Hello dear reader,
I know it’s been a while again but it has been a busy October this year. Most important of all, a dream of mine has come true: I started studying medicine in Berlin. I realized that going to school and going university are two completely different things and I do my best to enjoy as much as possible.
So my new life is really exciting and fabulous thus far, but let us with over to food.
More than a month ago, back in September, I was at my grandma’s again. I spent about 10 days in Bulgaria, where the beginning of autumn is still warm and full of life. The following pictures show you this year’s impressions of the journey.
My grandma has violet chilies growing at her balcony. They are tiny, but really hot! Beware, beware, beware…
Since nobody has cooked for me in a long time, I was very happy to get a fabulous vegetable lasagna à la Gran, with eggplant, zucchini and Bulgarian cheeeeeese.
This year, I had the wonderful opportunity to help my grandparents can some harvest for the cold season. We had plenty of tomatoes and peppers, parsley and plums.
We roasted the peppers in a special gadget for roasting peppers (my grandma owns this kind of stuff) and shredded the tomatoes through a mill.
It is wonderful to have cans with veggies that have actually ripened in the sun, so when you open them to make casserole or whatever, everything tastes like summer.
We also had plenty of plums, as it was the season back then and converted them into some yummy marmalade. (Guess what I did? Licked the spoon and the large pot, of course.)
If you have followed the blog for a longer time, you might have realized that I adore figs. Luckily, my grandparents’ fig tree had already plenty of them ready to make their way to my stomach. Honestly, I ate a huge amount of them during my stay.
I really love looking at these pictures again, because they remind me of the warm late summer days at the coast of the Black Sea and most of all, I love the light at the time. It makes all the colors look so bright and natural.
Hope you like it just as much as I do.
I have been preparing Christmas presents the last days and now the whole thing seems to have a visible end. I still have some things to prepare, but here is the current result of my work.
May I introduce to you: garlic oil, chili oil, caramel cream, hot cocoa mix, vanilla extract, two different kinds of gingerbread, apple truffles, raspberry truffles, cranberry dark chocolate truffles and bounty truffles. More will be prepared soon.
The next two weeks I will be travelling a little, but be sure that I am preparing new posts with own recipes for you. I hope you have joyful holidays.
See you next year, my dears.
It is a holiday in Bulgaria today. Every year, on March 1st all you can see is red and white. This tradition has been preserved for many years and is one of the oldest rites in BG.
On this day, people give a so-called “martenitsa” to their beloved, which consists of twisted white and red threads. They symbolize the end of the winter and the beginning of spring. The white colour signifies long life, and the red one – health and strength. Typical forms of martenitsas are woolen poppets and bracelets. Traditionally you wear them until you see a stork, swallows or cuckoos appear as a sign of spring. Then you tie your martenitsa on a tree or hide it under a stone.
As this is a day you wish health and strength to everybody – what I do to you, of course – I will present you a healthy pinterest recipe from So, How’s It Taste? I stumbled upon. Baked oatmeal is just so good. Try this with your favorite fruit – and you have a healthy breakfast, snack, whatever.
Baked Oatmeal
(makes about 6 servings)
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch of salt
1/4 cup liquid honey
1 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract or fresh ground vanilla beans
2-3 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced
1 cup berries, fresh or frozen
Slightly oil a baking dish. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
Whisk together the oats, the hazelnuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Combine honey, milk, egg, butter, and vanilla in another bowl.
Spread the bananas at the bottom of the baking dish. Spread the dry mixture on top. Pour the liquid mixture into the dish and top with the berries.
bake for abour 35 minutes until the top of the oatmeal turns a light amber brown. Let cool before serving.