Archive For The “Chocolate” Category
On Saturday we invited friends over for dinner. I decided to make a vegetarian chili with cornbread topping, because: a) we love chili b) it could be made in advance, assembled at dinner time and ready baked in 25 minutes Then I got thinking about dessert. A dessert that would be true to the Mexican [...]
It’s been snowing in the Netherlands. You know what happens in the Netherlands when it snows? Chaos happens. On the first day of snow, the traffic jam in the country reached a record combined length of 1003 km, the railway company cancelled half the trains and the other half was delayed. Our internet was down [...]
There’s time for kale salad and there’s time for cookies. The time for kale salad is mostly in January, but now, the week before Christmas, is time for cookies. Last year I made my coffee-addicted husband these cookies, this year I’m catering to his coffee addiction and his fondness of peanut butter – all in [...]
I’ve never had the “retro classic” Black Forest gâteau. That, I decided last summer, had to change. I was going to make one and it was going to be totally authentic. I have a German cookbook, which dutifully provides a recipe for the country’s most famous cake and since it’s German, I trusted it would [...]
This cake is another creation of Yotam Ottolenghi. Yes, him again. Because he’s that good. And because he apparently thinks that there is no such thing as too much chocolate, in a brownie or in a cake. I agree.
In summer, we usually don’t make dessert, we pick it. Or rather, let everyone pick their own. Conveniently located next to and above our outside dining table, we grow a succession of summer berries. First to ripen is the yellow raspberry “Blondie” and red summer raspberries are quick to follow. Later, it’s some hybrid berries [...]
Have you read Pippi Longstockings by Astrid Lindgren? It is one of the best children’s books ever and as such it is a great read no matter what your age is. It was a great pleasure to reread it with my children, from a different point of view this time. Pippi lives alone, you see, [...]
Yesterday we went to the International Specialist Nursery Days at Bingerden. A wonderful event held in the historical gardens of one of the country’s oldest estates where specialist nurseries bring their collections and only your iron will and the fact that you cannot pay by card can protect you from buying plants you know you [...]
It’s been almost exactly six months since Sinterklaas, the good old saint and Santa Clause’s Dutch cousin, showered us with presents and then swiftly left for Spain. I can’t blame him for wanting to live in a more favorable climate. Right now the weather is cold and wet – much the same as it was [...]
Last Monday, the whole Dutch nation celebrated the Queen’s birthday. This might lead you to believe that queen Beatrix was actually born 30th April. Not so, it was her mother’s birthday. But upon inheriting the throne, the queen very wisely decided not to move the feast to her actual birthday, which is 31st January. Her [...]
