A weekend in the mountains

Tim and I just came back from a very nice weekend with friends in the mountains in Austria. They have a mountain shelter which is very basic but so cozy. Even if it doesn't look like snow we were able to go Snowboarding as well, which was a little bit higher in the mountains. It feels so good to be outside and have the fresh cool air of the mountains.

And to have this view in the morning when you wake up:

 And of course breakfast, which is very important for me :)

Have a lovely sunday evening!

Kram,

Isabell

Hot springs

One of the best things to do during winter is to go to hot springs. The cold air is so fresh and the hot water keeps you really relaxed. We have hot springs very close to Munich and I prefer to go there in the evening when it's dark outside and you can watch the stars. I'm going to go there tomorrow and I'm so much looking forward to it- especially as I got a massage as a present there, too.

Photo: Urlaub Bauernhof 

Kram,

Isabell

Sunday, Sunday

Best and at the same time worst day of the week. In Munich all of the shops are closed on sundays, so everything is really calm and you can dare to have a walk in the city center- which I normally really avoid due to the crowds of people. Sleep until 9 am and have breakfast in one of the many cafés, meet friends or invite friends for dinner, visit art exhibitions, go to a museum or cinema… and the return home for tea and bake a cake… perfect.

But in the evening on sundays, I know that it's the last free minutes before working again monday morning. My new job is really good and I like working, but I sometimes wonder if it doesn't have too much meaning in our life. We spend more time with our colleagues than with our family and partner during the best years of our life. I just sometimes wonder...

Bye, bye Christmas

Today I've put away all the Christmas decoration. It's always a sad day for me and every year I ask myself what will happen during that year until I open the boxes again. At the same time it also feels good to do a pre-spring-cleaning and to tidy up. After I've put away all the decoration, it still has to be cozy and a lot of candles, and I need softer colors live lavender, rose, gray and white.

Photo: Living at Home

Pineapplesalsa with Chocolate Fondant (Leila Lindholm's recipe)

This year I don't want Christmas to stop at all, I still turn on the lights in the Christmas tree and in every candle holder when I get back from work. And everyday I watch a Christmas episode of one of the Swedish cooking series, so yesterday it was Leila Lindholm's turn and I saw a fantastic dessert she made which I want to share with you and which I would like to try this weekend:

Photo: leila.se

For the Chocolate Fondant you need:

2 eggs
1 dl sugar ( for dl please refer to my post about Swedish measuring cups)
100 g butter
1/4 dl milk
1 dl flour
½ dl cocoa

For the Pineapplesalsa you need:

1 fresh pineapple
1 bunch of mint
2 msk light muscovado sugar
(2 msk white rum)

vanilla ice cream

Chocolate Fondant

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6/400ºF. Stir the eggs with the sugar ( but it should not be fluffy). Melt the butter gently in a saucepan add the cold milk. Sift the flour and the cocoa over the egg-butter mix, add the butter-milk mix and stir until you have a smooth mixture, fill into a silicon muffin baking tray and put into the freezer until frozen.

Place on the middle shelf of the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes, remove from the oven, run a knife round the edges, invert and tip out on to serving plates.


Pineapplesalsa 

Peel and cut the pineapple into 1/2 cm pieces, chop the mint and add to the pineapple together with the moscovado sugar and the white rum into a bowl.

Serve with the warm Chocolate Fondant and vanilla ice cream.

Bon appetit!

Isabell

Happy New Year 2014

Happy New Year 2014 to all of you! 

This year Tim and I have celebrate New Year's Eve at home and I can tell you this was really the best decision ever. I'm always a little bit scared to have drunk people in crowds and fireworks rockets flying around in all directions. In Germany New Year's Eve is always celebrated with a lot of fireworks rockets, I had a nice view from our window to see all the sparkling and glittering colors - and felt safe at home just watching it :)

I will start my new job tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it and at the same time I'm feeling a little bit nervous what it's going to be like and if it's really better than the old one? What will my new colleagues be like? Keep your fingers crossed for me ;)

Isabell