LA in Bloom: Weeknight Dinner Party from LAinBloom on Vimeo.

beet cake from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

We have got nothing planned for this weekend, I love that once in a while. I enjoy all the dates, weddings, birthdays, trips, visits, markets and fairs but once in a while its just great to have no schedule at all. The only thing I want to do is eat & cook.

It has been a while that I have taken the time to make something special. Recent Elle Eten (Food) inspired me to make a quiche and I really want to make a cake with the pears my mother gave me fresh from the orchard of a friend and I feel like home made soup and fresh pasta!! (check out our ‘pasta domenica’!! )I also love a good cheese platter and charcutterie with a nice glass of wine.

These two video’s will give you the same enthusiasm about getting into the kitchen as I am having right now! The first by Tiger in a jar (also check out their other lovely video’s) and the second one by LA in Bloom.

Ten years ago I worked a summer in the USA at Lake Powell (Utah-Arizona) as a boatinstructor on the lake. This is where I met the lovely Dawson and Sherri Claridge. This couple are globetrotters at their finest. Last week they stayed at our place for a couple of days and it was great to see them again. They wish to have a guesthouse in Denver one day and they will be the perfect hosts.

It was like having in house catering while having them at our place. They served the most lovely food and they gave me the recipies! Also loved their fresh homemade ‘spritzer’! Dawson & Sherri, it was great to have you stay with us and thanks for everything!

I always love those ‘coffee moments’ in the morning. It gives this cosy feel and with something sweet it always feels like a little treat for yourself. Especially when it all looks so perfect like in the photos above and the photos I made a while ago here and here. I really can enjoy these ‘coffee moments’!

Have a lovely weekend!

(all images and sources can be found on my tumblr)

]]> http://www.alittlehamster.com/food-and-recipies/coffee-moments/feed/ 3 http://www.alittlehamster.com/food-and-recipies/for-the-love-of-friends-cooking/ http://www.alittlehamster.com/food-and-recipies/for-the-love-of-friends-cooking/#comments Sat, 18 Dec 2010 12:53:30 +0000 lennebelle http://www.alittlehamster.com/?p=2338 When I came back from traveling Asia at the end of april I decided to document all the recipies of the dinners I have every single monday with my friends! We are with the five of us (one lives abroad so she’s never there) and eat together every monday at someone elses place. We have a nice meal and watch Grey’s Anatomy or something like that with tea and cookies while discussing the big and the small things in life.

This year was full of delopment, people buying houses, getting engaged or pregnant. So much to talk about. Everybody having its own hectic life it is so nice (and I think special) that we still have this sacred monday dinners to get together. So for Sinterklaas (dutch celebration) I gave them all a little cookbook with all the recipies!

A friend told me about these passionate brothers from Brooklyn, The Mast Brothers, making the perfect chocolate, bringing in their special cacoa beans into the harbour of New York with their own sailing ship and hand picking all beans by themselves to garantee the best chocolate.  The attention for detail, the effort to do everything by hand, the pretty finishing touch with the gorgious paper wrapping and their beards make me smile.

Short movie ‘The Mast Brothers Chocolate’

Other foodlovers are Andrew who works at  Rockaway Taco and Elizabeth and Shaun  from Veggie Island in Quens, New York. In their little shag they serve delicious healthy and local grown farm fresh food and drinks. Watching the short film made by The Selby it is all about the joy in life and hard work! A perfect combination.

Short movie ‘Veggie Island’

]]> http://www.alittlehamster.com/food-and-recipies/passion-for-food-crafts-vegetables/feed/ 1 http://www.alittlehamster.com/food-and-recipies/passion-for-food-crafts-bread/ http://www.alittlehamster.com/food-and-recipies/passion-for-food-crafts-bread/#comments Wed, 06 Oct 2010 10:00:10 +0000 lennebelle http://www.alittlehamster.com/?p=2227 Lately I have seen some nice little movies about people with a passion for food crafts. It is so nice to hear people speak with so much love about the ingredients, the process and the  result. If it is either bread, chocolate or vegetables. So check out the up coming posts and I know watching even short movies takes time in a busy schedule but these ones are really worth your while!

In this case it is Tartine Bakery in San Fransisco. Just this morning I watched the short film about their special approach to a product so common and ordinairy; bread. The way they kneed the dough, how you see the loaves rise and how the crusts bursts made my mouth water. They also published two cookbooks, one is all about bread and one about patisserie.

Short movie ‘Tartine Bakery’

This weekend I went to my first Harvest Festival in Rotterdam. Never thought it would be so much fun. Farmers, eco-friends and foodlovers were everywhere admiring this years’ harvest. Tasting the most fresh goat cheese, the hottest homemade breadspread and the sweetest eco-muffins while patting rabbits and stroking goats.

So nice to see everybody making such an effort making honest, pure and fresh delicious food! It made me more aware of what I eat daily. Today I made my own dark brown bread with walnuts and raisins with bread flower from the market and just now I took the roasted red onions in balsamico vinegar out of the oven to eat it all togehter as a starter with farmers pate.

Check out some really nice websites (most in Dutch); Kookgenoot, Public Pie, Eigengemaakt, Piens’ veldkeuken, Spek & Bonen

My love showed me the website Fruenden von Freunden, a Selby like website with inspiring people and their homes. He pointed out one interview in specific he knew I would like; Malin Elmlid, living in Berlin, working as head of sales for Wood Wood and having her own little business with her Bread Exchange Programme.

I love the idea of baking natural and organic bread and sharing it with friends in exchange for other products or ideas! Malin also keeps her own blog: Miss Elmlid. Her story, work and interior got me inspired this weekend.

]]> http://www.alittlehamster.com/food-and-recipies/miss-elmlid-and-the-bread-exchange-programme/feed/ 1 http://www.alittlehamster.com/food-and-recipies/delicious-in-every-sense/ http://www.alittlehamster.com/food-and-recipies/delicious-in-every-sense/#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2010 07:00:19 +0000 lennebelle http://www.alittlehamster.com/?p=2035 For a friend I made a party dress for her housewarming party. The deal was that I would get 4 old but fantastic chairs because mine (from my great grandmother) are falling apart. When I finished the dress she gave me this wonderfull cookbook ‘Festive recipies’. This cookbook is delicious in every sense. The recipes are yummy , the styling is great and the photography is beautiful.

Besides this cookbook being pretty I always find it important that the recipies are easy to make, not time consuming and that the ingredients are simple to get and that’s what this cookbook is all about. It is only published in Dutch and French.