make your souls blossom

Emma's Homemade

2011-05-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been such a long time since I've written something on Make your souls blossom.
I've been so busy with other things that I honestly didn't had the time nor inspiration to blog...
And then I decided it was time to start all over again with a whole new blog about my true passion: food!
So here it is! It is called Emma's Homemade and is all about food, sharing recipes and my adventures in the kitchen with my food-allergies. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do!

Let them eat Cake!

2010-06-27T03:47:00.000-07:00

I have had some major problems with both my computer and the internet connection, but now they are solved and I am back!
While I was gone I have been very busy with starting my own catering annex cake-baking company from home on, called 'Let them eat Cake'. It is still at the beginning status, but I've already had some orders and there is a major one comming at the end of July.
I am still developing my logo and attempting to build a website, but I am terrible with computers....

Because of all of this I have been experimenting a lot and in the past couple of months I've been making things like: apple, caramel and lavender cakes, an orange poppyseed cake with orangeblossom creme and brownies with rosemary and seasalt.

Two weeks ago I set up a high tea for one of my friends and me. This was a good day to take some nice (food) pics and test some new recipes.
On the menu that day:
     - soft goats cheese sandwiches with rocket and balsamic caramelised onions
     - a smoked salmon and green asparagus tart
     - scones with home made rhubarb and ginger jam
     - raspberrie brownies

I think the raspberries in the brownies brought some welcome freshness to them.

This is the recipe if you would like to try the yourself:

*I have a dairy (cows milk) intollerance so i use margarine in my recipes, but you can replace this easily by butter, but you will have to keep them slightly longer in the oven.

Enough for 20 brownies:
Ingredients:
100 gram dark (70%) chocolate, melted
125 gram softened margarine
275 gram caster sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 large eggs
50 gram of dark chocolate chips
100 gram of fresh raspberries, coated with some flour
Preheat the oven to 180oC or 350oF.
Put the marganine into a mixing bowl and mix it till you get a smooth mixture. Add the sugar and vanilla in three parts and mix well. Add the eggs one ate the time and then add the melted chocolate. Sif the flour and cocoa onto the mixture and incorporate carefully until you have a silky smooth texture. Add the choclate chips and mix well. Pour the batter into a prepared tin (appr. 25x25 cm) and scatter the raspberries on top. Carefully push them into the batter and put the brownie into the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes.
Take out of the oven and let cool (in the tin).
Once cooled, take tem out of the tin and slice into nice squares.

Optional: Serve with a nice dollop of creme fraiche and some frech raspberries.

Vanilla flavoured madeleines

2010-04-11T08:06:00.000-07:00

I have always loved madeleines. They always looked like such a chique and sophisticated kind of cake to me, but I never had the chance to make these French delicacies myself...until now.

My French neighbor let me borrow her special madeleine baking tin and I started looking for a recipe. The recipe I initially found was one with rose-buds (by Nigella Lawson). This did sound lovely, but unfortunately I did not have any rosewater or rose-buds. So instead of the rose-flavoured ones I decided to give the recipe a twist and make vanilla ones. I can't help to say, but they tasted amazing and as soon as I took a bite, I was sitting at a beautiful Paris based terrace.

RECIPE
makes 12 or 24 small ones

Ingredients:
50 grams of butter
- melted and cooled down
1 big egg
40 grams caster sugar
a pinch of salt
45 grams of flower
half a vanillapod

- just the seeds (scrape them out with a knife)

Grease the tin with a tablespoon of the melted butter.
Mix the egg, sugar and salt for 5 minutes untill you have got a thick mixture with the texture of mayonaise. The sif the flower onto the mixture and carefully fold it in with a spatula. Pour in the melted butter and carefully fold this in as well.
Cover the bowl and put it into the fridge for an hour.
Preheat the oven at 220oC, gasmark 7.
Now get the bowl with the madeleine mixture out of the fridge, and let it rest for another 30 minutes at roomtemperature.
Pour about a tablespoon of the mixture into the molds. Do not worry about spreading the mixture out, because this will happen in the oven.
Put the tin into the oven and bake for about 5 minutes. Get them out of the oven and let them cool down on a wire rack.
Once they have coolded down they are ready to eat.
Enjoy them with a nice cup of tea and just imagine you are in Paris :)

I advise you to consume them on the day of preparation, because they tend to turn a bit dry and chewy.

pumpkin soup

2010-04-11T07:15:00.000-07:00

This is a recipe for a spicy pumpkinsoup with sweet apple.

The past year I disovered the pumpkin with it sweet flesh and beautiful deep and bright orange colour.

I love to experiment with this amazing fruit and use it in cakes, stews, curries and ofcourse soups.

This is a soup that will give you that beloved warm feeling inside, which is why it's perefect for a wet and cold day.

RECIPE

serves 6

Ingredients:

1 medium sized pumpkin (I used the onion pumpkin)

cleaned, deseeded and cut into 2 cm big chunks

2 sweet apples (I prefer the Dutch Elstar, but apples like Braeburn will work as well)

washed, deseeded and cut into 2 cm big chunks

2 medium sized onions

peeled and finely chopped

3 medium sized carrots

cleaned and sliced (1 cm thick)

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves

1 dried red chilli pepper

finely crumbled

1,5 litre of vegetable stock

olive oil

Pour a splash of olive oil into a hot pan and add the coriander and cumin seeds. Toast them for about 30 seconds and then add the onion, cinnamon stick and chilli and turn the heat down to meduim/low. Fry the onions till they are softened and then add the pumpkin, apple, carrot and bay leaves. Put the lid on the pan and let it soften for 15 to 20 minutes, while stirring occasionally. By the time the vegetables are softened they will have spread a deliciously, warm and fragrant smell through the kitchen. Now it is time to pour in the stock and bring it to a boil. Turn the heat down and let it simmer for another 30 minutes. To create a bright orange and velvety soup you will now need the help of a (hand-held) blender or food processor.

Add some salt and pepper to taste and the soup is ready to enjoy!

To make it extra special you can decide to:

- stir in some golden raisins to bring out the sweetness of the ingredients

- add some coriander leaves

- add a swirl of cream to soften the heat of the chillies

- add some pieces of crispy bacon or pancetta for a salty contrast

- add some shaved, toasted almonds to bring, which is nice with the nutty pumpkin

2010-02-25T06:40:00.000-08:00

The past couple of weeks I finally had time to start drawing and experimenting again.
All of them are made with watercolour crayons and/or pen and ink.

They are all based on pictures out of magazines like Elle, Lula ans I-D magazine.

This is the first one I made in a really long time, and probably the one I am the least happy with out of all of the following

I just love to work with pen & ink and watercolour crayons and do think they combine very nicely. This is the very first real drawing I just made with watercolour and it is the base of the rest of the drawings...

What are the materials you love to work with? And do you have any tips for me to optimalize my work ? :)

tuna sandwiches

2010-02-10T13:24:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love tuna sandwiches with home made tunasalad.
To make my favorite tuna salad you need the following ingredients:

The recipe is enough to make sandwiches out of a whole loaf of bread.

Ingredients:
2 cans of tuna
3 sweet and sour pickles, finely chopped
1 apple, chopped in dices of apr. 1cm
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
2 tablespoons of capers
1 red onion, finely diced
4 heaped tablespoons of low-fat mayonaise of creme fraiche
salt and pepper to taste

All you have to do is to mix the ingredients and the salad is ready to eat!

tea time

2010-02-06T13:17:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I'm doing a belate birthday party and organizing a high tea for my family.
On the menu will be:
- scones with clotted cream and jam
- lemon cakes
- pear, hazelnut and dark chocolate cakes
- dark chocolate and espresso cupcakes
- red onion, goats cheese and thyme tartlets
- tunasalad sandwiches
- BLT sandwiches
- salmon and broccoli quiches

pictures and recepies will follow soon :)

Most wanted outfit of the moment!!!

2010-01-27T13:21:00.000-08:00

cheer movies

2010-01-27T11:56:00.000-08:00

Haha, I know it is too cheesy, but I absolutely have thing for cheerleading movies...

At the moment I'm watching Bring it on, for probably the 6th time.

I don't now why I like them so much, i just have had this facination for years...maybe because Holland doesn't have any chearleaders? I even went to an American high school to get the whole experience and to see some real cheers...secretly I just wanted to become one :p

Unfortunately I ended up at some bad small town private school in SC whithout a cheerleadingteam, so I still have to dream about being a fantastic cheerleader and watch the bring it on movies....

Is there anybody else who shares this weird facination with me??

Make your souls blossom Etsy shop

2009-11-28T10:08:00.000-08:00

I'haven't been posting for quite a while because I've been very busy with my schoolwork, searching for an apartment (found one :D) and making goods for my own Etsy shop.

I have put a lot of time, experimenting, love and care in creating them and I hope this will show.

Currently I only have notebooks in my shop, but I am planning to add some other items as well.

These are some of my favorite items that you can find in the shop:

muffins

2009-11-05T01:51:00.000-08:00

These arejust some pictures of the fabulous Amsterdam-based bakery 'Bakken met Passie' (Baking with Passion), which is located at the Albert Cuypstraat. They have won the award for best bread bakery in the world, and their cakes aren't bad either.... My mum and I sat down for a nice cup of fresh mint tea and a muffin, who where absolutely yummie :)

lemon muffin, white chocolate and raspberry muffin, apple and blackberry muffin

Fetta cheese, pesto and sunblushed tomato muffin

Dark chocolate and caramel muffin

Sunday morning

2009-11-01T01:36:00.001-07:00

Hope that everyone is enjoying their weekends so far.....
I certainly do: yesterday my mom and I went food shopping in Amsterdam and it was absolutely yummie. I will post some pics later.

Now i'm going to enjoy my breakfast....

Henry was all ready for halloween with his new wig, what do you think about his new look?

carrot, apple and almond cake

2009-10-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

This week I've been experimenting a lot with all different kind of recepies and this is one of them.

Ingredients:
200 gram whole wheat spelt flower
200 gram spelt flower
1,5 tbs bakingpowder
2 organic eggs
150 grams of runny honey
50 gram light brown granulated sugar
pinch of salt
175 ml apple juice
1 big cooking apple
3 medium carrots
125 gram ground almonds
2 tsp mixed spices
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger

Preparation:
Pre-heat the oven at 175oC and grease a baking tin.
Pour the flower, bakingpowder, spices, salt and sugar in a bowl and mix it al together.
Crack the eggs in another bowl and mix them with the apple juice and honey, until the honey is dissolved. Peel the apple and carrots and grate them roughly. Now you can mix all the ingredients together until you get a smooth mixture. Pour the mixture in the tin and bake it for 40-50 minutes in the oven, until it's set and golden brown. After that remove it from the oven and let it cool for about 5 minutes before turning it out on to a wire rack. Then let it get completely cold before serving.

Hope you enjoy it!

G form Guineapig

2009-09-23T02:04:00.000-07:00

Haha, it might sound weird, but I absolutely love guineapigs. I got my first one when I was seven years old and I've still got one called Little Lord Henry I.

Because of my love for guineapigs, I just received this little purse from a friend. Isn't it cute?

Creative mood

2009-09-04T07:53:00.000-07:00

Today I had a creative mood and made this drawing/collage based on the August issue of Nylon magazine.

I also made this Chanel inspired notebook, which even smells like Chanel parfume :) (even wanted to make some pearl beads at the end of the strings, but unfortunately they were to thick)

F from Fashion

2009-09-04T01:54:00.000-07:00

Fashion is another big favorite. I have even studied Fashion & Design for a year, which I absolutely loved. Unfortunately I had to quit, because I did not have enough energy for it anymore and was completely fagged.

I love shopping a lot, and my latest purchase is this amazing leather jacket from the Dutch label Jack Rivet, The Cowboys Tailor.

E from England

2009-09-04T01:31:00.000-07:00

England is one of my favorite countries, I don't know why, but I always feel at home immediately... I absolutely love the landscape with the variation of green tones and increadible trees! It is the home of my favorite city: London, packed with creativity and loads of different cultures.

One other reason is its cakes and other sweets; I don't know any other place (at least in Europe) where they have such a big selection of the most delicious things! Like this yummie scone:

D from Drawing

2009-09-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

Drawing is one of my absolute favorite things to do.

I love to sit down with a nice cup of tea, something that contains chocolate, some nice music and loads of drawing material. For me drawing is one of the most relaxing things to do and one of the many ways to express my creativity.

C from Chocolate

2009-08-13T13:14:00.000-07:00

Chocolate

Is there anything better than rich, creamy chocolate that melts on your tongue?
I especially love big chunks of dark chocolate with hazelnuts or Cadbury's, which makes the best milkchocolate I've ever had!!
Or what about chocolate chip cookies, chocolate fudge brownies, hot chocolate, chocolate ice cream from Ben&Jerry's......

B from books

2009-08-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

Books

I absolutely love reading, and my current favorite book is 'This book will save your live' by A.M. Homes.

The story is about Richard Novak, a succesfull stocktrader who lives in LA, and who sees no one except for his personal trainer, housekeeper and nutritionist. He is so out of toutch with his feelings that his life has has slowed almost to a standstill. Then, on a night he gets an attact of excruciating pain and he lands in the emmergency room. This changes his whole life and Richard's dramatic emotional thaw begins....

favorites ABC

2009-08-12T04:01:00.000-07:00

Amelie

'Les fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulin' is one of my favorite movies. I absolutely love the way Jean-Pierre Jeunet (he directed the new Chanel No5 commercial as well) has created the pictures of the film, it feels like your watching a grown-up fairytale. The main character is played by Audrey Tautou, who is one of my favorite acteresses...

2009-06-28T03:16:00.000-07:00

Dean & Deluca is absolutlely my favorite shop ever!!! Wow, they have so many delicious kinds of foods and it is all so nicely presented, I whish we would have some kind of simmilar shop in Holland.

After seeing all these pictures I hope you will get my point :P and will agree with me :D

I would like to know your favorite shop, so let me know!!

NYC

2009-06-27T12:03:00.001-07:00

Recently I've been to NYC and I absolutely felt in love with it! Although it has been raining all the time and I wasn't feeling well at all, I enjouyed it a lot. We stayed on 57th street near 5th Avenue and Central Park.

I think the Flatiron building is my favorite building , at least in the USA, but maybe even from the world...it is so beautiful and extraordinary!

These pics where secretly taken in the Central Library; wow it was so amazing!

I absolutely loved this burned down peer down at the river Hudson...

A look on Brooklyn:

A Marc Jacobs Add, near Bleeker Street: I am sorry of my lack of posting currently, but I had a lot of personal stuff to deal with...This is certanly not over yet, but I will try to post more often :D

love,

emma

London

2009-04-24T06:19:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I've been to London and it was an amazing trip! With lots of inspiriring shops, neighbourhoods and people.....

Paris

2009-02-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

This weekend I've been to Paris and it was great!

We had lunch at Rose Bakery, an amazing little restaurant with all freshly made yummie products. It was probably the most delicious lunch I've ever had! :)

I had a cheese scone with scrambled eggs, a small tomato salad and a small green salad. For desert, my mum and I shared the most delicious carrot cake and lemoncake.

This is the vieuw from the roof of the Lafayette warehouse, it was so beatiful! Because it was snowing, everything looks so grey ;)

The beautiful inside of the Galerie Lafayette!!

This is one of the windows of the most beautiful delicatessen (I hope I spelled it right ;)) shop, I have ever seen. A real paradise for the true foodie like me :D It is called Fauchon and you can find it at the Place Madeleine.

And, last but not least: this absolutely yummie crepe au sucre...

Love,

Emma

tea time

2009-01-25T11:24:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I it was my birthday, a good reason for a party!! So, I gave a hightea-party for all my friends. I thought it looked so perfect, it was definately worth showing!! :D I made tiny cheesecakes, carrot muffins with a creamy lemon glaze, chocolate cookies, brownies, scones with home-made clotted cream and jam, salmon sandwiches, blt sandwiches and cheesecups.

If you like it I will put some of my recepies on my blog, so you can enjoy these wonderfull and delicious treats as well :D

Love,

Emma

design

2009-01-25T10:46:00.001-08:00

At school I got the assignment to create a prototype. It had to be made of one square piece of fabric from 150x150 cm, and you were aloud to make just one cut. This is the result:

The actual prototype (on a pipo doll)

Hope you liked it...

Love,

Emma

collages

2008-12-31T06:04:00.000-08:00

These are some collages I made, hope you like em!

great stuff from fredflare.com

2008-12-08T12:08:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love the American website fredflare.com, they sell such funny and goofy stuff! In this post I will show you my current favorites.....

I adore this goofy icecream lamp, it is so cute; it would look great on my night table..... :)

This dog is just so cute, hahaha

This snowman kit is so cute! I can't wait to make my own with this kit.....

I absolutely love this icecream truck, it is so cool, although the lipbalm probably tastes grows, lol... I still would love to have it!

This book is full of patterns to make the cutest dolls ever!

This lovely little book from Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara is filled with beautyful immages like these ones:

This is just my first post, so I hope you liked it, and I promise, if I have more time, they will improve soon :p

Love,

Emma

introducing myself

2008-12-01T13:26:00.000-08:00

Hi Girls,

Well, I will start with introducing myself.....

I am Emma and I live in the Netherlands (that tiny country in Europe famous for it's windmills and wooden shoes, ;).
My biggest passions are cooking, baking, interior and fashion (which I study as well).
In my spare time I love to sing, draw, meet my friends and family, and bake the most delicious things......so, I love to be creative.

Although I lived (almost) all my life in a city (except for my exchange time in South Carolina), my dream is to live on the English country side. That country is so beatiful and fairy tale-like, I couldn't think of a nicer place to live.

That's about it, so I hope you're going to enjoy my blog!