Lots of new beginnings...

Hello everyone!



I hope that you are all doing well and that those of you in the northern hemisphere had a great summer and those of you on the south side of the world had a cosy winter.



Here things have been pretty crazy with a lot of changes and exciting new beginnings in my life...hence the lack of updates.

But let me share the good news with you. Here is a clue:

Yip! We are the owners of our first little house, a cute and quaint jem that needs a little polishing...okay maybe a lot of polishing. But the renovating process has been fun so far and we do it in little projects...you can't renovate all the time, we have to live as well, right? This little home is a miracle for us and we are loving it!



Okay...the next little piece of good news...

Yes, you saw right...that's a cute little pair of mini-me feet. Baby nr 2 is on its way and we are all delighted. Especially me...now that the nausea has gone over. What a terrible few months that was. But now I'm ok, as long as I eat...like all the time...it's a good thing my body uses more energy at the moment.



Anyways, now that you know my good news, maybe you'll be a little more excusing of my absence:-).



Unlike you lucky people in the southern hemisphere, who are heading in to spring and many lazy hours on the beach, up north we are going towards more cosier times with lots of candles and fiery nights. Here's a recipe for one of my favourite fruit salads that has an autumn feel with its stewed figs and cardamom syrup...enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

4 fresh figs

8 fresh strawberries (you can use frozen if you don't have access to fresh ones)

1 orange

1 banana

2 granadillas (passion fruit)

1/2 pineapple

1 dl frozen raspberries



Cardamom syrup:

50 ml (1/2dl) sugar

1 tbsp water

1 tsp grinded cardamom



1. Make the syrup first: Put the sugar, water and cardamom in a little pot and boil until it has a syrupy consistency, without it getting any colour.

2. Peel and chop the fruit into little pieces (except the figs).

3. Put 200ml water and 50 ml sugar into a pot bring to the boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer. Cut the figs into four pieces and stew them in the sugar water for a few minutes. Remove from water and garnish the fruit salad with the figs.pour the syrup over and serve with vanilla cream.



Have a happy day!



Love,

Heidi

3-course breakfast

Happy 1 of May everyone! I hope that this month will fill of lovely moments and lots of laughter! To sound all clichéd, I can't believe it is already May. Time is flying by! So take the opportunity to make the people around you feel special and loved! Enjoy each moment you have!

Have you ever had a 3-course breakfast? I hadn't...until Good Friday. We had some friends come over for brunch, and I thought, "Why not make it a 3-course brunch?" So I did!

This was the menu:

Starter: Yoghurt and muesli cocktail

Vanilla or Greek yoghurt layered with muesli, dried fruit and roasted pumpkin seeds and coconut. Topped with red cranberries and honey. It was delicious and so refreshing. The smell of the coconut roasting in a frying pan was OH so delicious!

Main course: This was a typical South African breakfast with fried eggs and bacon, fried tomatoes, mushrooms and onions served with fresh orange juice. I forgot to take a picture of this part.

"Dessert": Cardamom scones with orange & lemon curd

Makes about 8 scones:

To see this recipe in Swedish click here.

400 ml flour
½ tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
50g butter
150 ml buttermilk
1 tsp cardomom

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees C.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the cubed butter and rub in with your finger tops. Mix the buttermilk into the dry ingredients.


3. Make balls about the size of your palm with the dough and place them on a lined oven tray. Brush with some milk and sprinkle over some sugar.

4. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm with the orange and lemon curd.

Orange & lemon curd
Makes about 1 cup
(Make at least 1 day in advance)

2 lemons
2 oranges
200 ml sugar
85g butter
3 eggs
1 egg yolk

1. Wash the oranges and lemons well. Grate off the zest. Squeeze the juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon.
2. Mix the juice, zest, sugar and butter in a stainless steel bowl. Stir the eggs into the mixture.
3. Put the bowl over a pot of boiling water until the curd thickens. Don’t let the curd boil. It takes about 15 minutes for it to thicken properly.
4. To get an extra creamy and smooth texture, pour the mixture through a sieve while still hot. Pour into a glass jar and store in the fridge.


Have a lovely week!

Love,
Heidi