taste and texture: the March challenge

Talking about photography lately, Nancy and I thought that it was high time for a new challenge. Something really interesting. And fun. A project. Actually something like the menu series inspired by Sophie Calle's Chromatic Diet  I shot in March 2012.       .......

Why not repeat the chromatic diet together?! It didn't even take a minute to get both of us enthusiastic about the idea.

Only, this time we fancied to play it as a game. And we'd love it, if you joined in, dear readers, bloggers and instagramers from all over the world. Each one of us would choose their own  ingredients, would prepare the menus in their own kitchen, shoot the pictures and share them afterwards.
Come on, it's so much fun and creativity !

Here's how to play 

1. Prepare each week two menus starting with pink (because I totally struggled with the pink during my last monochromatic experience)
     - week 1: pink and red
     - week 2: orange and yellow
     - week 3: green and brown
     - week 4: black and white
2. Publish two pictures ( a third picture "my favourite" is optional)
Picture 1 introduces the colour (totally open, let your creativity run wild, don't feel restricted at all)
Picture 2 is the monochromatic menu ( now feel restricted, but soooo puristic and sophisticated)
     - the menu consists in a main course, a dessert and a beverage
     - shoot on white
     - use white tableware
     - no cutlery or napkins
     - no props
     - use a glass for the beverage
3.  from a culinary point of view your menu should be edible enjoyable
4.  though: extravaganzas are always welcome!
5.  You may skip a colour or join in only for the colour you like
6.  Hashtag your pictures #monochromaticmenu and share them on tumblr or instagram, share them in your blog and link back to us, or send us an email.

Can't wait to start!
xoxo  B. and N.

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! 

around here..

..enjoying the sunny day and looking forward to lots and lots of new photo projects. Be curious!

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

the lakes

Sophienteich, Moritzburg

Altenteiche, Moritzburg

Altenteiche, Moritzburg

Schloss Moritzburg

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.

a love poem

What have I to say to you

When we shall meet?

Yet-

I lie here thinking of you.

The stain of love

Is upon the world.

Yellow, yellow, yellow,

It eats into the leaves,

Smears with saffron

The horned branches that lean

Heavily

Against a smooth purple sky.

There is no light-

Only a honey-thick stain

That drips from leaf to leaf

And limb to limb

Spoiling the colours

Of the whole world.

I am alone.

The weight of love

Has buoyed me up

Till my head

Knocks against the sky.

See me!

My hair is dripping with nectar-

Starlings carry it

On their black wings.

See, al last

My arms and my hands

Are lying idle.

How can I tell

If I shall ever love you again

As I do now?

William Carlos Williams