Some call it Rice Crispy Treats...

... others the biggest sugar high a 2-year old can get within 30 minutes.

For all the fellow Nutella-lovers out there

I know you will appreciate this one.


Nutella Christmas cookies

175g flour
1 tsp baking powder
75g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
50g butter, softened
50g Nutella, softened + additional Nutella for the filling

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In small bowl combine flour and baking powder. In separate bowl beat sugar and butter until creamy. Mix in Nutella, egg and vanilla extract. Add flour and baking powder and mix on high until dough is smooth. Wrap in foil and refrigerate for about 30min. Roll out on floured surface and cut out different sized shapes (heart, stars, etc.) Bake cookies for about 8-10 min. Let cool.
Stack 2 or 3 cookies on top of each other, using the additional Nutella as glue. Dust with powdered sugar.

Russian Dolls

I've had the idea for a project involving Russian nesting dolls in my head for a while now, but I just couldn't figure out which materials to use for the background. After finishing the Christmas stockings, it suddenly dawned on me: Canvases covered with natural linen, of course!

Knock, knock, knock

Looks like some people in our house must have been damn good this past year, since St. Nikolaus decided to stop by and drop-off some treats. While Ava of course loved her candy and toys, the real surprise was, that apparently even St. Nikolaus agrees, that using toilet paper as a substitute for a bookmark is NOT a good idea. At all. Thanks, St. Nikolaus for putting and end to that and bringing by some shiny, new bookmarks!

Before

After

What a transformation!

The treat sacks

Stockings

I got the idea for stockings like these when I saw something similar on etsy. Even though I liked the way they looked, they were just a bit too edgy for my taste. So there was just one solution: I had to come up with my own version: Modern, clean but still a bit earthy

I might be new to this game..

... called Thanksgiving, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to celebrate in style. In fact, I actually find it pretty remarkable how quickly I can adapt to traditions that involve lots and lots of food!
Some glimpses of what we did this weekend:

We started of by picking the strongest family member to bring in the turkey

Yes, she had to work a bit, but we believe in manual labor as part of a well rounded upbringing.

Then we did some serious cooking:

The same bad habit every year: Eating the uncooked stuffing right out of the bowl.

THE BIRD

All set and ready to eat

Somewhere in between roasting the turkey and preparing the sides, we even found time to try a new fudge recipe:

White chocolate peppermint
(taste=excellent, consistency needs some work)

But it wasn't all about food this weekend:

We also went to the zoo

Had fun at the park

Repainted our accent-wall in the bedroom (again)

Collected some gigantic pine cones


And, made a fall-inspired wreath for the door (not perfect, but hey, it was my first attempt)

Should we be concerned?

I am a child of God
Primary song


(Original )
I am a child of God
and he has sent me here
has given me an earthly home
with parents kind and dear (...)


(Ava's version)
I am a child of God
and he has sent me here
has given me an earthly home
with parents KINDA WEIRD (..)

Um, yeah.

Bavarian Pretzels

Ok, at least as close as it gets, considering we're in Southern California and we're missing one of the main ingredients. (lye) The results are slightly sweet (brown sugar), but still pretty authentic tasting. Might also just be me, having been away from Bavaria for too long.
The funny thing is, that this recipe is actually from Rachel Ray and was part of her Oktoberfest-celebration-week. Who knew that she would be the person to turn to, to find a recipe like that.

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
4 1/2 cups flour
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 large egg
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp baking soda (Natron)
Optional: Coarse salt for sprinkling (looks better with, but tastes better without)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In large bowl whisk together the warm water, yeast and brown sugar. Let stand for 5 min. Combine flour and salt and add to yeast mixture together with the egg and butter. Using an electric mixer with dough hooks, mix everything on low speed until dough is smooth and elastic. Let dough rest in warm place for about 5 min. In shallow baking dish combine baking soda with 2 cups of warm water. On work surface divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and dip in the baking soda mixture for about 30sec. Using the baking sheets as work surface, shape dough into pretzels. Bake until deep golden, ca. 12-15 min.

Heaven. On. Earth.

And yes, these are real Weisswuerste. We got them at a little German butcher shop up in Carlsbad, that one of Rich's co-workers (also German) referred us to. They also have a supermarket there, where you can get everything from Dr. Oetker Milchreis to Gelbwurst to Adventskalender, that actually end the 24th!

Making progress

Well, that was quite the bumpy ride today. Chance (my horse) was not in a good mood and did his best to let me know. I'm not sure what caused it, but it might have somehow been connected with the giant coyote that walked by about 10 feet away from us (while little Ava was cluelessly playing in the sand)! We still did some good jumps, even though you could have thought we are doing a thoroughbred-race instead of jumping fences.
What I learned today? We SO need a camcorder!

Baking venture of the day: Honey Muffins

Why eat muffins with honey-butter, if you can just incorporate the butter and the honey in the muffin?

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey

In small bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl whisk together the egg, milk, butter and honey. Add dry ingredients and mix until moistened. Fill paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 400 F for 15-18 min. Serve warm.

Another project finished

Give me some fabric, yarn and a needle and that's what I will do

the apple doesn't fall far from the tree

Brushing

Getting the rider ready

And more brushing, and brushing and brushing...

Is it bad to REALLY encourage your child's interest in your own favorite hobby?

How to make Marzipan

So simple, so good.

200g ground almonds
200g powdered sugar
about 1 tbsp water (or Rosenwasser, if you want to be fancy)
a little bit of almond extract (Bittermandel -Aroma)

Mix it all together and knead until it is smooth and easy to shape. Roll in cacao for Marzipan-potatoes or use as a filling for Stollen/Christmas cookies. (or just eat it pure) If you want your Marzipan to be super smooth, make sure you peel you almonds first before grinding them.

First

Since the last couple of Halloweens in Brooklyn mostly consisted of freely handing out candy to the little daughter of our mob-connected building-superintendent, so he would speed up some of the many overdue repairs in our apartment, we were quite pleased to have a real celebration this year. It was my first trick-or-treating, too, so Ava generously agreed to share her candy with me. (suckers for her, Tootsie rolls and Paydays for me) Quite possibly one of the most fun weekends ever.

Ward Halloween-party and costume show

Waiting

Getting candy from the scary lady

Sorting out the good stuff

(Almost) guilt-free frosted pumpkin cake

It's from the November issue of Cooking Light (what an awesome magazine, by the way) and it's a nice change of pace from the usual spice and calorie-laden pumpkin-bread recipes, that show up everywhere around that time of the year. And the vanilla-cream cheese frosting? May I just say divine. Ava, who usually never touches anything baked ate 2 pieces and kept asking for more.

Frosted Pumpkin Cake

2 + 1/4 cups flour
2+ 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 15ounce can pumpkin puree

Frosting:
2 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 package 1/3 less-fat-cream cheese
2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. (ca. 180 C.) Stir together flour, salt, cinnamon + baking powder. In separate bowl combine brown sugar, butter, vanilla and mix until well combined. Add eggs slowly and keep mixing. Add pumpkin and mix some more. Fold in flour mixture just until combined. Spread into 13x9inch baking pan (greased) and bake for 25 min. Cool completely in pan.
For frosting combine butter, cream cheese and vanilla and mix well. Slowly add powdered sugar, beating until frosting has a smooth consistency. Spread over cake.
Makes 24 servings, 187 calories each (that's where the "almost" comes in, considering, that you won't be able to just eat 1 piece)

In the spirit of "I don't care if it's 80 degrees outside.."

..it's the end of Oktober, which means it's almost November, which means it's almost Christmas which means it's really about time to start making "Plaetzchen" (aka Christmas cookies, for our American friends). While I already tried Lebkuchen and Heidesand with mixed results (the Heidesand did infact turn out to be a pile of crumbly sand) the Orangen-Vanille-Kipferl from the never-fail, tried-and-true, one-and-only Dr.Oetker-baking-book were very good. Maybe I add even more orange extract next time.

Orangen-Vanille-Kipferl

100g ground almonds
280g flour
100g sugar
salt
2 EL (tbsp) orange rind or 2 EL orange extract
1EL vanilla extract or 1 Paeckchen Vanillezucker
200g butter, softened
2 egg yolks
More sugar for dusting/rolling

Combine almonds, flour, sugar, salt, orange and vanilla extract. Add butter and egg yolks and knead to a soft dough. Wrap in foil and put in the fridge over night. Form a roll and divide in about 50 pieces. Shape them into little Kipferl (see picture) and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at about 350 F (190 C) for ca. 10min. Roll in the remaining sugar as long as they're still warm.

It's official. I'm replaced.

No explanation needed.