May is an amazing month. Not just because both my birthday and anniversary are in May, but because lots of my favorite flowers are in full bloom this time of the year. Do you have stories of why certain flowers are your favorites? Here are some of mine.
Just before we went on our winter break last year, I received a nicely wrapped box from one of my senior Advanced Placement Calculus students. When I opened it at home on Christmas Eve (yes, we Europeans don’t open presents in the morning), to my big surprise I found a spring form cake pan in the box together with spatulas and her family’s recipe for a tart!
I find it amazing that sometimes when I read something it is so relevant and perfectly timed to what is happening in my life. This school year, for the first time in my long teaching career, I teach only seniors. One hundred and ten of them. I have only eight more school days with this group of talented young people. What do I tell them as my farewell?
This year, our tulips are mostly done giving space to other flowers to shine. Here is to the national flower of Turkey.
Over the years, before the era of e-mails and social media, there were traditional postcards sent to us by family members and friends. From my personal collection, here is a sample from the seventies and eighties from Czechoslovakia and Hungary, and from the nineties from Slovakia.
These are not your usual chocolate chip cookies. These are more like truffles, rich and moist inside with a delicate crust outside. You will need a lot of chocolate but you won’t regret it. I first saw the recipe just the other day on my friend Kathleen’s wonderful blog Nurturing Life, and because I was in the mood of baking that afternoon, gave it a try. I was very much pleased with the result and anyone to whom I gave these cookies – to a few co-workers at my and my husband’s workplaces – agreed that they are the most […]
“Most people are mirrors, reflecting the moods and emotions of the times; few are windows, bringing light to bear on the dark corners where troubles fester. The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” — Sydney J. Harris
Did you know that latkes have a Middle Eastern origin? They are an Ashkenazic Hanukkah specialty, but of course could be eaten at any time of the year. They are “truly marvelous and a good way to start any meal, or to accompany roasted beef” says Yotam Ottolenghi in his cookbook Jerusalem written with his friend Sami Tamimi.
Before all the blues and whites are gone from our garden and the neighborhood, here is a small sampling of these beauties. Asian pear flowers, bluebells, trillium, blue violets, more Asian pears, blue periwinkle ground-cover, our plum tree tucked in between two houses, forget-me-not, and my absolute favorite – poet white daffodil.
When does anyone who works full time have the time to make a sweet breakfast – like baking scones – from scratch? On a Sunday morning, for example. And even though making scones is an easy baking skill, the luxury of not feeling rushed is very beneficial to your well-being.
No doubt about it – this is my signature pastry. I baked it sooooo… many times both for festive and everyday occasions, so by now I am quite fast when forming the little crescents. It is a traditional sweet pastry in many European nations made with a light yeasted dough and ground walnuts or ground poppy seeds as rich filling. I like how they are not uniform in size – at least not in the way how I make them – and also how some might have a little bit more filling than the others. It is a little bit […]
It started with the pinks and yellows, followed by the whites, blues, and some reds. The colors in our garden and in the neighborhood say everyday – spring is here.