Steamed Honey Cake

ingredients

9 eggs
150 grams of sugar
200 grams of honey (preferably Greek)
280 grams flour
2 sachets of vanilla sugar

Tools

bamboo steamer basket with diameters of 20 cm
parchment paper

preparation

Sift the flour.
And the steamer basket lined with parchment paper

Beat the eggs with a mixer in about 10 minutes until fluffy mass.
Gradually add sugar, stirring to 350 grams.
Finally add whisking 2 sachets vanilla sugar.
Bring water to 1 cm below the steaming basket to a boil.
If needed, fill more boiling water in het the wok as it cooks.

Mix the flour through the egg mass.
Fill the steam basket with the batter.
Put the basket in the wok, put the lid on the wok (or pan) cake and steam over high heat about 30 - 40 minutes.
Fill if necessary with boiling water.

When serving, pour a few spoonfuls of honey and handful of nuts

Mmmmmmmmmm ;-)

When love is not madness, it is not love. ~Pedro Calderon de la Barca

For those days when only a cookie will do ....

Ingredients:

1cup of butter, softened

1cup white sugar

1cup packed brown sugar

2eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

2teaspoons hot water

1/2 teaspoons salt

2cups chocolat chips

1 cup chopped wanuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

enjoy!

Vodka Spaghetti Also called the recipe to seduce men: 

Ingredients

1 quart Simple Tomato Sauce, recipe follows, or store-bought marinara sauce, blended until smooth
1 cup vodka
1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 pound penne

Directions

Simmer the tomato sauce and vodka in a heavy large skillet over low heat until the mixture reduces by 1/4, stirring often, about 20 minutes. Stir the cream into the tomato and vodka sauce. Simmer over low heat until the sauce is heated through. Stir in the Parmesan cheese until melted and well blended.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta and transfer it to the pan with the sauce, and toss to coat.

Simple Tomato Sauce:

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes

4 to 6 basil leaves

2 dried bay leaves

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional

In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add celery and carrot and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and taste for seasoning. If sauce tastes too acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, to round out the flavor.

Pour half the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.

If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and then pour 1 to 2 cup portions into plastic freezer bags. Freeze for up to 6 months.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

enjoy! it works :D

Précieux

Précieux 

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. ~C.S. Lewis 

What makes something precious?

What is it that gives something such inestimable value that it is lauded enough to place upon a special pedestal for the world to gaze upon in wonder?

Is it shared experience...the catch of mutual laughter, or the bond of a deep unfettered grief?

Is it the miracle of unity...the way that two people can look across a room, catch an eye, and feel the same little rush from head to toe and back again, without a single word shared?

What is it that brings simple, everyday objects to such a place of requirement in our souls...in our hearts...?

Everything is now. Everything is needed right at this moment.

The need for things that are precious...the sweet pain of memory...it is melting into the woodwork faster than we can hope to catch it in fleeting fingers.

I refuse to let memory fade. 

More than ever, we need our precious.

Precious friends.

Precious memories.

Precious joys, precious pain.

Life is precious....

...don't let it slip.

God gave us memories that we might have roses in December. ~J.M. Barrie

Silence

Silence

There are two kinds of silence.

There is the beautiful kind...the whisper before the storm erupts, the wordless moments shared between two friends, the elegant emptiness of the night sky.

And then there is the heavy silence.

The silence that screams of loneliness, fear, desolation, and unspeakable sorrow and regret.

This is the most frightening sound of all to me.

And it was in this echoing silence in which the disciples lay.

For after the silence comes the storm...

...and this storm would rock the world.

we are all soul-creatures, made to be seen, 
created to be tenderly cradled and adored, 
yet we tremble at the thought of it.