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...

This is a post that almost didn't make it. Also, don't have the posting date fooling you. I'm terribly late for this month Daring Bakers' challenge... Even considered it to give it a ago because time really has been an issue lately, with days finishing too quickly for my taste (or needs!). BUT today's Wednesday, and I don't like to give up things on Wednesdays. Or any other day of the week, for that matter. Enough ramblings! I made Milan cookies. Or sort of. And I really want to share those with you. The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network. Milan Cookies Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website Makes about 3 dozen cookies • 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened • 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar • 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs) • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract ...

"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated" - Mark Twain once said after hearing that his obituary had been published in the New York Journal . I feel the same way when I name these the best cookies in the whole world ... It's at least questionable since no one has been able to actually taste ALL the cookies in the world. But my other half says these are the best, and the man isn't called Mr. Taster for nothing! Plus, they're a charm to make, and look really nice. Oat Raisin Almond Cookies Lightly adapted from Cordon Bleu. Makes 40 1 large egg, lightly beaten 1/2 cup (110 grs) firmly packed brown sugar 1/2 cup (100 grs) fine caster sugar 1/2 cup (120 grs) unsalted butter, room temperature 1 cup (100 grs) raisins 1 cup (150g) plain flour 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup (100 grs) rolled oats 1/2 cup (50 grs) slivered almonds 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 Tbsp milk Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Grease oven trays, and line with baking paper. (Or u...

It's February, and we're on our way to a few days in freezing Paris, like we did last year. You've probably got it already from last post. Yes, we're heading for Paris again. And again. Casablanca is responsible for the famous "we'll always have Paris" to which I'd only had that we'll always be going back to Paris. Even when it's February, and no one in his/her perfect mind would choose any Central Europe destination. Oh well. The weather forecasts are quite bad - not at all like the sunniest of days we got there last June (photo above) but it's Paris, so we'll find many things to do, eat and see. In between dreams of macaroons and crème brûlée, I've made madeleines. But not just any madeleines. This is Christian Constant 's recipe (and you know how much a like him, don't you?). I've made madeleines for the first time last year when we got back from Paris. Chocolate Madeleines . The recipe is quite easy to follow, I jus...