zesty goods

friends... i'm packed and ready for the food and photography workshop in amsterdam! that is: if i ever really get there... i won't lye to you: my suitcase is almost exploding. it will probably cause the plane to crash. but hey, in addition to the 5 pairs of shoes i do have a lot of photography gear to bring... like i even brought my tripod! a tripod! in a suitcase, you guys. it's a teeny bit crazy. just how i like it.

here are some more pictures from the last supper: ingredients with a lemony flavor. san pellegrino limonata that i'm crazy about (like, crazy-crazy), a bunch of lemon-thyme from my mom and lemony verveine-citronelle (fresh!) in my favorite en soie jug. natural goodness. 

ps: i'm hoping i will come back with tons of bits (foodwise) and bytes (picturewise) (haha, that was such a funny one, scarlett). obviously, i'm going to exploit everyone's hands for my pictures! once you have the chance to show your food in motion or with hands and actual people (eep!) i mean i think i won't be able to get enough... hands everywhere on my future posts, be assured. can't wait to share everything with you once i'm back. so excited!

ps2: oh, and btw: i'm staying at a place called 'the flying pancake', and i'm in the 'chef' room (there was also a room called 'pilot'). how cool is that? it's destiny. and a well intended portion of destiny is always welcome in my book. happy everything! love, s

a day on the lake

this post is so very long overdue... obviously, the pictures were taken in summer (on the 1st of august, to be precise, aka swiss national day) on lake zurich (although that does sound pretty strange in english... it's simply 'zürisee', around here, you see...). it was the first time sailing for me. okay, my stomach did go all higgledy-piggledy fluttery... but i was fine in the end (aka when the boat was not standing still, which, considering the windless day, was pretty often, actually... tough luck). 

by now, the heat waves are over, the tan has been replaced by pale face, arms and legs (not a pretty sight) and the lake isn't as inviting anymore to dip into. but hey, summer will be back.

for now, i'm only feeling so very lucky that the preso tonight went well (i think), i've been thinking that i'm surrounded by so many gorgeous, beautiful, life and fun loving, generous, funny people... in my life in general. i am truly blessed. and it's just the best thing to feel like 'people get you'. do you know the feeling? like, you can be as crazy as you want (read: as you always are) - and still feel like people don't look at you funny the minute you start rambling on about some weird thing like cupcake toppings that you eat by the spoonful or a new dress that you had to have although it pretty clearly resembles a tent (for four people). when people don't roll their eyes because you are talking and mostly laughing to loudly (sorry, it's a bad habit), or because you tend to be a bit touchy-feely (read: cry-baby) - about both, bad things but also good things (so? i like to cry, okay?). it gives you that cosy feeling when you just know you're at the right place. in your job, in your life (maybe, sometimes), on this day. 

ps: as always, thanks for lending me your pretty red-lacquered-mani hands, feet and hearts, friends. you are the wonderfullest, you know, i really dig you.

orange tea cakes with grand marnier sauce

kind of craving these now... hi friends. i haven't got much time tonight. my place looks like it's exploded (clothes to iron everywhere...) and i need to practice a little for tomorrow's preso. let alone pack for amsterdam at the end of the week. therefore saying hi and bye! love, s

orange tea cakes with grand marnier orange blossom sauce

recipe by douce steiner - makes 4 mini tea cakes

ingredients:

1 egg

85 g confectioners' sugar

1 pinch salt

60 g melted butter + some more for greasing

1 1/2 tbsp. milk

1/2 organic orange, zest and juice

1/2 organic lemon, zest and juice

1/2 tsp. baking powder

85 g flour + some more for dusting

directions:

butter the cake pans and dust with flour. preheat the oven to 180 degrees c / 360 f. for the cakes, combine the egg with the confectioners' sugar in a bain marie / water bath. with an electric mixer, beat while warming the mixture slowly, until creamy-thick. remove from the bain marie and put the bowl into ice cold water (really chilled with ice, preferrably), continue to beat until cold. add all other ingredients in the indicated order and stir until smooth. fill carefully into the molds. bake for 10 to 15 minutes. let cool for a couple of minutes before removing the cakes from their pans. saturate the cakes with the grand marnier orange blossom sauce right before serving. you can serve the cakes warm right out of the oven or later, when cold. by the way, douce recommends to prepare the dough at least 1 day in advance, then store in the fridge.

for the grand marnier orange blossom sauce:

1/4 l orange juice

100 g sugar

1 tsp. corn starch

3 tbsp. grand marnier

1 tsp. orange blossom water

2 large oranges, filled

directions for the grand marnier orange blossom sauce:

for the orange sauce fillet the oranges and put the segments aside in their juice. put the orange juice and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. combine the corn starch with a little grand marnier, then add tot he boiling liquid. keep on cooking for a minute or so. let cool slightly before adding the grand marnier and orange blossom water. 

to assemble:

distribute the orange segments onto a plate. add some of the orange sauce. place a cake on top. soak with a little more sauce. 

viva engiadina

home. it's good to be back home - or so i always thought... tonight, though, i'm feeling a little off. i spent the weekend at my friend's in the mountains, in beautiful engadine, to be precise. we went paddle boarding early in the morning on the (ice cold, just to boast a little about how tough we are) lake st. moritz, hiking twice (where we picked the last, remaining flowers), had an awesome lunch on top of the mountains and i even managed to squeeze in a run around (said) lake. the trip was so calming and energizing. it felt like the good, fresh air and the last summer sunshine were filling my heart and soul. 

in the train back, though, my previously lifted spirits got bluer and bluer (having to listen to two old cute-looking but rather annoying ladies can bring you down like that...). life in the city is so different. everything suddenly felt louder, dirtier, stinkier when i got back. like the senses have been sharpened in the pureness of the mountainous nature and under the vastness of the clear, blue skies. let me see how i turn this strange, post-mini-holiday off-feeling into getting-shit-done-energy; because there is this huge presentation on tuesday and then... well, then i'm off to amsterdam for four days for a food styling and photography workshop hosted by meeta of 'what's for lunch, honey?'. can't wait! counting down to thursday evening. i will tell you everything when i'm back. for now it's down to business... what do they call it? first work - then play? wish me luck.

last of summer's heirloom tomatoes - with burrata (quella vera)

the real burrata, the real deal. the one with the green string around it, that creates the little bum at the top (that looks like a top knot, hihi). how often do we get to see / eat that? and heirloom tomatoes, probably the last one of this summer. simple pleasures. i think life isn't alwasy as simple and predictable as a tomato salad with simple but delicious ingredients. life's flavor is more complex.

how do we know it's the real deal in life, anyway? i'm certainly, and still, no expert at it. but i'm asking you, what's the real deal for you? do you have any advice? i'm a keen learner, i promise.

simple heirloom tomatoes with real burrata

ingredients:

1 burrata

1 large yellow heirloom tomato

1 bunch lemon thyme

1 pinch dried oregano

1/2 lemon, juice

2 tbsp. best extra virgin olive oil

a little maldon sea salt

a little truffle salt (yay)

directions:

slice the tomato into thick slices (just because you can). drain the burrata, but leave intact. juice the lemon. dress the tomatoes with lemon juice and olive oil, season with salts and and sprinkle with some thyme leaves and oregano. place burrata on top. serve with nice cutlery. devour.

ps: the book - living in style, mountain chalets - was a gift from my sweet j. i got it last year but strangely i've never really explicitly featured it here before... it's always been there, though, all along, from the beginning. my true friend and companion on lazy couch days or nights, making me smile whenever i look at it. love it and you, j.

oh and btw: i'm going to amsterdam next week. for four days! me, myself and i. taking part in an amazing food photography workshop. so be prepared, friends, some serious good stuff about to come. i guess life does have some good things in imminent store for me. just be patient, right?

nibbles*

 

women... we're so simple. but why are we so hard to get? i don't get it. it's confusing. today, simply a couple of nibbles* (euphemism for leftovers, hadiha), picture wise, i mean (and not what you think). thanks for your sweet and funny comments and for reading and for helping me be inspired. it's such a lovely journey.

ps: this shoe-shot (i have a thing for that, everyone who follows me on instagram knows) was taken last saturday. those were some of my female guests' feet. isn't that a sweet coincidence? some call it serendipity, even. animal print is a definite winner! 

okay, and totally going to post the recipe for the heirloom tomato lime tart,  just, well, some other time. same with the italian apricot sheetcake (which was divine, btw) and the semifreddo di fragole. wince.

i think the office might swallow me whole this week... no time to make the bed in the morning. no time to fill the fridge (massive issue). no time to clean the dishes (luckily, there are none, because i'm never at home for a minute). let alone treat myself to a mani/pedi (i know, so boring anyway, duties, duties...). so, i'll just leave it at hello and goodbye. for now. but i'll be back, harrrrharrr. stay foolish, friends. xx

ps2: should the ps: always be at the end? i think.

tea time with olivia

sighs of blissful bathing in memories... tea times. what's not to love? scones, handpainted porcelain your mother gave to you and then gets a heartattack whenever she accidentally sees it in your home because she misses it so much in her own home, pretty tea selections, rose buds, extra bergamot flavored kandis sugar (yes! it's a winner!), steaming tea, flowers, good company. it mus be like that in heaven, tea times all the time. a 'tea around the clock', so to say. minus the clingy-to-porcelain mom, maybe (you know i love you mom). 

scones recipe here. honestly, i think i got so quick and skillful at scones, i could probably do it the minute i get up after a sleepless and/or hungover excessive night, with the eye patch(es) still on and one hand on my back. okay, i'm awfully show-offy today. but hey, if you've got scones skills like that, then you are officially allowed to boast.

isn't olivia such a nice name? i kinda think my daughter might be called olivia. my imaginary well dressed toddler daughter, by the way (it's so hilarious, check it out, you must! thank you). 

on with the merry tea drinking! we drink tea and/or we call our moms, it's how we work, right?