Beauty corner: a glittering sorbet manicure

Summer is finally around and there is about time to completely change the colours of my wardrobe and also the makeup colours. Although I am not that extravagant and off the books when it comes to the daily makeup, regardless of the season, the manicure is always one detail that I keep in mind when it comes to going out of the house.

Due to the intensive use of nail polishing - my nails are usually free of lacquer only one day the week, from Thursday evening to Friday, when I am cooking - I need to be sure that my nails are getting the right protection. For a couple of week, I apply once the week this Multivitamin Gel from Rival de Loop, an affordable purchase from my local Rossmann store in Berlin. The nails are looking healthier and are stronger.

From the same Rossmann, I purchased last week two tempting bottles. One yellow sorbet - the colour is so tasty that I could not resist the 'buy me' call. Luckily, it was included at sales and thus, I was able to buy another item(s) too. The other one looks awesome, little glittering that doesn't necessarily looks uniform, but very elegant and interesting for various occasions. Either you go to a business meeting or at shopping, it gives a joyous air of distinction that matches a curious personality. 

I first applied the sorbet and waited till dry - maximum 10 minutes. Then, I applied with one single touch of the brush, the special effects. It shines without giving the impression of carnival outfit. It is not necessarily looking too teenage either. 

The good part is also that it resists a lot, around 5 days upon the first application, although I cook, wash dishes, and write the whole day. The cleaning will take a bit more efforts than usual. I was more than happy with both choices and be ready to hear more about the combinations I made with the 'special effects nail lacquer'.

The overall price of the purchase is less than 5 Euro. 

Time to introduce my favourite matzah

Today is Pesach Sheni and I'm happy to introduce my favourite matzah: French, fine and irresistible. It is produced by France's oldest matzah-maker, based in Alsace, a region close to the border to Germany. Since I discovered it, four years ago, I take care every year to purchase in time at least 4 big boxes: there are so good that I hardly hear any complaints about how hard is rhe eating life during the Pesach.  

After the Pesach is gone, I use them in various combinations that I don't use during the holiday, including various brei, but also with nutella, jams, cheese, as base for pizzas and as a delicate accompaniment for various spring salads. 

As in the case of the general message of Pesach Sheni, there are always second chances! 

Learning how to properly prepare couscous - work in process

I love to much couscous not only because it's very easy to prepare - maximum 20 minutes if you are lazy enough - and very tasty too. Also, you can add various spices - za'atar, of course, but also cumin, and some dried parsley and even some cayenne pepper - veggies - such as carrots or tomatoes, scallions and garlic. It goes well with various types of oils - cotton being the less recommended, and olive the favourite. However, there is something always missing from my couscous recipes, mainly the real experience of preparing it in the traditional way, as it is done in Morocco or the Middle East.

Till will be able to take part to a live exercise of preparing real couscous, I tried to update my bibliography and have a look at various videos and traditional explanations and recipes. Based on the latest lectures and conversations, I improved a little bit the couscous recipe, as follows:

- before starting the cooking, I add 4-5 tablespoon of flour and mix it for 60 seconds till the entire composition is homogeneous. Did I say that I try to mix it with hand, feeling the special texture of the grains?

- talking about mixing, acquiring homogeneity after each ingredient added. It will take longer to prepare the recipe, but at the end you enter the ancestral pace of the genuine couscous experts. 

- limit the amount of water added. I used to add around 1 cup of water for 2 cups of couscous, but I rather preferred to be more generous with the oil - 4 to 6 tablespoon. 

- add the oil first, then the spices and then the garlic. For the bigger veggies - such as tomatoes - the cooking time takes longer and thus you better add them when the composition is almost done and hot enough for a proper preparation. 

Right now, I am very far away from a successful couscous maker, but following my personal motto of learning at least one new thing every day, I promise to improve soon and share a genuine experience.  

Soon...very soon... 

Recipe of the week: Yogurt biscuits

I don't like at all recipes without clear indications about quantities, but if I think twice honestly I will realize that it is how I usually cook: I use the basic recommendations as possibilities and add my own creative content. Such a strategy doesn't necessarily work well every time but it's another story. For a couple of days, I let open in my browser a recipe from Food52 of yogurt biscuits, that looks easy to make, but kept me confused about the values of the ingredients. Today, I was in a more creative mood and went further with the preparations.

For 35 pieces, I decided the following quantities of ingredients:

- 2 cups flour

- 1 tablespoon baking powder

- 4 small scallions, finely chopped

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 150 gr. fresh yogurt

- 4 tablespoon butter milk

- 200 gr. parmesan or hard cheese

Mixed all the ingredients together till I was happy with the texture of the dough. Let it to rest for a couple of minutes, till I set the oven to 250C. If you have enough time and less hunger, you can eventually let the mixture to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes or so. As for me, I rather wanted to prepare them as soon as possible. I separate the dough into little or bigger pieces and arrange them chaotically on the brownish baking paper. 

After 20 minutes, the smell of fresh baked goodies push me away from my reading and encouraged to stop doing anything else but tasting the golden biscuits (in fact, little scones, in my humble opinion). And tasting, and tasting. In this pace, I should prepare a new batch soon.

Post-Pesach corn matza brei

Compared to the other years, this year we have a lot of matza boxes left. Maybe because it was too much, or because we were invited relatively often, but anyway, we should do something with them and eating them 'raw' doesn't look like the best idea.

But there are a lot of recipes that I don't usually prepare because, we don't eat gebrocht. Such as, matza brei, that we enjoyed fully for at least 3 days and one full box of fine French matza. 

Especially recommended for breakfast or evening meal: it can be prepared very easy, is healthy and doesn't bring any extra-pressure for your stomach. I dare to say that also works if you are on diet.

Ingredients for 2 persons:

2 big matzot, made into little pieces

100 gr. vegetable margarine

2 beaten eggs

200 gr. canned corn

1/2 teaspoon salt, on taste

The preparation - around 10 minutes - follows the next steps:

Beat the eggs and mix it with matza. Add the corn, the margarine and the salt and mix them for a couple of minutes. Fry them slowly in a pan while continuing mixing at 250C. 

That's all!

Bon Appétit!

Beauty corner: Vitamin C Microdermabrasion by Body Shop

What's the best relaxing solution after a crazy week: a face mask. This time, I rather preferred to test something new, and the answer was a Vitamin C Microdermabrasion from Body Shop. Right now, there are a couple of small size pocket face masks, available for only 2 Euro, and I plan to test as many of them in the next weeks and at the end of the testing to purchase the one who's really the best.

I usually use extensively green tea-based masks with proved results over the years. This time, not sure why, I picked up this product, probably because I know also how good Vitamin C does for my skin. One of the main qualities of this vitamin is the production of collagen, which aids the regeneration of cells and the recovering of blood vessels. After using it on the skin, your face will look firm and generally strengthen. 

The application is relatively easy, and there is enough cream to use it for both face and neck. Applied with round movements, the fine exfoliating micro-particles. Keep it on the skin for around 5 minutes. During this short amount of time, I felt how the mask is producing effects on my skin: a little bit of irritation. 

I cleaned the mask with water and couldn't believe how fast the soft and smooth of my skin returned. It felt as a mask of dead cells left my face. It works efficiently and is strongly recommended for any type of skin. 

As in the case of any type of mask, it is recommended to clean the face previously from make up or other impurities that one usually got from the air.  

Chocolate Coconut (easy) cake

Shabbes starts late so I have more time to think about the menu. But when it comes to cakes, it seems that I'm very often out of inspiration and I need a longer research than usual. This time, I tried to be fast yet creative and using the available ingredients. 

The results were not bad, not bad at all.

Here are the magic ingredients leading to the big piece of cake serving 8 (at least).

350 gr. flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

250 gr. melted butter of veggie margarine

200 gr. baking chocolate

5 beaten eggs

200 gr. sugar - I rather wanted a less sugarly cake, otherwise, you can add 50 gr. more eventually

200 gr. dessicated coconut -if you want a stronger taste, you can add more.

Directions - preparation time 15 minutes

Add the baking powder to the flour and mix it well.

Beat the eggs and add them. Mix well again.

Melt the chocolate and the butter or margarine. Add them to the mixture.

Continue with the sugar and coconut.

Mix them for around 5 minutes till you have a perfect pasta.

Heat the oven at 200C. Bake it for around 45 minutes.

To be served with green tea or a nesscafé.

Bon Appétit!