Ibiza: part 2 and small island fantasies

Here is a small photodiary of our time spent in Ibiza.It makes me so happy to see these photos again.

For me, travel is life at its most perfect. When I am away with my family, life is how it is meant to be, and when the plane touches ground, the effect of it quickly fades away, and the longing for the next starts to grow again. Don't get me wrong, my life is very good here at home too, but I cannot seem to stop this wanderlust and this longing to hide away in far-away places with my little family & explore.

yeah, an island would be nice - with seafood and rosé wine and lots of coke zero, and wifi, for the kid, and to keep you guys posted and with no annoying people.

A girl can dream.

#firstworldproblems

 

  

 

Soups to warm your heart

Nothing so heart warming as a pot of hot soup on a rainy autumn evening.

 

Here are a few soups I tried out these past few weeks.
Fresh soup does not take a lot of time, and makes all the difference. You will never buy canned soup again.
Some combinations and vegetables were new to me, but they turned out very tasty. With soup you can go as adventurous as you please.

1. Carrot and coriander soup with cumin and orange

You will need (for 4 servings)

• 2 cup of chopped onions
• 2 celery stalk chopped
• 3 table spoons olive oil
• 6 cups of grated carrots
• 2 table spoons chopped parsley
• 6 cups of vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
• 2T chopped fresh coriander
• 1teaspoon dried coriander
• 1.5 teaspoon cumin
• zest of an orange
• salt and pepper to taste
• Crème fraiche, extra coriander and some nuts to garnish (optional)

How to do it:

• Heat the olive oil in a large pot and fry the onions and celery until soft (about 5 minutes).
• Grate the carrots and add this to the pot and cook until softened. 
• Add the stock, herbs and spices and cook on a gentle simmer for about 30 minutes. Allow the soup cool slightly and then using the blender, process the soup until smooth. Adjust the seasoning and add the zest. Serve with a swirl of crème fraiche and a sprinkle of chopped coriander and nuts.

(Inspired by here)

2. Zucchini & Parmesan Soup

 You will need (for 4 servings as a starter)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 table spoon of grilled pine nuts
• 2 zucchinis
• 1 litre of vegetable stock
• 75 gr of grated parmesan cheese
• Some rocket salad

How to do it:

• Fry the garlic, add the zucchini and bake for 4 minutes
• Add chicken stock and boil for 10 minutes
• Blend the soup, and stir the parmesan in. Season to taste.
• Garnish with rocket salad, the pine nuts and some more parmesan

(Inspired by Delicious Magazine November)

3. Soup of Jerusalem Artichokes with thyme chips

You will need:

• 1 kg of Jerusalem Artichokes
• Some lemon juice
• 2 table spoons of olive oil
• 2 onions
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 150 ml of dry white wine
• 1 1/2 litre of vegetable stock
• Thyme chips (just fry some thinly sliced Jerusalem artichokes in olive oil, adding thyme at the last moment)

How to do it:

• Peel the artichokes and cut in cubes
• Put them in some lemon water so they stay white
• Heat the olive oil and add the onion, garlic and artichokes and bake for 2 minutes
• Add wine & stock and cook for 15 minutes
• Blend until smooth and season
• Garnish with the chips and sprinkle some truffle oil over for extra taste

Halloween - The real story

 Halloween - When I was growing up it was not celebrated at all over here. In my perfect little 'Gilmore girls' world, we would go to the pumkin field, pick out the perfect pumpkin, go home, drink a glass of wine and start carving, while making pumpkin soup with what we scooped out of it. Light them at the front door, while feeling so proud of our art. Then bake Halloween muffins with spiderwebs on them, before going to the Halloween evening in the village, in a home made costume, walk home, warm up with pumpkin soup while watching a good old horror movie, while kids come buy to have their buckets filled with candy.

Now, the real story, we did go to the pumkin field last week and picked out our pumpkins. The field was so muddy after a big rain shower, that we had to almost skate through the field, the kid refused to take one step in the mud (although she had Hello Kitty wellies and everything & mommy made the wise decision of putting her in a white pullover) and we had some problems getting the car out of the mud. We did carve the pumpkins, but I think I speak for all of us, that we won't win the world's coolest pumkin contest with them, but we did have fun!.

We went to the Halloween evening, where you could see clearly  that we don't really get it. We make every holiday into a drinking bash with different decoration & bad costumes. We went home to see no horror movie and no kids came by to trick or treat, so I had to eat the candy, which was not a good idea after the terrible sick week I've had where I ate next to nothing. 

(hence the silence on blog & fb page)

Oh yes, and also, because I got sick, no home made scary costume, I only had a green bat in my hair and the kid even refused to put her green bat in her hair. I swear, this girl.
But hooray for spider web chocolate fudge muffins!

All in all, not an episode of the gilmore girls - but real life.

But real life is so much more unpredictable & interesting! Maybe.

Pumpkin fields forever

Yesterday the girl and I took a trip to the pumpkin farm. I have never seen so many pumpkins in one place. To be honest, the kid was not very impressed - she did not want to wear her boots and that's all she could care about. Little girls, I tell you...they really challenge your patience. So I enjoyed the pumpkins on my own.  Trying to get to terms with the fact that the dark and rainy days are coming, but I think that's why pumpkins are so bright and orange - to lighten up the day. And to make beautiful pumpkin soup. And to carve scary faces.

Hmmm, autumn just got better.