Blue

We all love berries in our family. Perfectly sized to eat for even the littlest one, sweet and so good for you on top of that. On one of his business drives Hubby discovered a blueberry farm not far away from us and last Sunday morning we ventured out there.

It was a perfect little trip. Big fun picking your own berries... 

... and nibble all along the way.

That's just the best way to eat them - fresh, ripe and raw.

Perfect as they are.

... or make Fudgy Wudgy Blueberry Brownies:

(vegan recipe link here)

(I used "perfect" three times in this post, but couldn't think of another way to describe it just as it was... perfect)

Harvest Time

This week I will show you some of the fresh produce in our garden and elsewhere that we are very much enjoying right now. Starting off with my favourite fruit of the moment - figs.

Sweet, succulent and sexy - 

they are something I am looking forward to in late summer.

Pink Moment of the Week

... new pink corduroy jeans to sparkle up the coming fall.

Vegan Progress

I was really amazed when I went to Oldenburg's main bookstore the other day. Just there to get a present (a pumpkin cookbook) for a friend's birthday, an unexpected vegan section caught my eye. No, catching my eye is too soft an expression... totally hit me... in a very pleasant way.

3 shelves of books about veganism and vegan cookbooks (one raw).

Shudder, shudder, and that's meat.

Pink Moment of the Week

... in Clara's room, finger knitting with a friend.

(wondering why it was so quiet)

Handmade Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is too hot to knit, in my experience. I preferred meditatively staring at the rotating fan at rest times. And I didn't see anybody knit, either. But I kept my eyes open and found these crochet flowers on display in Colombo's YWCA:

So Sri Lanka might not be a lot about yarn and knitting needles, but I saw a couple of sewing machines. Old sewing machines:

Still in use by their proud owners - "It's a Singer!" they assured me.

And not only sewing machines - oddly, Singer seems to be all over Sri Lanka from furniture to financing.

Pink Moments of Sri Lanka

pink dragon fruit

mosquito nets

tuk-tuk time

colourful sarees

a currency with a butterfly on it - the Sri Lankan rupee (20 rupees are 11 €-cents)

our favourite drink and snack - king coconuts (we had about 10 each day)

Clara on safari

not pink, but awesome - catcouch on a surfboard for the first time

Not Bali, not Thailand, but...

Travel Quiz

We are off traveling for the next weeks, a hint about our destination is this drawing by a child from the country we go to. And it's tropical!

Have a great July yourselves!

Pink Moment of the Week

Backpacks packed and a new traveling buddy/buggy for Carolina.

This is still a Knitting Blog!

Yes, it is. Sometimes. Between all the kids fun, gardening, raw food cutting, blending, juicing, eating, yoga, reading, family life and SLEEPING, there are still those knitting moments. Not as much as they used to be (hey, it's summer), but also not as much needed (as in a very, very urgent and lifesaving way).

Started in February, my magical pink 2-at-once-socks came off the needles recently.

 What I have learned:
- knitting two socks at the same time (obviously) on two circular needles does prevent second sock syndrome, but doesn't necessarily turn out a pair in a shorter time
- to get started I used this video tutorial here by VeryPink Knits (love the name!)
- further on I followed the yarnharlot's basic sock recipe from her book Knitting Rules!

- for the heel I also used the yarnharlot's directions, using the Eye of partridge heel for the flap to make it sturdier (and for fun, as I have never knitted it before)

- one more interesting thing about turning the heel in, I would say, the "North American way": a new method for me as well, but very common in the US and Canadian pattern I found out - in Germany it is called "Herzchenferse" meaning "Little Heart Heel"...

see why?

- I did some research on heels and found this page here, just to see that the standard heel people knit in Germany is called Dutch Heel in the US, while the there is also a German Strap Heel I have never seen...

My Ravelry notes here

What's next? Knitting two socks on ONE long circular needle, of course.

Pink Moment of the Week

Hey, is the Pink Moment of the Week actually red this time?

No.

After the poppies had lost their red petals I used their pods for printing (I fell in love with plant printing last year, remember?), it is another beautiful way to bring the garden inside the house, apart from eating it.

Pink poppy seed pod stars on linen.

From the Garden

Hubby came in with these two bowls from his garden today. Arugula and pink chard. You can't get them fresher or more organic, I guess. I would prefer those greens over flowers anytime. Some of them went into my jogger's juice and most of it into the Big Dinner Salad. Even Clara devoured it and she usually doesn't even look at the salad. Feels so good!

Garden Man

Hubby has just said: "I am going in the garden and make some place for the new plants." That fits today's blog topic perfectly.

Hubby's vegetable garden - his new pride and joy. 

This year Hubby started out on his gardening adventure, he dug up patches (and removed the remains of my last year's attempt at gardening), put bricks around them and bought seeds and plants for potatoes, chard, zucchini, lettuce, kohlrabi and arugula. And his garden is doing fine. More often than not I hear him disappearing at night to "water his garden" or talking about how the potatoes are doing.

Word has spread about his garden, I guess. So at our birthday party we were gifted with those:

Flowers, lavender, hokkaido and zucchini plants, a pear tree and a blackcurrant bush. They really need some garden space of their own. Personally, I am still waiting for my thumb to turn green, but I suspect that I am more of an organic vegetable lover/cook/eater. But, you know, in a marriage there must be balance, one in the garden, one in the kitchen.

So I am very proud of my garden man who also deserves a break now and then (under the roses that he cut back so well).

Hubby's Cake

Hubby got his raw vegan birthday cake too.

 Chocolate Blueberry Tart

It sure was a crowd pleaser! I didn't mention the fact that the cake was raw vegan, I just let it stand there on the table along with the other cakes, and only after some guests started commenting on how delicious it was, mousse-au-chocolatey and just a perfect symphony of taste and texture I came out with the truth. They nearly couldn't believe it - no dairy?

And like my own birthday cake (blogged here) based on cashews, it was very rich. One regular piece leaves you really full and happy. Just one happy guy managed to eat two.

As the recipe is the combination of four different ones I found in books and online and some people asked for it (and I can remember it for later), here is my version:

Ingredients:

Crust:
2 cups walnuts
1/2 cup soft pitted dates
3 tsp cacao powder (or more to taste)
pinch of salt

Filling:
4 cups cashews, soaked for 6-8 hours
1 cup melted coconut oil
1 cup agave nectar
3/4 cup water
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt1 cup cacao powder
400-500g blueberries (frozen and completely thawed or fresh, or a combination of both)

Crust:
Process the walnuts until crumbly. Add dates, cacao and salt and process until well combined. Transfer to springform pan and press till firm.

Filling:
In a food processor or blender combine all the ingredients except cacao powder and blueberries until smooth and creamy. Add cacao powder and process/blend until well combined. Add blueberries carefully by hand to the mixture (leaving some fresh ones for the garnish on top). Transfer to springform pan and distribute evenly over the crust.

Freeze for at least 4 hours (better overnight) until firm all way through. When you are ready to serve, allow the cake to sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours or until soft. You can also defrost it in the fridge for a couple of hours. Before serving sprinkle fresh blueberries on top. Leftovers (which leftovers?) can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Enjoy!

Pink Moment of the Week

Where there were a couple of roses last year on our terrace, this year there a dozens (cutting them back has really worked botanical magic, we are still figuring out this garden thing...).

It smells soo sweet stepping out of the house. 

Inspired by this post here, I decided to save some of the organic edible flowery goodness for later by drying.

I am still looking for a great recipe for those dried petals.

Pink Moment of the Week

... at the Flea Market on Saturday. Great sunshine weather, great location at the Oldenburg Castle, nice people and a great opportunity to let go of old stuff (the money made is a nice by-product of the process).
Extra info: this was actually only the second flea market of my life.
What sold best: my CD collection and books.

Sweets to the Sweet

After my yummy birthday cake, I decided to give my yoga students a treat this week.

Raw vegan brownies!

I wouldn't go so far to say that they will change your life (as the recipe link suggests here), but they are really good - moist, chocolatey and chewy and everybody in my family loves them (I made them a couple of times during the last month - has my life already changed then?).

My yoga students wouldn't say no to the brownies either (just one girl with a nut allergy) and asked for the recipe. I think this post should provide you with the information to get started. Enjoy!

Raw Cake Eater

And that's 36-years-old-birthday-me being proud of my cake.

Pink Moment of the Week

 It was my birthday this week and for this special occasion I made a wonderful raw vegan raspberry cheesecake.

None of my guests guessed the main ingredient (no tofu, mascarpone or cream cheese) - it was cashews!

The recipe was inspired by this one here.

(better double or triple the batch)