Here We Are Together

A friend recently suggested this recipe to me as something to cook with Ezi, but it is lots of fun for little ones of all ages,
and as Fish & Chips is a very traditional English meal , especially here on the coast, I thought I’d share it with you.

You will need:

1 fish filet
3 potatoes
2 slices of toasted bread
ketchup (for a healthier version take a look at our homemade ketchup recipe!)

How to:

Start by turning your bread into breadcrumbs, just pull off tiny pieces till you used it all up:

Put your fish onto a baking tray and spread ketchup all over it.

Now it’s time to put the breadcrumbs on top, make sure you cover all of the fish.

Put this into the oven at a high temperature for about 40 minutes.
Your chips will not take as long, so you can prepare them now.
To make the chips you peel the potatoes , cut them into strips, cover them with oil, salt them
and put them into the oven for about 30 minutes.

When everything is cooked you can sit down and taste your traditional English meal!

Enjoy!

Even though we make this every year, there is always room for improvement,
or,in this case, making this pumpkin soup a little bit more suitable for our littlest one.
So here is our pumpkin soup recipe , we made this yesterday & it was very much loved by everyone,
& I am pleased to tell you all that it inspired my sweet George to try out another new word: “more“.

The Flower Family Pumpkin Soup

You will need:

A mixer
Two small to medium size pumpkins.
one big onion
vgetable stock cubes , we used two
butter

How To:

First, dice the onion & fry them in butter or oil till they are soft.
(Don’t let them go brown though, or your soup will be brown instead of the nice warming orange.)
When your onions are soft turn off the heat & add a vegetable stock cube.

We were also making lanterns out of our pumpkins, so we did not just cut the pumpkins in half & peeled them,
but instead cut off the top with a sharp knife.
You then need to get out all the stringy things & seeds.
Take out the seeds & put them into a bowl to use later.
When your pumpkin is all nice & clean inside , you can use a thin spoon to get out the pumpkin flesh,
or use a sharp knife.
(again, if you are not making lanterns out of your pumpkins afterwards you can always cut them in half, that will make this a whole lot easier.)

Put your pumpkin flesh in with the onions & fill up your pan with boiling water,
then let it simmer for around 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes add another vegetable stock cube & cook for about 5 more minutes.
At this point the pumpkin should be soft enough to mash with a spoon.
If it isn’t, let it simmer some more.
When your pumpkin is soft enough pour everything into a blender & blend it well.
Pour it into a bowl & try it, then decide if you want to add boiling water to it to make it a bit thinner.

You can add salt & pepper to taste,
serve it with bread & roasted pumpkin seeds.

(To make those just wash your pumpkin seeds, put them onto an oven tray with some olive oil, sprinkle with salt and roast for about 15 minutes.)

Enjoy!

♥

As promised, i’ll show you all how to make applesauce.
I am sorry it took a little while, but i never actually wrote this down before,
my grandma taught me how to do it, & there never was a need for a “recipe”.
I am very pleased that i can now share this with you,
because homemade applesauce is just so much nicer,
& I really think our children should learn how to do these things, so they can teach their children & so on.
(besides, many years ago a boy in kindergarden told me that there are worms in store bought apple sauce,
& I never forgot that ..)

You will need:

apples, however many you have spare or want to keep for winter
some water
glass jars with lids

How to:

Wash, peel & core your apples, then cut them into large chunks,
place them in a saucepan with a bit of water, & leave that on a medium heat for about an hour.
Stir it occasional & see if your apples are soft yet.
After some time it will all turn into a sort of apple sauce, if it is too thick add some more water,
if it is not thick enough leave it for another half an hour.
Add sugar (& cinnamon, in this family..) to taste.

Now you are ready to can your applesauce!
You can use new or recycled glass jars for this,
to sterilise them you just have to leave them in boiling water for 10 minutes.
(Make sure that they are completely covered & filled with water!)

Pour your apple sauce into the jars, put the lids on tight,
& put the jars into a pot of boiling water.
They should stand up straight & be covered in water,
Boil them for about 20 minutes, then lift the jars out of the water & let them cool
upside down.
When they are cold you can turn them the right way up.
Test the vacuum seal on the lid by gently pressing down in the center , it should not pop up but stay down.

Label your applesauce & enjoy!

(in germany we used to have it with pancakes & potato cakes)

We always want to use up every last little bit of our vegeatbles & fruit, we don’t like to throw things away (& rarely do) , so we find new recipes & try new things.
(This just might be the reason for those 62 beet-root muffins that currently living on our dinner table.. aehm..)
So when we got far too much rhubarb for anyone to eat, we came up with this:

This is a really simple & sticky sweet Rhubarb Syrup.

The Recipe:

You will need:
500g Rhubarb
2 cups water
3 cups sugar (white sugar will make pink syrup, brown sugar will make brown syrup)

How to:

Cut the rhubarb into 2 cm long pieces & cook those with the two cups of water for half an hour.
Pour the mix through a sieve into another pot, add the sugar & cook that for another 5 minutes.
Pour it into glass jars, close them & turn them upside down.
Let them cool down upside down as well.

Use one tablespoon for a tall glass.

Hope you like it!
♥

Yes, another recipe, but this time it is the easiest & probably most delicious
& versatile dinner roll recipe you will ever find,
& the best part? It is absolutely toddler friendly!

You will need:

2 cups of self rising flour
1 cup of milk
4 tablespoons of mayonaise. (don’t worry, you will not be able to taste this!)

how to :

Mix it all together, add flour till you can form the dough into balls,
bake for 15 minutes at 200°C (that’s 390 °F ).

You can add pretty much anything to this recipe to make sweet or savoury rolls.
We like to add 3 cups of grated cheese & 2 cloves of garlic,
& 5 minutes before the rolls are ready we sprinkle grated cheese on top ,too.
They taste grate with sugar & cinnamon , or with blueberries,too!
Just be crative & have fun!

have a great weekend! <3

This family just loves to cook & bake,
there is always a lovely sunday lunch at Nanny & Grandpas house,
& we are always trying out new recipes,
but it is not just the grown-ups who enjoy cooking,
it’s the little one’s, too.
One of Emily’s favourite books is “Zed’s Bread“,
so I was on the lookout for a very easy bread recipe that Emi could make with very little to no help,
& I think I found it.

These Potato Buns are easy to make & should not be a problem for a little one,
the flatbread is a bit more complicated, but only because it uses yeast & takes about one hour to rise.
(You will need to help by cutting the onion,though)

(excuse my children in the background, dinner is a busy time ..)

You will need:

500 g flour
2 onions
a little bit of salt
a tiny bit of sugar
500 ml water
100 g of mashed potato mix (trust me!)

(& , if you are making the flatbread, one yeast cube )

How to:

Mix the flour with the mashed potato,sugar & salt.
if you are making the flatbread then add the yeast now, & let it stand for 15 minutes.
Now add the water & knead it into a smooth dough.
For the flatbread, put it onto your windowsill and let it rise for one hour, the amount of dough should double.
Now cut the onions into strips & mix into the dough.
Seperate your dough into four balls,
for the flatbread, push them down till they are flat
Bake for 45 minutes at 200°C (that’s 390 °F ).

Serve with homemade garlic butter. (half a cup of butter per 2 garlic cloves, just crush the garlic & mix with the butter..)

I hope you enjoy this,
have a lovely day!
♥

We have been very busy with the Purim preperations, & celebrated a mini Purim today at playgroup.
I have big news,
my mum is getting married,
& we finally move to a house that has a little more room,
& a much bigger garden. it is also just a little closer to nanny & grandpa, which is very lovely.

Now, Purim.
These are 27 gift bags
(made from the fabric i promised my sister. I am sorry Maren..)

& each bag contains a Purim book, a few songs, a noisemaker & two hamentashen.
I decided to spread the love & share our family recipe with you.
Here you go.

You will need:

4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar (brown sugar gives it an interesting kick)
5 cups flour
3/4 cup oil
some melted chocolate

mix the eggs in with the flour, then everything else except for the chocolate.
refrigerate till your dough is firm,
roll it out thinly & cut out round shapes with a glass.
put half a teaspoon of melted chocolate into the middle & then close the cirle so it turns into a triangle.
Bake for 15 minutes at 170°C (350°F).

Makes about 40 Hamentashen.

I hope you like them.
ps// wish us luck with hat move,we are looking at another house tomorrow & I just hope that noone takes away the house i fell in love with!
much love
♥

These are our favourite sugar cookies, quick & easy:

You will need
2 eggs
150g butter
150g white sugar
115g brown sugar
15 ml vanilla
305 g flour
3g baking powder
2g salt

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C ( That’s 320°F ).
Melt the butter in the microwave,
then sieve all the sugar & stir it into the butter,
add eggs & vanilla, stir till it’s all smooth.
Then sieve the flour,salt & baking powder,
mix it all together.

Refrigerate for 1 hour , roll it into tiny balls,
then flatten them so they are little discs.
Bake for about 12 minutes.

You can then let them cool down
& decorate them with icing:

The red cookie in the corner is how I kept Emi
busy, just mix the dough with a little food
colouring , hand it to your toddler & let her use it
like play dough. Then just bake it with the other cookies!

I hope you like them!
♥

Emi is going through a phase where she eats nothing
but “ketchup” on toast, & because I am reasonably sure *
that this is normal, i’ll share my homemade ketchup
recipe with you, so that you can hand your fussy
toddler wholegrain bread with this healthy little sauce,
they won’t ever know the difference & you don’t feel
quite so bad about it.

[* i honestly think all of us mamas have to stop
second-guessing everything we do, we have to stop
trying to live up to someone elses idea of a good mother.
We should be kind to ourselves,
& just do what is right for our family, because
we know. That's why we are -mama-. ]

Anyway, here’s the ketchup :

You will need
one can whole tomatoes in purée
half a cup of vinegar
one diced big onion
about 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
half a cup of sugar (leave that out if you want it to be healthy.)
a bit olive oil, salt & pepper
we also like to add about 2 medium carrots,
& half a cup of sweetcorn.

Start by cooking the onion in some oil till they are soft (10 minutes maybe?)
Puree your tomatoes (& carrots,& sweetcorn),
you can do that in a mixer.
Then add the tomatoes to the onions, & add everything else,
Now cook it for about 50 minutes on low heat.
Pour it into the mixer & blend it till it is smooth .
It should be quite thick by now.
Now just box it up & put it in the fridge ,
& in a few hours ( at least one hour , i’d say)
you have delicious ketchup that is not so very unhealthy.
(This is not an exact recipe, as I kind of make it up as I go..)

Georgie had his 8 week check today,
& is bigger than 75 % of the babies his age.
(Hey, there’s still bigger ones! )
Here he is, exhausted, after a busy, busy day:

Oma Rosel’s Pumpkin Soup,
(go make your own, it’s amazing!)

You will need:

One big pumpkin or two smaller ones
two or three big onions
vgetable stock cubes , we used two
butter, salt, pepper & curry powder

First, dice the onions,
fry them in butter till they are soft.

Cut your pumpkin in half,
remove the seeds & strings they are
attatched to. (Don’t throw the seeds away,
you can dry them in the oven to make a
delicious snack!)

You can peel your pumpkin with a strong
vegetable peeler, or use a melon knife to
remove the skin:

Mix the pumpkin with the onions, add a tiny bit of boiling
water & another vegetable stock cube,
cook it for about 20 minutes:

Then just pour it into the mixer & make it all nice and smooth,
add some pepper, salt & currypowder, enjoy:

(or you mix apples & basil and pretend it is delicious soup.):