Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Happy Easter!


Easter has got to be one of my very favourite holidays! The fresh feeling of spring in the air, everyone bathing in the long awaited sunshine combined with an easter brunch, what more could anyone ask for!? Not to mention the adorable crocuses and paper whites peeking out of the ground!

The night before, Julia and I got together and dyed eggs. First, we wanted to try to dye them with natural food colouring, which did not work out as well as we thought. Ju' once again saved the day (Easter, really.) and told me about how she used to dye eggs with her mother at home. They used to use onion peels, boiled in water, as the colouring for the eggs. We did that and let the eggs sit in the water over night. They turned out so beautifully!




Egg dyeing ideas and tips:
-use beeswax to draw on the eggs before dyeing
-avoid using chemicals-i.e. food colouring as they leach through the eggshell!
-use beets (red), onion peels(brown), turmeric(yellow), spinach (green) instead
-use vegetable oil to polish the eggs just before serving


I very much miss my family and home country around Easter time. It was therefore so,so nice to get together with friends to celebrate spring and to eat lots of Lindt Chocolate eggs.

Thanks to my parents, who found an amazing Swiss chocolatier in Armstrong, B.C., I got to eat a very Swiss Easter bunny this year! Actually, it was a hen, but hey, it was the real deal and that's all that mattered. They even make dog easter "bunnies"! ...I certainly appreciate Swiss chocolatiers immigrating to Canada, come on over anytime! :) (Welcome to Canada!)

European Swiss Easter Brunch Menu:
-Zopf bunnies
-Dyed Easter eggs
-"Russenzopf Rolls" (looks like a cinnamon bun. It's a sweet, yeasted dough with a moist almond filling, glazed with a lemony icing sugar glaze)
-Cheese!
-Muesli
-Espresso& Green Tea from France



Saturday, March 24, 2012

Finally!






Ok, so I promised some pictures of my new Kitchen... And you've waited long enough! Here they are :-)

A big HUGE thank-you to my lovely man who has worked so hard to make all of this happen!
At first, I thought the room was a bit too small to have a kitchen in as it is super narrow but very long. And even though I'm only able to have one side of counter space, it worked out so well! I never expected a modern kitchen like this! Yay!

We restored an old cabined for the sink and reused a double sink from a friend. The fan and the cabinet you see in the picture above are both used. So nice to be able to re-use and yet to have it look so, so good!

Happy Baking!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Renovations


Big news!

Café Mélange is getting a new home. A beautiful kitchen renovated by my love in our home. We put in flooring, trim, restored an old cabinet into a kitchen-sink cabinet, made counter tops, bought a very amazing range, and painted all four walls (and much, much more...).

And in the midst of all of this, I am always thinking and creating new recipes that one day maybe you'll be able to taste.