Happy Dress

I find it hard to find pretty and stylish dresses for my little girl. Dresses that would have this elegant charm and sweetness without being to cute. Too many times I see overload of that awful bright shade of pink screaming from the shelves and hangers in girls section. Overuse of bows, frills and cequines doesn't help either.

Therefore when I spotted this dress I knew that we need to get it, that it was so unique it would be terrible to miss it. We wear at crafts market and the dress is hand made and designed in Ireland. It possess this old fashion, timeless charm and is beautifully finished. It was created by brand called HappyClose. Can't wait for the little one to wear it next summer!

Courgette vegan fritters

This delicious new recipe has been recently tested by me. I knew it will be vegan one and for some reason I didn't want to believe in it. I had eggs ready at hand to add to the mixture but I decided to wait and see if the original recipe will work. And it did! The dough was very sticky and there was no need to add anything else. What it consist of is grated courgette, flour, sun dried tomatoes, lemon peel, capers and fresh parsley if you have it. Salt and pepper to taste. Couple of minutes on the frying pan and voila - ready! They taste so light and are full of flavour - gentle hint of lemon makes them irresistible. Will be making them again very soon!

Best use of parsnip

My new culinary discovery this week was delicious parsnip and pear soup. So easy and so tasty! Also quite different - would make a perfect starter for a dinner party. What is needed is just parsnips, pears, vegetable bouillon and almond flakes to garnish. Step one is to peel all to roots and cut in small pieces. Once that's done cook them slowly in the pot with olive oil for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh or dry thyme. Then add peeled pear and let them cook for another 5 minutes and pour the bouillon and let it simmer for 15 minutes once parsnip is soft. After that is just blending, seasoning and serving! Voila! 

Back in love with Brussels Sprouts

I can honestly say I love all vegetables but one - brussels sprouts. I can still eat them but they definitely won't be on my top 10 list. I tried couple of times to cook them in a new innovative way, but without much luck. It's just the bitterness that dominates their flavor is bothering me and I can't get rid of it.
Recently it happened that a box from a friendly farmer ended up in our kitchen, full of fresh, seasonal vegetables straight from the farm. Among carrots, cabbage and parsnips here it was - two branches of green and beautiful brussels sprouts. I don't like wasting anything in my household so I knew I have to find a new way of preparing them. Researching through my cooking books I found something that was easy enough and didn't require any special ingredients - it was brussels sprouts winter soup - perfect timing! Thanks Jadlonomia! Within next 40 minutes I had absolutely delicious meal ready for dinner and I loved it! So far the best recipe I found for using up little cabbages. I've thrown in parsnip, carrot and apple and some organic bulgur and voila!

Fall favourites

September brought autumn to the island. October came and it is fall season in full swing. My personal favourites to look forward at this time of year are delicious creamy root vegetables soups, new pumpkin recipes to try out, hot herbal tea infusions like cardamom tea, playing board games and catching up on our favourite tv series.

Can't wait to putting all the old photos together and getting them printed out. Couple of projects here to be done mostly documenting first two years of life of our beautiful little girl.

Looking forward to doing it all!

Andalusia - my favourites

During our stay in Andalusia we tried to balance relaxed days with sightseeing and spending as much time as possible playing with little H.

 Our hotel was amazing - set right on the beach with beautiful views on the sea and mountains. Fantastic pool area and small pool for babies were great place to relax in the sun and provided plenty of fun for the little one. Nice green grounds around the hotel were indispensable for our active girl to run around - it was great advantage of this small resort and we loved it.

 However every other second day we headed out to discover local towns, villages and andalusian culture. Here's a list of my favourite places we have been to.

Ronda - recommended town by all guidebooks didn't disappoint us. Full of character thanks to the breathtaking canion. Beautiful views, one of the oldest bull rings and a museum was worth the visit. 

Cesares - this was a total surprise and probably the best trip of the whole holiday. We found it by chance deciding on a whim to extend our drive and head towards what was on a local map - town with picture of a castle' ruins.  It turned out to be absolutely magical - very quiet and beautiful little white town - pueblos blancos as they known locally. We walked around through tiny cobbled streets in silence, listening to surrounding sounds. It was extremely peaceful - perhaps because of the siesta time. We had super relaxed lunch there in a small village cafe, by ourselves and H was playing with a cute dog who kept us company. It was magical and unforgettable experience.

Ojen - another little town where at the time of our visit, preparation for a local festival was happening. Amazing, windy streets, secret side caves and very cool museum of oil of olive and local eau de vie de Ojen. Really enjoyed that museum as was always curious how olive oil is made.

Estepona - next town by the coast from Marbella, quite touristy but what I like about it was beautiful long beach and lovely promenade perfect for a long walk with stunning views. This town also has one of the coolest restaurants we went to called Rickie's. It's almost secret place hidden in a maze of small little white streets. The inside of it could not be further from Spanish style. It's been meticulously decorated with pictures of old Hollywood movie stars and tiny lamps that give the place this cool kitschy character. The food was also good!

Marbella's old town - very pretty old town with small streets and plenty of delicious restaurants.

Malaga - old town was really beautiful in Malaga with amazing cathedral in its centre. Lively little streets full of restaurants and shops gave it a real city vibe. Picasso's museum set in beautiful building was one of the highlights.

We also went to Giblartar, which was quite interesting. We got on the top of the rock by cable car and said hello to wild monkeys, the residents of the rock.

Overall this was a fantastic holiday, full of sun, good food and discoveries. We will be back!

Ronda:

Ceseares:

Ojen:

Esteapona:

Late holidays

Our holidays season has come and we are lucky to had travelled abroad and discover beauty of Andalusia. This southern region of Spain is well known for its wonderful landscape, beaches and moorish architecture. 

We located ourselves in quiet part of Marbella city - Gualdamina. Our hotel has stunning views on the sea and mountains at the same time.

As much as we like to relax the plan is to go sightseeing too. We love exploring new places and different cultures and would love our little daughter to enjoy it too!