my garden is a kaleidoscope in slow motion
Lady Furnival’s banana and walnut bread
Imagine the humble banana and walnut bread without the decoration of those beautiful rhododendron blossoms! I’m sure Lady Furnival’s Daughter (this rhododendron has been named after her) would be delighted to lend some of her blossoms in return to being dedicated a delicious banana bread. Though, don’t eat the blossoms, rhododendron is a poisonous plant.
I love to use the “Blankenburg” baking mould because the cute little crown can be filled with flowers, fruit, chantilly…. It’ always looks nice on a table.
Banana and Walnut Cake
200g whole wheat flour
100g sugar
a pinch of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
60g butter
5 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon lemon peel
2 ripe bananas
100g walnuts, chopped
Preheat oven to 180°.
Combine, flour, sugar salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl.
Combine the egg, butter, milk, lemon peel and the bananas in a blender and mix until smooth.
Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and gently. Finally, fold in the chopped walnuts.
Bake for ca. 45 minutes. If you use one single baking mould, instead of two small ones, the baking time
is ca. 60 minutes.
Sprinkle with icing sugar. Enjoy!
garden soup // garden salad
The ingredients for my garden soup are broccoli, carrots, fennel, red onions, tomatoes, spring onions and a sprig of lovage .
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| lettuce, tomatoes, springs onions, radishes and grilled tofu |
Tarte au Citron, the quintessential Frenchness
When I was searching the internet for a lemon tart recipe ( it should be quick, easy and the best ever) I found so many enticing pictures, I read so many recipes that I ended up combining my own experience as a home baker with a bunch of helpful advice from the blogosphere.
For the topping:
Thinly slice a lemon. Remove the seeds.
In a small saucepan add 3 tbs sugar and half a cup of water and stir to combine. Place over low heat, dip the lemon slice and let simmer for about 15 minutes or until the pulp looks transparent. Let them rest and cool down in the liquid.
For the crust:
200g butter
100g sugar
300g flour
a dash of pure vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
a pinch of lemon myrtle
1 egg
Combine the ingredients and make a smooth dough with your hands. Press the dough into a baking form and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 175°C.
Bake the crust until light golden brow, about 15 minutes.
For the filling:
4 tbs sugar
3 large eggs
1 tbs lemon zest
freshly squeezed juice of 1 1/2 lemons
2 tbs corn flour
Whisk sugar and eggs until creamy, add the zest, the juice and the cornflour. Pour the filling into the crust and continue baking until the filling is set.
Arrange the previously cooked slices on the tart, dust with powder sugar and enjoy!
weekend links
On the first Friday of each month Heidi from FoodieCrush shares her 5 favourite foodblogs. Have a look at these amazing pictures and recipes.
This photo inspired me to go out with my camera searching for the most beautiful places to have a picnic.
Knolling? Always. Be. Knolling.
Daily Routines. How writers, artists and other interesting people organize their days.
“The eight Chapters of Ramen”. If you love ramen, you’ll love this video about the noodle-obsessed chef Ivan Orkin.
weekend links
1. Preparing for our Menu in Orange I found these enticing images.
2. Ingenious Karl! I also want to shop in the Chanel Supermarket.
3. A little bit late, but nevertheless: 30 Oscar worthy recipes by Hayley Teater
4. I love noisli
5. A very helpful tool: the colourcode website
Have a happy weekend!
7 days of spring detox
Hi, dear readers, time is ripe and ready for a spring detox! This year I decided to live on fresh vegetable and fruit juice the biggest part of the detox week: juice/smoothie for breakfast, juices for lunch and teatime. For dinner I’ll skip the juice and have steamed vegetables instead, a creamy soup or a salad. No coffee, no dairy, no carbs. Lots of water and herbal teas. If you’d like to join me, you’ll find a whole bunch of amazing juice recipes on Jason Vale’s website (well, there you find EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about juicing!) or in the free e-book on Lisa’s blog Healthy, Happy and Well
Green vegetable juice is the healthiest. Nevertheless I recommend to mix it up with one or two apples or a few chunks of pineapple if you won’t let your detox become a chore.
To start you need a juicer (a centrifugal or a masticating one) and a blender to to add bananas, avocados, berries or ice cubes to your juice.
The little yellow one is the” healthy expresso”. It’s nothing more than a generous piece of ginger and an apple and, oh yes, it wakes you up… Check out as well Jason’s Sherbet Lemonade, it’s terrific, one of my favourites !
I wish you a happy healthy week!
an English breakfast, made with love
Earl Grey Tea
Goat milk
Freshly squeezed orange and ginger juice
Boiled eggs and bacon
Grilled mushrooms and cherry tomatoes
Brown toast
Sicilian lemon marmelade
Homemade apricot jam
5 questions to Sylvia
It was at the end of 2005 that Sylvia Richter-Krancher decided to transform her passion into a business.
Her passion, that is cooking with fresh and seasonal products and presenting her dishes with love and an eye for details. Old family recipes were waiting in the drawer, the big kitchen of the house the perfect workplace already fully equipped and ready to use, and so without further ado Sylvia brought the “klein und fein catering” to life . The little enterprise took off like a rocket.
I had the pleasure to take some photos for Sylvia’s website and so I took the chance to ask her a few questions which might reveal a bit more of her lovely personality.
What are your favourite ingredients in spring?
Sylvia: strawberries, asparagus, rucola, from May on I also prepare venison (Maibock), and all kinds of fresh greens.
To decorate I can’t wait to pick the first daisies, violets and all the wild herbs on our meadow.
What is your favourite meal?
Sylvia: hm, not easy at all…. I think it’s a wonderful filet mignon, medium done, with a big fresh salad.
Name 5 guests whom you would like to gather around your table and to cook for
Sylvia: First of all I would like to invite you and Nancy (us!!, thank you, big hugs, dear Sylvia!), then the singer Udo Jürgens together with the famous chef Sarah Wiener. I’ve always adored her documentaries about the French cuisine.
Of course my daughter Nicole together with her boyfriend Sven have to join us. Nicole shares my passion for cooking and beautiful details. Sylke, my sister-in-law and creative flower girl, who doesn’t cook at all, but therefore appreciates my cooking even more.
Oh, how many guests am I allowed to invite? There’s still Navi, a family friend from Paris, who definitely shouldn’t miss.
A necessary indulgence?
Sylvia: *laughs* there are a few….
Jewelrywise it’s pearls. I love pearls. The pearls even have inspired my logo, the feather of a guinea fowl, Perlhuhn in German. The little white dots on the feathers look like pearls, don’t they?
Foodwise, once a year I buy a whole box of Dickmann’s chocolate marshmallows and eat them all on my own.
… and whenever I’m in Paris I indulge in the delicious macarons of Ladurée!
What’s your dream travel destination and is there a special food you were looking forward to try?
Sylvia: Definitely the South of France, la Côte d’Azur and the Provence. It’s precious memories and dream destination at the same time. I’d love to sit with my beloved ones at the seaside enjoying the fresh seafood and fish.
how to cook a perfectly medium boiled egg
