A My Little Pony birthday party

I cant' believe my little girl is already 4. She is starting official school next week. This week has been an emotional one, full with festivities and goodbye parties: at ballet lesson, at her beloved daycare, with her friends and at home. She has changed so much in the last year. I feel when she was 3 there was still some baby left in her and this year she just -shook it all off. She became a girl in full. The conversations that she has, the way she loves to dance, how she expresses her strong opinions.

This year she requested a My Little Pony birthday party. I love that they are back in fashion because I loved them so much as a little girl. We even brought a couple of ponys that I used to play with to use in her buffet table as decoration.I just set a table full of snacks: rainbow fruit-skewers; mozzarella-basil-cherry tomato snacks; crackers; hummus, baba-ganoush and tzatziki; Dutch cheese squares; ham and cheese and cucumber and cream-cheese sandwiches; fuet, serrano ham and other cold meat cuts and an assortment of cut veggies.

I went all out with a cake, this time it had 3 tiers, the bottom and the top one were chocolate-raspberry and the middle one was rainbow cake with colorful sprinkles. I had been wanting to make one for so long, my dear friend Marcela gave me the tip and I invested in this set of pans which make the task a lot easier. The cake came out pretty high with the recipe for 1 cake. I covered it in sprinkles using those tutorials that have been going around for a while. I also made lemon-raspberry cupcakes with a gummy rainbow on top.

We ordered the piñata from Little Wing Piñata Atelier. Viri is an artist and she didn't disappoint. She is now delivering to all of Europe so really, contact her, she can make any character you want and has already made most of the popular characters for children (Cars, Paw Patrol, Angry Birds, etc). The amazingly crafty Marcia from Handmade with Love is also pretty good and has you covered for any and all of your party needs (favors, piñatas, decorations, cake, cookies, snacks).

 I set a table with coloring pages that I downloaded here with some colors, crayons, tempera, markers  and other art supplies and they were a huge success. We also played "pin the tail on Rainbow Dash" and it was fun.

I printed these masks in cardboard for the kids to take home, hopefully they liked them (a big shout out and thank you to Courtney from I watch them grow who kindly made them available to download). As favors I made Mexican-mosaic gelatin (recipe coming later): a dessert made of colorful squares of Jello inside a sweet milk gelatin. We gave them in Little Pony glasses that can be reused at home.

I think the kids really enjoyed the day, as much as my girl did and I dare say the parents. It was so lovely to have friends and family on such a special day and I am beyond grateful to have been able to build this community around our girls.

Of Baby-led weaning, purées and smoothies: a feeding story.

When Yu was around 6 months we decided to start experimenting with solid foods. I had been reading well in advance about feeding methods and recommendations. I went through the Canadian, British, American, French, Mexican and Dutch advise from their respective pediatric organizations. All advise was contradictory. Should you start with proteins? With vegetables? With fruit?

In the end I trusted my gut and made a mish-mash of methods. Some things are really absolutely out of the question, mainly not giving any honey until after the 1st year (knowing well about the Clostridium botulinum risk I waited well until she was 18 months) and avoiding hard round pieces of food that could present a choking hazard like nuts or whole grapes. We also avoided salt and sugar, but did use some spices in a little tea infuser to gradually add flavour to her food.

I mostly followed baby-led weaning, starting by letting her play with soft-steamed little broccoli trees, sweet potato or cucumber sticks (to suck and bite). But I was also super excited to make my own purées, I received a french book with tons of baby recipes a present ("Family cookbook" by Laurence Haurat)  and all the recipes sounded so tasty that I decided to give it a go. Baby-led weaning purists will tell you not to combine methods or it will somehow "go wrong" but I didn't really believe it and just did a bit of both.

We did introduce 1 food at a time, letting her have it for 3 days to observe her reactions and only afterwards making mixes of previously eaten foods. We never gave her rice meal as it is completely stripped of nutrients and preferred to use a mix of cereals (oatmeal, wheat) with her steamed-fruit in the morning. When she was about 10 months old we started with yoghurt and different types of cheese. We also started with peanut butter on her bread (a very common Dutch breakfast staple) as I read that starting with allergens early might decrease the risk of developing allergies later.

She was always an avid eater and tester: she loved zucchini, eggplant, carrots, pumpkin, avocado, banana, blueberries, spinach, green peas and most fruits as well as egg and little pieces of meat.

Everything you read tells you that in order to avoid fussy and picky eaters you should introduce a variety of flavors and foods very early on. Well, ha ha. I say. Yes, sure, right. I guess those people's children did not  reach toddlerhood yet. Our girl was really used to all kinds of food: she would eat things like ratatouille and surinamese roti with pleasure. And then, slowly, she developed her own will; learnt how to say no and there were days where she would only eat orange food. Or green food.

She is now 3 years and a half and we struggle. She goes through phases -that last 2 to 4 days- where she will eat a lot of food but she then reverts to requesting the classic bland foods small kids like and refusing to even try veggies she used to love so much. So she eats a lot of yoghurt, bread with peanut butter, pasta and cheese. And we have to bargain and bribe and negotiate to get her to eat a few pieces of carrots or green stuff. We have tried all the tricks: have her help me cook and prepare her meals (which she loves), arrange food on her plate in fun figures, ignore her, let her starve. In the end she eats when she eats and she doesn't when she doesn't. I like to give myself praise as a parent whenever she eats a whole plate of spinach (over her cheesy thin pizza) or when she requests carrot soup, but most days it is still something I worry about. Trying to make sure she is getting plenty of vitamins and nutrients while not making meals a battlefield is a challenge.

 Lately we have tried things like spinach-banana-orange juice or cucumber-ginger-apple smoothies, which she loves, but I am still uncertain if those are actually any good, with all the finely cut fibers and (natural) sugars concentrated.

Spanish pediatrician Carlos Gonzalez's words on this interview really struck a cord:

 "You should eat vegetables, leave your children alone and, in the end, they'll probably eat vegetables also. But there are changes in food preferences in a lifetime. Between one and 16 years, most children would prefer macaroni to vegetables. They will change again, unless you make them really hate vegetables."

I do not have any answers but in the end I think there is only so much you can do as a parent but the child will still decide what it needs and what goes into his/her body. And toddlers will be toddlers and what they are is defiant, strong willed and stubborn. I want to trust that as long as she keeps seeing us eating a varied, healthy diet she will pick it up and start trying and enjoying all kinds of food again. 
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This post was written in collaboration with The Honest Company's Feeding Stories Campaign.

A Finding Dory birthday party

About a month ago Yulia turned 3. I do not know how I do this, every year I say to myself we will keep the celebration small and then I make a list and we end up having a party full of kids (and their parents). I love it though and get so excited making things ready.

We have slowly been showing short cartoons to Yu, last summer she fell in love with Nemo and Dory so we decided to go with that theme. I tried to keep the menu simple: vegetables and hummus, sandwiches, olives, cheese, fruit , mozzarella-tomato-basil sticks and some chips. I made -agua fresca de naranja-  homemade orange water and put it in a "Nemo" jar.

The cake was chocolate-raspberry, we had a blast decorating with little girl (sculpting fondant is just like playing with play-doh), following this tutorial, and lemon-rasberry cupcakes.

 Little Wing Atelier made the cutest piñata. She loved it so much that Dory had to sleep with it the day before, it was so cute. She enjoyed the day and had so much fun. It is a lot of work, but so worth it!

Apple and banana oatmeal bars

 I made these oatmeal bars for Y.'s birthday in the form of little bears and ever since then she has been repeatedly asking for them: "Bobbi, Bobbi, Bobbi, eten". Last Monday, after we finally made them again she insisted on bringing some to her favorite teacher. We wrapped them in silk paper and a ribbon and she had them ready in her little backpack.  Toddlers are full of feelings! We arrived at school in the morning, she took them and excitedly gave them to her teacher, happily. Then we left the room to go upstairs to her classroom and she started crying and crying like she suddenly realized giving something meant letting go off it as well. It took her a bit to process it, she talked about the incident on the days that followed, we emphasized how kind and thoughtful it was for her to share her cookies, eventhough it also made her a bit sad to give them away.

Anyhow, these are so good, easy and healthy that I thought I'd post the recipe.

You will need :
4 apples
4 bananas
3 tbsp. honey
270 gr. oats
a bit of cinammon
150 gr. raisins and dried cranberries

What to do: 
Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Peel and grate the apples. Drain the excess liquid using a sieve (but don't throw it a way, save it and drink it: it is delicious, fresh apple juice). Mash the bananas. Mix the fruit with the oney, oats, cinnamon and dried fruits.

Line an oven tray with parchment paper. I used a cookie cutter to give the bars the form of bears and spooned the mix into the form, then gently lifted it. Bake for 25-30 minutes and let cool. Enjoy!

#January Joy:Try a new recipe / Marble cake

I don't know why, but never in my life had I made a chocolate-vanilla marble cake. So last Monday I decided to give it a try. I looked for different recipes, I normally trust  BBC Good Food or Martha Stewart but both of those asked for Dutch-process cocoa instead of real chocolate, so I was not sure if the result would be chocolatey enough.

In the end I went with this recipe from Joy of Baking, because it included yoghurt (or sour cream), brewed coffee, baking soda and dark chocolate. I have found that recipes that include buttermilk / sour cream / yoghurt + baking soda make for very moist, fluffy cakes so as soon as I found the recipe I decided this was the one.

And it didn't disappoint! The cake was really good, simple, perfect. To decorate it I just poured some melted chocolate over the top (I did not have cream to make a proper ganache) and some sugar figures that I had laying around. I do have to practice my swirling. For some reason I had more chocolate than vanilla in my mix, but more chocolate never hurt anyone.Oh and I used a simple 15 cm. pan instead of a bundt pan, and I don't really think it changed the results.

You will need
140 grams dark chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon brewed coffee 
295 gr. (2 1/4 cup) flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
170 gr. (3/4 cup) butter, room temperature 
250 gr (1 1/4 cup) brown sugar
3 eggs, room temperature    
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
80 ml (1/3 cup) greek yoghurt
120 ml  (1/2 cup) milk, room temperature 

What to do 

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Melt chocolate with the brewed coffee au-bain-marie (over a pan of simmering water) and set aside so it reaches room temperature. Sift the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat the butter together with the sugar until soft and fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one, followed by the vanilla extract and yoghurt, until the mix is homogenous. Next add the flour and milk, alternating between the two. Divide your batter in two unequal halves (Animal Farm style) and add the melted chocolate to the "smaller" half. Grease and flour an oven pan and scoop the chocolate and vanilla batter, alternating the two. When you are done use a knife or toothpick to create swirls. Bake for 40 min to 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Take it out of the oven, let it cool, unmould and enjoy! 

Banana-dark-chocolate-granola from #LifeIsMessyKitchen

I look forward to weekends because when the boy is around the house I can take the time to go back to the kitchen and make recipes that are just a tiny bit more laborious or, even if easy, take a little bit more attention (like checking the oven every 8 minutes).

This weekend I was really excited to try Mayi's Maple syrup-dark-chocolate-banana granola. It was actually relaxing to spend Sunday morning in my pijamas, calmly concentrated in chopping nuts, mixing liquids and then waiting like a child for magic to happen in the oven.

This recipe comes from Mayi Carles and her amazing team's new cooking book: Life is Messy Kitchen. It is full of Mayi's beautiful, funny illustrations and has been fully photographed by Marcela Macias, one of my first-ever "internet" friends who has been with me during hard and happy times. I  first found her travel-blog, 'Diario de una Trotamundos' (bring it back!!), from which she switched to 'The Celebration Girl' which has fully blossomed and inspired her to launch her photography business.* The book is full of mostly vegetarian, some raw, recipes from lunch, to dinner, breakfast, snacks or sauces and is all about making healthy eating fun and delicious.

So, on to the recipe, you will need:

3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup coconut flakes
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup + 1 spoon maple syrup
1/4 cup + 1 spoon coconut oil (melted)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas (mashed)
1/2 cup dark chocolate (chopped)

What to do: 

Preheat oven to 400 F (~ 200ºC). Chop the almonds (or be lazy and buy them sliced), pecans and cashews. In a large bowl mix the oats, almonds, chopped pecans and cashews, pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract and bananas. Next, mix the dry ingredients with the wet until everything is homogenous. Prepare a baking tray with baking paper and spread the granola mixture flat and even. Bake for 25 minutes, checking it at 8 minute intervals where you need to take out the granola and turn it around. Bring it out of the oven and let it cool completely before adding the chocolate and storing into air-tight containers. Voilà, you are ready to enjoy! We've been having it for breakfast and it is delicious. It would make for excellent homemade holiday presents too!

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*I want to make clear that this is not a sponsored post. I jumped at the chance to be one of Mayi's book launch ambassadors because I really admire her work, her happy spirit, her contagious joy and her "nobody-is-going-to-stop-me" attitude.


And I will promote loud and clear any and all work of Marcela, but I am not even sure it is necessary, her photos speak for themselves. If you would like to see a sneak peek of the book, here it is. 

Mi AIG llegó de Valencia (con horchata!)

 El viernes en la tarde mi esposo tomó el día libre, así es que yo aproveché para dormir un poco más (hemos tenido más de un par de noches difíciles). En cuanto la bebé decidió dormir, me fui yo también derechita a los brazos de Morfeo.

Entre sueños escuché el timbre y me pareció que Mark abría la puerta y firmaba por la recepción de un paquete.

En efecto, cuando desperté estaba ahí una enorme caja de cartón y al ver que había sido enviada desde España (de Valencia, en concreto), supe que sí, que era mi AIG (Amigo Invisible Gastronómico). Muchas gracias Adi, de Dulce y Azucarado.

En ese momento teníamos que salir, pero yo muerta de la curiosidad me fui con todo y caja y aproveche para ir abriendo el paquete en el coche. Fue muy divertido porque Adi empacó todo muy bien.

Como ir destapando una serie de muñecas rusas, dentro de la caja de cartón había un paquete azul en una bolsa de plástico, y dentro del paquete azul una caja de flores rosas y lilas, también envuelta en plástico.  Luego ya, dentro de la caja de flores, los regalitos,  envueltos individualmente!

Cada regalito fue elegido con mucho cuidado, y de verdad que Adi acertó en todo:

-un paquete de concentrado para prepara horchata de chufa
-una latita metálica de búhos llena de mazapán casero de almendras. Estaba delicioso, tanto, que no ha salido en las fotos, nos lo comimos rapidísimo.
-un molde de silicón para formar flores y guías en fondant
-unos moldecitos, también de silicón para cupcakes en forma de tacitas de té.
-un libro de decoración de tartas en fondant.
-auténtica chufa de Valencia
-una carta muy linda donde me enteró de pequeños detalles como que Adi y su esposo comparten la casa con un gato y dos hurones y que colaboran con la sociedad protectora de animales. Además de que también les encanta viajar y cocinar.

Muchísimas gracias por todo, de verdad que me ha hecho mucha ilusión. Me tendré que apurar a preparar auténtica horchata (me recuerda tanto mis días por Barcelona) y algún que otro postre, me has dado la idea de probar un flan con sabor a horchata. Digo que me tendré que apurar porque mi esposo es un goloso y es capaz de tomarse el jarabe tal cual.

A mí me ha tocado enviar un paquete hasta Tenerife, a Cristian del blog Arandabuesa. Si tienen curiosidad de ver lo que he enviado, aquí está su entrada.

De nuevo muchas, muchas gracias a Jess (de Decogalletas) por organizar el intercambio, es genial poder participar cada año en estas iniciativas que demuestran que esto del internet no es un lugar de aislamiento antisocial, sino todo, todo lo contrario.

Molletes and hot chocolate

 Today I am over at Craftie Mum, the blog of Catarina, a portuguese writer, translator and expat in The Hague who writes about fun activities and things to do with children .

I a sharing a recipe for Molletes, a classic Mexican breakfast or dinner snack, made out of bread, refried beans, cheese and pico-de-gallo salsa.

Head over there for the recipe!

Baking again

 In the last couple of months I got some orders for my hand-painted cakes. I was so happy to be working in the kitchen, focusing on getting a project done the best possible way.

Since baby Y. was born I made some cakes and cupcakes for birthdays, as a thank you present to the nurses and medical staff at the NICU and for home, but I hadn't really got back to baking for other people.

It feels so good, though it takes my organization skills to a whole other level: I have to use every single moment wisely and take advantage of nap times. Lately, though, baby Y. has been awake more and it is nice to have her in the kitchen with me observing what I do. Maybe one day she will grow to love baking too.

I had a few days last month where I was feeling exhausted, scattered and all over the place because there is so much to be done and even though I am running and doing things the whole day I never finish projects. I guess just doing one thing at a time is key, while letting go some things, particularly the pressure to do it all. If A or B or C does not get done, it's OK. It is also OK to rest, to take walks, to make time for reading and for fun things, to sit in the couch staring at space.

How do you manage time? Are you organized or chaotic? Do you have specific assigned times to do things just for you?

Tiempo de Amigo Invisible Gastronómico

 This post will be mostly in Spanish, with a short translation at the end. If you like snail mail, food, cooking and worldwide post going back and forth, this might interest you.
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Como todos los años, llega Septiembre, y con él, el regreso a clases (eso, para los que van a clases, que envidia me dan. Nunca pensé que diría eso, aunque, a quien pretendo engañar, siempre me gustó estudiar). Y, con Septiembre, llega también, el periodo de inscripciones al AIG, o Amigo Invisible Gastrónomico, que ya es tradición en nuestra casa. Si lo recuerdan, participé el año pasado, y también hace dos años.

Se trata de un intercambio prenavideño en el que se te asigna un (blog) amigo secreto, al cual le debes enviar 3 regalos, al menos uno hecho por tí, que tengan algo que ver con la gastronomía, las tradiciones locales del lugar en el que vives y lo que más te nazca compartir. Para inscribirse hay que llenar este formulario antes del 30 de Septiembre a las 23:00 (GMT + 1).

Yo estoy super emocionada de participar, está abierto mundialmente y siempre me hace mucha ilusión enviar y recibir correo! Los requisitos de participación son los siguientes: 

1. Necesitas tener un blog de cocina, de gastronomía, de "estilo de vida" o de cualquier tema relacionado con este mundillo donde al menos haya una entrada mensual de media que muestre una receta (Si el blog no es sólo de recetas). Se entiende que en verano podéis haber estado de vacaciones.  
2. El blog debe haber abierto hace como mínimo 6 meses con al menos 1-2 entradas mensuales si sólo tiene seis meses de vida.  Eso quiere decir que se aceptarán sólo los blogs abiertos antes del 30 de marzo. 

El AIG constará de (al menos) tres regalos, con un gasto mínimo de 20 euros (quien pueda y quiera más, es libre!)

1.    Algo hecho por nosotros mismos:  galletas, mermelada, conservas, una agenda, un libro de recetas DIY, algo típico de nuestra localidad... o lo que buenamente se os ocurra a los que tenéis ideas DIY! Recordad que tiene que ser gastronómico

2.    Un regalo propiamente dicho:  puede ser un libro o utensilio de cocina, algo que sepas que es difícil de encontrar donde vive la persona a la que regalas... cualquier cosilla le hará ilusión seguro.

3.    Y por último: algo más personal que tiene o no nada que ver con la cocina pero que salga de vosotros. Puede ser una postal, una tarjeta navideña, una carta presentándote y desvelando tu identidad y deseándole unas felices fiestas.....

Os animo a participar, entre más seamos, más divertida la cadena! 

Y ahora, esto va para mi AIG, como se darán cuenta al chismosear por el blog, me encanta cocinar y viajar. En Enero nació nuestra muy esperada hija, la más nueva integrante de nuestra familia.  Adoro hornear: pasteles, pan y galletas, sobretodo. Descubrir nuevos platillos del mundo es algo que nos encanta, cuando viajamos solemos visitar mercados y supermercados y tratar de probar las "delicatessen" y especialidades locales. También me encanta leer, caminar, los animales, la naturaleza, la literatura, la medicina, la fotografía, la pintura, la fantasía,.... 

Diseño creado por Freepik y adaptado por Delia Carballo.

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Now for the short English summary, every year, come September, a worldwide snail mail exchange is organized, the "Gastronomic Invisible Friend". To participate, you simply have to fill in this form  before September 30 (23:00, GMT + 1). Another blog will be assigned to you, to whom you will have to send 3 gifts, one of which has to be made by you, another one has to be something to do with gastronomy: homemade jam, a local treat, a cookbook, and thirdly something more personal, here you can go creative. The only requisite is that your blog has to  have been open for at least 6 months and that you should occasionally post recipes or food-related entries. 

Crusty bread in a Dutch oven (or Pyrex)

 Ever since I learnt how to make Ratatouille, as a teenager, I wanted to own a Le Creuset cast-iron pan. They last a lifetime and are so, very versatile. It wasn't until we got married that we could finally "afford" one, or, more precisely, that we got one as a present. 

 I knew you could bake bread in such a pan, but it wasn't until a few months ago that we tried, following this recipe by Simply So Good. (That post is great, it has step-by-step photos and a detailed description of the process). It was so easy, and so satisfying that we vowed to repeat it (and haven't since, but here's to good intentions).

 Bread is one of those food items that are so basic and yet so magic. You start with flour (3 cups), yeast (1/2 teaspoon, dried), salt (1-2 teaspoons) and water (1 1/2 cups) and end up with a fluffy, crusty, delicious base for any meal.

The first step is to mix the flour, salt and yeast. Then add the water until a messy, sticky mixture forms; cover the bowl with plastic film or a wet cloth and leave to rest, overnight is great because you are aiming for 12 to 18 hours. When you wake up the next day, preheat the oven to 230ºC (450ºF). That is when you take your beloved cast iron pan or pyrex and let it heat in the oven for 30 minutes.

  In the meantime, flour a work surface, pour your dough and make a ball with it (fore ease of maneuvering I floured some baking paper over a tea-towel as this dough is particularly sticky) . Then transfer the ball to a recipient, cover, and let rest while the pan is in the oven. After the half an hour has passed, put your dough-ball in the pan and return the whole thing to the oven for a further 30 minutes, with the lid. Then take off the lid and bake for an extra 15 min. Voilà, you are ready to take the bread out of the oven and let cool. 
 
What have been your latest adventures in the kitchen? I have been cooking rather simple meals lately, but I miss baking and I will try to make sure I make time for it.