a little red, a little yellow

Let's take a little break from the snow
and go back to the first week of january instead.
Not a snowy white winterland then yet.
What a difference when looking outside now.
I have to admit, although very cold, I do love this white world.


Maybe due to the grey and dark weather during the first days of 2013,
I enjoyed every tiny sprinkle of colour more than ever then.

There were the raspberries I couldn't resist while shopping.

Don't they look great on and around the chocolate banana

cupcakes I made?

And the yellow dots?

Those are from the Forsythia branches I cut on the last day of 2012.
Remember me telling you about that? You can read it here.

No Forsythia abloom in the garden yet, but,

in the house, in a colourful red and white dotted can,

they brought the first spring colour.

 

Enjoy!

I've been trying to take pictures of the many birds in the garden,
without succes though.
So instead, I decided to take the flowerpot with grapehyacinths
which are now blooming in the house,
outside into the snow and photograph those.
Aren't flowers the easiest things to photograph?
They don't fly, they always smile and have the prettiest colours.
Will show you those photos soon!
O yes, took that pot with blooms in again afterwards of course!


Bye,
Marian

Welkom zomer

De zomerwende zit erop voor dit jaar.
De langste dag van het jaar is alweer bijna voorbij.

"WELKOM ZOMER"

Na de ietwat herfstige voorbije dagen,

werd vandaag toch een dag de naam zomer waardig.

De blauwe lucht én de zon waren met tussenpozen aanwezig.

Ik hoop dat jullie genoten van deze langste dag van het jaar.

Hoe beter de zomer inzetten dan met

FRAMBOZEN
 

Met voorsprong mijn favoriete fruit

dus toen ik ze vandaag zag,

belandden ze in mijn winkelmandje.

De kersen van vorig weekend

liet ik zonder probleem

voor man en kids,

daarom kon ik mezelf deze lekkernij

wel cadeau doen, vond ik...

En van Belgische oorsprong dit keer.

^_^

Heerlijk zo uit het vuistje

of met wat yoghurt en muesli erbij

Meteen mijn avondmaal voor deze eerste zomerdag.

Groetjes,

Marian

PS Na de 'genietmomentjes',
'something old, something blue',
en 'decoreren met rozen'
heeft Rennie nu een nieuwe challenge:
'Zomerse sferen'
Met deze zomerse frambozenpost 
doe ik graag mee met je challenge Rennie!

Raspberrypavlova

Bought these fresh raspberries today!
They are my all time favourite fruit.
No, we don't have them in our garden
(not any other kind of fruit either for that matter)

I eat them just like that, with muesli, in yoghurt, on icecream
AND
make a raspberry pavlova with them!

This is the recipe:

Preheat oven at 180°C.

Beat 7 egg whites until satiny peaks form.
 Beat in 300 g sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny.

Sprinkle over 2 teaspoons of raspberry vinegar
and gently fold in.

Mound on to a baking sheet.

Smooth sides and top
and try to make into a fat circle approximately 23cm in diameter.

Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 150°!

Bake for 1 hour.

You can see little cracks appear.

 

Turn off the oven and open the door slightly.

Let the meringue disc cool completely.

Wisk 500 ml double cream.

When you're ready to serve, divide into pieces,

pile some cream on top of it

and scatter over some raspberries.

 Bon appetit!

 The pavlova should be crisp on the outside
but still soft and squidgy on the inside.