'Tis the season already...

Hi Y'all,

Well, Christmas is just around the corner - same procedure as every year, James. And every year we are in total surprise about it. But as I had a week off, I spend that time for d&d - diying and decorating. Obviously I would't pop in the next Depot or IKEA store, because first that would be boring and second it would be impossible, because these shops don't exist here. There is an importer for the Swedish stuff, but I checked prices, not worth it, not at all.

What I did buy this year was coloured string lights for the balcony railing, because the old one died last year, and an artificial Christmas tree, because the little one I used the last two years belonged to the rental we staid. So I grazed Facebook marketplace and got some good deals - like very much. Sure, the tree could be a bit more full, but I fluffed it ferociously and adorned it with every bauble I had, and it looks very okay. And regarding the string light: If Ryanair starts landing on our street, well that's on me, then :-)

So I enjoyed decorating and creating stuff very much last week. As always, it was trial and error, and I started with an error... I thought of using expired wound dressings - ruffle them and glue them around a cardboard cone so it looks like a Christmas tree. Looked like crap, so opened the wound and removed the dressings. Then I cut a nice ribbon into pieces of 10 cm each and folded them like the AIDS or breast cancer awareness bows. Then I glued them to the cone, attached a star on top and used an empty bottle of Iron supplements as a stand - done!

The dressings carried some cushioning pads to protect any wounds. I collected these paddings and removed the outer layer, because it was made from a shiny, non-sticky material for obvious reasons. But underneath it was like cotton wool, soft and fluffy. I cut them into hearts and embroidered them with ornaments and connected them with a blanket stitch - ornament no. 1 näht = Anhänger Nummer eins.

Ornaments no. 2, 3 and 4 I cut from cardboard cereal boxes and embellished them either with embroidery or crochet. 

Ornament no. 5 was also done from a cereal box, but I cut circles, folded them in half and glued them together to form a ball. At the bottom I added little bells or hearts left over from the famous golden Lindt Easter bunnies. 

Last but not least I took curtain rings and some makramee cord which I knotted around the rings so they look like little wreaths. All these ornaments I put on my curtain rod at the kitchen sink, so I can enjoy them while doing the dishes (well, the hubs, actually). Because the window leads to a light shaft without any nice view.) 

This is the view after my holiday treatment: 

Afterwards I took an old paperback and transformed it into these plissee ornaments: 

And of course, Heinrich shall get into the mood as well, therefore his feeding station got a deco upgrade: 

Our current flat has rustic oak cabinets which needed some light decoration as a contrast to the dark wood. And so I produced another round of cardboard cones and covered them in these cotton de-makeup pads. Then I improvised an advent centerpiece with wine corks, candles and mini baubles because I wasn't in the mood for my black basket that I normally use. Weil ich ja in der jetzigen Wohnung so eine rustikale Eiche-Wohnwand mit zwei Vitrinen zu bestücken habe, wollte ich noch was Helles, das sich gut abhebt. Und so habe ich nochmal ne Runde Kegel aus Pappe gebastelt und sie mit diesen runden Abschmink-Wattepads beklebt. Und schließlich hab ich noch schnell einen Adventskranz improvisiert aus Kerzen, Korken und ein paar roten Minikugeln - dieses Jahr war mir irgendwie nicht nach dem schwarzen Drahtkorb, den ich sonst immer verwende.

And this is how it came together - it reminds me of some cabin in the Alps, a vibe I really like! So let's heat up the mulled wine! ...and yes, I know that I definitely have to refill our wine shelf...

Oh, by the way, this blog turned five years old a few days ago - happy birthday to blog! And now I just shower you with some deco pictures to get you in the mood. And two notes: The couch got a well-fitting red cover sewn by me (because the store-bought one did not fit at all), and the cookie jar will definitely contain some real cookies not these cough drops :-)

With that being said - enjoy the festive season to the fullest!

Smashing Pumpkins!

Hello fall, Y'all!

For some of us it is just falling leaves, grey and cold wather, but for me it is also pumpkin time! Last week my employer treated the staff with a round of pumpkin spice lattes. Thus the guys from the coffee shop across the street packed their equipment and carried it into our office. Do finish the ambience, they had a local farmer deliver twenty pumpkins to decorate accordingly. 

These pumpkins were edible, and after the coffee fiesta I managed to get hold of one of the pumpkins. Which means I literally had to schlep it home, because it was humongous!  

So after my weekly grocery shopping on Saturday I was determined to fight the monster pumpkin! To cut it was easier than expected - the usual Hokkaido is much more stubborn than his Maltese colleague, I must say. I saved the seeds and cleaned them from all the fibers, rinsed them thoroughly and distributed them on a baking sheet to dry overnight on the terrace. Sunday they had dried nicely, and I gave them a short but sweet bath in saltwater. Back in the oven to get nice and toasty. Usually you do that for about twenty minutes, but in my gas oven, things are different.  After ten minutes only, my pumpkin seeds identified themselves as popcorn. To prevent them jumping around in my oven I stopped the experiment. But much to my surprise they were really good, already. After they cooled down a bit, we finished them off completely. 

A good third of the pumpkin I left uncut - one piece we will have for dinner tomorrow night and the other piece I cut in slim wedges which I roasted in the oven with bacon and feta cheese. We had Maltese bread with home made garlic butter as a side dish, and it was delish! No vampires were seen in the building that night...

The remaining part of the pumpkin I peeled, because in contrast to your usual Hokkaido you cannot eat the skin of the local one. I diced the pumpkin and cooked it for about twenty minutes in my two largest pots. I then drained them and pureed them with an immersion blender. This pumpkin puree (over three and a half kilo!) I bagged in smaller portions and put in the freezer. 

A part of the puree I used yesterday already - first for simple muffins and then for brownies with a creamcheese topping. The latter weren't too convincing, but the muffins were awesome. 

As we were invited yesterday, I did not want to come empty-handed and tried small pumpkin cheesecakes (made them individually in my muffin tin). First of all they got a bottom of shredded ladyfingers with melted butter and a pinch of cinnamon. I topped them with creamcheese and pumpkin puree spiced with the usual suspects aka cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger and allspice. The cream was completed with an egg and a bit of cornstarch to make sure the cream gets firm. After only fifteen minutes they were done and I let them cool in the oven with the door left ajar - normal procedure with all cheesecakes. After that they could rest in the fridge. Btw I used lactosefree creamcheese for the first time, and the little cakes were sensational! No difference to "normal" creamcheese at all.

But I needed something salty as well for yesterday's menu. And because of the time constraint due to our invitation I decided against pumpkin gnocchi, because they take too long with boiling potatoes and all that jazz. Instead Instagram made me do scissors pasta! Basically you prepare a dough with all purpose flour, pumpkin puree and salt and then with a pair of scissors you cut little pieces of that dough directly into a pot of boiling water. It's as simple as that. 

Because the little creatures are done so quickly (you know they are good when they reach the surface - in my case within a few minutes), I did not make an elaborate sauce but just heated some sage and garlic in butter and tossed the pasta into the pan.

Was incredible and definitely worth doing again. Although my cutting technique has room for improvement, I know, I know... :-) 

What else is on my pumpkin-to-do-list? A classic American pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup for sure, a chicken-pumpkin casserole and a pumpkin curry, because curry is an all-time favorite of ours. 

On that note - enjoy fall and all the pumpkins!