Happy New Year 2009!

Our New Year's Eve was pretty good. Not that exciting but quite relaxing. With some Schmalzkuchen I made. (I used the same recipe as here for the dough but added a little bit of extra sugar, cut them into little rectangles, let them rise again and fried them in sunflower oil for a few minutes).They turned out so yummy that even my Dad (who is my worst critic) asked for a second (and third) serving.We watched some TV, had a nice dinner and played Coloretto for hours.We met our neighbors on the street at midnight to wish them a Happy New Year and headed back inside quickly because it was really really cold.

School is going to start again on Wednesday and I'll spend my last couple of days off with reading books about teaching German to 1st graders. Such an interesting subject but also a sort of scary idea to be responsible for this very first and super important year... I want to do it right!

Yay!

It's a big fat YAY! My first week at school was really really great. The kids are just awesome and all of the other teachers were really sweet and helpful. A very good start I'd say. I'm looking forward to the next weeks and the start of the seminar so I can meet all my fellow trainee teachers again and find out who's living close by.
That is the only thing I'm not so happy about right now. I feel pretty lonely after school! I miss the cats, C., my friends and parents a lot! Hopefully it won't be so bad anymore once I have my phone and internet access. Possibly Monday it will all be fixed.My little appartment starts to look really nice now. My parents came over for a quick visit and my dad installed all the lamps. A few more pictures on the wall and a few more accessories from home and I'll be all done. I'll show you then! For now I'll show you the view from my bathroom window:Aren't the geese the cutest?! There are also a couple of ducks and I love their cackling and quacking especially when they wake up.I can't wait for spring. The first of the two buildings is the registry office and I think I'll be able to watch some beautiful weddings... from my balcony which offers an even better view to the little pond.

(The cupcakes are Banana Split Cupcakes from VCTOTW. Yum! I made three different kinds in total figuring it couldn't hurt to take them to school for my new colleagues.)

Nice weekend!

Sunday turned out to be especially nice! The humming of lots of bumble-bees in our yard was just as sweet as watching them fly from blossom to blossom.We were invited by Hanni and Sofia in the afternoon and had some delicious cake: I only snatched a picture of the chocolate strawberry muffins (and the chocolate cake in the back) but there was also pastry filled with marzipan and currents. Yum!Since we also got to meet Hanni's friend for the first time since she had given birth to a little boy I brought along a little diaper bag to match her granny bag.
And I also sewed a little drawstring pouch for Sofia filled with a few little gifts.Can you tell how much I love the Lecien rose fabric?! It's kind of embarrassing. You could think this is the only kind of fabric I have and that is so not true! Oh well, I can't help it right now...

Quick, easy and GOOD!

That's what these quesadillas are! I found the recipe here at Lindyloo's. Since I didn't have any salsa or hot sauce I used some vegan Sour Supreme from Tofutti instead and spiced up my bean mix a bit.Definitely another favorite from Lindloo. I think it comes right after the Delectable Plunkett Burritos which are the best burritos ever (and the recipe can be found right underneath the quesadilla one). Unfortunately they take quite a bit of time in the making... or I'd have them every day!

Sugar!

I needed some badly! So I made the Hazelnut Cupcakes from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World". No time for complicated fillings or homemade ganache toppings. Instead a ready made nougat like topping (which tastes way better than you expect especially when topped with some toasted hazelnuts). Quick and good. Yum!How many times did I tell you now to buy Isa's and Terry's book? Did anybody actually follow my advice? You better, because you don't know what you are missing otherwise.

Happy Easter?

A bright blue sky with lots of sunshine on Sunday. Someone enjoyed this immensely. Me too. A few gifts for some very special friends.
Good food. Like maple cupcakes with frosting and sugared walnuts from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World". Yum.We had a good time.

DIY: Farfalle!

I think HABA makes very nice things for a children's grocery store, but when I saw the price of a small bag of farfalle made of felt I thought it was kind of ridiciulous! Then I figured I could make something similar quite easily. And it really was a piece of cake! Hilde and I eat them daily now. Simply cut little rectangular pieces out of felt. Use a zig zag scissor for the shorter edges. Fold them lengthwise. Stitch them together in the middle. Done!
You could make them three-colored as well (just like the HABA ones!), but Hilde and I prefer the whole wheat variety. If you use the fabulous Rainbow Classicfelt from the Kunin Group you'll have vegan farfalle and real Italian noodles should be vegan of course. (Oh yes, I didn't eat the cat and am still vegan - I figured it would be the right thing to do.)
And just because it's cute. Hilde featuring the cupcake shirt I made her a while ago. Desserts are a must!

Look, what's for dinner!

I came inside to find this on our kitchen table and decided right away that this vegan crap ain't for me anymore. Anyone want a piece?

Happy New Year!

We are going to have a quiet night at home with potatoe salad, doughnuts and molyb-domancy. No fireworks or fire-crackers for us. We had enough of that already going on in our street. Lale and the cats can't wait for it to stop (and I bet so can't millions of animals inside and outside neither).

Now I need to get busy and start baking. I made some Jelly Donut Cupcakes from Veganomicon yesterday to check if they could be a quick substitute for real doughnuts. It's a great recipe and the cupcakes came out delicious, but I think I still need the original kind... oh, and they are already gone anyway!Leaving you with a kitschy pic of one of the Jelly Donut Cupcakes and wishing you a HAPPY NEW YEAR! It's going to be a great one. I just know!

It's been nice!

Christmas has been very nice. We spent some time with my parents and my grandmother on the 24th, sitting by their fire place, eating and chatting.We drove to C's parents in Stralsund the next day and spent the 26th at home. My parents came over for dinner.(The butterfly hibernation house from Johanna found a place on the window sill until my dad will set it up in the yard. I think it makes a very cute Christmas decoration.)For dessert we had Chocolate Stout Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. They were really yummy, but we were already stuffed with Isas's Pizza (the best pizza on earth!), so we had some leftofers. (Did I ever mention here before that you should go and buy all of Isa's and Terry's books? Well, you should!)

Oh, guess what I got for Christmas! A new camera and it's soooo great! I love it.

Change of plans!

I couldn't bake the cookies I had planned, because I forgot to buy some more margarine. So instead I decided to make some Rumnog Pecan Cookies from VEGANOMICON (except I used walnuts and I also made some changes to the frosting). They are incredibly yummy and also very photogenic! Here one of them is modeling my last minute sewing: coasters for my grandmother.
Of course C's grandmother has to get some coasters too. Red with rose hips tags.I think I'm all set now. I just need to wrap some gifts and maybe I'll make some sugar cookies tomorrow...

Halfway there!

I didn't count them, but I think there are more than 200 of these Gingerbread cookies. (I followed Johanna's Swedish recipe.)In the front: Coconut Chococlate-Chip Cookies. These are accidently vegan. I love when I find recipes like that. In this case though I'm not overly happy with the result. My mum finds them yummy, but I don't know. I had way better cookies before, so I proclaim this recipe as not blog worthy.
Now these I find great: Lemon Cookies and the recipe is also accidently vegan - if you use vegan margarine that is!
Here you go:

THE COOKIE
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup sugar
12 tablespoons margarine, cold, cut into 12 pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

THE GLAZE
10 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Mix the dry ingredients. Scatter the butter over the mixture and process until the dough just comes together. While the machine is running, add vanilla and lemon juice.
Shape the dough into a pretty log about 18 inches long, roll it up in waxed paper. Refrigerate for about 4-5 hours.
Preheat oven to 325° F (160° C). Cut the log into 3/8-inch-thick slices. Place the slices on a lined baking sheet (or two) and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes.
Let them cool completely before glazing.

Makes about 40 cookies.All wrapped up and ready to go. Yeah okay, not all of them are wrapped up. There are plenty left for me, er I mean us...

Plan for tomorrow: snowballs, chocolate snowballs and Hanseaten (my dad requested those). We'll see!

And so it begins!

Cookies have been on my mind for a long time now. Today is the day.The first batch is in the oven. I'm planning on 3 different types of cookies today.
Pictures and recipes as soon as they'll be done. If all goes well that is...

In the mood!

I didn't really find any time to decorate our house for Christmas yet. Our house is in fact a mess. All I managed to do so far was sew some little cedar chips filled hearts and only because I had to. I still owe someone one of these and my guilt finally got so strong that I couldn't ignore it any longer. I figured if I had to get my sewing machine out anyway I could make a couple more...
I took some of them to Johanna when I visited her and got in the mood for Christmas right away. Her place looks wonderful and I used the chance to take a pic of the hearts with her decoration.

Johanna also had baked some yummy cookies which we enjoyed while crafting a bit. These are so delicious!

Seriously!

You need to try these cinnamon rolls - they are the best ever! The recipe can be found here. It's one of Meg's Vegan Recipes. Totally awesome... every single time.

This is actually a picture I took last year when I made them for the first time. I was looking for another picture when I came across it and now I can't stop thinking about cinnamon rolls. I need to go and make some...