Today I have finally bought our Christmas tree. I really like it! I had to trim the tip as it was too big and our ceiling is quite low (7ft 3in), it still looks lovely though. I am so happy I found a nice tree for a reasable price. It's a Nordman Fir. Ryon has gone out to see some old friends from work. I fed the children, gave them both a bath and after I had put them to bed, I took the Christmas lights and decorations out and embarked on this lovely task of decorating our tree. I figured Bennet would still be a little bit too young for decorating it and Im sure he'll like the surprise when he sees it tomorrow. I have used the deco Ryon's mom send me last year. She send me a big box that contained all or most of Ryon's Christmas stuff as what they have done is every year they buy a Christmas Tree Ornament for each member of the family and write the name and year on the back. I think it is a lovely idea! His mom said that is was quite hard of letting go of those as I can imagine. They are lovely! Some of them handmade by little Ryon. Can you imagine Ryon was already celebrating his 6th Christmas when I was a 5 month old baby!! :)
I must admit since Im not a child anymore Christmas has lost a little bit of it's magic. What I hope is that Bennet will get excited about it and grant us the privilege of seeing Christmas through his eyes. A Christmas priority for me is sharing time with immediate and extended family or friends if non of the latter are around...I miss my family and I miss Ryon's family at this time more than ever. I had this crazy thought of just jumping in the car with Ryon and the kids and pay my family a surprise visit! How crazy! I looked up the route and distance from here to Berlin and I was surprised it's not that far actually. We could make it in about 11 hours. Well, with the children it would be more than that and a one night stop on the way would probably be a good idea! I have a collegue who lives nearby and she has a camper van and she frequently drives over to Germany. Maybe when the kids are older...
We had some trouble with our bathroom in the past. Our waterpump stopped working and it was replaced with a new one. The new one however was VERY noisy and made this horrible high pitch sound whenever we used the toilet, shower or taps. It was driving me crazy and I was paranoid about waking the baby and Bennet up at night. I rang my sister-in-law and she gave me some excellent advice. I applied it as best as I could and it seems to have worked!! :D I spent half an hour on the phone to the lady from our management explaining why this pump is making our lives miserable. I used all "I" statements and not one single accusation. Not long after I received a phonecall from her saying she and her collegue would like to come around and look at the pump to see what they can do. They had scheduled a property visit for the week after so I thought they would do it then, but they have really put me on their high priority list this time. They investigated what can be done to reduce the noise and send a plumber around today and et voila the pump is now quieter than ever. Even quieter than the old pump, I think. I am thrilled! Many, many thanks to Ellen! And a big pat on my back for making that phonecall to management! I don't know why any kind of confrontation is so off putting, but I did very well! :)
Oh dear. It's quarter past midnight and we have planned to take the children to a German-style Christmas Market tomorrow. (Well, the children are an excuse, it's me who wants to go - LOL!)
Lots of love and Merry Christmas 201o if I don't blog before.
Milena
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Cheesecake
I have finally gotten around to make another cheesecake with the help of little chef aka Bennet, much to the delight of Papa G. Now he thinks this cheesecake is the best I have made so far and asked me to blog about it, so he can come back and follow the recipe. Now the thing is that whenever I gear up to make a cheesecake I follow a different recipe I find on google and sometimes I improvise a little. I have to say that I haven't come accross *my* favourite version of cheesecake as of yet, as I am a perfectionist, but that day will come and I will post about it. The thing Im struggling with is that the cake can get a little too brown on the top and tends to tear open as it rises a lot, it's not really that bad as it will fall again and doesn't effect taste, but I would like to have that immaculate-looking, magnificent-tasting cheesecake one day. :)
Anyway, I try to recap what I've been doing today:
I have worked with the following webpage http://www.ahano.de/essen-trinken/omas-kochbuch/rezepte/109-Omas-Kaesekuchen.html
However I didn't follow the recipe for the cake base. I made the base really simple so Bennet can have some fun, too...
Base:
1. put about 200g of Digestive Biscuits mixed with some ginger snaps in a large freezer bag and crush with a rolling pin (choose your moment as it can be fantastic therapy!)
2. melt approx. 75g butter in a pan and add the crumb mixture, mix well then press into the base of a round cake tin. Use a potato masher to press it down evenly and place in the fridge for 30 min.
Filling:
3. Seperate 5 eggs, chill the egg white, put egg yolks into a large mixing bowl along with 1kg Quark (I only had 600g Quark so I improvised and put some Mascarpone Cheese in), 250g sugar, grated lemon zest (use an unwaxed lemon) a packet of Vanellin sugar (those sachets seem to be available in Germany only, but I think all it is is sugar with Vanilla flavour, so add some vanilla flavour or real vanilla instead) and a sachet of custard powder, mix well!
4. Take the egg white from the fridge add a tiny amount of salt and beat with a hand mixer until fluffy and foamy (takes a couple of minutes)
5. carefully spoon the eggwhite under the mixture and add to the cake tin
6. Pre-heat fan assisted oven to about 150 Degrees and bake the cake for about 75 min.
According to the recipe I linked to you should cover your cake with tinfoil after about 35 Minutes to stop the top from burning. I did that and the foil got stuck to the cake. Somebody commented to take the cake out after 35 min and let it cool for 10 min and return to the oven so it doesn't tear...I've never tried it though. Every cheesecake I've made has risen a lot, so don't get a fright when it happens. It will shrink considerably and look normal soon enough :)
Any questions ask...Im not a pro, but I have baked a couple of cheesecakes in my life :)
Milena
Anyway, I try to recap what I've been doing today:
I have worked with the following webpage http://www.ahano.de/essen-trinken/omas-kochbuch/rezepte/109-Omas-Kaesekuchen.html
However I didn't follow the recipe for the cake base. I made the base really simple so Bennet can have some fun, too...
Base:
1. put about 200g of Digestive Biscuits mixed with some ginger snaps in a large freezer bag and crush with a rolling pin (choose your moment as it can be fantastic therapy!)
2. melt approx. 75g butter in a pan and add the crumb mixture, mix well then press into the base of a round cake tin. Use a potato masher to press it down evenly and place in the fridge for 30 min.
Filling:
3. Seperate 5 eggs, chill the egg white, put egg yolks into a large mixing bowl along with 1kg Quark (I only had 600g Quark so I improvised and put some Mascarpone Cheese in), 250g sugar, grated lemon zest (use an unwaxed lemon) a packet of Vanellin sugar (those sachets seem to be available in Germany only, but I think all it is is sugar with Vanilla flavour, so add some vanilla flavour or real vanilla instead) and a sachet of custard powder, mix well!
4. Take the egg white from the fridge add a tiny amount of salt and beat with a hand mixer until fluffy and foamy (takes a couple of minutes)
5. carefully spoon the eggwhite under the mixture and add to the cake tin
6. Pre-heat fan assisted oven to about 150 Degrees and bake the cake for about 75 min.
According to the recipe I linked to you should cover your cake with tinfoil after about 35 Minutes to stop the top from burning. I did that and the foil got stuck to the cake. Somebody commented to take the cake out after 35 min and let it cool for 10 min and return to the oven so it doesn't tear...I've never tried it though. Every cheesecake I've made has risen a lot, so don't get a fright when it happens. It will shrink considerably and look normal soon enough :)
Any questions ask...Im not a pro, but I have baked a couple of cheesecakes in my life :)
Milena
Sunday, September 12, 2010
We're going through changes
It's been almost a year since I put a new post up! I don't know if people even still come here to check if there are any new posts, but if you are a follower of this blog it should pop up in the news feed anyway.
A lot of things have happened in that one year. I have gone through 9 months of pregancy, gave birth to our baby girl Amelie Eloise (on 27-02-2010). Bennet had to go through a lot of changes, too. He had to become used to not being an only child, but a big brother at a delicate age of 2 1/2 years. He's taken on this new role brilliantly although all he will say to the baby for now is "RAAAA" and then Amie will laugh. I guess she's just used to having a loud little brother. He did that with another baby and she just started screaming!
This past Friday Bennet has also turned 3 years old. He's grown so big! I really want him to start going on the potty! He is showing definite signs of being ready! He will do a "wee wee" on the potty, but as I still put nappies on him he will rely on that, so I just have to leave them off one day! It's also a cost factor, they are so expensive. And not to mention the poor environment!!
I also had my 28th birthday while we were in America from 22 July until 5th August this year. It was HOT! We had a proper summer! Bennet had a great time with his grandparents PopPop and GiGi and with his cousins Catherine (4 1/2) and Adam (1 1/2) born only 1 day and 1 year before Amie. He also had great fun swimming in the pool with Papa and Maxie (the yellow lab) who loves to jump into the pool to get the ball out. Maxie is the sweetest gentlest dog you can ever imagine! She is so good with children, they can climb over her, pull her ears, she doesn't even growl. The perfect family dog.
In June my dad and my niece Noelani, who turned 5 years today, came to visit us in our Burnham based home. That means it is also 5 years since I started this blog as I dedicated it to Noelani initally. Time is flying as always!
Amelie is now 6 months old and now that Bennet has turned 3 years old I want him to socialize more with larger groups of children his age! I am looking for good playgroups and pre-schools in the area. He won't start school until September 2012 so there are 2 years to gap and the government will give a grant of 15 hours free childcare per week from the term after their 3rd birthday, which will be either January 2011 or September 2011 for Bennet as some places don't have January in-takes. I will keep you informed of what I find.
I won't touch the subject of our 2 country limbo now as it's late and I'm tired. Basically, Ryon and I have been going through some really tough times! The financial worries are just exorbitant in the UK. The new Goverment is scrapping support for young families like us - as spending cuts are supposed to get the economy back on track. They're saving on the wrong end though. Schools have been affected, too. It's all a bit sickely, really! But I don't want to talk about politics. They are all a bunch of actors anyway! We have been thinking about moving to the US on and off, but so far just couldn't make our minds up. It's a big step and we want to make the right decision for us as a family!
I try to post more regularly now so watch this space.
Cheers,
Milena :)
Yaaaawn, good night.
A lot of things have happened in that one year. I have gone through 9 months of pregancy, gave birth to our baby girl Amelie Eloise (on 27-02-2010). Bennet had to go through a lot of changes, too. He had to become used to not being an only child, but a big brother at a delicate age of 2 1/2 years. He's taken on this new role brilliantly although all he will say to the baby for now is "RAAAA" and then Amie will laugh. I guess she's just used to having a loud little brother. He did that with another baby and she just started screaming!
This past Friday Bennet has also turned 3 years old. He's grown so big! I really want him to start going on the potty! He is showing definite signs of being ready! He will do a "wee wee" on the potty, but as I still put nappies on him he will rely on that, so I just have to leave them off one day! It's also a cost factor, they are so expensive. And not to mention the poor environment!!
I also had my 28th birthday while we were in America from 22 July until 5th August this year. It was HOT! We had a proper summer! Bennet had a great time with his grandparents PopPop and GiGi and with his cousins Catherine (4 1/2) and Adam (1 1/2) born only 1 day and 1 year before Amie. He also had great fun swimming in the pool with Papa and Maxie (the yellow lab) who loves to jump into the pool to get the ball out. Maxie is the sweetest gentlest dog you can ever imagine! She is so good with children, they can climb over her, pull her ears, she doesn't even growl. The perfect family dog.
In June my dad and my niece Noelani, who turned 5 years today, came to visit us in our Burnham based home. That means it is also 5 years since I started this blog as I dedicated it to Noelani initally. Time is flying as always!
Amelie is now 6 months old and now that Bennet has turned 3 years old I want him to socialize more with larger groups of children his age! I am looking for good playgroups and pre-schools in the area. He won't start school until September 2012 so there are 2 years to gap and the government will give a grant of 15 hours free childcare per week from the term after their 3rd birthday, which will be either January 2011 or September 2011 for Bennet as some places don't have January in-takes. I will keep you informed of what I find.
I won't touch the subject of our 2 country limbo now as it's late and I'm tired. Basically, Ryon and I have been going through some really tough times! The financial worries are just exorbitant in the UK. The new Goverment is scrapping support for young families like us - as spending cuts are supposed to get the economy back on track. They're saving on the wrong end though. Schools have been affected, too. It's all a bit sickely, really! But I don't want to talk about politics. They are all a bunch of actors anyway! We have been thinking about moving to the US on and off, but so far just couldn't make our minds up. It's a big step and we want to make the right decision for us as a family!
I try to post more regularly now so watch this space.
Cheers,
Milena :)
Yaaaawn, good night.
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