last day of crazy October

Never before summer and winter met so closely at the end of October!

on painting II

This post is not about wall paintings, it's all about lip colours! Actually about my favourite one, the one which  always fits and which never fails to lift up my spirits. It's Ruby Woo by Mac.

I started thinking about mat lipsticks when I watched  "Easy Virtue" some years ago. Jessica Biel looked super amazing in all those Twenties' style mat lipsticks. I loved them all, the berries, the brownish and especially the bright reds...

#1 Grandma's Classics: Schinkenhörnchen

Today I'm going to introduce a new feature: Grandma's Classics.

Grandma does not experiment in the kitchen. No potions, no asian, no magic ingredients. No no... she is most fond of the traditional German recipes, which have been passed on for centuries and never fail to please.

The lady in fire engine red is Grandma.

#1 Schinkenhörnchen

The tiny croissants hold a lot of butter, the ham gives the right amount of saltiness.
Grandma loves to offer them especially as a complementary snack with champagne.

for the dough:

250g flour
250g Quark (fromage frais/ curd)
300g butter
1 ts baking powder

for the filling:

250g cooked ham (chopped)
250g smoked ham (chopped)

for the finish: 1 egg



Knead the dough quickly with your hands and let it repose in the fridge for half an hour.
Roll out the dough thinly with a rolling pin, cut it in triangles, fill them with ham and fold them into tiny croissants. Beat the egg and brush the croissants with it.
Bake them in the oven at 180° until they turn golden.

We prepared the original recipe but our drink of choice yesterday was a blue Margarita rather  than  champagne.

Have a happy weekend!

warm hues

To Read: The War of Art

A really inspiring book for those who, like me, love to procrastinate.

Spaghettini with Coquilles St. Jacques and Seaweed

This time I brought a couple of coquilles St. Jacques and a little box of emerald green seaweed salad from downtown Dresden.
As my family is very fond of pasta I created a quick spaghettini lunch with the coquilles and the seaweed.

These are the ingredients:

For the sauce

olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
a handful of baby tomatoes, quartered
a bunch of parsley
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
the zest of half a lemon
10 coquilles St. Jacques
a small box of Asian seaweed salad
a glass of white wine
salt and pepper, and
2 or 3 sun dried tomatoes to intensify the flavour.

Cook the spaghettini:

From now you have exactly 7 minutes to prepare the sauce - (Haha, of course you are allowed to start with the sauce before you cook the spaghettini... )

Start stir-frying the bell pepper, the garlic and the tomatoes, then add the coquilles. When the coquilles are nearly done, add the stripes of lemon zest and the chopped parsley. Continue stir-frying at low heat.

The moment your kitchen starts to smell like heaven and you hardly can refrain from eating the coquilles right off the pan, it's time to pour in the wine. If one glass doesn't seem to be enough, add more.

Let it reduce for a few minutes, then mix in the spaghettini and in the very last moment before serving add the seaweed.

Lunch is ready!

Liqueur de noix 2012

My green walnut liqueur experiment finished and bottled!

Of course I gave it to taste to all my friends who passed by. Here is a short collection of their judgements:

• could be sweeter!
• is this meant to be a medicine or just for fun?
• nice for Tiramisu with a touch of nut
• a bit rough, has it any healing effect?
• perfect with vanilla ice cream
• next year you should make more of those little bottles

You see, David Lebovitz's recipe didn't turn out too bad. My own opinion? I loved it with chocolate and vanilla ice cream. And surprisingly, with the creamy quince sauce I had prepared at my mother's home.

October, 16th

my autumn books

Der Augentäuscher
Mathias Gatza



The Casual Vacancy
J.K. Rowling



Liebesnähe
Hanns-Josef Ortheil



Der Spaziergang von Rostock nach Syrakus
Friedrich Christian Delius



The Shoemaker's Wife
Adriana Trigiana



Zeilen und Tage. Notizen 2008-2011
Peter Sloterdijk



Elegantissima
The Design and Typography of Louise Fili



My Berlin Kitchen
Luisa Weiss



tibits at home
Stylish Vegetarian Cuisine
Reto Frei, Daniel Frei, Christian Frei

photo a day September 24 - 30

DAY 24- 3 THINGS

DAY 25 - FRAME

DAY 26 - NEAR

DAY 27 - LOVE/HATE

DAY 28 - A GOOD THING

DAY 29 - ERRAND

DAY 30 - YOU, THEN

harvest in Grandma's garden

This year we missed the joy of the fig harvest, but came still in time for  the quinces, the grapes and the medlars. Grandma was happy because we started immediately with the canning. Only the medlars will have to rest for a good lapse of time  in the warm kitchen.

I must share the recipe for the grape jam with you, because it came out so delicious!
Very easy:
1kg very small grapes (I didn't remove the seeds)
1 glass of white wine
a dash of vanilla essence
1 slice of lemon
500g sugar
1 sachet apple pectin
To prepare just follow the instructions on the sachet of apple pectin. I suggest you mix the ingredients and let them rest for a few hours before cooking. The taste will be much more intense.

Skyfall - I like it!

Photo a day September 16-23

DAY 16 - STRANGE

DAY 17- IN MY FRIDGE

DAY 18 - PRICE

DAY 19- THERE ARE ENGLISH ROSES MACERATING UNDERNEATH

DAY 20 - MAN-MADE SYMMETRY

DAY 21 - SOMETIMES RAIN CAN BE BEAUTIFUL

DAY 22 - UP

DAY 23 - BEFORE BEDTIME