carrot & celeriac salad, banana bread & sage tea

Sounds like an odd combination but I fancied something nice and different and the ingredients were what I had left over on a Sunday...
Salat, Bananenbrot und Salbeitee klingt nach eine komischen Zusammensetzung, es war aber total lecker (und die einzigen 'ingridients' in meiner Kueche.

Delicious and healthy Salad 
grated carrots, grated celeriac, pommegranate seads, olive oil, lemon and a little bit of black pepper
Salat
geraspelte Moehren, Sellerie, Granatapfel, Oliven Oil, Zitrone und ein wenig schwarzer Pfeffer

Sage Tea / Salbei Tee
My parents have a sage plant in their garden, so every year just before Winter, I harvest the leaves, dry them and use them for tea. Super healthy and with honey a nice treat. 
Im Garten meiner Eltern ist eine Salbeipflanze. Die Blaetter trockne ich und nehme sie zum Aufguss von Tee. Und wenn Halsschmerzen auftreten, ist Salbeitee mit Honig die perfekte Kur. 

Bananabread / Bananenbrot
My scales have broken, so I kind of guessed what to put together. I used flower, eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla aroma, 3 bananas and some baking powder. An hour later, this delicious bananabread was ready. Crusty outside and soft inside. Just the way I like it...Yum yum
Leider ist meine Waage kaputt und ich habe geraten, wieviel Gramm Zucker usw ich brauchte. In dem Brot sind Mehl, Zucker, Eier, Backpulver, 3 Bananen und ein wenig Vanille Aroma. Aussen knusprig und innen weich. Lecker...hm...es ist zwar erst 9Uhr morgens, aber ich werde mir gleich wieder ein Stück holen...

Personalised wedding present / Individuelles Hochzeitsgeschenk

I needed a wedding present, that doesn't break the bank but is still very personal to the couple. After lots of digging into the couples likes, dislikes etc I decided to make a poster in their favorite colour blue. 

They loved it and total cost for me 5 Euros for the frame and some time of course. I downloaded a design program for free (trial time) but spent far too much time trying to figure out how to use it, so that I finally decided to create it in word and it worked perfectly. 

Fuer eine Hochzeit in der Familie wollte ich ein persönliches Geschenk, welches jedoch nicht zu viel Geld kosten sollte, da das Paar sich Geld fuer die Hochzeitsreise wünschte. Geld im Umschlag fand ich langweilig. Also habe ich Ihre Vorlieben und besondere gemeinsame Daten usw. herausbekommen. Dann habe ich ein Design Programm heruntergeladen, welches jedoch viel zu kompliziert war. Naja, ich hatte einfach nicht die Zeit mich genau einzuarbeiten. Dann habe ich das Poster einfach in Word zusammengestellt. Et voila...meine Kosten waren 5 Euro plus Zeit. Super persönlich und schöne Erinnerung. 

Recycling at its best

From an old jumper that was on its way out I made a cute little outfit for the boy. Nice and cosy for the winter. 
Aus einem alten Pullover habe ich eine super cooles neues Outfit genäht. 

I used the arms for the trousers, just added more stretchy fabric for the belly. I then cut out two pieces for the top (front and back), shortened the existing hood and sewn it all together too. Then I added little cuffs at the arms. Et voila...and all in an hour whilst the little one was sleeping.

Aus Armen wurden Beine mit ein wenig Bündchenstoff. Fuer das Oberteil habe ich ein Vorder- und ein Rueckteil ausgeschnitten und die Kapuze kleiner vernäht. Dann alles zusammen genäht und auch Buendchen an den Armen vernäht. Et voila...kuschlig warm und alles in einer Stunde fertig gestellt. 

Hearty Winter salad

It is time again for a delicious hearty winter salad. My boys loved it...

Potatoes, brown boiled lentils, capers to give it some jazz, a handful of rocket leaves, some sliced carrots, tuna, some lemon, olive oil as well as some  black pepper...Yum Yum...joined by a glass of proper dark grape juice

Zeit fuer Wintersalate

Kartoffeln, Linsen, Kapern, Rocket, Karotten, Thunfisch und zum Abschmecken frische Zitrone, Oliven Oel und schwarzer Pfeffer...lecker schmecker...dazu ein Glas Weintraubensaft aus eigenen Weintrauben...

Pregnancy skirt / Umstandsrock

Birthday Presents for my pregnant friends

I've got so many pregnant friends at the moment and two of them recently had their birthday. I always wanted to try to make a pregnancy skirt and here they are! I've chosen very colourful jersey fabric for both skirts with a stretchy jersey for the top...the part that is supposed to grow with the bump. 

The sewing was pretty simple. I've asked for their waist measurements and I've taken the measurement minus 2 inches and cut one large piece of fabric. I've sewn the skirt together at the sides. The plain coloured jersey got folded over and sewn onto the skirt. Et voila...

 

Both skirts are in the post and I hope they will be loved and last a very long time, as you can wear them even after pregnancy.

I am sure I will make myself some of these skirts as they are sooooo comfy! 

I NEED new furniture / Ich brauche Moebel

As we left most of our furniture in England we had to fit out our new flat with new furniture, BUT without spending lots of money we asked friends and family for unused items...and here we go.

Our new wardrobe...well, the glass front doors are missing here and the shelves, BUT I love the end result. Unfortunately I have not tided the new wardrobe, so feeling a bit bad that I can't take a picture of the endend result...;-) 
We cleaned all spiders of it, sanded it down inside and out. We used a green satin colour for the outside and white for the inside of the wardrobe. 

Our new bathroom cupboard and old style chair. We originally wanted to paint the chair but decided after sanding it, that a simple varnish would do the job and it keeps the chair looking original. 
The white cupboard was blue! and took weeks to get the paint of it. I tried sanding it down with a sanding machine, with an hot air gun and with chemicals! Many times I felt like giving up and going to Ikea.

It was originally thought to go into our kitchen. When we moved in there was no space for it in the kitchen and I almost cried...Until we decided to put it in the bathroom. Now it looks like a little old pharmacy cupboard and houses all our toiletries and towels. Apart from sanding for weeks, we gave it two coats of white and treated it against woodworms. The glass fronts had to be replaced too. So far this was the longest and 'endurance' testing project. 

BettyBrown'sBigChallenge

and here comes the challenge for the next 12 months:

1. I will try not to buy any new cloths for a whole year (I am starting to panic already thinking about it)
2. I will try to make all presents myself  (unless I am being dragged into contributing to a present)
3. I will try to be more creative in the kitchen

Let's go baby...