Bagel Breakfast.

Bagel with a cashew-red bell pepper-spread and cress, and a cappuccino.

Sparrows.

At my favourite Curry place with the best and most interesting vegan curries ever are always a lots of sparrows and they will accompany you while eating. One of them picked a bit of rice off my hand and he was talking to me, too. The bird was sitting on the back of a chair, looking at me and the conversation went a bit like this: 

Sparrow: ChirpChirpChirp

Jess: ChirrpChirrp

Sparrow: ChirpChirpChirp

Jess: ChirrpChirrp

...and so on...

I guess he wanted more morsels from my food but I'm not quite sure.

Raspberry-Thyme-Pancakes.

Mixed frozen raspberries and fresh thyme in my pancake batter - so delicious! I used a bit more sugar than usual in the batter, as the raspberries are a bit sourish. Will definetely do this again, the combination is great and I love raspberries so much.

Summer.

Caramelized almond cookies.

Actually this was the Chewy Cocolate Chip Cookies recipe from Post Punk Kitchen but as I can't follow a recipe, I changed it into non-chocolate-at-all cookies with caramelized almonds and they turned out delicious and super-crispy-chewy-yum.

Finally I could use my cute matroshka measure cups which I have already for a while but never used before. I didn't have measuring things with 1/3, 1/4 etc and as I am reading a lot of American blogs and cook books, these thingies are quite helpful.

Cookies (makes around 30)

3/4 cup oil 

2 cups sugar

1 tblsp + 1 tsp flaxseed

1/2 cup soya milk

2,5 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder (cream of tartar)

1/2 tsp salt

100g almonds

5 tblsp sugar

Grind flax seed and mix with soya milk, set aside.

I had whole almonds wich I put into a plastic bag and crushed them, but you could use already chopped almonds to skip this step. 

Heat a big pan and add almonds, toast them while strirring from time to time. Be aware not to burn them.

Lower the heat and add sugar and stir again when the sugar begins to melt. Toss almonds in caramel. 

In a big bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar then add oil and the soya milk with flax seeds. Quickly form a dough, add almonds (a lot of them will fall off the dough, just flip them in your mouth, no one will notice) and put the dough into the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Just before the dough is cold enough preheat your oven.

Roll dough into 1inch balls and put on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Don't flatten them.

Bake them for about 10minutes on gas mark 5, remove from the oven and now flatten them with a fork, while they're still hot and soft.

Let them cool completely and they will have the most wonderful consistency.

The windowsill garden.

These are the herbs for this year: sage, honeydew melon sage, orange mint, rosemary, lemon basil, koriander.

Lemon basil.

Sometimes birds visit this tiny garden, too.

Sweet Curry Hoummous.

Recently one of my favourite flavour combinations is curry with a sweetener like sugar or syrup. The sweetness enhances the diverse curry flavours.

Today I made a hoummous variation with this:

- 1 big can chickpeas

- juice of 1 lemon

- 2 tblsp olive oil

- 1 tsp paprika

- 1 tsp cumin

- 2 tsp currypowder

- 1 tblsp agave syrup

- dash of salt

- pepper

- fresh koriander

Mix chickpeas with spices, lemon juice and olive oil in a big bowl and puree with a hand blender and add some water bit by bit if necessary. When the hoummus is a smooth paste add the agave syrup and mix once again for a few seconds.

Stir in some fresh koriander leaves (and/or parsley) with a fork and serve. Fill leftovers in a airtight container or glass and it will keep for a few days if you really can resist this pretty tasty hoummous for so long (which I don't believe actually, but just for your information).

Curry colour and total cat sweetness.

Asparagus with oystermushrooms and cherry tomatoes

- 125g green asparagus

- 150g oyster mushrooms

- some yellow and red cherry tomatoes

- garlic

- salt, pepper

- lemon zest

- nutmeg

- oil or margarine

Cut off the ends of the asparagus and cut the rest into 3 cm pieces, the mushrooms into stripes. Smash the garlic with the side of a big knife.

Heat 1 tblsp margarine or oil in a pan and add aspargus first. Stir from time to time and fry for a few minutes until the asparagus starts to get brown. 

Now add the mushrooms and garlic, I had 2 big cloves. Fry for another 5 minutes on medium heat, slightly stir from time to time. Add salt, pepper, lemon zest and a big pinch of freshly grated nutmeg. When it's almost done cut cherry tomatoes into half and add. Lower the heat and wait til the tomatoes begin to melt. Serve this on its own, considering it a low-carb thing or serve with a rice or potatoe dish. Great flavours and the tomatoes bring enough liquid to have a luscious and tangy dish.

Banana Cranberry Peanut Milkshake.

-2-3 bananas

-200ml soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)

-2 tbsp dried cranberries

-2 tbsp chopped peanuts (they can be roasted or raw, but don't use salted ones)

-1 tiny dash of salt

Put everything together in a blender or use a hendhald mixer and blend. Add a bit more soy milk, if it's too thick. You could also add a tablespoon agave syrup, but if you're bananas are ripe, they should have enough sweetness. There will remain tiny bits of peanuts which is awesome!

Carrot salad for breakfast.

-2-3 carrots

-100g soy yoghurt

-1 tbsp sesame

-salt, pepper, fresh koriander

-alfalfa sprouts

Mix yoghurt with sesame and season to taste with salt and pepper. Grate the carrots and mix with the yoghurt, top with some sprouts and fresh koriander or other herbs.
I often eat a salad like this for breakfast, it's fresh and full of flavour and a nice alternative to cross your bread and spread or whatever you're used to eat for breakfast routine.

Uh, summer!

It's a bit hot, so hanging around like this seems to be appropriate.