It’s the time of the year that almost overnight rhubarb pops up everywhere; when I go to the market to buy my fruits & vegs, there they are; any food magazine HAS to have some rhubarb related topic and of course the food bloggers… I understand it, from all the fruits & veggies, rhubarb has by far the most extraordinary and beautiful color!

But for as long as I can remember, I have always disliked this veg. I still have visions from when I was six, and my mother had a big pan of Rhubarb on the stove and as a special treat, we had stewed Rhubarb for dessert.

“If you think it’s too sour, just add some extra sugar.” my mother said to me, and as I scooped in heaps of sugar, my sister ladled in her second bowl, she clearly could not get enough of it.

But 20+ years later, your taste changes and I cannot deny that I’m not attracted by the color of this vegs and the many recipes that flirt with me. So I had to give Rhubarb a second chance and I did it with this Rhubarb Soufflé recipe.

It’s a fairly easy recipe to make and although I’m happy how the photos turned out, I can conclude that I really don’t like rhubarb and so I called sis and she ate both soufflés.

But if you like rhubarb, here is what you need & need to do:

250 grams of rhubarb, in pieces of 3 cm

3 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of cornstarch

50 ml water

1 egg white

1 spoon of butter

Grease 2 small oven dishes with butter and  sugar them. In a big pan, heat the rhubarb in 50 ml of water and with the sugar on a low heat. Let it simmer for for about 15 mins. Pour the liquid in a cup and set aside.

push the rhubarb through a colander sieve. Set a small bit of the juice, to serve as a side.  To the rest of the juice add the cornstarch mix thoroughly and heat this. Then leave it to cool down.  

Whip the egg white until stiff then the rhubarb mixture and mix thoroughly. Scoop the mixture in the oven dishes, and bake for 15 minutes on 170 degrees.

Serve immediately ( to get the full soufflé effect) and with the some of the leftover rhubarb juice on the side. 

Enjoy!! 

Ps. here is a great link for Rhubarb lovers: Bangers&Mash makes a collections of rhubarb recipes

If you scroll through my blog, it’s clear that I have a love for food. This love definitely runs in the family, my sister is a sort of MacGyver, when it comes to cooking. I was amazed to see, one evening when me & my father turned up unannounced, she whipped up half a rice table in under half an hour and it was delicious! I have to admit that I’m pretty jealous when I see people, who make these things look so easy.

On several occasions my sister made these Indonesian corn cookies, which always makes me happy, they’re so yummy and because they’re bitesize they’re ideal for any occasion. Also these little they’re tasty either warm or cold, you can easily make these little snacks a day in advance.

So I invited her if she could teach me to make these, and honestly now that you know the recipe, you should make them too!

~ Here is what you need for about 20 little cookies:

1 egg 1 spring onion

2 cloves of garlic 1 can of sweetcorn

1 00 gram plain flower 1 teaspoon kurkuma – tumeric

1 teaspoon ketoembar – coriander powder

and vegetable oil to fry in

~ Mix all the ingredients in a bowl

Heat in a wok or a deep frying pan a layer of vegetable oil.

Take 2 spoon, use one to scoop some of the mixture, then use the second one to carefully drop the mixture in the oil. Be careful that the oil is not too hot, because it may spit.

Fry the cookies a couple of minutes on each side.

Serve with sweet chili sauce and ENJOY!

It seems that sometimes I need a winter-stop and although I have been busy with some other stuff, I easily postpone my blog.

But the best remedy to start up again is to just do it!!  So hereby, although today is the first “warm” day in Holland since…. FOREVER! is a series I made on one the the first snowy days in Holland, made in the Elswout in Haarlem.

Therefore I have the greatest admiration for all those, ( photo,- food,-) bloggers out there who daily or weekly manage to produce new stuff for their readers.

So I would like to know what do you do, to keep your blog updated  or do any tips for people like me who get stuck now and then!

Thanks & Enjoy!!

About a 10 minute cycle from my house is this beautiful estate called the Orangerie, around the estate is a forrest called Elswout, which is so beautiful, it looks like your taking a stroll through a forrest out of Lord Of The Rings!

In the last couple of weeks we’ve had quite a couple of beautiful autumn days, on some of them we  went for walks through Elswout. On one day I went by myself to photograph this beautiful area, so I can share with you, how beautiful autumn can be.

It been a ridiculously long time, since the last time I posted something here. You know how it gets sometimes, you neglect your blog for a while, but the stories and the photos keep building up and before you know it your a couple of months later and you sit down on a sunday evening and just decide to start.

So, let me start and the part that has changed my life in the last couple of months. As you might have read here back in March, I had to part with my sweet friend Brandy after 16 years of companionship. Losing someone, even though if it’s your pet, is so hard and the weeks that followed you noticed how empty the house is when you come home, or when sitting on the couch at night while watching tv.

But then my cousin, told me that her boyfriends cousins cat (do you still follow?), was expecting kittens. Since it was still a couple of weeks, I still had time to think about it. But then on May 18th, I got a message that 6 kittens were born. 3 weeks later my boyfriend & I got in the car, “Just to have a look”….. hahaha!

Like who could ever go and have a look at kittens and then just leave…. So 15 minutes later Andy & I were both sitting with a tiny fur ball in our hands.

When I saw Mushroom I knew that she was meant to be in my life and Andy chose one of the ginger males, and called him Cedric.

Since the end of July Cedric & Mushroom have been living with us and every single day we’re having so much fun with them. So I think you can expect some (or a lot) of kitty photos now and then.

As promised in my previous post, a remake of the risotto and this time I took the time to take photos.

Ingredients: 1 packet of risotto rice, 1 glass of dry white wine, about 1 liter of fish stock, 2 shallots, some garlic, 2 bunches of turnip tops, 300 grams of cherry tomatoes, 200 grams fresh salmon filet per person, 3 tbs of mascarpone

The risotto is made by frying the rice with challots & garlic when the rice is glossy add a generous splash of white wine, when that has dissolved finish the risotto with fish stock.

Just before the risotto is ready, add the turnip tops and finally a couple of tablespoons of mascarpone .

The tomatoes are covered in olive oil, ground pepper and sea salt, and are roasted in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Before serving add the fresh salmon, cut in slices.

The salmon warms of the risotto & the salty tomatoes add a nice twist to this dish.

Enjoy!

Finally I have made a successfull brownie attempt again!

First of all, my friend L & I have the tradition of cooking something together which neither of us has made before, and even though this was only the second time, both of us were so enthusiastic that we can already call it a tradition.

This time we made artichokes with 2 different dips  and a creamy risotto with turnip-tops and salmon. With 2 people in a small kitchen and recipes never tried before there was unfortunately to chance to take photos of the process unless you’re interested in a exploded kitchen… BUT, the dish was such a success that I made it a couple of days later for my bf, and this time with photos – which will follow later

However I was smart enough to make the desert in advance, and had plenty of time to take photos of these, delicious nutty brownies.

I decided on a making a flowerless brownie with extra nutty – walnuts and almonds.

For my 16cm bake tin, I have used the following ingredients, which was, as you can see still a bit too much, so additional muffin shapes had to be filled.

200 gr dark chocolate                       150 gr butter

30 gr cacao powder                              2 eggs

150 gr fine sugar               1/2 tbs baking powder

50 gr walnuts                    50 gr chopped almonds

For full recipes, maybe you can try this one by Nigella                                                           or this triple chocolate version by Martha Stewart 

Serve with ice cream, enjoy!

The 4th of May in Holland is Memorial Day, on this day: we remember civilians and soldiers who have died or were murdered in the Kingdom of the Netherlands or elsewhere in the world since the WOII in situations of war or peace missions. This is translations of the definition of the dutch memorial day.Ever year there are ceremonies held all over the country, with the main ceremony on Damsquare in the centre of Amsterdam. Where the Queen and her son (the crown prince) and his wife take part every year.

For the first time me and my friend girlie, decided to attend this ceremony instead of watching live on tv.  Next to speeches being held, by politicians and members of committees for surviving dependents, there are wreaths placed at the monument by our Queen, members of our military, veterans and other politicians. At 8 PM there are 2 minutes of silence in the whole country.

It was an amazing experience being there, especially the experience of being with so many people together and living the 2 minutes of silence.

This is my impressions of the evening:

Lucky shot was taken paparazzo style, where I just captured Queen Beatrix (in front)

Here Crown Prince Willem Alexander with his wife Princess Maxima 

the Monument on Damsquare with wreaths

On the 5th of May we celebrate living in freedom and celebrate being liberated from the occupation of the Germans in 1945.

And for this reason there are music festival held all over the country. Now this girls is lucky enough to have one of the BEST festivals around the corner of her house…! In Haarlem an enormous space is being fenced off for the event, with multiple stages, a market where you can buy souvenirs & clothing and of course bars with beer & wine and food stands. Unfortunately, all this and this and this liberation day being a saturday meant that it was busier then I have ever seen it, and was therefore not able to see all the music bands I wanted to see.

However I did make a nice impression of that day for you guys!

THAT'S ME IN THE TOP RIGHT!!

When I wake up in the morning I first check my blog, a sort of morning ritual I guess. When I looked this morning I was pleasantly surprised that I had a lot of views and a list of likes and comments! Then I found out that I had made it onto the Freshly Pressed page!! With my post on Dutch Flower Fields 

I was so excited, that I did not even go for my usual, extra 10 minutes snoozing, but got up immediately and when for a morning run – which 2 months ago I decided to do at least 6 mornings a week, but in the last couple of weeks it had decreased to twice a week and a lazy 15 minute run. – but my energy this morning was unstoppable!

THANK YOU WORDPRESS FOR HELPING ME WITH IMPROVING MY HEALTH!

my previous stats diminish by todays...

I had set myself a blog goal of reaching 1000 views a month, which twice I almost achieved, but with today alone 3700 this goal is out of the window…. but then again goals are set to be broken, right??

And thank you everybody for visiting, supporting, liking & commenting!!

When my good friend girlie came over last week, we had already made plans to have a active day together. Before she arrived I felt like baking a simple apple Tarte Tatin, something sweet before before we would burn off the calories on our beach walk and hike somewhere. Coffee and apple tarte tatin made us comfortable, and the slightly rain convinced us to stay indoors and to open a bottle of wine and watch a movie instead.

No calories were burned, but this apple tarte tatin makes you not to worry about that.

This simple Tarte Tatin is a nice light little thing to bake; I have used a small 6 inch bake tin,   a little cake big enough for 2.

Further on you need: 1 firm sour apple, handful of raisins, cinnamon, 2 sheets of puff pastry, 3 TbS of sugar and a little bit of water.

Line the bake tin with baking paper, and butter the sides. Then peel the apple and cut it in to flat slices. Lay the slices in the the tin, sprinkle with raisins & cinnamon. Lay on another layer of apple slices, raisins & cinnamon. Next, boil the sugar with the water till the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has a thicker consistency (you will have a too much of this, but it’s easier to make a bit more then a tiny bit). Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of sugar water over the apples. Butter one sheet of puff pastry then put second on top and roll till you have a nice thin pastry and cover the apples and tuck the pastry in the tin. Last, coat the pastry with sugar water.

Bake for about 20 minutes, check first if there is any excess water and drain it, the let the tarte cool down. Carefully flip the tin with and surprise you good friend or mother with this cute little pastry!

ENJOY!

Yesterday was the best Dutch National Holiday; Queensday or Koninginnedag. you would think that we are celebrating the Queens birthday, but what we dutchies are actually celebrating is the birthday of the (late) queen mom. When our current Queen Beatrix was crowned in 1980, this national holiday was her present to her mother.

Our nation loves our Royal Family and that’s why every year the whole nation puts on their orange t-shirts and we party our orange bums off every where. The Royal Family celebrates with us every year, by visiting 2 places in Holland which prepare a whole tour for the royals with performances, music and (old fashioned) games in which most royals also take part (as a queen lover, I always watch at least an hour of this on tv, screaming every minute “look a nice they are!” “Aren’t they just great!?!” which my boyfriends just ignores after say Yes, yes yeeheees…)

Anyway, we celebrated in the place we live in Haarlem, where loads of people (young and old) try to make a Euro or 2 by selling their goods on the free market, but there are also bands performing everywhere, and – my favorite, on the central square there is a kermis. Enough to do and see! This is the impression I made for you guys.

FYI – the guitarist in front is wearing shorts behind his guitar…  ;)

ENJOY!