Heaven is in Belgium

Friday, December 25, 2009

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Our Family Christmas Party

It’s not always easy to set a date to organize a Christmas party for the whole family. That’s why we’re celebrating one day early today.

The gifts have been wrapped, the apple pie smells delicious and the chocolate mousse is heaven on earth. My daughter asked me to make the desserts and I spent most of yesterday mixing and baking (and licking my fingers!).
My part is done, she’ll be taking over as she is going to host the party. We celebrated at her house last year too, and below is a collage of some of the most precious moments I captured then.

I made prints from this collage, one for each of the guests. I think I’m going to make this a new Christmas tradition. It gives me an extra excuse to point my camera in their faces!
Have a wonderful Christmas or enjoy the Winter festivities.
Have a great day!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Almost Wordless …

If you want to make an apple pie from scratch,
you must first create the universe.
~Carl Sagan~

That’s exactly what I’ll be doing today…
the apple pie I mean!!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Ruby Tuesday, The Story of the Boyds Bears Nativity Scene

Not many of you might know I used to own an interior decorating shop a couple of years ago. Among other things, I used to sell cute teddy bear collectables and Christmas decorations. That’s how I came across Boyds Bears. It was love at first sight.
Boyds Bears were not very well known here in Belgium at that time and I dare say it took a little bit of pioneering to introduce them to my public, but I loved it.
My customers soon shared the love I had for these cute little bears, and started collecting them. It was charming to have them (or their husbands) drop by to buy a new character as a gift to their loved ones. Christmas, birthdays, Valentines Day or even wedding anniversaries, I loved helping them pick “just the right one”.
It became inevitable that I started a collection of my own. One by one I took them home with me and I’ve been treasuring this set for almost ten years now …

The nativity scene is set up as a play on a stage, and the little bears are all dressed up to perform the role they’re playing.
Allow me to introduce some of the main characters to you …

Neville … as Joseph

Baldwin … as the little Child Jesus

Theresa … as Mary

Bruce … as the Shepherd

and Essex … dressed up as the donkey.

Find more Ruby Tuesday posts at Mary’s Work of the Poet.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Macro Monday and the Christmas Stollen Recipe

I thought I’d share something different for this Macro Monday.
After all, 'it IS the baking season par excellence, so …

There is nothing like home made bread. This festive Christmassy bread originates from Germany and is filled with lots of dried fruits and nuts, and rum flavored almond paste.

Just imagine a white carpet of snow outside while inside your house is filled with the aromas of this sweet and lovely wintery goodness….

Am I beginning to sound like Nigella Lawson?

Are you hungry yet ?
Do you want to sniff those aromas too?
Okay, here’s what you do.
Light a scented candle …

OR get into that kitchen of yours and try the recipe!!
I tried to make the recipe as complete as possible but if there are any more questions, just leave me a comment and I’ll update the post.

You need:
- 170g - 1 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
- 70ml - about 5 tbsp of water ( I added some milk to the water instead of using milk powder)
- 17g of milk powder ( I skipped that)
- 12g - 1 tbsp of sugar
- 12g of fresh yeast OR 5g (= one teaspoon) of dried yeast
- 3g = 1/2 a teaspoon of salt
- 1 egg ( half of it goes in the dough, use the rest to egg wash the crust.
- 30g - 1 ounce of butter
- grated zest of one clementine ( you could use lemon or orange instead)
- 17g - about 1/5 of a cup of roasted hazelnuts
- 17g of candied fruits
- 130g - 1 cup of raisins. ( I made an assorted mixture with died apricots and prunes, figs …)
- 75g of almond paste flavored with rum ( mine was Cointreau flavored)

Mix all the ingredients except the almond paste, the nuts and the dried fruits. Knead until the dough becomes elastic. Let it rest for 20 minutes.
Mix the fruits and the nuts in and shape into a ball.
Shape the almond paste into a sausage. Flatten the dough and place the almond paste in the middle. Roll tightly around the almond paste and shape the bread.
Place it onto a baking sheet in the oven ( 40°C - 100° F ) to rest and rise for about one hour.
Brush the rest of the beaten egg over the dough to give it a shine.
OR
A little bit of research told me you could brush it with melted butter, which would probably produce a softer crust. (I still need to try this next time)
Bake for half an hour at 165-175° C - 350°F