Monthly Archives: January 2014

Madeleines

January 15, 2014Cookies and BarsJulia_St

It’s been foggy here lately. And by foggy, I mean the real deal, where you can not see what’s 2 steps in front of you and no sunlight is showing during the day. Non at all. This is weather is not typical for the latitudes where I live. Usually, in the middle of January, there is lots of snow and the temperatures are far below 0°C. If we get fogs, this happens in November, definitely not in the middle of the winter. And this time the fog came to stay. For nearly 10 days it was hard to tell whether it was day or night. Continue reading →

Apple and Walnut Muffins

January 11, 2014Breakfast, Cakes, Muffins and CupcakesJulia_St

I love Google Doodles!

I honestly believe that this is a genius idea and a wonderful practice. Besides the popular holidays, celebrated worldwide, the Doodles also include anniversaries, celebrations and customs which are not so common and famous, sometimes typical only for a specific location.

I google every day. I google dozens of times a day. Who doesn’t? And when I see a new Doodle, I can’t help to check it out. It makes me curious and wakes my desire to learn something new, to read about something I never would have thought otherwise.

Continue reading →

Peach and White Chocolate Pots

January 6, 2014Individual DessertsJulia_St

The holidays are officially over.

I had to make this statement to help me understand, and hopefully accept this fact. Because right now, I am in denial.

For the first few days of the New Year I was trying to fool myself that it is not over yet. After that I tried the “So what, it’s not big deal, everything will go back to normal, and I won’t feel it this time!” And now … Now I’m staring numb into an entire work week, which seems endless and I don’t know from where to get the strength to return to my daily routine.

Every year! The same thing! Anticipation – Preparation – Euphoria – Hit with reality – Recovery.

Never mind, I will be better tomorrow.

Speaking of recovery, I should also recover my normal weight. But here is a thing: in my current state of mind, I simply cannot get the motivation. Besides, the specialists advise, that you should not start a diet immediately after the holidays. It will make the stress unbearable. The specialists said that, I am not qualified to argue!

So here is what I made to cope with the first days of the New Year.

Continue reading →

Orange Bundt Cake

January 4, 2014Cakes, Muffins and CupcakesJulia_St

For me the winter is the citrus season. And oranges, in particular, are my favorite winter fruit.

In the beginning of December I decided to get ready for the holiday baking season, and made some candied oranges. The quantity however went a little off, and I ended up with two big jars. In the same time, the plans for making a lot of fruit cakes failed, and here I am with quite some leftover candied oranges.

This is one way to use them.