Blondies.

 

 

Enclosed in gooey cave, 
dark and light cacao 
with nuts to spare.

Cracked crust is browned, 
different textures meet
in delish squares.

...

Blondies

time 30 minutes preparation, 25 minutes baking

yields one 30x20cm baking tray

50g pecans

75g all-purpose flour

20g whole-wheat flour

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. Himalayan salt

150g butter

150g light brown sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

80g chocolate chips, whatever type you prefer

Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

Spread nuts on a baking sheet and bake until toasted, 10-12 minutes.

Transfer nuts to a cutting board to cool, chop coarsely and set aside.

While the nuts toast, line your baking pan with foil, leaving some to overlap so you can lift out the blondies post baking.

Grease with butter.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.

Whisk melted butter and brown sugar together in another bowl until combined.

Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

Using a spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mix until just combined, do not overmix.

Fold in chocolate and nuts and pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing the top.

Bake until the top is shiny, cracked and light golden brown, 22-25 minutes.

Cool on wire rack, remove from pan and cut into squares.

Instagram of the month.

My first month back in Portland:

adventures, great company, amazing food, perfect weather and I even have a new job after only two and a half weeks.

Life is good.

(1) great brunch at Broder 2508 SE Clinton Street Portland, OR 97255 (2) Pick-a-thon's shade structure Pendarvis Farm at Happy Valley (3) volunteering for Pick-a-thon we made so many banana scones (4) Orange Creamsicle ice cream from the 50 Licks food cart at the festival (5) Quilt playing at Pick-a-thon (6) great biscuits from Pine State Biscuits (7) lunch with an organic bagel, egg, lettuce from our garden, fruits and yoghurt (8) loot from my morning run (9) used the fig and blackberries for my homemade granola with chia seed pudding (10) veggie chard wraps, dinner on the patio (11) playing and adventuring at Opal Creek (11) marionberry pie with whipped cream from Sweedeedee 5202 N Albina Ave Portland OR 97217 (12) meet Sodium, Soda for short, the pet pig (13) afternoon picnic in Laurelhurst Park (14) breakfast burrito from the PSU farmer's market (15) pizza's at Sizzle Pie, the right one being vegan and my favorite (16) The Gorge on a gorge-ous day (17) the area around Naked Falls on the Washougal River in Washington (18) cats! (19) Crater Lake (20) getting over my fear of jumping off of high rocks (21) great breakfast break with a dirty chai and a peanut butter cookie at Waves of Grain 2250 E Burnside Street Portland, OR 97214 (22) lunch with an awesome Waves of Grain biscuit (23) sunrise at 5:30 AM at Crater Lake National Park

Red Currant Green Tea Upside-Down Cake.

 

 

Shiny red; 
wrinkled, 
makes my mouth
pucker up.

Green like moss; 
moist, 
wanting to take
one more bite.

Those colors
and flavors;
a late summer thing.

...

Red Currant Green Tea Upside-Down Cake

time 30 minutes preparation, 50-60 minutes baking time

yields one 26cm cake

topping:

40g butter

100g brown sugar

150g red currants

batter:

170g flour

100g granulated sugar

100g brown sugar

15g matcha powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

70g butter

200ml milk

1 egg

Heat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

Heat butter in a 26cm cast-iron or oven-proof pan until melted.

Sprinkle brown sugar over margarine and spread red currants on top in one layer.

Beat the remaining ingredients in a large bowl on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping the bowl constantly.

Beat at high speed for a couple of minutes until smooth.

Pour over fruit in skillet.

Bake in skillet for 45-55 minutes.

Remove from the oven and turn the skillet upside-down on a heatproof plate.

Summer Sorbets.

 

 

Hues of
yellow,
red,
purple, 
green.

Pale.
Bold.

Colors of the rainbow.

...

Basic Sorbet

time 10 minutes preparation, 25-30 minutes freezing

yields 700ml

45g glucose or corn syrup

45ml water

20ml lemon juice

110g simple syrup (1:1)

500g fruit puree

If very thick, heat glucose or corn syrup until liquid with the water.

Remove from heat and stir in the additional ingredients.

Freeze in your ice cream machine according to your manufacturer's instructions. 

Simple syrup

time 5 minutes preparation, one hour cooling

100g sugar

100g water

Adjust the amount according to how many sorbets you are going to make.

Heat sugar and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat.

Once it has boiled, remove from heat, cool and the refrigerate until use.

mango

apply the basic recipe

green apple

reduce lemon by 5g / add 15g more simple syrup

pear with a hint of rhubarb

450g pear, 50g rhubarb puree

white peach

only 60g simple syrup

rhubarb

add 30g simple syrup

cherry & cranberry

only 80g simple syrup

cassis

add 15g simple syrup

Hiking.

A wondrous adventure in the beautiful Austrian Alps, the Karwendel Gebirge. 

Accompanied by good cuisine from Tirol.

Great company.

And for the most part good weather.