early summer

i was invited to a lovely birthday party a while ago. it was an early summerish afternoon, and we gathered in the communal garden, amidst the trees, shrubs and lavendar bushes. there was sparkling wine with home-made rhubarb cordial, a delicious herbed, lemony quinoa salad with feta cheese and an ever-so-pretty, scrumptious cake with tiny dried roses on top, which suzy had made. thank you for having us over, sylee!

recently, i have had an exhausting work schedule (and still have), but i try to make time, a half-hour here, a half-hour there, for little projects. i made elderflower jelly. i mounted some prints. and, as a treat, spent an afternoon in the garden and brought home large branches of wild roses, cut along the way. and you know, sometimes small projects can lead to bigger things. try it.

have you read about kinfolk magazine? oh. cannot wait.

bread stories

one of the reasons why i've gathered a veritable stack of nigel slater cookbooks over the years, is that his cooking is truly unfussy, unpretentious. i don't mind cooking being a bit of a challenge sometimes, but i believe it should be compatible with the demands of my day to day life, and i can't and won't get up at five in the morning to start some infusion or other with circa twenty-three herbs for a dinner two days ahead. and even though cooking is some kind of slow-down, grounding process i enjoy, the whole thing - ultimately - is about eating the food. at least for me.

so the country loaf i baked a little while ago just hit the spot. after it had cooled down enough, we had thick slices with home-made strawberry jam. so good. the next morning, i had it toasted with sliced tomatoes.

the recipe is from nigel slater's appetite. it's too long to just type it up, but it involves nothing more than 1kg bread flour, 2x 7g dry yeast, 20g salt, c. 700 ml water.

what are your favourite bread recipes? and have you tried baking with sourdough? (my attempt looked pretty, but tasted bland. the sourdough was store-bought.)

night out

you know how some friends always come up with the best ideas? well, a while ago, p suggested we go to the (somewhat politically incorrect titled) gypsy restaurant at claerchen's ballhaus for j's birthday. so we did. can you tell how much i loved that night out?

some of you might recognise the spiegelsaal (hall of mirrors), upstairs from the regular ballroom, which most of the time is quiet and empty. it's also occasionally used for music and restaurant events like this, for dancing classes, and also rented out for private functions.

(more infos about the ballroom here, in german.)

welcome

recently, quite a few new readers seem to be around here. welcome!
would you mind telling me who you are and how you came here? no pressure, but it would be lovely to get to know you a little!

also thank you for your well wishes. still feeling a bit shaky, but much better already.

light and shadows in my kitchen, late afternoon.

light headed

i'm feeling a little light headed. after getting sick suddenly yesterday around lunchtime, i went to bed and slept for almost 19 hours. i guess this is my body telling me quite clearly that i needed a rest. (no, i didn't have any cucumbers, so this shouldn't be anything serious.)

having some green tea now, as i'll have to work on a text today. which may happen on the sofa instead of at the desk. we'll see.

a quiet moment

the less time there seems to be, the more i need those quiet moments.

p.s.: who are your favourite photographers?
i hope you'll forgive my lack of commenting of late. i'm working so much it's not true.

after the storm

last afternoon we had another big storm. today it's much colder and i can hear the wind trying to wheeze through the old windows.

photos from a place about which i hope to post more over on mostly berlin. soon.

p.s.: i can't stop adding things to my 'random beauty' moodboard on pinterest.