have a good one!

Here some snapshots from our new years dinner with homemade sushi with veggies for me and steak tartare for the rest of the crew. And of course our all times favorite apple pie, adopted from healthy happy life.

Have a good, fresh start, reach your goals and enjoy special moments. Be happy and full of life! 

homemade gelato

I got garden full of peppermint leaves and ice cream maker. 

Mint chip gelato time! Recipe here.

summer memories

 feet on the window ● chocolate with berries ● evita's @ graz ● tomatoes ● must-have shoes ● gonjasufi backstage beer ● early summer sun ● pie ● sleeping ● pooldiving ● beachvolley ● watermelons ● mosquitos ● evening walks ● swimming ● ice cream ● cres ● 
"špricer" with ice and lemon ● camping ● chilling ●  goodbye

 

  Photo Evita

 

 

   Photo Samo Tanacek

 

  Photo Marko

three

Another year is around and our Dio the Vizsla is three years old! 

Traditionally, he got a yummy cake, but this year he wasn't satisfied...

...well, of course he was! 

my top [s]hits of the last couple of months

Bachelorette-Blanket

Molly Nilsson-Truth

Grimes-Oblivion

Us Baby Bear Bones-You

Julia Holter-In The Same Room

fun times and sunny days

Here's the video I made for a faculty assignment and I must say it was definitely more fun then obligation. I'm very happy and thankful that I have my dearest and closest ones that are always willing to help me with my ideas - I hope they enjoyed it at least half as much as I did. It was such a good time to make that video from head to toe. You're welcome to have a watch!

macarons

I tried to make those several times. First try was great success, second one I failed following different recipe. Third try: back to the first recipe-FAIL! Then I found a new recipe and the result was something in between.
This time I decided to follow the first recipe, add some instructions from other ones and go slowly and carefully trough every step. I was making those macarons for a birthday present, fail was no option!

My experiences:

I aged egg whites at room temperature over night, then I read somewhere that they're suppose to age in fridge, so I put them there for few more hours. I bought whole almonds, then I ground them and sifted together with icing sugar, twice! As I was mixing almonds+sugar with whipped egg whites, I was thinking that the mixture should be more delicate and not so firm, so I took another egg white, whipped it to the shiny soft to stiff peaks form and added it to the mixture. And I succeeded, woohoo! 

 

3+1 egg whites, aged over nigh in the fridge

50g granulated sugar

100g almonds, ground

200g powdered sugar

Push almond flour through a tamis or sieve, and sift powdered sugar. Mix the almonds and powdered sugar in a bowl and set aside. 
In a large clean, dry bowl whip egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Increase the speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar. Continue to whip to shiny soft-stiff peaks form.
Put ground almonds and icing sugar mixture in food processor until well combined. Sift the mixture.
With a flexible spatula, gently fold in powdered sugar mixture into egg whites until completely incorporated. The mixture should be shiny.
If you want colorful macarons is now the time to add the food color and lightly mix it in.
Fit a piping bag with a 1 cm (3/8-inch) round tip. Pipe the batter onto the baking sheets, not too close (about 2 cm, at least). Tap the underside of the baking sheet to remove air bubbles. Let dry at room temperature for 1 or 2 hours to allow skins to form. 
Bake, in a 160°C/325°F oven for 10 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to keep the oven door slightly ajar, and rotate the baking sheet after 5 minutes for even baking.
Remove macarons from oven. When cool, slide a metal offset spatula or pairing knife underneath the macaron to remove from parchment.
Pair macarons of similar size and pipe about 1 tsp of the filling onto one of the macarons. Sandwich macarons and refrigerate if necessary. Bring back to room temperature before serving.

shake it off make it loud dance it off let it out!

souffle, s'il vous plaît!

I got two souffle dishes for my birthday this year (again, thanks a lot!) and I was very excited to try it. Chocolate one, of course. Never made it, never tasted it, never seen it before. Just heard of it, always sounded so fancy. And fancy it is! The taste for sure and that melted chocolate core...mmm.  

Fortunately it's very easy to make, you can hardly go wrong, at least if you're following this recipe: 

Chocolate Souffle for 1+1

2 eggs

25g powdered sugar 

20g flour

80g dark chocolate

70g butter

cocoa powder

ice cream

Preheat the oven to 180 °C. 

Melt the chocolate and butter over a hot-water bath. Mix evenly and cool for a while.

Separately mix eggs with powdered sugar until foamy, then slowly add flour and mix. Add the chocolate mixture at the end, mix all together. 

Brush the souffle dishes completely with butter and sprinkle it with cocoa powder. Fill them with the mixture, about 5 mm under the top of the dish. Bake for 8-15 minutes (Baking time depends on oven and dishes). Serve it hot with ice cream.

Fancy!

mohnkuchen from ginko!

Marko got me my favorite dessert from my favorite vegi restaurant. I was also amazed by the nice new package design!

apple pie

My favorite kind of pie-rich with bite-sized fruit, dressed in dough that melts in your mouth. 

Apple Pie in Walnut Crust

For the crust:
75 walnut halves
180 g whole wheat pastry flour
50 g packed light brown sugar
Pinch fine sea salt

55 g butter

60 ml milk, as needed

For the filling:
6 medium apples, peeling optional, cored, quartered, cubed into bite-size pieces
2 tablespoons (28 g) nondairy butter
3 tablespoons (45 ml) milk
60g packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Pinch fine sea salt
1 tablespoon (8 g) cornstarch

To make crust: Preheat oven to 190°C. Lightly coat a 23-cm pie plate with spray or butter.
Add walnuts, flour, sugar, salt and butter to a food processor. Pulse a few times to grind pecans and combine.
Add milk, a little at a time, just until the dough sticks together when pinched.
Evenly crumble dough into the prepared pie plate, and press it down to cover the whole bottom and sides of the plate. Make sure no cracks are left so that the filling has no chance to seep down through them. Alternatively, you can roll out the crust on a lightly floured surface and carefully transfer it into the pie plate to fit it in. Reserve a generous handful of the crust to crumble on top of the filling as it bakes. Pre-bake for 24 minutes.

In the meantime, make the filling: Combine all ingredients (with only 2 tablespoons [30 ml] milk and save the cornstarch for later) in a pot. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cook on medium for few minutes, stirring often. The syrup must be rather thick and the apples just barely tender without falling apart. Combine remaining milk and cornstarch in a small bowl. Add into the apple mixture, stirring well, and cook for another 2 minutes until thickened.
Place filling evenly into crust and crumble the crust you reserved on top. Bake for another 24 minutes, or until the edges of the crust are golden brown. Cool and serve (with icecream).

this is THE cake

dio + marko