The most wonderful time of the year

One of my favourite Christmas songs starts out with the words "It's the most wonderful time of the year". Well, I couldn't agree more. To me, Christmas time is a time of family, friends, of giving gifts and enjoying the splendours of life. At the end of the year, everyone is a little and Christmas just perks everyone up in time for the New Year to start. Apart from being the most wonderful time of year, it is also my favourite time of year.

Christmas is a time of year that gives me the chance to give thanks for all the love and success I was given throughout the year. Weeks are spent baking, preparing Christmas presents and writing cards. Around Christmas, we get the chance to tell the people we love just how much we love them. This is the reason I will be walking through the crisp cold air tomorrow morning with two bags bursting with gifts swinging at my side. It is simply something I enjoy to do. Sitting at my desk, thinking of the millions of little ways I can surprise a person ... such as making Christmas cards myself!

It's only a few days to Christmas now, time to put up the Christmas tree and wrap the last presents. There will be Christmas music in the background and the smell of German "Honigkuchen", cinnamon stars and hot chocolate in the air. Christmas is one of those times of year that are really all about enjoyment. The only thing missing around here is snow. But I hope that part will come in eventually.

And then it's only another week to New Year's Eve ... I couldn't be more excited to take this blog into the new year. It has truly inspired me to write more and to be creative!

Finally, I want to share a "not so Christmassy" song with you. It's a medley of "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay and "Love Story" by Taylor Swift, by two amazing musicians. Check out their channels for more amazing classic-meets-pop videos! This medley truly brings a smile to my face and perfectly captures my mounting sense of excitement as Christmas approaches.

Back to wrapping gifts then,
Love x

Lucky leaves

Somebody once told me that for every leave you catch in autumn, you get a lucky month in the new year. A few days ago, I remembered this conversation with a jolt. The ground was covered in frost and the trees were almost bare. For weeks, I'd been going for long, crunchy autumn walks under trees laden down with leaves, completely forgetting about the luck I might be able to catch. How could I have gone for my entire childhood without ever hearing about the lucky leaves?

Last year, after said conversation - I now remember it quite vividly - I spent an entire afternoon under the bows of the old oak trees in our village, no doubt oberserved by amused neighbours. It must have looked ridiculous - leaping to and fro, frantically trying to snatch the twirling leaves out of the sky. I didn't manage 12 leaves, I gave up at 7. Somehow, catching all 12 months of good luck seemed overkill to me.

Now here I am, more than a year later, looking back. I don't even remember where I put those lucky leaves. You're supposed to keep them somewhere safe or you won't get your luck after all. I wonder if you could describe the past year as lucky. Then again, what is luck anyway?

The dictionary defines luck as 'The chance happening of fortunate or adverse events' or 'prosperity, success'. Now that I've typed it out, I realise I wasn't really looking for the dictionary's answer to my question, but rather a more philosophical approach. Every person I've met so far in my life defines luck a little differently. Most link luck directly to happiness. I am no exception.

So, in retrospect, I must say that the past year has been lucky in many ways. I know this is not really the best time to reflect, with the New Year still more than two months away, but it's never too early to start, right?
My year has been lucky in so many ways: discovering true friendship, having some of the best times over the summer and of course realising that all this will always stay a part of me in my box of inspiration. So writing this blog is part of that too.

And I must say that catching luck no longer appeals to me now. If you really think about it, luck is only exciting if it happens by chance, something you didn't expect. Just like happiness. Trying to catch luck is an amusing game, exciting for children, and trying to convince yourself you can control it.

There are always ways in which we surprise ourselves, discover there are things to say that we never thought about before. It means that I can walk under the trees in autumn, under all those snowing leaves, without reaching for those spinning brown spirits of luck. But if one of them should happen to land gently on my shoulder, I wouldn't brush it away.

Love, x

That Picture callled Life

This is a poem I wrote about happiness and about belonging. All the things that belong in a box of inspiration. 

A thick knitted sweater, splashing through puddles,
riding my bike between morning and night,
when the streets are empty, just me and the moon.
Cookies and milk, old children's books,
autumn leaves, that snow from the trees.
And saying goodybe, but I'll be seeing you soon.
All the colours of joy, in that picture called life,
I wish I could hold them in the palm of my hand.

Crying and laughing, all at once,
making a wish on New Year's Eve,
with the promise of new things, but never quite sure. 
A purring cat, and birthday surprises,
and smelling your favourie meal at the door,
being hugged goodnight, and feeling secure.
All the happiness and love, all the truth in the world,
and a box of inspiration that I find in my heart.

Love, x

Oatmeal Apple Cookies

I can't believe it's already November! Halloween came around so quickly, with pumpkins and sweets piling up in the kitchen from one moment to the next and ghosts and witches knocking on our door. And then, suddenly, I open my eyes to a crisp blue November sky. Quite shocking to think that Christmas is less than two months away and many important birthdays are coming up (inlcuding my own)! November just sounds so much more wintry than 'October' and I felt my sweet tooh nagging me for something nice and chewy ... so after a wonderfully cold November 1st walk, I decided to make myself a bit of a treat for dinner: Oatmeal Apple Cookies!

I only made 8 cookies, though they were about the size of my hand, since this was a new recipe I had found on the internet. The original uses raisins, but I was in the mood for something fruitier, so I used one of our delicious Braeburn apples instead.

Unfortunately they were so delicious, I forgot to take a picture! But this is what you should imagine them to look like: 

 (my cookies were a little spongier than these, with little bits of apple sticking out)

Here's the recipe:
3/4 cup all purpose flour (1 used 1/2 cup white and 1/4 wholewheat flour for more texture)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp. white sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup peeled, cored and diced apples
2 tbsp. apple sauce

First, combine the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients in seperate bowls. Preheat your oven to 180°C. Mix the two, adding a little milk or apple juice if the batter is too dry. Now, make little mounds of dough on your baking sheet, making them higher than they are wide. Make sure to leave plenty of space between your cookies, or they will stick together! Bake them for 12 - 14 minutes or until they are golden brown. Make sure you don't have them in the oven for too long, or they will get too crispy!

These oatmeal cookies were easy, fluffy and just sweet enough to satisfy my cravings. You can exchange 1/2 cup rolled oats for sunflower seeds if you want more crunch, I will definitely try that next time! The apples gave these cookies just the right edge of tanginess and the rolled oats made them wonderfully chewy. 3 cookies straight out of the oven with some milk while reading Rudyard Kipling "Jungle Book" made my evening highly cosy.

Since we are, so to speak, right on winter's doorsteph, I have started to compile a list of winter must-have clothes. I don't know about you, but every season has a special colour for me. Autumn is definitely green and red and lovely dark plum colours as well as some soft beige tones and earthy browns. Some of the items are already in my closet, but many I still have to find!
Here's the list:

Dark red cardigan (check)
Dark green bulky cardigan (check, it's wonderfully warm, I'm wearing it as I type)
Red scarf
Beige mittens
thick red socks
Dark red or plum-coloured cosy sweater
plum-coloured lipstick
a dark brown skirt
colourful or interestingly patterned tights

Love, x

The Easiest Apple Pie you will ever make!

Today is the lucky day for everyone out there who is annoyed with complicated and time-consuming pie recipes because here is your solution: American One-Crust Pie with spiced apples and raisins. It is incredibly easily made and unfailingly delicious, a real winner!

Originally, I had been planning to make pumpkin pie with a good friend of mine this weekend, but in the end, it turned into an apple pie instead. In fact, it wasn't even a real apple pie, as we simply didn't have enough apples! I can definitely recommend Saturday's version of this pie: mango, apple and banana pie, which was very exotic but lacked none of the warmth and comfort of the original.

This pie is a real favourite of mine, adapted from Delia Smith's winter collection and loved by friends and family. When the weather gets cold outside, there is nothing better than a spicy, warm slice of this delicious apple pie and a nice cup of tea. However, you should know that this apple-pie is somewhat different from other American apple pies. To give you a hint, I like to refer to it by the name of Present Pie. Just put a bow on top and it would be the perfect gift!

For the shortcrust pastry you will need: 225 g plain flour and 100g butter as well as some cold water. I like to add cinnamon to my pastry, but it's up to you.
The filling consists of 675g apples (I like using a mixture of about sour and sweet apples), 1tsp. ground cloves, 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, 75g raisins, 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg and 50g soft brown sugar.
Lastly, for the glaze you'll need 1 small, separated egg, some more cinnamon and about 30g soft brown sugar.
NOTE: you can use caster sugar for this recipe, but personally, I think the brown sugar gives the pie a much earthier and warmer taste, especially in combination with the cinnamon. 

To start with, warm up the butter in the microwave until it is softened and mix with the butter until the dough reaches the crumb stage. Add cold water to bring the dough together and then give it a thorough knead. Pop it in the fridge for about 30 minutes while you make the filling.

The filling is really just a simple matter of peeling, coring and cubing the apples and then add all the other filling ingredients. Mix it all together and preheat the oven to 200°C. Now take out the dough from the fridge.

Roll out the pastry on a flat surface, trying to make it as round as possible, until it has a diameter of about 35 cm. Lightly grease a solid baking sheet and transfer the pastry to it. Paint the pastry's inner circle (25cm) over with the egg yolk so the pastry won't get soggy from the filling (make sure you really use the egg yolk, I sometimes mix them up - the pie still tastes great, though, even if you do).

Now, simply pile the fruit mixture into the inner center. Finally, fold up the edges of the pastry towards the middle. If any breaks, patch it back together. Quoting Delia: "It's meant to look ragged and interesting!" There, the pie already looks a little like a present made out of dough!

 To finish with, brush the pastry all over with the egg white and sprinkle over the brown sugar. If you wish, dust in over with cinnamon. Pop the pie into the middle of the oven and bake it for 35 minutes, until the crust is a lovely golden brown.

My friend and I ate this off the baking sheet with spoons because it was so delicious, but if you have the willpower to serve it on a plate, it tastes brilliant with vanilla ice cream or a dash of custard.

Unfortunately, I was so busy devouring this fruit explosion of a pie that I forgot to take pictures of the filling but let me assure you, it was like unwrapping and trying out the best Christmas present you have ever received. And it was incredibly easy to make!

That day, we simply could not get enough of baking, so we made some lovely peanut butter chcolate chip cookies from scratch while we were waiting for the dough to cool:

At the beginning of Chapter Twelve in Delia's winter collection, which is called "Back to home baking", Delia remembers her mother and grandmother having a weekly baking day where they made all sorts of biscuits and cakes and pies. My baking day got pretty close to the warmth and comfort she describes in the chapter, something that really makes baking one of the most wonderful pastimes.

Love, x

The joys of autumn

I have made vow to myself to enjoy every single season to its fullest from now on. No more complaining, no more "I wish it was summer", "It's so cold outside", "I hate wearing thick jackets". For some reason, I find myself looking forward to the colder seasons so much this year, I simply could not wait to get into my winter boots and cosy jacket. Isn't it simple glorious to wrap yourself up in a thick, woolly scarf and knitted jumper in colourful patterns? To pull on a pair of extra-thick socks and crunch through the leaves in your winter boots? Picking leaves and acorns and chestnuts off the floor to decorate the house with? And the best part - finally getting home, red-cheeked and frozen to the bone, to a hot cup of tea? I know it sounds almost too cliché to be real, but that is exactly what I have been doing with my past week.

What I love most about autumn is that it's an in-between season. The sun is still bright and almost as warm as in summer, but the wind already has a wintry bite to it. There are days when you can still walk around in a light jacket and enjoy the dazzling contrast of green grass and russet-coloured leaves. And if it rains, just run yourself a bath ...

But the thing I love the most about autumn is pumpkin. I love eating pumpkin in any kind of way: roasted with onions, red chillies and saltry, crumbly cheese. In a curry alongside carrots and peas and green beans, soaking up the creamy coconut milk. And of course, the all-time favourite that I hadn't made in years until a week ago: Pumpkin Pie!

Actually, my idea of making pumpkin pie was inspired by a very good friend of mine who is an amazing cook and baker (she is a whizz at making cupcakes with the creamiest frosting, mhmm!), so I tested our old recipe before we made it together. Cooking the pumpkin, adding all the spices, the cream, the milk ... the smell was incredible. I sat in front of the oven for half an hour just breathing in that warming, buttery perfume.

I cannot begin to describe the agony of having to wait until the pie cools off, I must have resembled a starved wolf. However, that first spoonful of pie, the sweetness of the filling nicely rounded off by a thin, crisp yet still doughy pastry was more than divine. Now I can fully appreciate the term comfort food. A glass of milk alongside it makes it the perfect snack ... or dinner, in my case.

Love, x