Brownie Bliss

Ingredients:

100 grams of sifting White Flour

200 grams of melted

4 teaspoons of vanilla sugar

370 grams of castor sugar

4 teaspoons of baking powder

4 big eggs

6 table spoons of Cocoa powder

200 gram finely chopped Walnuts (I always used a 100 gram but its up to you)

 This is what you do:

1. Melt the butter

2. Mix together castor sugar, vanilla sugar and the melted butter.

3. Stir in the eggs (Whisk it until it goes white and fluffy)

4. Cocoa, baking powder and sifted flour mixed in to the wet, little by little to avoid clumps.

5. In the end you put in the Walnuts

Pour the dough in a baking pan. Put it in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for 25 minutes.

Check after 15-20 though, the time differs from oven to oven.

Considering a relaunch

Hei Leute, folk and other people

I just wanted to say that I´m considering relaunching my blog, that is something drastic has to happen for that to be a reality. Some commitment on my part maybe . Anyways I´m thinking that if I just write anything that enter my mind at a certain time that might be of interest to you, or well to my exhibitionistic personality, then there might be posts more than once a year.

What I´m gonna do though is recommend some cool blogs that I´ve been following. I´d rather read other people´s blogs than write my own it seems.

Anyways you should check out Bitching kitchen, by my friend Skye. If anyone can cook its this lady! WORD and the same goes for the pictures by this lady, to use my new favourite word complementing the dude, AWESOME

I was lucky enough to get some of that delicious chicken salad of Skye´s the other day, and I´m not overstating it when I say it felt like curry heaven.

I am planning to put on some of my own recipes as well, if I ever get my camera out to take pictures of the food I make. It´s not like I don´t have recipes, but my sense of esthetics won´t allow me to post anything without pictures

Things that make me happier

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

Last but not least, I can´t help but love the drama of this show.

7) 

Have a good day people! And I hope that unlike me you are not sitting inside on a nice autumn day postponing writing an essay that hurts the mind.

Hej hej

Creative me, I doubt it

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As you might see I´ve been busy, well not su busy that I can excuse the lack of posts lately, but hey if you don´t have anything worth saying, I ´d say its better to shut it. So while keeping my fingers off the keyboard I´ve been a busy bee, trying to figure out what to do with all the acrylic thread I was left with after the whole baby suit fiasko, remember?  Anyways I figured, what the hell I might as well make a blanket out of it, and just put two stitches on my knitting needles, increased with one on each needle until I had used up half of the four bundles of thread, at which point I was going, BORING. But anyways, I kept going, this time decreasing one stitch per needle and voila ended up where I started with two.

So what to do with a blanket that isn´t big enough for me, and not suitable for a small baby, seeing as its acrylic and not a natural fabric. Fear not, sometimes my brain works overtime and manages to produce marvelous ideas, like why not fold a little here and there and there, and what do you know, I could make a bag. I ended up going to Karstadt, which is the whatever you need you find it here, expensive but its here, shop in Germany. 30 Euros later and some nice advice and favourable comments “Oh thats such a neat idea”, I was out of there on my way home and in a productive mood. Seeing as I´d spent this much I was going to be damn sure that I finished the thing.

As you can see from the pictures, well hopefully, I stitched three corners of the blanket together, then I lined the bag with brown cotton fabric, all stitched by hand by the way. I feel like I´ve given the frase handmade a good run for its money. My fingers are still suffering the after effects. Then I added some details the string to tighten the bag opening, the magnetic button to keep the lid on, and a pretty button, just because! The two bag straps were also a given, need to wear it don´t I, as well as the 3 brown holders to keep them in place. And a big ta da and maybe a drumroll, no? and you have a very expensice bag completely handmade, with charming faults and everything. Was thinking about auctioning it off, but was afraid I would make Marilyn Monroes´ evening dresses jealous with the attention.

Oh and I just added these two pictures, because I noticed them that´s why, while walking around. Handy having you´r handy* huh? (*read. mobile phone)

Man erkältet sich geschwinde  in Ermanglung eines Schals.

- Heinrich Heine

Who loves the fleas

I admit it, I´m a flea market addict as well as second hand shopaholic. I think it´s the thrill of it to be honest, as well as the fun of the search. It´s like being a treasure hunter, though maybe not as dangerous. Well except if you find something and someone else has just caught sight of it as well. I have a few treasures in my possession, well treasure´s in the eye of the beholder, and thought I would share them with you. As well as maybe ask if maybe you guys have a treasure map, that is a location unknown to me. So here goes my compilation of stuff, found in Ireland, Holland and Germany. So far I haven´t really lucked out in Norway, and considering the price of fleas there maybe that´s ok.

Knit knit knit

A moment of inspiration struck as I came back from Niendorf. I was sitting there having a look through all the wool I had acquired  in my short time in Germany, and thinking, why why???? I am a person that happily start projects, though realising that the chance of me finishing are well next to none. So I was looking at a pair of knitted woolen body sleeves, for a baby no less. The way people produce them these days, I thought one might come in handy, get it handy? They make nice presents, having mums cooing over you, “Oh you didn´t?” Now that is a nice prospect to look forward to, only I have these arms, but no legs, back or front, or hoodie. Its like a baby suit more than a body. So I was thinking no way in hell am I going to finish this, and that´s when the answer came from above, from my brain that is; Why not make wrist warmers? So that´s what I did, a little sowing and some buttons later and voila

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Now you may wonder how in the wooly hell did you manage to make a pair of knitted baby sleeves fit your hands. I´ll tell you a secret, they weren´t supposed to. Some wool is different and seeing as this was acryl, and not wool at all, that explains the whole ordeal. But I made it and they´re all mine! Until I find someone worthier, which probably won´t take long. Compliment me in the comment field and I´ll consider giving it to you! You know who you are, stop salivating over my wrist warmers!

Anyways, bye

Prorsus

So I haven´t been the busiest blogger lately, and not without reason I might add. Since last time I´ve spent 10 days in a small holiday village near Lübeck called Niendorf. And yes I had internet access, thanks to the nice people at the sand castle, but I didn´t really have anything exciting to write about. It was one of the longest “holidays” I´ve ever been on.

I bet you wanna see some pictures?

Yes I know its only two, but it shows the important things doesn´t it. I finally got to see the ocean again. For a girl that hasn´t smelled salt sea since December that is pretty damn special.

So what was I saying yes before I went to Niendorf I actually had a dinner party at my house, and though i didn´t take picture of the guests, I did of the food, and am putting it in the food part of my blog, so have a look here if you want some recipes for Meatballs, Tzatziki and Chocolate Mousse.

I´m not sure if I really summed up, but honestly not much has happened, sad but true. I have finished one knitting project though, and was thinking of maybe posting some pictures of some steals that I´ve made at flea markets and second hand shops around Europe (that is Ireland, Germany and Holland).

So you have something to look forward to, well if you want to

Cheers,

Dinner at eight

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Yesterday night I was lucky enough to have two brilliant ladies over for dinner. You kind of have to celebrate having the house to yourself, ecpecially since it hasn´t happened since the early summer of 2010. Anyways I had pondered during the day of what to serve in the evening, and for some reason ended up with Chicken pesto salad. It might sound weird to you, but its pure genius I swear. The sad thing is that it actually tastes better the day after, then on the day itself. I suppose it is the pesto and oil finally coming to its right. But then again it´s positive, means you can have it twice and better the second time. So what is the recipe you say? I´ll tell you what the recipe is, right after we watch this Black Books clip, that is absolutely hilarious. I pray that my cooking skills are a bit more advanced than this, but well they never found the people who complained about my food, just mysteriously disappeared. Sucked up into a black hole I suspect.

In any case, which seems to be my favourite starting sentence, what else could one say, however? No, that´s to formal. Anyways? nah too plain. As I was saying, Oh god… We´ll just go with so!! Plain, simple and above all others, short!

So, the recipe. Well first we have to talk about the wine, which was unusually good. Seeing as it had a ladybug on the front, it had to be superb. You should definitely try it out, a Käfer Pinot Grigio from Italia. Vino Blanco goes well with salad. For some reason I swear I would never consider having red wine with salad. Would be like eating, I don´t know, can´t come up with a good example at the moment, anyone??

Chicken pesto salad

Chicken
Romaine-Heart salad
Yellow pepper
Cherry tomatoes
Feta cheese (not the cheap one)

2-4 table spoons of Pesto (Barilla)
1-2 table spoons of sour cream
Salt
Pepper

Fry the chicken in a pan. For some reason mine just turns white and not golden, which I suspect has something to do with using oil and not butter, so consider that. Then have some assistants cut up the heart salad, yellow pepper and tomatoes. Add some feta cheese, or loads whichever you prefer and mix it all together. Now add pesto to the chicken as well as sour cream, might need some heat on the pan to make it mix smoothly. Add some pepper and salt by taste, and add the chicken and dressing to the salad when cool.

Serve with garlic bread and a nice wine. Eat with people you like it gives it a nice touch! Besides eating with people you loathe just kind of ruins the mood, and might feel like having a salad fork stuck in your eye, literally.

Now enjoy!

Never say never

Remember I was saying I bought this postcard with a drawing from Egon Schiele? In any case I drew a picture from it 8 years ago and decided maybe I should give it ago, and see if there is any improvement to my drawing skills. In truth I haven´t picked up a pencil to draw something proper in about 4 years. Unfortunately I don´t have the drawing I drew earlier to compare, but at least you can have a look at the original and see how superiorly talented I am at COPYING, ha ha.

 

 

Rot i hop

Rot i hop or throw it together is what I call cooking from whatever you happen to have in your fridge and freezer, today being not much at all. Anyways I wanted to share this “recipe” seeing as it actually turned out ok.

Rot i hop Pasta

Spaghetti

1/2 red onion

Fisch sticks

Spinach

2 table spoons Philadelphia

3 table spoons milk / water might work just as well

pepper

salt

nutmeg

1/2 – 1 table spoon soy sauce

2 carrots

1-2 tablespoons of balsamico with fruit flavour (strawberry raspberry)

Boil the Spaghetti in 1-2 liters of water, properly salted. People tend to put to little in, put more than you think you should and that would probably be about right. Fry the onion in oil or butter, add the fishsticks, I cut them up in smalle pieces, but that´s entirely up to you. Add philadelphia and milk, enough to make a sort of white sauce. Now add spinach, I used frozen that you get already in pieces, added about 10 of those and let boil soft. Then add salt and pepper after taste, a little nutmeg and soy sauce. Soy sauce for some reason makes any dish a bit more exciting, Grate the carrot add the balsamico.

Now its ready to serve.

Enjoy, well hopefully

A day of enjoyment

Anyways when I managed to escape the children party clutches I found a few moments of pleasure.

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I actually forgot how much I enjoy making coffee. It was one of my main work tasks those two first months in Galway at the Amnesty International cafe. I any case, we have one of these milk whisker thingy´s in the house, and I made my milk foam, added the hot milk to an already warmed up glass spooned out the foam, and carefully poured the coffee in on the side, and created a beautiful Cafe Latte. Man I love coffee, and am putting Milk frother, which apparently is the name, on my Birthday wish list, which is on the 14 of June, if anyone was wondering! I´m also adding a Presskanne to that list.

The other day I was walking around with Pinky and Marcus and saw and advertisement for this film. In any case I recognised one of the actors who had the main lead in Happy go Lucky, a film that I would put on my top 20 list together with Persuasion, which she also starred in. I think one of the go to see ones, this one, and if I understand it right its a red stocking/feminist film, which suits me perfect.

 

As well in Holstenstraße there is a really cool tag on a building near the s-bahn station. I thought it was funny that among the HSV football maniac tags there was this one on the bottom left corner. “love hamburg, hate racism”

Anyways you might have noticed there wasn´t just coffee portrayed above. I had a very ncie chardonnay in schanze with Aoife yesterday, and at a place I wouldn´t hink of going to in daylight. Think the neon sign does the trick, really. It turned out it looks very cozy and inviting in the evening time, so I was enjoying sitting outside in the 15 degrees, (well okay not really) but first really warm evening of this year. Lets hope for more days like this!