Outfit: Sneak Peek

On Monday, our good friends Pablo and Nikki are getting married in Utrecht and we are so excited! This is only the second wedding I've been to and at the last one I was a tiny flower girl! So I've been having fun putting together outfits for both me and Arjan. Ebay has been my saviour with this, not having much money for suits or dresses doesn't mean that you can't get something really great if you know where to look.
I just bought the last finishing touches today and now that I've got it all together I'm even more excited for the big day.    
What's even better about this wedding though, is that we're doing some catering for the evening party! It's our wedding present to the happy couple, a selection of homemade savoury snacks to keep people dancing throughout the night. Of course I will do a post about this at a later date, but the fun doesn't stop there, the day after the wedding Pablo and Nikki go on a mini-moon (their proper honeymoon will come next year) and we get to housesit their beautiful, canal-side Utrecht apartment for a whole 5 days! I can barely contain my eagerness for this little holiday, it can't come soon enough.
Until then, here is a sneak peak of both mine and Arjan's wedding outfits…

Mint, gold and who doesn't love shoes with parrots on?!

Guess who is going to be one dapper gent 

Garden: Oma's Garden

Arjan and I have been spending a lot of time with his Oma (dutch for Grandma) recently and we've been helping in and out of the house.
I love spending time in the garden and, with the weather as nice as it's been, everything is bursting with life.
A couple of months ago we did some major planting, lots of seeds and bulbs went into the ground, I wish I had some before pictures so you could see the difference, but it slipped my mind at the time.

One of my favourite additions to Oma's garden is these beautiful violas, she bought a big tray of tiny wilting plants with barely one flower each, but I planted them out, watered them and rigorously deadheaded every few days and in no time they became this riotous explosion of greenery and petals.

Another half-dead, garden store purchase was these lobelia, I just crammed most of them into a couple of pots hoping that at least one or two plants might survive but yet again, they surprised me and have flourished!

This messy green patch may look like a patch of weeds, but it is actually the result of a packet of wild-flower seed mix. Arjan got to pick a patch of dirt to sprinkle them over and just chucked the whole lot onto this little corner. A few tiny flowers have begun to peak through the foliage and there was a beautiful poppy standing off to one side, but its petals have already fallen off, so I'll have to try catch the next one that blooms. I'm excited to see what else erupts from this patch of unkempt wilderness.

One of Oma's regular garden features has yet again made its appearance this year. We planted several dahlia tubers around the garden and after laying dormant for quite some time, they have become fairly sturdy little plants, one even has two tiny flower buds poking out. It'll be nice to see what assortment of colours we get.

And finally, this is a little row of forget-me-nots, a childhood favourite of mine. I planted them from seeds along with some royal mallows, but when I planted out the little seedlings the mallows were mysteriously eradicated by mice/mini landslide/Oma's disapproval at their placement, we will never know. These forget-me-nots are bulking up beautifully though and I think they'll blossom quite nicely.

In other news, I'm currently testing out a rather pungent garlic and onion aphid repellent on my sweet peas, so far I've seen far fewer but I'll just have to keep spraying and pray that the smell doesn't linger…

Recipe: Cherry Wine

On Sunday I called home for a Father's day chat with Daddy Macleod and after telling him all about my cherry haul from the previous day he suggested making cherry wine. It wasn't something I'd considered until then, but after a quick bit of researching I realised it wasn't as hard as I'd first thought. Arjan was 100% behind this idea, so we went on the hunt for suitable containers and wine yeast.

The containers were easy enough, first we found 2 big glass jars, one 2.5L and one 5L, and then we were able to borrow an actual 15L fermenting bottle from a friend's dad.

Then came the hunt for yeast. After extensive research into the subject we realised that it definitely could not be just any old yeast, baking yeast, beer yeast and wine yeast are all distinctly different and are selected and bred for their specific qualities. So we began a wild goose chase from shop to shop, each person answering with a "sorry no, but you might find it in this place", until finally we were given a phone number and a name that led us to a tiny shop in a nearby village. The owner was exactly what I'd imagined, a friendly older man with rough hands and a walrus moustache. The shop was tiny and a little chaotic but felt homely and loved, this was clearly the fruits of a lifelong passion. He'd opened for the afternoon especially for us and then took the time to talk us through exactly what we should do and things to look out for, he even told us to call if we had any questions. We left with two packets of yeast and we will definitely be going back sometime, even if just to say thank you. 

The next step was to choose a recipe, so many people had different methods that it was hard to choose one. We went with the simplest and easiest to follow which we found here but we also added a step which was a tip we were given by the lovely shop-keeper, to mix a bit of the juice from the mashed cherries, a spoonful of sugar and the yeast in a small tub so that it activates the yeast, then to add this to the cooled cherry-sugar-water mix. 

Arjan getting messy 

The awesome 15L fermenting bottle we borrowed, complete with airlock.

Mashed cherries in their jars 

They were so juicy! 

The yeast starter, this foamed up hugely a short while later

Boiling the sugar water

All mixed up and ready to go!

Their final resting place in Oma's basement, this was an old ice chest I think.

We now have to wait an excruciating few weeks before filtering and bottling and after that, more waiting! We're keeping everything crossed that they come out well and we don't end up with litres of cherry vinegar on our hands, to find out you'll have to check back in a month.

For now this is the last of the cherry posts, we basically cleaned out Oma's tree today but since selling them we've had people putting in orders! So tomorrow we're moving on to a friend's trees to see what we can muster. Depending on the amount and quality of the haul, you may see some more cherry related goodies in the near future.

Plucking crazy!

Yesterday we got busy in the kitchen with more cherry recipes but due to a current lack of pictures I'll get to that another day. For now I just wanted to share some pictures from today, we got another 12 kilos off the tree and having realised we can not possibly use them all ourselves, we're selling them to neighbours for some extra pocket money.

Competitive pricing, someone else in the village has them for €2.50

Oma's meadow

Arjan was determined to get the best cherries at the top of the tree

Coming soon: plums! 

He engineered a pulley system for his cherry basket 

There are also little peaches that we're looking forward to! 

 We're going back again tomorrow to pick more and I'll make sure to get pictures for another recipe post.

Recipe: Cherry Jam

It is cherry season! The branches of trees all throughout the village are sagging under the weight of their luscious, ruby fruits and kilo bags can be bought from at least one house on every street.
On saturday we spent the whole afternoon helping friends with re-landscaping their garden and I was lucky enough to get an hour or two away from the heavy labour to go cherry picking in their meadow. They have 3 big trees, all of which were absolutely covered! I was handed a 10L bucket and told not to come back until it was full and that I did.
I spent that evening coming up with a few cherry recipes that I was confident would use up most of the haul.
Today, we were doing yard work for Arjan's Oma and among our tasks? You guessed it. Cherry picking!
We filled another couple of tubs, one with dark sour cherries and another with a similar/same variety as those from Saturday. The sour cherries were so ripe that a few burst like water bombs when they were dropped in the tub.

Cherries on cherries on cherries!

Beautiful, dark, glossy sour cherries

Cheerful, ruby-red sweet cherries

 Determined not to waste any of these delicious morsels, Arjan and I dashed to the shop to grab some ingredients then headed straight back to Oma's to get cracking.

First on the list: Cherry Jam!

Having made strawberry jam a couple of months ago and been incredibly impressed with the results, I was excited to try this with the tart, juicy sour cherries. But first came the hard part, if only I'd known what a torturous job cherry pitting was....

This was a little less than half way through and already the stickiness was unbearable. 

We sterilised some jars by simmering them in a large pan of water for a while. We actually only needed 3 of these 440ml jars, the recipe said 4-5 400ml, so I would suggest you should expect to be at the lower end and be pleasantly surprised if you exceed that.

After macerating the kilo of  pitted cherries with 500g of pectin sugar, I brought it to the boil then simmered it for a little over 5 minutes (the recipe states 5 but these were especially juicy cherries so I wanted to get rid of a little more of the water. This bubbling pot of jammy goodness was the result.

I left it to cool slightly for 15 minutes before filling the jars. As I type said jars are sitting on the windowsill, lids slightly ajar, cooling completely. The urge to dive in is almost overwhelming, but I'm being good. I did sneak a taste when I was cleaning up afterwards and oh boy, I am looking forward to breakfast tomorrow! The jam is sweet, but not overly and has a wonderfully tart aftertaste that lifts the whole thing to a new level. With nothing but sugar and fruit, I can guarantee you that this will be the purest, freshest and fruitiest cherry jam you will ever have, so go on, try it!

Tomorrow we're back in the kitchen for more cherry madness, hint: one of the recipes is for adults only...

Date Day

Arjan and I are currently living with his parents, seeing as we had our own flat for two years before this I think it can occasionally put some strain on our relationship, not having the same freedom that we are used to and having a completely different household dynamic. Thus, it is important for us to take time for ourselves, do little things together and just get out of the house sometimes.
Sometimes it's as simple as going for a walk or heading to his Oma's to do some work in her garden. On tuesday we will have been together for three and a half years, so we wanted to do something a little special to celebrate it. I found cheap cinema tickets on the dutch version of Groupon and so we decided to have a date day.
The tickets included a free drink if you went to a showing before 5pm, so naturally we chose that option. However, the film we were desperate to see, 22 Jump Street, wasn't playing early on tuesday so we had our date day a little early and went yesterday.

It was amazing weather yesterday (and still is now) so we cycled to Sittard's Foroxity cinema for the 14:00 showing, it was very quiet but they must have had a 'silver-screen' special on another film because quite a few seniors showed up while we were waiting.
We got our free little beers (yes, they serve alcohol at dutch cinemas!) and sat outside while we waited for it to begin, then got new beers and some bugles when we headed in.
We expected the viewing to be quiet, but we were a little taken aback when we went in and found not a single seat occupied. We went straight up to the back and settled in.
The film was hilarious! As with most sequels I was worried that it wouldn't be as funny as 21 Jump Street, but it was just as good, if not better. It had us laughing uproariously on more than one occasion and we really hope there will be a third film.

Crappy iPhone picture just about captures the awesomeness.  

This was undoubtedly one of the best cinema trips I've ever had. It was just like watching a movie at home, we laughed loudly and commented on things and sat how we wanted, but we had a massive screen! We even got special treatment at the interval (yes, they also have intervals at dutch cinemas), we both went for a toilet trip and to get new drinks and one of the attendants asked "would you like the full length break or shall I just start the film when you're back in your seats?". I don't think I will be able to enjoy going to a regular film viewing in the same way ever again.

After the show we got a quick lunch and headed to the local brewery for a refreshing beer. We had a great time and were a little sad when it was all over, but by that point we were tired of cycling and I was getting sunburnt, so it was time to head home.

Recipe: Gnocchi

I love gnocchi! I haven't always though, I really did not enjoy the texture of them as a child, but then all I had to try was store bought, ready made ones. It wasn't until a holiday to Italy years ago, that I really began to appreciate them.

I've always heard people say how easy they are to make and thought this must be absolute rubbish, fabulous cooks making fabulous food and just playing up the whole "anyone can do it" nonsense. But when cravings occur they must be sated.
One evening, Arjan and I found ourselves both having an intense desire for gnocchi and upon discovering that we had all the necessary ingredients to hand, I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try. Yet again, pinterest was to thank for this recipe and by golly am I glad I found it.

I used this recipe for truffled gnocchi with mushroom ragu from Simply Delicious.

These gnocchi were light and soft and fluffy and delicious! I wasn't the biggest fan of the sauce, but Arjan loved it, so I think that's just personal taste. The gnocchi were what counted for us at that time and they really delivered. I doubled the quantities for this recipe (just for the gnocchi, not the sauce) and we had half then and put the rest in a bag in the freezer.

Another way we love to have gnocchi is fried. This might sound unusual, but don't gnoc it till you've tried it (eh, eh?!). We first did this a couple of years ago as poor students wanting something cheap, quick and delicious, it's starting to catch on a bit now and can be found online more readily.
The fried gnocchi become like little roast potatoes, getting a golden, crispy crust and a soft, slightly chewy centre. They are fantastic on their own as a slightly indulgent lunch or snack, or as an accompaniment for a main meal.
Ours were still frozen when we remembered they were there decided to use them and I did see people online saying best not to fry them from frozen due to spitting fat and whatnot, but I threw caution to the wind and went for it. Adding plenty of butter, I fried them over a low heat at first, covered with a lid to help them warm through, then I turned up the gas to high in the final few minutes to get them nice and crisp. Overall they took maybe 10-15 minutes from frozen (obviously much quicker from fresh) and make sure to keep them moving so you don't end up with one side burnt and the other mushy!

Give it a try and amaze friends and family with your incredible cooking prowess!

Garden: Sweet Pea Flowers

June has arrived and with it..... rain. We have had incredible down pours these last few days, luckily this means everything in the garden is getting a really good watering, but it's not so nice otherwise.
May was mostly really good, so everywhere you look is bursting with life!

If you read my last gardening posts you will know that I planted some sweet peas earlier in the year and I've been charting their success on here. At the time of my last post they were all doing well, but the ones in the metal bucket were definitely smaller than the other two in pots, it's not changed since then. They are still tiny and a little sad looking, I think it may be a combination of poor drainage (there is no hole in the bottom of the bucket) and heat, the bucket gets really quite warm in the sun so it may not have been the best choice of container.

Anyhow, the other two pots are doing beautifully, they're both about 1m high now and are covered in buds, some of which have started opening! It was so exciting seeing the first flowers open and there seem to be more each time I look now.
When I bought the seeds I went for a mixed bag because I wanted a nice variety of colours and at the moment they are displaying that wonderfully.

White with pink blush

Deep purple

Pale pink/purple

Bright pink

If you were to read my gardening posts at the moment it might seem like sweet peas are all I've got right now, but don't be fooled! I've got a few more things going on and I'll be sure to post about them in the foreseeable future.

Pllek Amsterdam

On Sunday we had another gig in Amsterdam, this time at Pllek in the North of the city.
We've played Pllek before, back in November for the release of our newest single 'Elspeth' and we had a great time, so we'd been looking forward to this gig for a while!

It's a beautiful place, right on the water overlooking Amsterdam Central Station, and the building is actually partly made up of shipping containers so it has a very cool industrial-chic feel. It's also a very popular cafe-bar/restaurant so their Sunday music sessions are always busy with friends and families there for a chat and a bite to eat.

The interior is nicely put together with an assortment of simple tables and chairs, cosy sofas and raised carpeted areas for large groups to sit together comfortably. 

There is a huge terrace outside too with picnic benches and a fire pit!

Yes, that ferry is bigger than those buildings...

Picture by Anna of http://ookannaheefteenblog.wordpress.com

The gig went well and we had a stand-in drummer called Sean, who we were so thankful to for helping us out, but what I really want to talk about in this post is the FOOD!
Oh my gosh is it good. One of the reasons we were so excited for this gig was because the food had been so amazing last time, the most memorable dish being their seasonal venison stew.
After the gig we grabbed a table and settled in with a couple of drinks to wait until the dinner service started. We ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the numerous delights listed on the menus and ordered the second it turned 6pm.

Arjan went for the panfried cod, it was served with wilted spinach, baby carrots, watercress, garlic mashed potatoes and a langoustine sauce. One of the many benefits of being in a couple is always getting to try your other half's food! The cod was beautifully cooked, flakey and moist with a crisp skin. The veg was nicely cooked and complimented the fish well, the mash was so smooth and creamy with just the right amount of garlicy tang. The sauce brought the whole dish together incredibly well, it was sweet and light and coated everything perfectly. 

I actually had the same dish that I had back in November, boring I know, but this is one of the nicest ravioli dishes I've had outside of Italy. They were filled with beetroot and spring grass cheese (not sure what this is actually called in the UK) and topped with slices of beetroot and turnip, spring grass cheese, hazelnuts, turnip greens and a nut butter sauce. You would think this could be a little overly sweet for a main dish, but it's a light sweetness that goes wonderfully with the gentle saltiness of the cheese and the indulgent buttery sauce. At first I was skeptical about the hazelnuts but they add an extra dimension, both texturally and in flavour. Despite being in a butter sauce, this dish feels surprisingly virtuous and healthy!

Our booker, Marlous, went for the dish of the day; Limburg white asparagus served with wild broccoli, wild boar ham, new potatoes, hollandaise sauce and boiled egg. I didn't expect to get a taste of this (when it arrived at the table I was pretty jealous) but Marlous was struggling towards the end so we were called in to assist. It was so good! The white asparagus has a much milder flavour than the green we're used to in the uk, I actually prefer the green but I'm enjoying the white more and more. The spears are very thick, so it has to be cooked a lot longer, but this was done perfectly, not mushy in the slightest. The wild broccoli was incredibly good and reminded me a little of kale. The hollandaise was lovely and thick and not too sour either. In hindsight I wish I'd gone for this dish.

The other 3 in our group opted for the steak, which looked delicious but I never got a picture because they all ravenously dove upon them on arrival.

Because we were playing there, this meal was on the house, but the prices of the food are pretty good, definitely affordable and when you take into consideration the quality of the dishes it's a downright bargain! The lunch menu and snacks also look fantastic and I would love the opportunity to give some of it a taste. Next time I'm in Amsterdam I much just take a little ferry trip across the Ij for a bite....