Stitches and Thrills

Here is another delicious result of my experiments in the kitchen. This spiced cake-variation is the result after 2 previous attempts. The first 2 were also very nice, but lacked the exact taste I had hoped to achieve. :-) The quinoa flour was on my wish list for a while already. I made the spiced cake with Coconut Oil Extra Virgin, because that's the healthiest. But if you really don't like the taste of coconut you can also get the one where they removed the coconut smell. Spicy Date & Pecan Cake (no egg / no sugar / gluten free) 250 gram dates (unseeded) 300 ml water 1 teabag Yogi Himalaya tea 100 gram coconut oil (extra virgin) 200 gram quinoa flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 tablespoon milled/broken flaxseed mixed with 1 tablespoon water 50 gram pecan nuts, raw (The coconut oil is more easily processed if it's soft. In my kitchen it works to put the bowl with oil on top of my cooker, the oven underneath spreads enough heat to melt the oil a bit...

Most of you will be familiar with the internet meme Grumpy Cat . I couldn't resist making my signature look-a-like "Boink The Cat" door draft stoppers to look like her. I bet she would be right grumpy if you used her as a sausage cat draught dodger . The first original door draft stopper was designed to resemble the cat Bonke (hence the name Boink The Cat): Bonke found new owners after being in Stevenshage animal shelter. 5 euro of every sold door draft stopper goes to this animal shelter in Leiden.

A couple of years ago I bought a Logitech Headset ClearChat Style. The set was a nice little price and perfect for Skype. And after a few years the headset still works fine. However I did get a problem with the soft ear cushions falling apart. "Easy to fix" I thought, I'll just buy some new ones. Alas: these are not available! A friendly guy at the electronic shop helped me trying if other brands would fit, but we couldn't find the right ones. So I got in touch with Logitech, asking which replacement ear cushions they would advice. But they couldn't advice beyond whether or not the warranty still would apply. I knew my purchase was too long ago for that. But I didn't want to discard a complete headset, just because I couldn't find new foamy ear cushions. So it was time for a creative solution:I made my own ear cushions from organic cotton. Here is the crochet pattern for headphone ear cushions: Material: Big organic Cotton (I used Linea ...

For my birthday party with the family I made another almond flour bundt cake. This version received much praise from my nephews and niece (8, 6 & 4 yrs). Without the bananas you'll get a lighter, fluffier cake. Unlike my original recipe ( here ) I did use a bit of sugar this time. So, by popular demand, here's the recipe : Almond flour bundt cake, the summer fruits version 250 gram almond flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 0,5 table spoon cider vinegar tiny bit of salt 150 gram butter 3 table spoons agave syrup 1/2 sachet vanilla sugar 3 eggs 250 gram of mixed fruits (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries). Preferably fresh, but if it is out of season frozen will do as well. Optional garnish: whip cream (125 ml mixed with 1 or 2 tablespoons sugar) Pre heat the oven on 150 C. Mix in a large bowl: almond flour, baking soda, vanilla sugar, cider vinegar, salt, butter, agave syrup. Split the eggs one by one, while putting the egg whi...

Goji- almond flour cake 250 gram almond flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 0,5 table spoon cider vinegar tiny bit of salt 150 gram butter 3 table spoons agave syrup* 3 ripe bananas 3 eggs 75 gram goji berries 75 gram pumpkin seeds 50 gram hazelnuts 3 tablespoons peeled sesame seed Pre heat the oven on 150 C. Mix in a large bowl: almond flour, baking soda, cider vinegar, salt, butter, agave syrup. Squash and mix the bananas through the mixture. Split the eggs one by one, while putting the egg white in a separate bowl. The yolk you mix through the almond flour mixture . Beat the egg whites in the separate bowl till they are nearly stiff. Gently add them to the cake mixture (making sure you don't lose the air you just beat into it) Add goji berries, pumpkin seeds and hazelnuts. Pour the cake mixture in a greased tin and add sesame seeds on top. Bake in the pre-heated oven in 50 minutes till it's done.  Leave the mixture in the tin at first to cool of a l...

A museum visit I was really looking froward to: The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk Still to visit at museum De Kunsthal (Rotterdam) until 12 May 2013. What an impressive collection. There were more as 130 designs, representing Gaultiers fashion of over 35 years. It was truly inspiring to see all the beautiful details from up close. The accompanying leaflet had for some dresses the information of how many hours it had taken to make them. Considering the amount of embroidered sequins and beads, I'd have expected some would have taken even longer. The layout of the exhibition was marvellous. The different collections were in rooms with a specific atmosphere (boudoir, catwalk etc), which presented them very well. Some of the mannequins had filmed faces projected on them which was both fascinating and a little estranging. The only minus for me is the use of fur (but I knew before that he uses that). As far as I am concerned: rather not....

 Photo impression of the Crochet and Knit Days 2013 As seen on the boots of:  http://www.devlotteknot.nl/  http://www.wolhalla.nl/  http://www.zevenkatten.nl  http://www.klazienskreatie.nl/ Photo impression of the Twined Knitting workshop by The Dutch Knitters The workshop was real fun. We learned all the basic stitches to take this technique to the next level. I also found some nice examples of Two End / Twined Knitting on Pinterest .