N.Y.E. TRADITION!

My mother has started the tradition to bake us "appelbollen" at New Years Eve! it's a slightly more healthy variation to the Dutch tradition of "oliebollen" which are baked in hot oil. The appelbollen are baked in the oven and are actually very easy to make. 

You take out as many sheets of squaire frozen puff pastry you need and have them defrosted (1 per apple). Preheat the oven for 10 minutes at 200C. Use small sized firm apples like Elstar. Peel them and take out the middle with an appledrill. Cut a bit from the bottom so they stay up better on your plate. Make sure the hard parts and the seeds are gone and make the hole +/- 2 cm wide. Make a filling of rinsed raisons, brown sugar (or cane sugar) and cinnamon for as many apples that you want to bake. I mix also a bit of grated lemonpeel in the mixture for a fresh bite. Fill the hole of the apples with this filling and fold the puff pastry around them. Place them on the oven plate and brush them with a bit of egg yellow. Bake them for 20 minutes. Nice with a glass of bubbles....!

COOKBOOK TOP 5 OF 2011

For 2011 i cropped my newly purchased list of books about food, design and cooking to a top 5! 
I love all of these for different reasons as you can see below. One thing they all have in common: they make me happy and even more eager for cooking and entertaining friends!

1

for it's original theme and breathtaking drawings...gasp!

2

for it's original graphics and fun to cook the 'favourites' of many people

3

for it's original recipies...I'm taken by the personal stories and great irish journey! (on my wish-to-go-list) I love also last years Homemade!  and will most probably love coming SUMMER issue about France..

4

for the sweet additional stories and comments, french country cooking... makes me smile and want to explore more of my favourite Brittany!

5

for moving forward from cupcakes, it was an immediate YES!

WISHING YOU....

CAKE DECORATION

pimped tiny candle holders by Katie Bush from thedailytelecraft

what about these ones Katie made in bright colors? i say YES!

DANCER AND PRANCER PASTA..

good idea for the holidays by Ikea

COLOURED KITCHEN GEAR

Matching colours is a part of my job as a fashion designer but it does not stop with clothes...No no no!

I have a soft spot when it comes to colours of kitchen gear too. Take the design of a simple handsoap bottle, the colour of the fluid or the clever designed package. They can make a real difference to me....

FOOD WELLNESS

Restaurant Betty's in the Rijnstraat in Amsterdam is a pure food wellness. A vegetarian restaurant that surprises you from start to end. The owner, Gido Schweitzer treats his guests with absolute flair and his enthusiasm for the special flavors makes you taste everything with great care! He takes time for every single customer and tells you stories behind the 'Menu du marché' and the wines he serves. The special mixed herbs and spices he pours carefully on your food at the table are originated from the well-known Olivier Roellinger. (Restaurant Le Coquillage-Cancale-Brittany). If you love homemade cakes than let him explain the various deserts in the back of his restaurant. They are all made without eggs and trust me on this...they don't come small......the deserts!

TEA CUP ILLUSTRATIONS

illustration by Rebekah Leigh on Etsy

illustration by Anna Rodighiero

DELICACY

porcelain fork and knife by Mel Robson

RECIPE MOVIE

beet cake from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

"There is something beautiful about the baking process. The way the flour feels in your hands or the sound of eggs cracking on the edge of a bowl. Baking is a gathering of interesting materials, a mixed medium art piece of sorts, that ends in a cake instead of a canvas"
This 'recipe movie' is so tasteful, just sit and watch........... .........................................................!

FROZEN GRAPE DESERT

Already brainstorming about X-mas dinners? This sensational Jamie Oliver desert might just fancy you too..!
Frozen grape and chocolate! Preferably use an exclusive kind of chocolate with cranberry and nuts or maybe a few different kinds broken into large chunks.

My challenge is not too get overexcited with the quantity of food at X-mas. Just a few very nice dishes, and believe me.. this goes down well a few hours after dinner along with a chilled glass of excellent grappa. It's like a sorbet desert, a real treat but with little effort preparing it.

ORANGE-SCENTED..

I think that if i would find myself lost in a dessert somehow.. i would certainly miss ORANGES! The scent of oranges makes me happy. Therefore i tend to use the orange flavor as much as i can in my recipes. This recipe of ORANGE-SCENTED CARAMEL POPCORN i found in the 'gift issue' of Anthology magazine. Enjoy!

SOUPLOVIN'....

Whenever there's time i make my own homemade soup. Yammie! So when i was in London's Anthropology shop a few months ago i stood and stared for at least 5 minutes at this beautiful soup tureen. There's no more space in my kitchen...otherwhise i would not have hesitated to bring it home with me!

FLUORESCENT

I think they look absolutely trendy these bright coloured and sparkling sandwich cookies! A good inspiration for XMAS!

from the Gourmet cookie book

HIGH TEA FUN

These illustrations of Esther Hörchner have stolen my heart! I love all the ingredients that she uses here!

REDESIGNED

Stockholm based studio Nine has redesigned the glass waterbottles for Ramlösa. The old bottle looks perfectly vintage next to the trendy new PET ones!