Little frog

While we were looking for chestnuts this weekend, we suddenly noticed this little fellow hiding.  Of course it's not hard to hide if you look like this. 

Our youngest one couldn't resist him and followed him around until he could pick him up.  He was really gentle with him and the frog didn't move at all while he was holding him.  He was probably scared to death.  But luckily he was freed again after taking this picture!

Quince jam : recipe

We had a lot of quinces again this year.  And I always make jam with them.  I try a different recipe every year.  This year I found some recipes and I mixed them together and then made my own.  A lot of recipes tell you to just use the juice and throw away the pulp, but I always have a hard time throwing away edible things.  So I decided to use everything and just mix it all up.  I made two batches as you can tell by the different colours.  The yellow one didn't cook as long as the reddish one.  I prefer the red colour though.  So I just let them simmer for one extra hour.

Here is my recipe :

You don’t have to peel the fruits, just rub them vigorously to remove the velvet on the skin. Cut them in quarters, and remove the core. You should remove the seeds from the core and put the seeds in a piece of cheesecloth that you add to the pan because the seeds contain a high amount of pectine.
Put the quarters in a large pan and add some water. For 1 kilo of quinces I use one litre of water.
Bring to the boil and let it simmer for at least one to one and a half hour, with the lid on the pan. The longer you leave them simmering, the more reddish they become.
Remove the seeds, and just mix everything else with a blender. For every kilo of this pulp I use one package of jam sugar.  Nowadays you can find different brands in the store.  I always use 500 gr of sugar for 1 kilo of fruit.  Bring this pulp with the sugar again to the boil and keep stirring for about 3 minutes without the lid on.
When a drop of the jam thickens on a cold plate, you can fill the jars, close the lids and let them cool upside down.

Et voilà, we're finally done!! If you have a great recipe for quinces too, I'm always interested.  Next year I will probably have to be creative again with all the quinces.

Another sunrise

My eldest son took this picture early in the morning, this weekend.  I was still enjoying my bed at that time.  But he thought it would be nice for my blog.  So here it is ...  Although throughout that day, it was cold and gray, the sun did a great job to paint the sky in such a nice warm colour in the morning.

Chocolate pie

 
















It was so cold and grey this weekend that it almost felt like winter.  We lit the fireplace for the first time this autumn.  It felt so cozy.  And because we have so many walnuts this year and I had a craving for chocolate I decided to make a chocolate pie with nuts.  I have a great easy recipe for it and we ate it lukewarm with of course a great cup of cappuccino for me and my husband and some hot chocolate for the kids.  It was the perfect weather for this rich pie!

 

To make this pie, you need 350 grams (12 ounces) of milk chocolate, 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of butter, 5 eggs, 100 grams of chopped walnuts and 225 grams (7.9 ounces) of cane sugar, 1 tablespoon of coffee and 3 tablespoons of cacao powder. First melt the chocolate with the butter over low heat, whisking constantly until smooth.  Mix the eggs with the sugar, coffee and cacao powder, add the walnuts and the melted chocolate.  Grease and flour a pie plate, pour batter into it and bake it for about 40 minutes on 180 degrees (350 degrees fahrenheit).  It's done when it is still a bit moist on the inside.  You can eat it cold or lukewarm. 

 

I hope this will get you through all the grey days that we'll probably be having some more this autumn.  Try it and enjoy!!

Sunrise!

 










On a sunny day, this is the first view I see in the morning when I leave my house.  I can't get enough of this sight.  It always makes me smile and I feel so lucky to be alive.
With this beautiful weather last week, I could enjoy this view every day. I took this picture just in time, because I'm afraid our Indian summer is over. 

Now I can keep on smiling just by looking at my blog!!  Hope you enjoy this too!!

Indian Summer

As you can see by my four seasons scene, I had to change it to autumn.  But last week we really had an Indian summer over here and it is still so nice and warm.  It feels like summer has finally arrived!

On the other hand, if I look at all the nice golden colours of the leaves I must admit it's definitely autumn.  So I will not change it back to summer.  Maybe I should add a fifth season ...
Although indian summer is not really an official season, it's my favourite one : lovely colours in nature, beautiful sunrises in foggy weather, warm sun during the day and not too hot to fall asleep at night.   I hope everyone is enjoying this great indian summer!