A fruity Christmas punch to serve up in a bowl at your party or in individual glasses. I share everything you need to know to make this drink from scratch. This Christmas punch recipe is based on my husband's, Paul, recipe. It also resembles our sangria recipe. I recommend also offering a version without alcohol to your guests, such as this Non-Alchoholic … [Read more...]
Search Results for: christmas
German Christmas Cookies
Traditional German Christmas Cookies count as some of the best in the world. And that for a good reason! I have compiled a collection of the best german cookies below. The Internet is full of precious, delicious cookies, and German Christmas Cookies top the list as some of the most coveted cookies during Christmastime. German cookies are traditionally made … [Read more...]
Merry Christmas Jam Recipe
Merry Christmas Jam Recipe so that you can surprise your loved ones this season with your homemade food gift. Not only the name but also the fruit jams flavor combination with spices will warm up your family and friend's heart. If you are looking to gift a jar of homemade jam preserve for Christmas, I can recommend the Orange marmalade. I think the name, Merry … [Read more...]
Yule Log Recipe - Christmas Bûche de Noël Cake
Yule Log Recipe is a Christmas Roulade cake, common in French-speaking countries and it's neighbors. The Yule Log is better known as Bûche de Noël in French and both names will tell you that the cake looks like a wooden tree branch. So, how do you easily make a Yule Log look like a tree branch? See further below the Yule Log recipe and how I and my mum … [Read more...]
Kletzenbrot Recipe - Christmas Fruit Bread
Kletzenbrot is a Christmas fruit bread from Tyrol Austria and that's how we make this traditional recipe from scratch at home. For more baked Christmas goodie recipes, see my mom's Bûche de noël recipe or this British traditional christmas cake recipe. 📕 What is Kletzenbrot? The Kletzenbrot is a dense and moist rye flour fruit bread prepared during … [Read more...]
Christmas Cookie Collection
I believe one can never have enough cookies for Christmas. Various Christmas Cookie types, such as traditional and colorful new style cookies are a must in my house and I have to tell you Christmas is for sure not the same without the cookies. In my first years in Goa, I didn't miss the familiar smell of Christmas spices and the comforting feeling of the season but … [Read more...]
Easy Christmas Meringue Cookies
So I am back to the Christmas cookie season with this post. This time I decided to share with you a simple, 2 ingredients, basic cookie type known as Meringue, which is quite common in Europe over the merry festivity period. Meringues are sometimes even known as Baiser or in German even as Windbäckerei. They appear in different shapes such as drops and circles and … [Read more...]
German Marzipan Pigs Candy Recipe
Gift homemade Marzipan Pigs Candy for new years to your loved ones to wish them prosperity and good fortune! Homemade pink pigs made of marzipan almond paste are a symbol of good luck in Germany. Planning a New Year's Party? Make my Champagne Jello Shots and these New Years Eve Cookies. 📕 What are Marzipan Pigs? A marzipan pig is traditionally prepared … [Read more...]
+30 Authentic Oktoberfest Food Ideas to Turbocharge your Party
Visiting Oktoberfest or are you looking for some delicious original Oktoberfest food ideas for your party? I compiled a collection of the best Oktoberfest recipes, savory and sweet. Grab some ideas for your Oktoberfest food party further below, or learn about the food offering before your Oktoberfest visit! This is an updated version, inspired by our recent trip to … [Read more...]
Home Canned Pears in Syrup Recipe
Make home canned pears in syrup from scratch. This is as per French canning customs and it's our family recipe. I take you through the process so that you successfully prepare a batch of home canned pears. 📕 What are canned pears? Canned pears are fresh whole, halved or quartered peeled pears, that are covered in a medium to light syrup in a canning … [Read more...]
How to make Powdered Sugar
You can make powdered sugar at home in a jiffy! Here you will learn everything you need to know about powdered sugar and how to make it from scratch anytime! 📕 What is powdered sugar? Powdered Sugar is a super fine version of sugar and it is mostly used in baking. It is the perfect way to sweeten your cakes, cookies, and fudges because it mixes well in … [Read more...]
Baked Ricotta Cheese Dip with Jam
Entertain your guests with this baked ricotta cheese dip. The dip is enriched with herbs and spices, topped with jam, and baked hot. I have been trying my hands on different hot cheese dips prepped with a jam topping. This baked ricotta dip was inspired by the baked brie with fig jam appetizer. 📕 What is ricotta? Ricotta is a grainy soft by-product of … [Read more...]
Mushroom Gravy for Chicken or Steak
A simple mushroom gravy recipe to serve with your chicken or steak dinner. 🥣 Ingredients This is an overview of the ingredients that you need to help you get organized. All the adjustable US and metric measurements are located further below in the recipe card. 🔪 How to make it? Did you know that preparing a mushroom gravy from scratch is super … [Read more...]
Home Canned Plums
Canned plums are a great way to preserve your fruits for the coming months. Turns out, it's easy to do this at home! 📕 What are canned plums? Canned plums are made to last and are preserved in light sugar syrup. Commercially canned fruits are the norm these days but preparing home-canned plums is still the norm in some places. During harvest season you … [Read more...]
+20 Jam, Jelly and Marmalade Recipe Ideas
Get inspired with our jam, jelly and marmalade recipes. Pick your favorite and let's get going! Our jams are mostly homemade from scratch French recipes. They are still prepared by my French family members and passed down by my late grandmother. The jams are all without artificial pectin, instead we tend to add lemon or lime to help with the … [Read more...]
Austrian Food Guide
This is a guide about Austrian food and drink specialties. It covers everything you need to know if you are a gourmand traveling Austria or if you want to simply learn more about our food culture. The food guide is from the perspective of a West Austrian, so I may have mentioned more specialties from there because, well that's my expertise. But I have also … [Read more...]
Olive Tapenade Recipe
Easy homemade olive tapenade to serve as a party appetizer over bruschetta or with crackers. This recipe is without anchovies, making it vegan-friendly. 📕 What is a Tapenade? Tapenade is a spread prepared with black or green olives. It's a condiment from the Provence in South France, where olives and Mediterranean food are a tradition. Traditionally, … [Read more...]
Cream Cheese Bacon Puff Pastry Appetizer
A 3 ingredient easy puff pastry appetizer to help you entertain your party guests. I came up with this recipe because I was looking for a quick bite to serve up to my friends. Ingredients You will need 3 main ingredients to make this: You can also pimp your mini puff pastry bites with seasoning. Make them tastier with Italian seasoning, pizza seasoning, herbes … [Read more...]
Beef Tenderloin Roast with Garlic and Herb in the Dutch Oven
Juicy and perfect oven roasted beef tenderloin seasoned with garlic and herbs and prepared in the Dutch oven. A great meal to celebrate the holidays with your loved ones such as Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving. You might also enjoy my Roasted Garlic Pork Tenderloin or this Herb-Roasted Turkey Tenderloin Recipe. 📕 What is Beef Tenderloin? Beef … [Read more...]
Kale Salad with Cranberries Recipe
Fresh kale salad with cranberries can be enjoyed during the festive time or as a healthy salad all year round. The salad is marinated in a simple dressing. 📕 What is Kale? Kale is sometimes called a super green. It's a tough and hardy green leaf cabbage variety. It grows as loose leaves around a hard stem and they turn dark green in color. The plant is … [Read more...]
Classic Gingerbread Men Cookies Recipe
Easy homemade gingerbread men cookies that are truly prepared from your heart from scratch. Surprise your family friends with old fashioned cookies and enjoy baking and decorating your own gingerbread cookies. 🆚 Gingerbread Cookies vs Lebkuchen Gingerbread and the German Lebkuchen cookies are related but they are not completely the same thing. There are … [Read more...]
Austrian Linzer Cookies Recipe
Homemade melt in your mouth Linzer cookies prepared from scratch. I show you how to make these classic Austrian cookies in ease. My Oma's recipe! 📕 What are Linzer Cookies? The Linzer cookie is a tender, nutty double-decker confection with a peek-a-boo jam eye. The traditional Linzer cookies are scalloped and have three jam eyes. But often, you can find … [Read more...]
Spiced Cheese Log Recipe
Homemade cheese log rolled in crushed spices is a gourmets party appetizer choice. Full bodied creamy amuse bouche. 🧀 Ingredients This homemade spiced cheese log is prepared with 2 main components, cheese and spices. For the Cheese For the cheese I totally recommend that you use fresh goat cheese! It just adds a flavor that goes well with the spices in … [Read more...]
Mashed Sweet Potato Recipe
This simple savory mashed sweet potato makes a lovely vibrant side dish. I show you how to make it from scratch with or without a blender. 🍴 Tools to mash potatoes You can mash your sweet potatoes with various kitchen tools. 🔪 How to make mashed sweet potatoes? Here is how you can prepare mashed sweet potatoes, the fastest and most straightforward … [Read more...]
Homemade Cranberry Sauce Recipe with Spices
Make your own healthier cranberry sauce with fresh or frozen berries at home within minutes. This recipe includes some spices, which round up all the beautiful fruity flavors in this condiment. 📕 What is cranberry sauce? Cranberry sauce is a condiment served during the holiday season, for Thanksgiving and Christmas, in North America and the UK. It's … [Read more...]
How to can Peaches
Your to-the-point guide on how to can peaches at home. This guide is suitable for beginners and comes with tips and tricks on how to get it right every time. We have been canning fruits at home since ever! I have always seen my family do that, my mother, my aunties in France, and even my grandmother back in the day. We prepare not only canned peaches but also … [Read more...]
Guide to Salzburg City (Austria)
Your complete Salzburg guide to enjoying the best that the city has to offer. Written by a local. Video Walk in 4K Where is Salzburg located? Salzburg city is the capital of the Salzburg region in Austria. It's one of 9 regions in Austria. The Austrian city is bordering Germany and the small German corner (Kleine Deutsche Eck), which is a major connection to … [Read more...]
Guide to Italian Food in Italy
So, you are planning a trip to Italy and Italian food is your passion? This guide covers dishes and drinks that you will come across in Italy and that you will need to try if you love food! You will also learn everything you need to know to get around with your taste buds. No matter where you are in Italy, the food is always awesome! Yet, sometimes it can get … [Read more...]
How to raise money for a Trip
How to raise money for your dream trip in 2020 - ultimate insider tips. Danny from whatsdannydoing.com is our expert today, sharing his valuable insights on how YOU can get the best bang for your buck. Danny Newman is currently writing and traveling his way around the world in a bid to figure out exactly what he’s doing with his life. He’d love you to follow … [Read more...]
Champagne Jello Shots Recipe
Fun Champagne Jello Shots to count down to midnight or to celebrate good times with family and friends. A semi-solid drink to pep up a party! 📕 What are jello shots? Jello shots are a fun way to get a party going. They are basically alcohol flavored gelatine pieces that you have in one go. It's like having a liqueur shot just that jello shots won't get … [Read more...]
Old Fashioned Caramel Candy Recipe
Old fashioned hard caramel candy prepared with only 2 ingredients (yep, I'm serious!) My grandmother used to make these for my dad when he was small, and now I'm sharing it with you. 📕 Recipe Origins My grandmother in Austria used to make these 2 ingredients caramel hard candy back in the day when my father was a kid. Most of my dad's family made them for … [Read more...]
Smoked Salmon Appetizer with Dill Sour Cream
Smoked salmon appetizer bites with dill sour cream are great finger food to serve for a crowd this holiday season. They taste delicious, are easy to prepare and please everyone. I think the best Christmas and New Year's appetizers, besides little smokies and pigs in a blanket, are salmon bread bites. You can also call them smoked salmon tartine, mini salmon toasts … [Read more...]
Individual Beef Wellington Recipe
An Individual Beef Wellington makes for a delicious, pretty and elegant main course meal this holiday season. Serve them up to your family and friends for Christmas or New Year's for dinner. 📕 What is Beef Wellington? Beef Wellington tenderloin filet steak topped with a mushroom duxelles and wrapped into a puff pastry. The English dish is also known as boeuf … [Read more...]
Pignoli Cookies Recipe
Soft and moist Pignoli Cookies prepared with almond paste and honey. These Italian Christmas cookies are a real treat and make a great holiday gift. When I worked as a teenager at an Italian gelateria, I came across these special cookies. My boss was from North Italy, but his mother was Sicilian, so he would make them for Christmas. His cookie recipe included … [Read more...]
Swiss Cheese Fondue Recipe
I LOVE Cheese Fondue, I always have and that for a good reason. You get to dip your bread into a melting concoction of cheese and that too as many times you want (and crave!) Turn this fondue into the ultimate dinner party meal to enjoy with your family and friends this holiday season. 📕 What is a Fondue? A fondue is cheese melted in a large pot placed at … [Read more...]
Lemon Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
Melt in the mouth Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies with lemon flavor are our favorite cookies right now. They are easily made and we get to use up my beautiful raspberry jam. 📕 What are Thumbprint Cookies? Thumbprint cookies are called that way because you press into a ball of raw cookie dough with your thumb to create a crater. The cookies are then filled … [Read more...]
Cinnamon Candied Almonds
Cinnamon candied almonds are a sweet holiday snack that you will love! The pan-roasted almonds are layered with an irresistible sugar-cinnamon layer that you won't be able to resist. Make these Christmas spiced almonds to gift to your family and friends this season! 📕 What are candied almonds? Candied almonds are roasted almonds coated with a … [Read more...]
Vanillekipferl Cookies Recipe
Vanillekipferl are melt in the mouth crescent-shaped Christmas time cookies. The cookies are flavored with vanilla, hence why they are also known as a vanilla crescent or moon cookies. This is one of my Oma's traditional Austrian Christmas cookies recipes. The cookies are also known as Viennese almond crescents. Read up the history of this iconic cookie just … [Read more...]
Homemade Sugar Cookies with Simple Glaze
I show you how to make sugar cookies from scratch in this post. The cookie dough is easy to roll out and the cut out cookies will hold their shape when baked. I also show you how you can make icing sugar within minutes to decorate your cookies beautifully. I created my own sugar cookie dough in the past years. The recipe was loosely adapted from my shortcrust … [Read more...]
+12 Eco Friendly Gifts for Travelers
Get inspired with these eco friendly gifts for travelers. This collection is stuffed with useful ideas that are functional as well. 🌍 Why eco friendly? When we travel we try to be as ecological as possible. It's not always easy to travel sustainably and we are definitely still not 100% green. Because let's just face it, traveling itself isn't eco-friendly. … [Read more...]