp by night and now I would like to give a nice address for lunch, dinner or even breakfast. The restaurant Hangar Eenenveertig is situated on the docks and we went there by accident, while looking for a place to eat lunch and I had the most amazing grilled sandwich ever with grilled tuna and tapenade! The place is also beautifully decorated with dark walls & ceilings (chocolate colour), a very original wooden floor and some fancy lamps over the bar. Here are a couple of photos.

If you have the chance of going to Antwerp, please visit this place for me! It is situated not far away from the Klosterstraat, the street with all the beautiful antique shops.

xxx

Elodie

Website: HANGAR EENENVEERTIG Sint Michielskikaai 41 2000 Antwerp

Let's picnic

This week, I took part in the third round of "Post aus meiner Küche": The food swap project organised by Clara, Jeanny and Rike.The motto of the last edition was Very Berry, and you can read my post here. This time the motto was "Let's picnic". I find it pretty inspiring: the last picnic of the season on the biggest virtual blanket. I decided to go French and do some madeleines (sweet and savory) & meringues (for the first time in my life! - usually my mum is the meringue queen.).So here are a couple of pictures of the little picnic basket, I put together for Sophia from Munich. I am looking forward to receiving post from Munich!

THE SAVORY MADELEINES IN THE BENTO BAG: 

I thought that the madeleines wouldn't look nice in a simple tupperware, so I decided to sew them a little Japanese bento bag - a bento is a Japanese lunch box. As I used some Swedish fabric from Lotta Jansdotter and some british fabric from Liberty of London, I call it my Scandinavian - British - Japanese creation.

THE SWEET BLUEBERRY MADELEINES:

THE MERINGUES:

THE PACKAGING:

Tea Party by Miss O.

I followed the instruction from the invitation, and went to Miss O's place at five o'clock on Sunday for tea.To go with the tea - I prepared some cucumber stars in the afternoon. The dress code had been perfectly respected: red, blue and white with some floral print. and obviously, we had some pimm's, to pimp up the tea! It was a very fine tea party indeed.

Ploughman's Dinner

A ploughman's lunch is a cold snack or meal originating in the United Kingdom, served in pubs, composed of cheese, bread .Other common additions are grapes. It is usually served with beer. I decided to call my version ploughman's dinner (I'm sure you can guess why).

To make it a bit more international, I chose French cheeses and wine, and some German fruit mustard. The cheese biscuits (instead of bread come directly from the UK). It is perfect for a meal in front of the TV. Here are some pictures and the music to go with: Land of Hope and Glory.

very berry - part 3

Hello, it's me again. So after a very nice afternoon spent on the Hamburg lake, here is my third post - as promised, with some pictures of the lovely present I got from Lübeck as part of the "Post aus meiner Küche" exchange. I was very lucky to have such a great partner - she did an excellent job - a cookie trilogy, and I had some raspberry cakes on the boat this afternoon! I can't wait for the strawberry and cranberry cookies. I also got a very pretty handmade bracelet. Thank you so much Sandra! ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Bonjour, c'est encore moi. Après une excellente après-midi passé en bateau sur le lac, voici mon troisième post - comme promis, avec quelques photos du ravissant paquet que j'ai reçu de ma partenaire de Lübeck dans le cadre de "Post aus meiner Küche". J'ai eu beaucoup de chance d'avoir une aussi bonne partenaire - elle a fait un super boulot, une trilogie de cookies, et j'ai même mangé des biscuits à la framboise sur le bateau cet après-midi! Je suis très impatiente d'essayer les cookies à la fraise et aux cranberries. Sandra m'a aussi envoyé une super joli bracelet fait main. Merci Sandra

[contact-form][contact-field label='Name' type='name' required='1'/][contact-field label='Email' type='email' required='1'/][contact-field label='Website' type='url'/][contact-field label='Comment' type='textarea' required='1'/][/contact-form]

very berry - part 2

So there you go: here comes part 2 of my "very berry" adventure. Here are some more photos of the lollipops as well as the recipe. I've always loved sweets, so this was the occasion for me to try making my own - and it was very much fun. The day my package arrived in Lübeck, I received mine from Sandra - and it was really really cool! Unfortunately I had to go to work, before I could try everything. I just had time to open the box, inspect it together with my little assistant Cheddar and see the beautiful hand-written recipe booklet. I will post some pictures of Sandra's present in my next post. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Alors voilà: mon deuxième post de mon aventure "very berry". voici quelques photos de mes sucettes à la fraise ainsi que la recette. J'ai toujours adoré les bonbons, alors c'était l'occasion d'essayer de les faire moi-même. Le jour où mon paquet est arrivé à Lübeck, j'ai reçu celui de Sandra - et c´était une super surprise! Malheureusement, j'ai du partir au boulot, avant d'avoir le temps de tout essayer. J'ai juste eu le temps d'ouvrir la boite, que nous avons inspecté avec mon petit assistant, Cheddar et de découvrir le jolie petit livre de recettes écrites à la main. Je vais poster des photos du paquet de Sandra dans mon prochain post. 

 

very berry - part 1

I alrealdy talked in my previous post, about "Post aus meiner Küche" (mail from my kitchen), this brilliant initiative from three German bloggers to bring a bit of reality in this wonderful digital word, make new friends and exchange delicious treats.Those lollipops were my presents for my sweet pen friend from Lübeck. I will post the recipe and some more info this week end. So please stay tuned...

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

J'ai déjà parlé dans mon précédent post de l'initiative "Post aus meiner Küche" (du courrier de ma cuisine), cette super idée de trois blogueuses allemandes qui permet d'amener un peu de réalité dans notre merveilleux monde digital, de faire de nouveaux amis and d'échanger des bonnes choses et des bonnes recettes. Ces sucettes étaient mon cadeau pour ma correspondante de Lübeck. Je vais poster la recette ainsi que quelques autre photos un peu plus tard ce week-end.

eurovision & gazpacho

Saturday was the Eurovision song contest and in order to celebrate, we gave our famous Eurovision Party with friends from all over the world as usual. We try to keep this tradition we started in Berlin, alive in Hamburg.This time our guests were coming from the Philippines, from Japan, South Africa, Scotland, Germany etc... we prepared some "snacks": a gazpacho with some dips, a couple of quiches and a banoffee pie, and some other simple things - we had a brilliant and very funny night.

red and green

While I was cutting my tomatoes from the market yesterday, preparing a nice salad from my friends I couldn't resist taking a few pictures to share them with you. They look almost as beautiful as flowers and taste fantastic, even the green ones are very sweet.