zaterdag 24 december 2016

Merry Christmas














































 
 
To me the last weeks up to Christmas are often among the happiest of the year. I love to decorate our house and the Christmas tree with the girls, do a spot of baking, work my way through a pile of cookery books and magazines on my bedside table, and visit one or two Christmas fairs. It's the jolly songs on the radio too, the magical window displays in the city centre and the lights in the trees and houses, that catch my attention as I cycle through town.

Last Thursday morning, when on my way to the station at six thirty, to catch my train to work, a bearded young man on a bicycle, headphones on, passed me by, singing Rudolph the red nose reindeer at the top of his voice. A moment later I could hear the distinctive sound of sleigh bells ringing..... A broad smile appeared on my face. It's small things like this, that bring happiness, and make the start of a day and the weeks up to Christmas special.

And now, on Christmas Eve, with a Bundt cake in the oven, a mushroom soup simmering on the stove and the girls in front of the telly watching a film, I sit behind my laptop writing this post to you. Before tomorrow's celebrations start and we will all be busy,  I want to wish you a Merry Christmas. I hope you will have a wonderful time with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog too and for  leaving such sweet comments, both here and on Instagram. I very much appreciate it.

Love, Peace and Joy,

Madelief x

Photo's 1, 2 & 3 were taken in Bruges, photo 4 and 5 at the Exhibit 'With love to Audrey' at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, photo 6 to/incl. 12 at the Marienwaerdt Christmas fair. The other photo's were taken at my home. 

 












maandag 28 november 2016

Enjoying autumn












Time flies when you are having fun! The last couple of have weeks have gone by in a haze: visiting Dordrecht with two sweet friends on a bright autumn day, admiring the photo's by German fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh at an exhibition in the Kunsthal in my home town Rotterdam, discovering the beautiful old town of Gorinchem with my boyfriend, and baking a pie or two.  

If you like chocolate and walnuts, the pie on my photo's is perfect for you.
It's a 'heavy' pie, because of the huge amount of chocolate, nuts and cream that goes in, but the taste is delicious,  and it looks beautiful too. You can find the recipe here. Unfortunately it's in Dutch only. I tried to find a similar recipe in English, but somehow the pies all differ in size and ingredients. 

This week I will bake something special for our Sinterklaas celebration. Hopefully I can show you the recipe next time. Have you been baking too lately? Would love to hear if you have a recipe you can recommend to me!

Have a great week ahead!

Love,

Madelief x

You can find me on Instagram and Pinterest too.

My photo's were taken in Dordrecht (Huis van Gijn, Huis Roodenburch), Gorinchem and Rotterdam)