For 5 minutes I was married to Adolf here.
Then the last bit of bristle came off and things are back to normal.
Now we are getting ready to leave for Venice for 5 days.
Venice! I'm excited.
I'll be back with pictures :)
Sep 16, 2010
Sep 15, 2010
music monday V2.2....
.... on Wednesday, with more food than music.
And also the recipes from the previous post, quickly before you knock my door down. You're not a patient bunch when it comes to a good recipe are ya! I don't blame you. I must warn those of you on diets though, since the previous post I have baked Peach Shortbread and I'm afraid I have yummy pictures.
LOOK AWAY!
Mmmmm.
And now without further ado, the recipes:
5 medium apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
juice of 1/2 a lemon
3 tbsp sugar
For the crisp:
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
6 tbsp cold butter (or 85 grams), cut into smallish squares
1/3 cup oats
Set your oven to 190 Celcius to preheat and get your food processor out. Begin with throwing the ingredients for the filling together in a bowl, stirring well to coat the apples with lemon and sugar. Set aside.
Then you simply throw all of the ingredients for the crisp into the food processor and pulse them till it comes together a bit. It will be very crumbly!
Then you grease a pan, throw in the apples, cover them with the crisp mixture and bake them in the center of the oven for about 30-40 minutes, until the crisp is a nice golden brown and the sides are bubbling. I recommend you eat it hot with vanilla ice cream.
Banana Bread
3 big or 4 small ripe bananas
1/3 cup melted butter (or 75 grams)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cups flour
Set you oven to 170 Celcius and grab a bowl. Mash the bananas and throw in all the ingredients but leave the flour. Stir well. Then add the flour and stir again until incorporated. Grease a pan, put mixture in the pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until brown and a tooth pick comes out clean (I had to bake one for 60 minutes the other day).
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup shortening or melted butter/margarine
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla (or a bit more if you really love a rich vanilla taste)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups flour
about 2 cups of chocolate chips/chunks (I can't buy chips over here so I just cut up dark chocolate bars)
Preheat the oven to 175 Celcius and melt the butter/margarine if you're going to use that. Then again you mix everything together, except the flour. Add the flour until incorporated and don't be scared if your dough seems runny. This is because you melted the butter, the cookies will still turn out amazing. Then stir in the chocolate (and nuts, if you like them in your cookies!) and line a cookie sheet with some parchment paper. I put 12 blobs of dough approx. 3/4 inch in diameter on my sheet and that gives me about 36 medium cookies from this recipe. Bake them for 8 minutes if you like them extra chewy, bake them for 10 if you prefer crispier. I find that 9 minutes gives them the perfect crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside texture. Oh, can I just say, these are even better if you wrap the dough in cling film and let it sit in your fridge for a few hours (that will also take care of the 'runniness'!).
As for the Peach Shortbread, allow me to just link you to this amazing website I was referred to not too long ago by someone who can only be described as, like, totally awesome for knowing this website.
Now run along quickly while I add some more pics of the kiddo's, before you notice that besides it not being Monday, I also actually add any music to this post...
And also the recipes from the previous post, quickly before you knock my door down. You're not a patient bunch when it comes to a good recipe are ya! I don't blame you. I must warn those of you on diets though, since the previous post I have baked Peach Shortbread and I'm afraid I have yummy pictures.
LOOK AWAY!
Mmmmm.
And now without further ado, the recipes:
Apple Crisp
For the filling:5 medium apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
juice of 1/2 a lemon
3 tbsp sugar
For the crisp:
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
6 tbsp cold butter (or 85 grams), cut into smallish squares
1/3 cup oats
Set your oven to 190 Celcius to preheat and get your food processor out. Begin with throwing the ingredients for the filling together in a bowl, stirring well to coat the apples with lemon and sugar. Set aside.
Then you simply throw all of the ingredients for the crisp into the food processor and pulse them till it comes together a bit. It will be very crumbly!
Then you grease a pan, throw in the apples, cover them with the crisp mixture and bake them in the center of the oven for about 30-40 minutes, until the crisp is a nice golden brown and the sides are bubbling. I recommend you eat it hot with vanilla ice cream.
Banana Bread
3 big or 4 small ripe bananas
1/3 cup melted butter (or 75 grams)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cups flour
Set you oven to 170 Celcius and grab a bowl. Mash the bananas and throw in all the ingredients but leave the flour. Stir well. Then add the flour and stir again until incorporated. Grease a pan, put mixture in the pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until brown and a tooth pick comes out clean (I had to bake one for 60 minutes the other day).
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup shortening or melted butter/margarine
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla (or a bit more if you really love a rich vanilla taste)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups flour
about 2 cups of chocolate chips/chunks (I can't buy chips over here so I just cut up dark chocolate bars)
Preheat the oven to 175 Celcius and melt the butter/margarine if you're going to use that. Then again you mix everything together, except the flour. Add the flour until incorporated and don't be scared if your dough seems runny. This is because you melted the butter, the cookies will still turn out amazing. Then stir in the chocolate (and nuts, if you like them in your cookies!) and line a cookie sheet with some parchment paper. I put 12 blobs of dough approx. 3/4 inch in diameter on my sheet and that gives me about 36 medium cookies from this recipe. Bake them for 8 minutes if you like them extra chewy, bake them for 10 if you prefer crispier. I find that 9 minutes gives them the perfect crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside texture. Oh, can I just say, these are even better if you wrap the dough in cling film and let it sit in your fridge for a few hours (that will also take care of the 'runniness'!).
As for the Peach Shortbread, allow me to just link you to this amazing website I was referred to not too long ago by someone who can only be described as, like, totally awesome for knowing this website.
Now run along quickly while I add some more pics of the kiddo's, before you notice that besides it not being Monday, I also actually add any music to this post...
Sep 8, 2010
Things have been smelling...
...pretty good around here lately. I know you wouldn't think my house would smell good, what with all the yucky diapers, but fortunately I have found the most powerful air freshener in the world:
my oven.
I simply whip up a nice little dough from scratch with fresh blueberries and pop them in my oven, and the scents that soon begin dissipating from the kitchen are so sweet and mouth watering that I can only imagine it must be what heaven smells like.
Of course it's not a bad deal that after the air-freshening is complete you also have a batch of warm, moist crumbly Blueberry Scones to sink your teeth into.
Blueberry scone is a great scent and I recommend it highly, but I believe I have found a few more pleasures for the nasal passage and who would I be if I didn't share? Truly I share, therefore I am.
How would you like to wake up to the smell of Apple Crisp, hot and bubbly just out of the oven and ready to be devoured with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream?
'Mmmm yes Karina, I would like that very much! But do you have anything that smells of, oh say, a cosy autumn morning?'
Why yes I do! This Spiced Banana Bread would do just the trick to transform your home into a safe haven of 'gezellig' (sorry non-dutch readers, but there really is no better word to describe this smell).
And last but certainly not least there is this classic, timeless scent.The scent that nearly beat the scent that now resides inside a bottle of Chanel 5. The smell of all smells: Chocolate Chip Cookies, crips on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, bespeckled with melted bits of rich, dark chocolate. Nothing says 'Welcome Home Dear' quite like these.
I'll say no more, I know you're just itching to turn your house into the best smelling place on earth, after my house of course.
Sep 6, 2010
music monday V 2.0 - A lazy construction worker...
... is an abomination in my eyes. Well, only if I'm the one paying the bill at the end of the day, otherwise it's actually really entertaining. Remember I promised you a story about construction workers? Your wait is over.
Ever since we had the extra floor built on top of our apartment many families in the neighbourhood have been becoming more and more interested in doing the same. Our contractor (also a good friend from church) did a great job and we have been promoting him all over the place. The people directly across the street from us and their neighbours were some of the ones interested in an addition and had our contractor come over and make a quote. They also had another company come in, one that they happened to be friends with but who are much, much more expensive. We know this because we also had them make a quote for us in the time we were deciding on the right contractor. So we both ended up choosing our friend for the job and believe you me, we got the better end of that deal.
I have been seeing these guys at work almost every day for three weeks now and I finally understand why some companies are so much more expensive than others. The secret does not lie in more expensive materials, it does not lie in doing a faster job. It actually lies in doing exactly the same job as the cheaper guy, only you do it as slowly as possible.
Genius!
Think of all the man hours you could charge if you instructed two of your employees to take 45 minutes to open a smallish package of wood beams and then to take at least 2 hours (i kid you not) to send the wood up the elevator thingy, one piece at a time. Of course sending the wood up requires 2 workers at the bottom and one up top to stare at the piece of wood as it slowly makes its way up to ensure its safety. You see, an added bonus of working s l o w l y is that you also work very safely!
I am in complete awe of the operation going on across the street. When we were 3 weeks into construction, the entire structrure was erect and we were commencing phase 2: knocking through the ceiling. and getting the electrics and windows installed.
They have about half of the wooden skeleton up.
We had a maximum of 4 men working on the same day, but usually only 2, they have 6 middle aged guys with pot bellies every single day. That's right girls, they're not even nice to look at.
Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge these poor guys. Just wait, I'll go get a tour when the whole thing is finished and the walls will be plated with gold and the finest Italilan marble will be gracing their floors. If that turns out to be the case I will gladly eat my words.
For a minute I considered giving this week's Music Monday a consrtuction theme. I was going to post the top 5 songs you'll hear coming from the radio on a construction site, but really I just don't have it in me to be so cruel. I mean, we're talking Vengaboys and Enrique Iglesias here.
Instead I opted for a more subtle variation on work music and came up with the following 5 songs that make housework a lot more fun for me. To me the trick is some good solid sing-along lyrics and a beat that makes you want to keep going.
1. Run DMC - It's Tricky
2. Stray Cats - Rock This Town
A classic that I never tire of. I saw the Cats live in Amsterdam a few years ago, and it was insane. Be sure to notice the audience hair!
3. Cornelius - Drop
Amazing Japanese musician, some of the coolest video's around (Fit Song, and Fly!).
4. Bat for Lashes - Daniel
I have been seeing these guys at work almost every day for three weeks now and I finally understand why some companies are so much more expensive than others. The secret does not lie in more expensive materials, it does not lie in doing a faster job. It actually lies in doing exactly the same job as the cheaper guy, only you do it as slowly as possible.
Genius!
Think of all the man hours you could charge if you instructed two of your employees to take 45 minutes to open a smallish package of wood beams and then to take at least 2 hours (i kid you not) to send the wood up the elevator thingy, one piece at a time. Of course sending the wood up requires 2 workers at the bottom and one up top to stare at the piece of wood as it slowly makes its way up to ensure its safety. You see, an added bonus of working s l o w l y is that you also work very safely!
I am in complete awe of the operation going on across the street. When we were 3 weeks into construction, the entire structrure was erect and we were commencing phase 2: knocking through the ceiling. and getting the electrics and windows installed.
They have about half of the wooden skeleton up.
We had a maximum of 4 men working on the same day, but usually only 2, they have 6 middle aged guys with pot bellies every single day. That's right girls, they're not even nice to look at.
Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge these poor guys. Just wait, I'll go get a tour when the whole thing is finished and the walls will be plated with gold and the finest Italilan marble will be gracing their floors. If that turns out to be the case I will gladly eat my words.
For a minute I considered giving this week's Music Monday a consrtuction theme. I was going to post the top 5 songs you'll hear coming from the radio on a construction site, but really I just don't have it in me to be so cruel. I mean, we're talking Vengaboys and Enrique Iglesias here.
Instead I opted for a more subtle variation on work music and came up with the following 5 songs that make housework a lot more fun for me. To me the trick is some good solid sing-along lyrics and a beat that makes you want to keep going.
1. Run DMC - It's Tricky
2. Stray Cats - Rock This Town
A classic that I never tire of. I saw the Cats live in Amsterdam a few years ago, and it was insane. Be sure to notice the audience hair!
3. Cornelius - Drop
Amazing Japanese musician, some of the coolest video's around (Fit Song, and Fly!).
5. Yo La Tengo - Mr. Tough
Well I don't know about you (though I'd love to hear!) but I worked very hard today and will probably work very hard again tomorrow so I'm calling it a day. Monday. Rest up, and enjoy the tunes while you slave away (or not) tomorrow.
Sep 3, 2010
filled with pictures...
...of cute. I've been saving up for a while and I'm starting to sense a mutiny on the family front if I don't post some new pictures of my children right this minute. So hold your horses, here they are:
Elliot is still ridiculously cute, we sometimes have fights over who gets to cuddle him.
And it's a pretty good life having 3 moms.
Just look at these blue eyes (is there a limit on how many times I'm allowed to use that line?)
Lara putting on her breakfast charm.
Julia got 'bath jelly' for her Birthday. You mix this chemical stuff into the bathwater and it turns to red, fragrant jelly. Julia obviously loves it (to nobody's surprise) but Lara isn't convinced.
OK, so I tried to take a nice back-to-school picture. Maybe it was that I chose the very second we were ready to run out the door, maybe it was the flash at the early hour of 8 AM, maybe it's just my special Julia, but we couldn't get her to smile normally. In hindsight I think this is perfect... normal schmormal, this is exactly how we should remember Julia!
Hey look, this one didn't turn out so bad!
Am I a bad mother for letting my 2-year-old dribble snot all over my 2-month-old? Just look at the happy!
Alright enough of that now. I have something to say. Did anybody notice I missed last Music Monday? I certainly didn't get any complaints, so I just wanted to say thank you for making Music Monday feel important! Ingrates.
Lucky for you Music Monday isn't naturally vengeful and has decided to give you a second chance, albeit on Friday. Don't even think about complaining now.
Amatorski - Come Home
This song is featured on a Dutch commercial and that's how I first happened across it. This Belgian band sure know how to sound pretty and retro. The lyrics are inspired by letters of the female vocalist's grandparents who wrote to each other while her grandfather was serving in the army.
Amatorski - Come Home
This song is featured on a Dutch commercial and that's how I first happened across it. This Belgian band sure know how to sound pretty and retro. The lyrics are inspired by letters of the female vocalist's grandparents who wrote to each other while her grandfather was serving in the army.
Izzy Cox - Bad, Bad Woman
I love having friends with good taste in music on Facebook, because that's how I got to know miss Cox. It's difficult to find a decent recording of her on youtube, but you more than get the idea from this video.
Stay tuned for a food-inspired blog post. I've been baking and cooking up a storm folks, trying all sorts of new recipes and finding some very nice websites to help me out and inspire me. I'll share soon!
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