Slovenian Recipes

House building has been on my plans since I was a little kid -- I wanted to be an architect whilst growing up! It didn't turn out that way, and although I made the arts my professional area, I've never went into the building business. Until this Christmas, that is! Thank you, Anna and Y! The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes. Scandinavian Gingerbread (Pepparkakstuga) from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas 1 cup butter, room temperature [226g] 1 cup brown sugar, well packed [220g] 2 tablespoons cinnamon 4 teaspoons ground ginger 3 teaspoons ground cloves 2 teaspoons baking soda ½ cup boiling water 5 cups all-purpose flour [875g] 1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar ...

♬ pretty in pink isn't she pretty in pink isn't she ♬♬ It took me a quarter of century to finally get all the fuss about pink... Both my childhood and teenage years went by without fluffy pink dresses or girly bedrooms, to my mom's disappointment! Perhaps because red was my favourite colour, I always felt that any attempt to match the palette left a sense of betrayal. No pink . No news if I tell you this song by Psychedelic Furs "Pretty in Pink", that I've been singing since I baked these cookies, couldn't really change my mind and the movie, that one , completely missed me. Pretty in pink isn't she / pretty in pink / isn't she Cranberry Orange Cookies Lightly adapted from "Australian Women's Weekly" Cookies & Biscuits Makes 30-45 2 cups (300 grs) plain (all-purpose) flour 200 gr unsalted butter, softened 3/4 cup (165 grs) golden caster sugar 1 large egg 1 Tbsp orange zest 1/2 cup (80 gr) dried cranberries, chopped Cream butter, e...

What makes something 'comfort food'? Perhaps finding comfort in food is not the same to everyone and may be achieved differently -- it can come from memories of foods of our childhood or our most loved flavours, the ones that warm both heart and soul. Me, I love persimmons. For nowadays, a ripe persimmon with a dash of cinnamon, eaten by the spoon, is what I call comfort food! Many of you will probably disagree, as many people seem to *really* dislike persimmons... For those, I'm sharing my Chestnut Risotto with Red Beans. Now don't say chestnuts aren't your thing... ;) Chestnut Risotto with Red Beans (serves 4) 1 tbsp olive oil 100 gr smoked bacon, chopped 1 tbsp thyme (leaves only) + extra to serve 200 gr chestnuts (shelled and peeled), chopped coarsely* 100 gr risotto rice 750 ml vegetable stock, warm 400 gr red beans, cooked 2 tbsp single cream + 50 ml whole milk Parmesan (1/4 cup), freshly grated, to serve *Bake chestnuts for 15 minutes at 200ºC with salt. Don...