SWEET love

Hi my friends and happy valentine weekend.

:)

Are you ready for some sweet love?

I couldnt resiste this super cute bag filled with sweet macroons at Stockfleths. I decorated the bag with this perfect matching paper from My Little Shoebox.

Perfect gift or to serve at your 2teaparty for two on valentines. Right. ;) ;)

Aren't these macroons the most colorful and fun and delicious

:)

These little "cakes" just makes me happy.

I found a recipe for strawberry macroons

here

and for some colorful macroons

here

:)

Must try!!

Happy weekend my friends

xoxo

Chocolate Snickerdoodle Drops

Today I made these delicious Chocolate Snickerdoodle Drops with my kids.

First time I tried this recepie, and we had so much fun making these little cookies. And they are SO yummy.

This will be my new favorite Christmas cookie. ;)

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 egg
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed 30 seconds. Add the 1 cup sugar, soda, and cream of tartar. Beat until combined. Beat in egg. Beat in cocoa powder and as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour.
2. Drop by slightly rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Stir together remaining sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle dough with sugar-cinnamon mixture. Bake in a 375 degree F. oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on wire racks. Makes about 30 cookies.

:)

Cookies for you :)

Hi my friends.

Hope you are all fine.

Thank you SO much for all your kind, encouraging and wonderful comments on my last blogpost.

You all made my heart smile

:)

It is tuesday today.... This week is the most busy so far in 2010.

I'm working all day and all night with new designs

so please stay tuned ;)

And - yes, please forgive me yesterday ran by too quickly.

I'll leave you with some cookies and one of my favorite giftboxes, made using some of my favorite patterned paper ;) ;)

A delectable treat that can be rustled up quickly and eaten almost straight from the oven.

Ingredients
100g/3½oz good dark chocolate
125g/4½oz unsalted butter
100g/3½oz granulated sugar
75g/2½oz soft brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla sugar
150g/5¼oz plain flour
(I use at least 75g/ 2 1/2 oz rolled oats instead of half of the the flour)
½ tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt


Method
1. Heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Chop the chocolate into little chunks and set aside.
2. Heat the butter in a small saucepan very gently until it has just melted. Meanwhile, put the two types of sugar into a mixing bowl. Pour the melted butter on top of the sugars and beat well with a wooden spoon.
3. Add the egg and the vanilla and beat until well blended.
4. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the mixing bowl and stir them in, then add the chopped chocolate.
5. Dot heaped pudding spoonfuls of the mixture over the lined baking sheets, leaving plenty of space in between them--they really spread out while baking.
6. Wearing oven gloves, put the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are just turning golden brown. (If you have a glass door on your oven, watch the extraordinary transformation as these cookies bake--one moment you've got lumpy brown dough, the next, you have pale golden cookies, their shiny surface a network of cracks.)
7. Leave the cookies on the baking sheets to harden for a couple of minutes, then carefully lift up the baking parchment and transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
8. You can eat these cookies warm, but they are also good cold, and they store well in an airtight tin.

:)


Make a giftbox like the one above. Add cookies or some other good stuff - and VOILA, you probably made the day for the person you decided to give the box filled with some heavenly good cookies.
:)

Happy creating!!

And thanks for popping by!

:)

bread and ATC

Made this ATC inspired by Ronda and her Inspire ME 2010 project. This weeks promt is "happiness is..............." and she have a great tutorial on the coolest tissue-paper technique on her blog :) :)
This picture was taken for this weeks "selfportrait tuesday" - it's all in the eyes -. YES, I'm totally aware it's not tuesday today..... LOL Time just flew by so fast this week....

Did you know I love to bake. To bake bread is one of the things that really makes me feel relaxed and happy....and useful. LOL. And my family get happy too...They all love homemade bread. :) :)

I have a few favorite recepies, but most of the time i just improvise. :)

Here are two of my favorites, one in norwegian and one in english ;)

ENJOY!

FOUR grain bread

• 2 1/2 cup(s) flour
• 1 cup(s) whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup(s) coarse cornmeal
• 1/4 cup(s) old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon(s) old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup(s) wheat germ
• 1/4 cup(s) brown sugar (packed)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons instant active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoon(s) honey
• 1/2 cup(s) buttermilk, warmed to 100 degrees F.
• 3/4 cup(s) (add more as needed) spring water warmed to 100 degrees F.
• 1 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 egg

1. Make the dough: In a large bowl or food processor, combine the flours, cornmeal, 1/4 cup oats, wheat germ, sugar, yeast, and salt. In a small bowl, combine the honey and buttermilk and stir into the dry mixture. add the Water 1/4 cup at a time until a dough comes together. On a work surface lightly dusted with whole-wheat flour, knead dough by hand until glossy and elastic -- about 10 minutes -- or process in food processor for 45 more seconds.
2. Proof the dough: Coat a large bowl with the vegetable oil. Shape dough into a ball and place in the bowl, turning dough to coat all sides. Cover bowl with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size -- aprx 1 hour.
3. Form the loaf: Punch down the dough and shape into a tight ball. Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal. Shape the dough into a 10-inch oval, tapering the ends, and place on the baking sheet. Cover with damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size -- about 20 minutes.
4. Bake the bread: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, lightly beat egg with 1 tablespoon of water. Brush loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon rolled oats. Using a sharp knife, cut 3 diagonal slashes in the top of the dough. Bake in the lower third of the oven until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped -- 50 to 60 minutes. Cool on a rack. Serve at room temperature or toasted. Store in an airtight container.

This recipe was found in Country Living magazine :) :)

Now for my norwegian friends:

HJERTEBRØD

5 dl vann

4 ss olivenolje

1ss honning

1 pose tørrgjær

9 - 10 dl hvetemel

2 1/2 dl grov sammalt rug

1 neve sesamfrø

1 neve linfrø

1 neve solsikkekjerner

1ss havsalt

- varm vannet til ca 40 grader

- tilsett olje og honning

- bland alle de tørre ingrediensene i en bolle (hold igjen litt av melet)

- tilsett den lunkne væsken og elt godt

-hev deigen i ca 1 time

-bak ut brød i hjerteform eller vanlig brødform :)

-etterhev brødet i ca 20 minutter

-forvarm steikovnen til ca 200 grader celsius

-sett brødet midt i ovnen og senk tempraturen til 175 grader.

-stek i ca 45 minutter, eller til brødet høres "hult" ut når du banker på det. :)

:)

Weekend joy and "Eplekake"

It was beautiful weater in Oslo this weekend. Freezing cold, but still white and beautiful winter-weather. We used the spare daylight to enjoy the great outdoors :) Here is a pic of DH and Sol on the sledge - must say this is the best kind of transportation these days. LOL
And because it is weekend we needed some yummy food to eat. We had hot cocoa and apple-cake. Mmmmmmm. Hope you have a wonderful weekend too. I'll leave you with my favorite apple-cake recepie. ENJOY!!

xo

Gudruns favoritt-EPLEKAKE

350 g hvetemel - 12,3 ounces flour

2 ts bakepulver - 2 teaspoons baking soda

1 ts kanel - 1 teaspoon ground cinamon

1/2 ts salt - 1/2 teaspoon salt

200g smør - 200 gram softened butter

250 g sukker - 8,8 ounces sugar

50 g brunt sukker - 1,75 ounces brown sugar

4 egg - 4 eggs

1 1/2 dl melk - 0.6cup milk

4-5 epler - 4-5 apples

-Bland alle de tørre ingrediensene i en bolle

-visp sammen smør og sukker til en luftig krem

-tlisett ett egg av gangen mens du stadig visper smørkremen

-tilsett melken

-Rør alle de tørre ingrediensene forsiktig inn i blandingen.

-Del eplene i båter

-fordel kakesmeten i en liten langpanne og stikk alle eplebåtene ned i smeten.

-dryss over kanel og sukker.

-stek kaken på 180 grader celcius i ca 40 minutter.

:)

-add flour, cinnamon, salt and bakingsoda to a bowl

-mix sugar and butter in another bowl until light and "creamy"

-add one egg at the time to the butter/sugar mixture

-add the milk

-gently mix flour, cinnamon and baking soda with the creamy mixture.

-Cut the apples

-add the mix to a small baking-pan and add the apples

-add a sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon on top.

-bake on 356 degrees Farenheit in aprx 40 minutes.

ENJOY!!

(I've tried to convert all the amounts and translated this recepie - I may have done things wrong, so please notify me if you find any mistakes, and I'll correct it)

See you tomorrow for a new "inspiration monday" :) :)

sweets

Hi my friends.

It's snowing in Oslo today, and it's starting to look more and more like a white Christmas :) I like winter, and I like snow. I like how the snow cover the landscape and nature and make everything "go to sleep" until dear, warm, sweet spring arrives.

Snowy weather makes it good to stay indoor too. Light some candles and the fire to make it warm and cozy.

I decided to decorate a little bit today.

I got myself this cute "merry christmas" wire-hanging, and I decorated it with some "vintage cards" by 3ndypapir and some miniature ornaments.

And I have made some sweets :)

Honey-Ginger snaps
and Whalnut fudge. :)

Yummy, yummy!

Would you like some?

Honey-ginger snaps.

I LOVE these little spicy bites with some tea. :)

Ingredients
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. finely chopped crystallized ginger (I've used ground ginger and a little bit fresh chopped ginger)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground white pepper (optional)
1 egg, lightly beaten
Powdered sugar

Directions
1. In a small saucepan, combine honey and butter. Cook and stir over low heat until butter melts. Remove from heat. Pour mixture into a large bowl and cool to room temperature.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, granulated sugar, ginger, baking soda, and if desired, pepper. Set aside.
3. Stir egg into cooled honey mixture. Gradually stir in flour mixture until combined; knead in the last of the flour mixture by hand, if necessary. Cover and chill about 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Divide dough into 12 portions.* On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 10-inch-long rope. Cut ropes into 1/2-inch pieces. Place pieces 1/2 inch apart in an ungreased shallow baking pan.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 6 to 8 minutes or until tops are very lightly browned. Transfer cookies to paper towels to cool. Roll in powdered sugar.

For my European friends:

You can easily convert the amounts to kg, litre etc and Farenheit to Celcius HERE:

http://www.worldwidemetric.com/Measurements.html

And here is the recepie for

Whalnut fudge.

I use Whalnuts instead of Pecan nuts. :)

Ingredients
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups broken or chopped pecans (I use whalnuts )

Directions
1. Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan. In the saucepan combine brown sugar and buttermilk. Cook over medium-high heat to boiling, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to dissolve sugar. This should take 6 to 8 minutes. Avoid splashing mixture on sides of pan. Carefully clip candy thermometer to pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until thermometer registers 234 degree F, soft-ball stage. Mixture should boil at a moderate, steady rate over entire surface. Reaching soft-ball stage should take 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Remove saucepan from heat. Add the 2 tablespoons butter, but do not stir. Cool, without stirring, to 150 degree F. This should take about 30 minutes. Remove candy thermometer from saucepan. Immediately stir in pecans. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until candy is just beginning to thicken, but is still glossy. This should take 3 to 4 minutes.`
3. Quickly drop the candy from a teaspoon onto a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. (I just put the entire candy-mixture into one rectangular box covered with a baking sheet. I cut the fudge in squares when it has cooled. If you want to make pralines you have to work really fast. The candy will soon get stiff.

If it does you might stir in a few drops hot water, or put the saucepan on low heat to make it all melt a little bit. )

Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee. :)

Have a great WEEKEND!!

sweet treat

Yes, I love to make little homemade gifts for friends and neighbours at christmas - so I have started allready making some candy-boxes and giftbags using the NEW christmas-papers from 3ndypapir.
I plan on making some candy sweets, truffles and cookies and fill my boxes.
You can find some yummy recepies here:
http://www.who-wants-candy.com/
http://thefoody.com/sweets/index.html
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/cat/154/

And if you like my Christmas-bags and boxes, make sure you visit the 3ndypapir blog to download the pattern and step-by-step instructions.

Kolakaker

Hi my friends. Want some tea and cookies? I love to bake christmas-cookies, and here is one of my favourites. Really simple, but oh so yummy. We call them Kolakaker in norwegian. you can call them caramel cookies - i think. :)

Recepie in Norwegian and english will follow. ( I'm sorry I just have the amount of ingredients in gram (european standard) not in cup and oz.

I got this yummy recepie from my wonderful mother in law, and I make them every year - this year I made them yesterday - and today they are allmost gone ..... must make more....LOL

Til de av dere som ikke kjenner meg, eller som syns det er dumt at jeg knoter ivei på engelsk på min norske blogg: Jeg gjør dette fordi jeg har mange utenlandske lesere og blogvenner. De har tidligere ytret ønske om at jeg skriver så de også forstår. ;)

Kolakaker:
150 g smør
100 g sukker
1ss sirup
1 ts vaniljesukker
1 ts bakepulver
1 ss kaffe
200 g hvetemel

* bland alt sammen
* la deigen avkjøle seg
* rull deiegn til lange pølser som trykkes litt flate på steikeplata
*Stekes på 150 grader i 12-15 minutter
* skjæres på skrå rett etter steiking.

Voila!
:)


Norwegian Kolakaker:
150 gram butter
100 gram sugar
1 tabelspoon syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon black coffee
200 gram plain (wheat) flour

* mix all the ingredients
* let it cool for a little while
* make long, flat loafs on your baking paper /plate (they will flatten out and "melt" even more when baked in the oven.)
* bake at 150 degrees Celcius 12 - 15 minutes
* Cut fingerthin cookies After the loafs are ready baked - while still hot. they are soft when they are still warm - they'll get crispy when they cool of. )
* enjoy!!

So - this recepie is originally in norwegian. - I'm not sure my translation is the best - or even if it is understandable. PLEASE contact me if you have any questions. :)