I've dreamt of visiting Neuschwanstein Castle ever since I watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for the first time.
Paris. No other city captivates me in the same way Paris does. I've always felt that you need to actually live in a city for a month or two before you truly understand the way things work. Paris is more cafes and pretty corners to me than tourist attractions and macarons. I'll always value the calm corners of the Marais above the Champs Elyseè. Then there are those things that started to infinitely annoy me about Paris, late night eating made complicated or impossible, people judging you for imperfect French or the lack of culinary variety at reasonable price points. And yet, Paris still manages to draw you in, slowly but surely attaining your love if you weren't already convinced at first sight.
Revisiting Paris after attending culinary school there last summer somehow felt different. I'd already seen all the places on my list and allowed my feet to remember which streets led to which bakery and my mind to aimlessly wander past memories at every street corner (This also included forcing myself to wake up at 6 am to see the Trocadero and Montmartre while void of tourist minus the lone Asian guy taking selfies with a camera on a tripod). Seeing as I hoarded all these images until now, I'll be dedicating this week to Paris here on the blog with a detailed shortlist and a list of hidden gems to follow in the coming days.
Having Sophie around is the best ingredient to a wonderful summer! First we laugh so much more when she is around. It is insane sometimes we cannot stop until we cry! Second I have a kindred spirit when it comes to healthy food ... well, at least until there is a good and heart warming dessert involved. Last Saturday we were invited for dinner and it was a hot and busy day full of adventure, my first workshop for food photography with ezgipolat here in Vienna. Organized by ladyvenom for igersvienna and the viennatouristboard, we met at the Hotel am Brillantengrund and had the chance to shoot food arranged and styled by Ezgi, then we ventured in smaller groups through the 7th district and Sophie and Julian joined us later that afternoon at Neni's where Nuriel spoiled us with the best Mediterranean food in town.
We were exhausted when we finally came back home just to realize that we were 1 hour late for dinner at our new friends' home!!! How embarrassing! We just texted : we'll be there in 20 ... and frantically threw clothes on, I grabbed some high heels and we hopped into the car armed with a bottle of champagne and an extra large bag of my Marions Granola! Half way there, I realized that I had two left shoes with me both black but unfortunately together useless. We didn't turn around ... of course not! I said we can only tell the truth and hope they will forgive us! And as it seems we didn't loose our new friends right away we had a fun and relaxed evening, laughed about my outfit, and we stayed until I almost fell asleep! Have you ever done something so embarrassing ? please share you story and make me feel better! Our friends have great taste in interiors and she sent me to a store nearby that carries unusual products. I bought this pretty green bowl by Rina Menardi and ordered some more plates and bowls in different colors you will soon see on my food photography!
No summer without chilled soup! I am a huge fan of soups anyways, because they make great comfort food and they can be prepared ahead of time. This one is in particularly easy and light and keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 days becoming even better! No cooking required - only a blender and fresh herbs.
Preparation time: 15 min
Chilling time: over night or a couple of hours
You Need
450 g Greek yoghurt
1 large cucumber, peeled and deseeded
2 fresh celery stalks
sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of garlic paste (optional)
1/2 cup water
For decoration:
1 sprig if mint leaves
1 sprig of dill
1 chicory
4 small white mushrooms
handful of baby spinach
1/2 cup of cottage cheese, drained and rinsed
black sea salt and olive oil
Cut the cucumber and the celery stalks in bite sizes, fill your blender with it and add the Greek yoghurt. Blend for 4 minutes until all is smooth and chill before you serve it. Chill your bowls as well that will keep the soup cold on really hot days.
To assemble the soup share evenly among four bowls, add the herbs, spinach, chicory and mushroom slices, sprinkle with some of the cottage cheese and drizzle the olive oil artfully over the soup. Finally add some of the black sea salt, mine is from Iceland but you can buy back salt from Hawaii as well. If you do not fancy dill use basil, cilantro or chervil. Whatever suits your taste best. I don't think this recipe will ruin your diet or fill you with unnecessary calories, but it will definitely make you and your loved ones happy!
Hi friends! Seeing as summer is now in full swing, I figured it would be a great idea to give away a bikini from To Die For Swimwear! Sounds pretty useful this time of year, right?
