Brownie Hearts

The little Erzgebirgian incense smoker fills the house with the warm scent of olibanum. The candles on the Advent wreath wait to be lighted. Hot deliciousness bakes in the oven.

Brownie Hearts
As for the recipe  I must confess I took my favourite Brownie mix.  I added butter, eggs and a sip of milk as requested on the package and prepared  the dough.  Then I spread the dough on a baking sheet a bit thinner as you would do for a true brownie, a brownie-brownie. I baked it for 20 minutes at 175°C.

Right out of the oven I cut the dough into hearts with a cookie cutter and dusted them with icing sugar.

To decorate I suggest you take a little crab apple. Isn't it cute?

#12 Pomegranate: a sip of summer

inspired by a beautiful coffee table book about the Venice kitchen and tasted last weekend:

Pomegranate

 1 part freshly squeezed pomegranate juice

2 parts  Prosecco

Squeeze the pomegranate using a lemon squeezer . Pour the juice into chilled champagne glasses and add the Prosecco. Alla salute!

potatoes in pink & purple, best together with Gremolata

Lately Herr Herzog, my organic vegetable provider, asked me if I wanted him to add some pink and purple potatoes to my weekly order. I immediately agreed because 1.) I always love to try something new and 2.) Sophie Calle's chromatic diet in mind, two difficult colours suddenly seemed to come within reach.

But before throwing myself again into the sophisticated Fine Arts of monochromatic cooking I went for a very quick and simple potato lunch: oven roasted wedges with  Gremolata using the last fresh herbs from my garden: rosemary, thyme, parsley and summer savory.

My Gremolata
1/3 cup olive oil
the zest of a small lemon, grated
1/2 ts grated orange zest (optional)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 ts red pepper flakes
2 tbs parsley, chopped
1 ts fresh rosemary, chopped
1 ts fresh thyme
1ts fresh summer savory

Whisk together 1/3 cup olive oil and the herbs, zests, garlic and red pepper. Set aside for at least half an hour.

"Salad Blue" potatoes

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Cut the potatoes into wedges. Toss the potatoes with the gremolata and add salt and pepper to taste. Spread the wedges out on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes.

The result: delicious taste with an avant-garde look!

fairytale forest

my resolution for this winter: the outdoor hour

 the outdoor hour (n.) to spend one hour daily outside

It's easy when the weather is nice and sunny like yesterday, but the deal I made with myself is one outdoor hour, no matter how ugly the weather will be.

Hm, and here we are, first doubts on my overhasty winter resolution are lurking...  Today's sky has been hanging grey and wet giving a foretaste of the never ending frozen Saxonian winters.

a bit of a Christmas story

Friday Finds

Frequencies: Early Echofrom Timothee Verrecchia on Nowness.com.

Immediately loved this video!

feathers: found at Großteich, close to the Pheasants Castle, Moritzburg

3 things I love: painted portraits, Schiaparelli pink and nice and well-educated Berner Sennenhund, found here

all about love: my birthday books!

Light: Little Moon by Gregory Prade, Bottle by Ikea

Das geheime Prinzip der Liebe

Hélène Grémillon



Das schönste Wort der Welt
Margaret Mazzantini



Das Liebesspiel
Dawn Tripp

#2 Grandma's Classics: Weincreme

Another delicacy is Weincreme . Life in a wine growing region ( Grandma is from Heidelberg )  requires  a well stocked fridge with open bottles of wine, and desserts like "Weincreme"  belong to the traditional repertoire of any housewife.
In very special occasions (baptism, wedding, famous guests) Grandma even replaces Chantilly  by Weincreme to accompany her homemade apple cake.

Weincreme (Sabayon)

yields 4 servings

8 tbs sugar ( Grandma takes 4-6)
4 whole eggs
1 tbs cornflower (Maizena)
2 cups of white wine (Grandma takes 3/4l)
a slice of lemon to be cooked with

Now the most difficult part: all ingredients have to be beaten continuously on slow heat until close to  boiling.  For this task you need a good eye and your full attention. Actually it could be easier to use a bain-marie, but of course not for a cook with the experience of Grandma!  Weincreme is ready when it turns from liquid to creamy.

Pour in glasses and cool.

I forgot to tell you...

.... that I'm in again to play fatmumslim's photo game. This time on Instagram. Here are the November prompts and here are my pictures of the month.