DIY Citrus Body Scrub

Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin.  

Gwyneth Paltrow

 Gestern habe ich Frühjahrsklamotten anprobiert und dabei gedacht, dass es höchste Zeit wäre, mal wieder etwas für meine Haut zu tun! Vor allem für Arme und Beine, die nach dem langen Winter - um es milde auszudrücken - nicht so richtig gut aussehen. Ein schönes Peeling schleift alte Hautschüppchen ab, fördert die Durchblutung und vitalisiert den ganzen Körper. 

Dieses einfache Rezept habe ich schon mal getestet - es ist super-easy, 100% natürlich und tut richtig gut. Durch das Traubenkernöl in der Mischung ist es auch sehr pflegend. Ich habe die Anwendung von Traubenkernöl mal in dem wunderschönen Wellness-Hotel Bollants im Park kennengelernt - es enthält besonders viel Vitamin E und Polyphenole und ist somit ein super Anti-Ageing Mittel.

Ihr bracht für das Peeling nur:

1 Bio-Zitrone

250g naturreines grobes Meersalz

75ml kaltgepresstes Traubenkernöl

Zubereitung

Meersalz in ein Schälchen geben und mit dem Öl vermischen. die Zitrone auspressne und die Schale abreibem. Beides mit der Öl Salz Mischung gut vermengen - fertig! Jetzt nur noch in ein hübsches Glas abfüllen und den zitronigen Duft genießen!

Remember the body scrub DIY i posted about a while back? Meanwhile i got around making it, and it turned out great! You simply mix a cup of good, extra vergine vegetable oil - i used grapeseed-oil oil, since it's supposed to be very good for your skin - with a cup of pure sea salt and 2 teaspoons of grind lemon rind. That's it! Fill it in a pretty jar and use it on wet skin. You gently rub it in and shower it of.  Try it - and step into the week as the pretty and sparkling superstar you really are!

Photos: Martina Voigt-Schmid

Friday Chocolate Link Up

  
 

 

“Happiness. Simple as a glass of chocolate or tortuous as the heart. Bitter. Sweet. Alive.” 
 Joanne Harris, Chocolat

Have you ever tried making your own chocolate truffles? It's easy and complicated at the same time. Last sunday, i was hosting an "Art & Chocolate" event in my house  - to showcase my summer paintings, treat some old and new friends to an afternoon of sweetness and fun and to brighten November greys. I really did get my hands dirty 2 days in advance of this and experimented with new and better ways, to male scrumptious, velvety, deliciously chocolaty treasures.

This recipe here got me great results. It's  simple and easy to play and be creative with. BUT there's a warning: Grating chocolate, if you don't have a kitchen machine to do that for you, is an arduous job. Think about hiring an assistant or get your man to do it for you. The rest of the process is rather fun and brings you back to a childlike feeling - like when you were playing with play-dough or clay.

I like the very dark truffles best - they taste wonderful, if you love a touch of bitter, as i do, plus they give you all the health benefits of pure chocolate, and all the energy. They taste ..... very yummy, yet they're so rich that one makes you feel satisfied for the day.

If you're a chocolate lover and would like a special recipe or show pix of what you made - add your link to the list below. Can't wait to see your entry!

Easy peppermint marshmallows

One can never have too much LOVE ...

and just in case you need some remedy for winter blues, i found some: Easy homemade marshmallows  from wonderful Liz, author of  Say Yes to Hoboken, a great crafty blog i recently discovered. Wouldn't these make a perfect treat for Valentines? Or, any other day between here and then, that needs a little extra attention and sweetness? Love the pink whirl and love mint - and i hope you do too! Check out the full DIY here.

Photos: Say Yes to Hoboken

DIY White chocolate truffles

A sweet medicine against winter blues ...

Chocolate is always good, right? But even better are these delicious babies, creamy, white and soooo easy to make! I've tested and tried the recipe for our magazine KidsLife, and since than, have made several batches as little giveaways for dear friends - or just my own kids who love them. Give it a try for a special note to brighten pre-christmas days!

You need:

25 g Butter

75 g whipping cream

225 g white chocolate

A swig of "eau de vie", i used "Kirsch" (if you like) 

Coconut-flakes

Melt butter in a little pot over low heat. Add cream and stir until almost cooking point, add chocolate and let t melt in the butter cream mixture. Add liquor to taste and fill the mix into a tray or low casserole. Let cool in the fridge for 2 hours. Form little balls (walnut size) with a spoon and the help of your hands. This is sticky, but fun! Roll the truffles in coconut-flakes and place them in the fridge again. Refrigerated they keep for 2 weeks. As a present, you can fill them in pretty boxes - the how to for these i'll post another time!

Photos: Martina Voigt-Schmid

Baked LOVE!

There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved.  It is God's finger on man's shoulder.  

Charles Morgan

A sweet little baking project to celebrate love and have creative fun while doing so. I have found instructions for this amazing icing on a great blog all around baking and decorating called sweetopia. I'm not usually a great baker, but at the moment, i love it. Maybe because it keeps me warm and is not as demanding as painting. Still thinking about what to give my honey on valentines: some funky baked lips? Have a sweet weekend lovelies, i'd love to hear what you are up to.

And: Please excuse my slowness in blogging or lack in comments. I have problems with blogger lately. The comment boxed disappear, when i want to write something. Has any of you a similar problem?

Photos: sweetopia

Chocolate for breakfast

 

Sunday mornings are my fave ...

... and how about chocolate hazelnut morning smoothie for a late breakfast? If you want to know how it's made, have a look here. It looks like an ideal weekend indulgence to me - a little sweetness can make your day sometimes! I do look forward to a nice and lazy day - what are your plans lovelies?

Excuse my being slow at commenting at the moment - somehow i had problems with blogger or my computer - hope this will be fixed soon!

Photo: The healthy foodie

Add some sweetness ...

How far that little candle throws his beams! 

William Shakespeare

Add some sweetness to your day with these lovely Birthday cake Coockies. And even if it is not your birthday, they might help to add a little sparkle to your coffeebreak or bring a smile to a friends face. Have a lovely day sugarpearls. See how to make them here.

Photo: Brooke McLay

Friday Pretties: strawberry trifle

Red and sweet

Are strawberries ripe yet in your part of the world? This is a yummy dessert we tried for the magazine a little while ago, and i tell you - it's worth making! Somehow, i have a fable for casual, improvised meals and for english teatime baking and desserts.  I love a good teatime from time to time, and secretly dream of having a butler, who serves it up in style for us, complete with a white table cloth, a wildflower bouqet, scones, cream, and evrything else. Even if was just like - once a week ;)

For this version, we used layers of crumbled cake, soaked with orange juice and brandy, cut strawberries and cream, whipped with a little sugar and vanilla extract. It looks pretty when you put it in individual jars, and decorate with berries and a bit of flaky chocolate. Try it, to add a delicious note to your weekend!

Photos: Martina Voigt-Schmid

More Friday Pretties here! 

Friday Pretties: White chocolate and strawberry soup

Want to play with your food?

Why not! This is a fun dessert for your weekend- easy to make and super-delicious! I've made it for our magazine - one of my first real atempts in food styling and photography, helped by my son Robin and his girfriend Julie, eaten and tested by all of us! You can pour the liquids together and create a lovely color-swirl, you can dip muffins or coockies in, put it over fruit-salad, or just drink it of the jar - as a little reward because: you've been soooooooooo good!

The original recipe was found at Tartelette, who is an amazing cook and stylist - we've only made it a little less sweet. Have a yummy weekend everyone! And don't forget to enter my giveaway in the post below!

White chocolate soup

200 g white chocolate

1 cup passionfruit juice

one 14-oz can coconutmilk

Carefully start melting white chocolate in a little pot over low heat. Add coconutmilk and stir, until chocolate has dissolved. Add passionfriutjuice and stir on. Turn heat off and leave for 5 minutes. Than beat mixture until creamy. Put in jars or bowls and chill until serving.

Strawberry purree

500 g ripe strawberries

juice and peel of a bio-lemon

1 dash of vanilla extraxt

Put all ingredients in a blender and puree. Chill mixture until serving.

Photo: Martina Voigt-Schmid
More Friday Pretties here!

Monday Love: Sour sweetness

Do you love the taste of lemons?

I do! And somehow today, as if there weren't a 1000 other things on my mind, i find myself thinking about making lemon curd. It's yellow, it's sweet and it's special (at least over here in Germany) ... and easy to make. And there are so many fun ways to enjoy it: on joghurt, on toast, on scones, on cakes ... it just adds this lovely cheese-cake flavour to anything.  Have you ever tried making it? Here is the recipe!


Hope your week is getting off to a fabulous start girls - am seding a lot of lemony sunshine your way!

Photos: Goodlife Eats

Friday Pretties: Raspberry hearts

Eat your heart out - in a nice way!

On Valentines day or ... this weekend? I'm still at home, not feeling so well and phantasizing about lovely things to eat and to do once my strength is back. And look what i just found - Raspberry cream cheese pan crepes! A mix between pancakes and crepes, filled with cream cheese and fresh raspberrys. Might be good with frozen ones, too. I hope that honey & sons Ltd. will be delighted when presented with this, although they consider valentine things being girls stuff. Find the recipe here.

To lift my spirit and yours in the survival of winter, i 'm planning to make February the month of love. One day just isn't enough. Will you join me?

Photos and recipe: family fresh cooking 

Friday Pretties: Weekend treat

We've made it!

Another weekend's just right around the corner and with it, the possibility for a special breakfast ...

My kids ask me to make american-style pancakes for a long time - now this weekend, we're gonna give it a try. These here, with fresh blueberrys, look especially good to me and i thought they'd qualify for a Friday Pretty!

Blueberry Pancakes

 115g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 large eggs, separated

125ml milk

1/4 tsp salt

2 punnets fresh blueberries

oil for frying

Sieve the flour into a medium bowl and combine with baking powder. Make a well in the middle, add the egg yolks and milk and whisk to create a smooth batter, the consistency of double cream. Add more milk if the batter is too thick. Whisk the egg whites in a separate clean bowl with the salt, until they form stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the batter. Add one punnet of blueberries and mix them gently into the batter. Lightly oil and heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Pour two tablespoons of the batter into the pan and cook for about 2 minutes until bubbles start to form on the surface. Flip the pancake over and cook for further 1 minute, or until golden brown. Remove pancake from the pan and serve with a maple or golden syrup and some fresh blueberries.

Photo and recipe: cook your dream 
More Pretties here!

Monday Love: espresso shortbread

Some experimental cookies

for this recipe sounded interesting to me -  and yesterday evening, i felt so cold that i had this urge to stay near the oven and preapare something more to eat (right after dinner) instad of spending time with my paintings. I love simple cookies and i love espresso - and this is a combination of both, cookies with ground espresso worked into the dough. They look, like everything i bake, quite "homemade", but i wasn't that easy to get them in shape because please note: this dough is crumbly. But it's worth a try. The kids don't like them, so me and my hubby have them all for ourselves, Yay!

Photo: Martina Voigt-Schmid

Friday Pretties: A little treat for chocolate lovers

Some sweetness can save the day

... especially a cold and rainy november day!  And especially the sweetness of chocolate! This looks like the thick and creamy hot chocolate they serve in italy - a recipe by Nigella Lawson i'm going to try this weekend.  Just looking at it makes me feel better! What are your plans for the weekend?


Photo via Nigella Lawson
Hungry for more Pretties? Have a look here!