There's a Spanish take-away spot next to my work that sells the most delicious Spanish foods. During my pregnancy, I would go often for their manchego cheese sandwich as it was one of the few things I could eat without getting sick. They also serve amazing olives, feta cheeses, and other home-made Spanish delicacies.  During one of my breaks I tried the only sweet cake they sell: Tarta de Santiago. The lady from the shop explained it was a traditional Spanish cake made from almond flour and lemon. I brought it back to my work and shared with a collegue who also shares my love for sweet ..read more

You guys... I finally did it. I... bought a NutriBullet! I mentioned in my previous smoothie post that I was contemplating buying one. I actually got this one super cheap too. I bought it at an online auction. And so far, it's been my money's worth already. I've been making so many smoothies: Breakfast Smoothies Strawberry - Banana Smoothie Oatmeal Breakfast Smoothie Peanut Butter - Chocolate Smoothie Summer Berry Smoothie The list goes on... I alternate between fresh fruits and frozen fruits. I always use at least one frozen fruit because it gives a thicker, cooler smoothie substance. F ..read more

Rosé wines are typically made by smashing black grapes and exposing the juice to the grape skins for a few hours. This process extracts color, tannins, and flavors from the grape skins. As a result, winemakers can modify the desired hue and aroma of the wine by raising or lowering skin contact. Rose wines are typically bottled young or aged for a small amount of time in special tanks or barrels. Provence is the most famous red wine region. Located in the south of France, it produces stunning rose wines that are fresh and aromatic. “Whispering Angel” is probably one of the mostpopular French r ..read more

Hello everyone! It's been exactly 5 months since my last post. Normally, I don't leave that much time in between posting, but the truth is I haven't been able to eat much, let alone baking, because... I am expecting my first child! We're very grateful and excited for a new chapter in our lives with an addition to our family. My due date is this Summer and we're expecting a boy! I've been deadly ill for 5 months so forgive me for my absence and lack of posting. Has anyone of you struggled with severe sickness when pregnant? Now that I'm starting to feel better and am not allowed to work as m ..read more

You would think I'd marry a man who loves my baking. Unfortunately, I fell in love with a man who almost never eats sweets. My husband loves savory snacks, such as nuts, chips, and pretzels sticks. And he never tries anything I bake (I always bake sweet things). So you can imagine my absolute SHOCK when he said to me "these are the best cookies you've ever made!". I mean, I didn't even had to bribe him to try a cookie. He actually, without me asking, on his own, tried one of my cookies. So what are these mystical cookies? Unicorn chip cookies. I bought the unicorn chips in the States at ..read more

Every year I publish a collection of Halloween / Fall recipes that are my favorites and have made many, many times. This year I am narrowing it down to 5 recipes that should be on your must bake list! 1. Halloween Sugar Cookies First off, the Halloween Sugar Cookies. How could a sugar cookie recipe not be part of this list?! They are so festive and pretty to look at. I love having these displayed in my kitchen. But then again, I love eating them even more! 2. Owl Cupcakes Another "pretty" treat to look at, but even more delicious to eat are my Owl Cupcakes. They are so incredibly easy to ..read more

I used to go to a bakery across work every Monday and buy one large pretzel for myself. For some reason the bakery discontinued the pretzels and pretzels are really hard to find in the Netherlands. So the only way for me to have a pretzel again is to: A) Go to Germany, or B) Bake them myself. So here I am again, baking pretzels after baking a pretzel bread last year. Granted, I don't like baking pretzels very much as I find the baking soda bath quite challenging, but this is a "quick" recipe as the dough doesn't require rising very much. Anyway, the shape doesn't matter that much when you ..read more

Why is Halloween so much fun for grown-ups? The drinks of course. Actually, without alcohol I quite enjoy Halloween as well, but for those of you who need a Halloween-themed cocktail to go with your Halloween party, keep scrolling.  This is a Halloween-version of a classic cosmopolitan. So it's still vodka, Cointreau and lime juice, except for cranberry juice it's blueberry juice for a dark hue of purple. Please buy a good quality pure blueberry juice for maximum taste and color-effect. It's a deadly cocktail so please drink with caution! Recipe Halloween Cosmopolitan Cocktail: www ..read more

Is it wrong to start decorating the house with pumpkins in September? Well that's what I did anyway. But only after the first official day of Fall. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I was baking Halloween/Fall treats already in September. I have so many things I want to bake this month for Fall/Halloween. Too bad I only have 31 days to do it. So I started with a spice layer cake, as it is one of my favorite cakes. I usually don't steer away from my beloved apple spice layer cake recipe very much, but this recipe had so many great reviews that I had to give it a go. I also li ..read more

I call this, "how to use up your Easter/Christmas chocolate leftovers part 3". Every year after Easter, I have many many, very large I might add, chocolate Easter bunnies. I you follow this blog religiously, you'll notice how all of my recipes are chocolate recipes after Easter. So I start by baking the usual brownies, chocolate chunk cookies, etcera. But after my second batch of brownies I brought to my work, I wanted to make something different.  In The Netherlands we often give 'pindarotsjes' as a present. You buy these at a chocolatier, but I figured they would be easy enough to m ..read more