Netherlands Travel

Exploring Amsterdam in 3 Days

July 23, 2021

My trip to Amsterdam is so fresh, that I haven´t even unpacked the cheese I brought back, but I really wanted to write about it asap, lest I forget all the powerful impression this wonderful city have left on me. Full disclaimer: this is my second time in Amsterdam, and I actually stayed for six days, but since I didn´t really take any time off, and worked for almost four of those days, I compressed an itinerary for three days, and adapted it to someone who´s never been there, touching upon all my favourite places. Now since I´m a huge foodie, I will reserve a whole other article to speak about all my favourite food places, but I´ll still mention them here in passing, so you know where to eat at least one fabulous meal a day. Let´s go? Or shall I say “Laten we gaan”?

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Italian Dinner Food

Prosciutto and Fig Pizza

July 19, 2021

For my first ten years of eating pizza, I always, always, always went for the prosciutto e funghi option. I guess that´s not so unusual for a kid, to find THE pizza and stick to it until adulthood. Maybe a bit more unusual (to not use the word sad), is that once I reached teenagehood, I found myself a new pizza I stuck with for about ten years, and that was Hawaii (outrageous, I know). And now, in adulthood, I´ve been stuck on Diavola. So essentially, it´s been three pizza flavours defining my life, and I rarely strayed from them. Recently, though, I found myself twice (and that is a lot!), choosing pizzas with figs in them, a combination I never thought would work. And boy, did I like it. I liked it so much that after doing some testing at home, I came up with an own prosciutto and fig pizza recipe, which I´m happily sharing with you this #homemadeMonday. I promise that even if it doesn´t sound like your cup of tea (or slice of pizza), you´ll be amazed by how good this combo tastes.

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Middle Eastern Vegetarian Food Lunch

Couscous with Fried Apricots and Halloumi

July 12, 2021

I´m typing this #homemadeMonday from the Hoxton´s lobby (take it as a great recommendation if you want to have a nice drink while you´re in Amsterdam). I´ve just head some poached eggs on an English muffin and half an avo toast, but my mouth is still watering at the thought of this week´s recipe – a couscous with fried apricots, halloumi, sundried tomatoes and mint. I just find the combination so utterly perfect, that I never want to try couscous any other way. Although, I will also continue making it in hubby´s favourite fashion – find the recipe here.

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International Food

Prosciutto Wrapped Pears

July 5, 2021

Pears are definitely not in my top five favourite fruit, but I find myself adding to dishes over and over again – like in this drunken pear risotto or in this perfect winter salad (shhhh, it´s perfect for summer too!). And then when Pinterest gave me the idea to wrap them in prosciutto, with a bit of creamy cheese and a mango chutney topping, I felt like I died and went straight to heaven. It´s a stretch to call this an actual recipe, considering there´s no cooking involved, but I thought I´d nonetheless put it on the blog for your next brunch session.

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Fiction Non-fiction Books

Five Beach Reads Instead of the Regular Book Club

July 1, 2021

The month of June has been an abysmal failure if you judge it by the number of books I read, which is a big, fat null. Obviously, that number should not be something to guide yourself by, but I do feel guilty for not having a proper book club recap for you all so instead I compiled a list of five light-ish beach reads that could inspire you for your summer holiday. I won´t give away too much, but here are the books I would love re-reading on a sandy beach, with a margarita in my hand.

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Vegetarian French Dinner Food

Nonna´s Beautiful Ratatouille

June 28, 2021

June marks the one year anniversary of the #guestchefseries and not that I´ve run out of friends, but this month I am actually repeating a guest chef. Meanting, you are now meeting my 97 year old Nonna again, this time for her delicious (and beautiful) ratatouille dish. We cooked it together a couple of weeks ago and then I reproduced it at home, in a prettier format, to share with you all as I think it´s the perfect dinner party recipe. And while it might look fancy it´s actually super easy to make! Keep reading…

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Italian Vegetarian Dinner Food Lunch

Minestrone – The Ancient Roman Comfort Soup

June 21, 2021

To me, all dishes I end up loving carry with them the story of when, where and with whom I first had them. When it comes to minestrone, I wish I could tell you I had it on a narrow Italian street as I was visiting that beautiful country, but the reality is, I first tried minestrone on a dark day, in a tiny Italian restaurant in the middle of Berlin, with my friend Sam. I loved it instantly but it wasn´t until years later that I finally tried doing it myself at home. And now, after much testing and tasting, I bring you this recipe (inspired by Magnolia´s Table). Minestrone is an ancient soup, literally dating from B.C. times, in what was the Roman empire. And while you can technically throw in it any veggies, I find that there are a few “cannot miss” ones – like celery and carrot. Anyway, read on to see how I make minestrone for the whole block.

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International Dinner Food

Summer Salad with Quinoa, Radishes, Cucumber and Feta

June 14, 2021

For someone who doesn´t like quinoa, I sure am persistent in trying to find combinations that will work with it. That´s how this #homemadeMonday edition came about. Me, myself and I, strolling around the farmers´ market in the search for veggies that would work well with this earthy seed. I came up with radishes (oddly enough, one of my least favourite veggies), cucumber and of course – feta cheese. What resulted is a fresh summer salad, with earthy tones, that makes for a great light, yet rich in vitamins lunch or dinner. Read on for the recipe.

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Portugal Travel

10 Postcards from Foz do Douro

June 11, 2021

A couple of weeks ago we went on a trip to the Douro region, which we ended with a couple of days spent in Porto. I am quite used to visiting Porto regularly for both work and leisure but on this trip we actually ended up visiting a part of the city I had never before explored – Foz do Douro. The day was sunny and air smelled like salt, so I kept stopping every couple of meters to snap a picture. I selected my favourite 10 to share with you here.

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International Dinner Food

Shaved Zucchini with Feta, Walnuts and Honey

June 7, 2021

This #homemadeMonday called for a light dish – not because of any efforts towards a summer body (all bodies are summer bodies) but because it´s Sangria season and that to me means light dishes and heavy Sangria jars. And since the farmers´ market I go to on Saturdays has been displaying an exquisite selection of zucchinis for the past few days, I thought of giving the raw zucchini a chance. Mind you, I´ve only ever tasted cooked zucchini before, but was pleasantly surprised by how the raw version tasted. I inspired myself from this recipe – changing some things like replacing the goat cheese for feta cheese, the pine nuts for walnuts, choosing amaranth microgreens for an even nutty-er flavour and coating it all with honey instead of lemon juice. Read on for my recipe, or check the one I linked.

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