Summer Dusk

The past couple of days the weather has been acting out: then it is cold and sunny, next thing you know it is warmish and snowy. To warm myself in these times, I am thinking back to long warm Scandinavian summer evenings, where dusk isn't until ten and there is a hint of light all night long. Here are some pictures from dusk at Bornholm last August. I saved them for a rainy day like this.

The Tale Of Fastelavnsboller

It has been a couple of weeks since it was Fastelavn, but I just came around to work on these pictures now. As you may have already read, I made fastelavnsboller, or at least my own interpretation of these. From back home I know two different kinds. One is a bun with creme-filling, the other a pastry with a lot more cream-filling. I decided to combine these two in one and attempt choux for the first time. After that decision I also found this recipe that I thought looked amazing. All of a sudden I felt compelled to try out both.

First one - the bun with the cheese and berries - I started a couple of days before, because I adapted the recipe to sourdough. With sourdough the process always takes a bit longer, but I am still amazed every time I am standing with a dough that has risen without any added chemical our yeast. And as I am trying to experiment more and more, it gets to be more and more fun. Earlier I used to hate doing bready dough, but now it has become one of my favorite kitchen activities.

As already mentioned I was trying "choux" out for the first time, and although the dough was fairly easy to do, I think I need to practice using the pastry bag a couple more times before getting it right. My choux turned out rather uneven and in all shapes and sizes. But the taste of coffee and raspberry filling was good, and I don't think anyone would complain if I started practicing more regularly until I have the shape right.

Fastelavn er mit navn...

This weekend we had a little Fastelavns celebration. Or rather Fastelavn was an excuse to invite some people for coffee and cake and spend a nice Sunday afternoon in good company. I made two different kinds of Fastelavnsboller and a little Fastelavnsris (this is the decorated branches). They were normally used to beat people with to remind them of Jesus suffering) but no one got beaten here. Instead we had a lovely afternoon with too much sugar and just enough talking.

Sun at Home

Between the days of show and rain, I have been enjoying some of the many sunny days, and the rays coming in our windows, brightening the rooms and making them warm. Not to forget the rainbows all over the floors and walls.

Snowy Days

These days it is all about the snow and the cold here in Berlin. I am trying to leave the house as little as possible, as my feet starts freezing the minute I go out the door. At the same time I enjoy the real winter. I have not had this experience for a while and I love when the snow is still lying on the tree-branches and makes everything look filmic. So I enjoy the falling snow from the inside of our apartment with a warm cup of cacao and a blanket.

A Christmas Present

One thing I am pretty happy with, is this leather box I made in December, for the tarots card I offered my father for Christmas. For those of you who doesn't know, Tarot is not only a way to tell ones future, but also a pretty standard French card game played with the same deck of card.

Instead of just offering the cards in the paperbox they came in, I thought to have a little fun in the workshop. Here I rediscovered my love for leather. It is such a nice material to handle and I am really proud of the finished result.

Parc De Sceaux

Paris was surprisingly green and luscious for January. Prior to our arrival the temperature had gone as high as 15 degrees and many of the trees had already started to form buds. And The last day of 2015 was really warm and beautiful. So warm that I had to remove my scarf, whenever we found ourselves in the sunny part of the park.

We went by the cherry tree gardens at Parc de Sceaux. Last time I was there they were in full bloom, but this day - fortunately - there were only branches to see. It would be a bit creepy to have full blooming cherry trees in December.