Today is one of these really horrible days that remind me how much I hate: rain, winter, in-between seasons and a general lack of sunshine so I needed to work on something pretty to keep my mind off things… I saw this nice tutorial on Honestly WTF quite some time ago but thought today would be the perfect day to share it with you…
full article and tutorial here
When we were in Puglia a couple of weeks ago, we brought 10 liters of top quality olive oil back in the trunk of the car. Since it makes the perfect present, I prepared 2 bottles for friends in Switzerland to thank them for letting me stay at their place…
You’ll need:
– good quality olive oil
– a nice bottle to pour the olive oil in
– adhesive stickers
– tags and string
– silk paper and transparent tape
This is another great blog I check almost daily for fashion inspiration… I love that she mixes expensive stuff with cheap brands and always looks good…
picture via camilleovertherainbow.com
This is a super nice, easy recipe I made the other week. The important thing is to use tasty tomatoes and sprinkle them with sugar (tomato being a fruit, it’ll bring the flavor out), delicious!!!
You will need
1 roll of pâte brisée (pastry crust)
500 gr of cherry tomatoes (you could also use regular ones)
250 gr of crème fraiche (or Philadelphia if you want a lighter version)
1 tbsp of Dijon mustard
fresh herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary)
balsamic cream
sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Pre-heat the oven to 200c.
Cut the tomatoes in halves and mix the crème fraiche with the mustard. Pour this preparation on the pastry crust, place the tomatoes and fresh herbs on top. Sprinkle with sugar, balsamic cream, salt and pepper.
Put in the oven for about 25min. (until the crust in golden brown). Serve with a salad.
The other day, we were talking about food with my friend E. and she told me about this new great cheesecake restaurant in Paris… It all started with Sephora’s blog, it was such a success that she decided to take a chance and open this place. She gives a modern and interesting twist the all her creations (salty and sweet) with for example a goat cheese, grilled veggies cheesecake or Tatin and caramel… I love the concept and I’ll be doing some research to find her recipes…
After opening the Hotel Daniel in Graz in 2005 a second one was opened in Vienna in 2011 following a “Smart Luxury” principle, so that everyone could find the space they were looking for. This is really the kind of hotel I like, easy, cool decoration and great atmosphere, making it the ideal place to stay when visiting Graz or Vienna!
When the weather is really hot, there’s nothing better than a glass of granita… the best I ever had was in Sicily (home of the granita) made with lemon that was really tasty (had 3 in one go) so I was really curious to try this recipe out.
you will need
7.5 dl freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice
125 gr. sugar
2dl water
2dl Campari
Put the sugar and water in a pan, heat it up and let boil for 2-3 minutes (until the sugar is dissolved), set a aside and let cool.
Once the syrup is cold, add the juice and Campari, stir well and freeze in a shallow metal pan (I used a plastic Tupperware), stirring and crushing lumps with a fork every 30 minutes, 3 to 4 hours, or until mixture is firm but not frozen. Scrape with a fork to lighten the texture. Serve the granita in chilled goblets and garnish with zest.
It is always when my fridge is almost empty that I develop the best recipes… I had some puff pastry left, I had just received a jar of home made dried tomatoes and I had some ricotta left so I ended up making these little heaven appetizer pastries…
The great thing is that you can use any ingredient you want (ham, mozzarella, salami, fresh tomatoes, gorgonzola, pesto…) and you could even go for a sweet version (bananas and chocolate for example), the choices are unlimited!
You will need
1 puff pastry roll
dried tomatoes (one per pastry)
ricotta
1 zucchini
dried oregano, pepper and fleur de sel salt
Pre-heat the oven at 180c.
Cut the pastry (I used a glass) and place the discs in the fridge while preparing the other ingredients.
Mix the ricotta with the salt, pepper and oregano.
Cut the zucchini in thin slices using a mandolin.
Take the discs, spread some ricotta on top, place the zucchini slices and top with one dried tomato.
Sprinkle with grated parmigiano and dried oregano. Put in the oven until golden brown (about 15-20 minutes)