I’ve got visitors staying with me tonight and I thought I would be all “Bed and Breakfast-y” and make some muffins in case anyone is hungry in the morning. They were a bit of a flop, mainly because I think that my baking powder is getting old, so not a lot of rise to them — remember to buy fresh leavers, folks! They do taste great though, so nothing wrong with the recipe, just a chemical malfunction on my software.
Inspired by a recent visit to Austria, I thought I would make a strudel… with some spring / early summer flavors to boot. I was actually a little concerned that the tart cherries and rhubarb — which is tart as well — would be a little much, but it turned out quite nice. Perfect for an afternoon cuppa.
After a few weeks of travel and stressful catch-up from vacation, I finally had the opportunity to bake something this morning. How refreshing! It really is stress relief, even if I did get up at 4:30 on a Saturday morning. These florentines are simply lovely: sweet and crisp and almost like a nut brittle. Not to be missed!
Whenever I am excited or happy about an upcoming event or activity, I have this habit of being super efficient and I get everything that I possibly need to do before said event done as soon as and as quickly as possible. I’ve always called this “pushing time” with the irrational logic of “If everything is done, the happy thing will happen sooner.” I’ve done this since I was a little girl, and then usually got so excited that I would make myself sick (I guess that sometimes still happens, with my propensity of getting migraines). But I digress.
So, I’m going on vacation this evening, and by Wednesday, I was done with everything (at least on a personal level; work I have less control over the deadlines). So last night I was twiddling my thumbs and making myself crazy, thus I decided to do something calming and well, yummy.
And while we’re on the topic of Spring Veg, here is another recipe to whet your appetite… risotto, asparagus, wild garlic (ramps, ransom, German: Bärlauch) and shrimp. Resfreshing and actually quite light, creamy and fresh and spring-like. I really really have this thing for ramps (here are all the recipes from last year) so I have to make the most of the very very short season… only a few weeks. Dinner tonight.