Almond chocolate chip cookies & striving for perfection

I am a perfectionist. I want to get everything I do exactly right and it annoys me if I can't do that. I'm the kind of person that gets furious about those tiny little mistakes I overlooked in an essay that cost me a good grade and spends hours working on the perfect birthday gift. As with most things in life, perfection is ambivalent. Perfection in looks, in academics or at work is a commonly talked-about subject. But I ave to ask myself: is perfection really that good? What does perfection mean?

If you type "perfect" or "perfection" into google, this is what you'll get: pictures of photoshopped models, smiling beautiqueens or blogs about "How to be perfect". Perfection means something unachievable, really. It means that you are spotless, faultless. But the real deal about perfection is this: it's what you see in something that makes it perfect! It's what you choose to see in a person, in your body, in life.

So all the time we're chasing a perfect body, the perfect score on that new video game, the perfect guy, whatever really, it's what is perfect to us that should matter. So I thought, in addition to sharing some new chocolate chip cookies that I'm still perfecting (haha, funny, aren't I?), I'd start a list of ten things that are perfect to me. If you have a hard time seeing the beauty in life, this is an exercise you should try, it always helps me if I feel down.

1. Achieving a goal you worked really hard for.
2. Paying someone a compliment and seeing them smile.
3. Diving into an cold lake and watching the green light underwater until you're out of air. And then breaking the water's surface and breathing in the clear air. Feeling alive.
4. Walking barefoot on grass for the first time after the winter.
5. Hugging your best friend and feeling safe and happy.
6. Chewy chocolate chip cookies.
7. Late summer barbecues, with the sun setting in the garden.
8. Glancing up and into someone's eyes and know you're both thinking the exact same thing.
9. Dancing and singing like nobody is watching.
10.Writing a song that expresses exactly what you feel. And then watching a group of 30 kids perform it. That's a real high point.

There, now I feel 50 times better than I did ten minutes ago, I swear to you!

Chop the yummy milk chocolate! 

Cream the 1 cup of white sugar, 3/4 cup of brown sugar and egg. 

Add one cup of flour, one cup of almond sticks and a cup of chopped chocolate.

Take a look at that yummy dough - I really had to hold back from eating all of this on the spot. Good thing I didn't - they were brilliant! And I used this awesome ice-cream scooper to make them completely round.

And then the wait until they were done - but it was SO worth the wait. They could have been slightly chewier a.k.a I should have taken them out earlier. But I will probably make them again soon. 

And here the beauties are: 

So - have your perfect day! 

Love, x

Paint jobs

One of my newest projects is painting. I love changing up the looks of accessories with just a dash of paint - like this bird feeder! I changed the colour from a very pale shade of yellow to this bright red. I love how it brings out the white and looks a little like a Swedish cabin house ...

It will need a few more coats of paint and some retouching with white to be perfect, but I'm already falling in love with this bird feeder. Another really fun painting project is personalising picture frames. I've painted and decorated a few on a maritime theme in a shade of off-white and glued some shells I found in Cornwall to the frame. I'm dying to make blue frames soon, but at the moment, I'm making a very special one in the same red the bird feeder is in.

Painting is such a tranquil and wonderful pastime. Applying the first coat of paint, waiting for it to dry and keep painting again. I can't wait until it's warm enough to paint outside in the sun!
What's more, these creative paint jobs are the perfect homemade gift ideas! Nothing like a lovely picture frame you painted and decorated yourself with a lovely picture of you and your best friend! Add a little bag of homemade cookies or a cake and you'll make their day!

So, get creative and inspired everyone! I'm getting back to painting now!

Love, x

Creative joys of spring

Spring is finally coming around - birds singing and sun shining, just in time for Easter. Since school's officially over for me, I spend most of my free time catching up on my creative activities these days. Writing, painting, cooking an baking. So watch out for many exciting blog posts in the next couple of weeks! I have a few trips to the cinema planned out, as well as a heap of books to read and recipes to nail ...

First off, I want to share my favourite food with you: vegetarian curry. I try to use as many different vegetables as possible to make the curry nice and colourful and put interesting textures together. Many favourite combination so far has been: brokkoli, carrot, tomato, courgette and peas. Together, these four vegetables make the perfect blend of crunchy, soft, tangy, sweet and juicy flavour. Unless you happen to have butternut squash or sweet potatoes in your house, it doesn't get more perfect than that.

 

First things first: fry the spring onions in olive oil. Meanwhile, chop the courgette and carrots and wash the brokolli.

Add your chopped carrots to the spring onions and coat them in the olive oil. Wait until they are ever so slightly softened before you add the courgette!

Now add two tablespoons of curry paste (I used red curry paste to make the curry really spicy). Add a pinch of ground cinnamon, curry powder and ground cardomon, if you have any at hand. I like to balance the sweetness of the vegetables and coconut milk with the spicy curry paste and the warmth and earthiness of cinnamon and cardamon. Cinnamon makes almost everything better, in my opinion. I would be completely lost without cinnamon. 

Add a 500 ml can of coconut milk to your fried vegetables. To make the sauce slightly thinner, pour in 1 - 2 cups of hot water and mix well with the coconut milk. Now pluck the brokkoli roses from the stem and arrange them in your saucepan. Cover and let the vegetables soften for about 15 - 20 minutes. 

Finally, pop in your halved tomatoes and pour in a cup of frozen peas. Now add a teaspoon of brown sugar and a table spoon of soy sauce to your creation. I made my curry even fruitier and sweeter by adding a mashed banana. 

So that's it! One of my favourite, easy-to-do spring recipes! The vegetables are absolutely interchangable, but this is one of my favourite creations. You can serve the curry with rice of potatoes or eat it with warm nan bread. Just sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds on top and a wonderfully easy, filling and healthy lunch is ready to be devoured! 

I hope your garden is as sunny as mine and you get to enjoy this curry outside! Happy Easter everybody! Watch out for more creative joys coming soon! 

Love, x