Peppermint slice

Every time we are invited to a party I hear same question...Can you bring something sweet?

Somehow they all know I love to bake :)  

Just before Christmas we booked B&B and spent weekend at the beach. On our last day owner Sharon and Bill stopped by to say good bye and brought us peppermint slice. What a nice surprise, we never had peppermint slice before. It is no-bake type of slice with hint of mint made with crushed biscuits. Very refreshing. She even ask me if I want a recipe. Yes of course I said!!! 

I was so excited to make it for a party we were invited to.

I made two more slices to fill up the plate with typical Australian Hedgehog and typical American brownie-cheesecake.

What a combination :) 

Pokazde kdyz jsme pozvani na party dostanu stejnou otazku, muzes donest neco sladkeho?

Tak nejak ti co me znaji vi ze rada pecu :)

To mi prislo celkem vhod nebot jsem dostala novy recept na Peprmintove rezy od pani Sharon.

Stravili jsme par dni u more a posledni den naseho odjezdu se majitele Sharon a Bill prisli rozloucit a nabidli nam tyhle uzasne nepecene rezy. Jsou delane z polamanych susenek a pepermintovych cokoladovych tycinek spojene kondenzovanym mlekem. Moc nam chutnaly a Sharon mi nabidla jeji recept. Super rikala jsem si opet neco noveho do me sbirky.

Tesila jsem se az ho vyzkousim a vezmu na party. Udelala jsem jeste dalsi dva rezy jeden klasicky australsky s neobvyklym nazvem Hedgehog (jezek) a druhy klasicky americky brownie-cheesecake.

I would like to show you what a beautiful Christmas napkins I got in mail from Lilienky.

She is very creative and her blog U Lilienky is full of gorgeous ideas. Thank you Lenicko. I love them!

A na zaver bych vam rada ukazala nadherne vanocni prostirani.co mi poslala Lilienka.

Je velmi sikovana a na jejim blogu U Lilienky  najdete spoustu krasnych veci. 

Dekuji Lenicko, moc se mi libi! Udelala jsi mi velkou radost :)

Ironing board make-over and more...

Finally I managed to finish all of my little projects that I had on my to do list for a while. 
My ironing board needed a new cover. I wanted something fun and lovely so I bought this cute fabric in Spotlight store not to mention they had 40% off on entire range of fabrics. These sales are very dangerous....I am sure the fabric lovers know what I mean :)

Konecne jsem nasla cas dokoncit vsechny male projekty ktere jsem mela na liste uz delsi dobu.
Moje zehlici prikno uz potrebovalo novy potah. Chtela jsem neco veseleho a tak jsem koupila tuhle hezkou latku v obchode Spotlight. 


This is my old and ugly ironing board.
Tohle je moje stare zehlici prkno.

And this is my new ironing board after make-over.
A takhle vypada nove. No to bude zehlenicko :)

My sewing machine wanted a new cover for those times when she is not working so I made her a new home :)
I even made organizer which is very handy. It has 6 small pockets for scissors and other things.

Moje sici masinka si prala novy "domecek" aby mela kde v klidu odpocivat kdyz zrovna nesije. Tak jsem ji usila novy domecek a bydli u sovicek :)

Zmohla jsem se i na kapsar ktery je opravdu prakticky. Ma 6 kapsicek na nuzky a vselijake drobnustky.

 And this is my little corner. It's not always so neatly organized. I love it here.

A tady je muj koutek moje kralovstvi. Ne po kazde je tak uklizeno :)



My lovely red pincushion made by my mom can't handle all my pins and needles so I made one a bit bigger from my favorite scraps of fabrics.

Moje krasna muchomurka kterou mi uhackovala maminka mi uz nestaci na vsechny ty spendliky a tak jsem jeste ze zbytku oblibenych latek usila trosku vetsi jahelnicek




And last thing I needed is a storage bag for bags. I know bit old fashion thing. I remember my grandmother had one, my mom has one but I didn't. I had fun to practice applique and no more kitchen bags laying under my sink.

Posledni vec co jsem potrebovala do kuchyne je ulozny pytlik na sacky. Ja vim trosku staromodni zalezitost. Pamatuji si ze moje babicka ho mela, ma ho i maminka. Takze ted pribyl jeden i u nas a uz se mi nebudou valet sacky v kabinetu pod kuchynskym drezem. Bylo to fajn si neco hezkeho naaplikovat na latku. 

Vanocka step by step

Vanocka o vanocich proste musi byt. Ja ji sice pecu po cely rok a tak mi to uz ani nepripada divne ze za okny neni mraz a nesnezi. Dnes mi k tomu peceni krasne svitilo slunicko a teplomer ukazoval 25C no neni to spatne na prosinec :) vidte?
Musim se priznat ze mam spoustu "hracek" v kuchyni ale nejlepsi investice byla domaci pekarna. Vsechny suroviny do ni soupnu, zmacknu cudlik a ona sama testo zadela a necha vykynout a dokonce i upece.  Chleba uz skoro nekupujem delam v ni proste vsechno: vanocku, pizzu, pletynky, seminkovy chleba, focaccia, bulky.....
A pokud jste se rozhodly letos ze by jste si tu pravou ceskou vanocku chtely upect tak tady mate postup krok po kroku jak na to! Tak sup do zasterky a jdeme na to :)
Pokud nemate domaci pekarnu nevadi zadelejte testo v el. mixeru nebo rucne jak kdysi moje babicka zadelavala.
Podotykam vanocka je velka po upeceni ma 1300g !


Vanocka is special sweet bread and for every Czech family is a must during the Christmas time. We like it so much that I make it all year around. So it doesn't feel weird anymore not to see snow behind the window. Today was a beautiful day 25C and sun was shining not bad for December. Yes we have summer here Down-Under :)
I have to admit I have lots of "toys" in the kitchen but best investment was my Panasonic bread-maker. I put all ingredients in, press button, and let it do the hard work. It will mix, proof and bake.
We hardly buy bread now. I make everything in my bread maker challa bread, brioche, pizza dough, milk plaits, focaccia, buns...
And for you who would like to try our special czech Vanocka here are instructions step by step so hurry up put your apron on and lets have some fun :)
If you don't have bread maker that's ok just make the dough in el. mixer or by hand like my grandmother did.
By the way vanocka is pretty big after it's baked weights 1300g !

Budete potrebovat:
You will need:

750g hladke mouky/plain flour
2 tsp./cajove lzicky suseneho drozdi/dry yeast
390ml tepleho mleka/warm milk
7 lzic/Tbsp. cukru/sugar
70g masla/butter
2 vejce/eggs
3lzicky/tsp. anyzu/ground anise
1/2hrnku/cup hrozinek/raisins

Volim pizza program na 45min. Hrozinky pridavam 15min. pred koncem cyklu.

I select pizza program for 45min. Raisins are added 15 before end of cycle.

Po 45min. necham testo v masince zavrene odpocivat 30min.

After 45min. I leave the dough inside to proof 30min.

Takhle krasne nabude.

It will double in size.

Testo rozdelim na 9 stejnych dilu.

Divide the dough into 9 even pieces.

Vyvalej zhruba 38cm dlouhe.

Roll out approximately 15inchech long.

Zacni plest spodek ktery je spleteny ze 4 dilu.

Start with bottom - made from 4 pieces.

Vzdy zacni prvnim kouskem z prava. Prehod ho pres pak pod a znvu pres.

Always start with first piece from right side. Go over, under and over.

Konecky zahni dospodu.

Fold the ends under.

Otoc a uplet druhou pulku stejnym zpusobem.

Turn around and make the other half same way.

Prenes spodni dil na vymasteny plech. Vtlac zlehka stranu dlane pro druhe patro. Lepsi bude sedet.

Place bottom part on greased tray and lightly pres with side of the palm.

Uplet druhe patro ze 3 kousku a treti patro ze 2 kousku. Posad na sebe.

Make a second layer from 3 pieces and third layer from 2 pieces and put together.

Prikryj vanocku a nech 30 min. vykynout az se zdvojnasobi. Muze trvat i dele pokud je u vas chladno min jak 22C.

 Predehrej troubu na 170C.

Cover Vanocka ane let it proof 30min. until double in size. May take longer if your room-temperature is less then 22C. 

 Preheat the oven to 170C

Opatrne potri vajickem a sup s ni do trouby. Pecu pri 170C asi 30-35min.

Brush vanocka with egg-wash and and bake in preheated oven 170C about 30-35min.

A tady je ta prava ceska domaci vanocka. 

Here it is the real czech vanocka. 

Dobrou chut!

Enjoy!

Pernicky - Gingerbread

Tak i letos mame napecene pernicky. Samozrejme v polovine peceni jsem si vsimla  ze do nich nedelam dirku pro stuzku a tak mam polovinu bez direk :) Zapojil se i manzel, nastrihal mi stuzky a pernicky povesil na stromecek :)

Miluji tu prenikovou vuni kdyz prijdu domu. Krasne to tu u nas voni Vanocemi :)

As every year I made gingerbread cookies. Of course I forgot to make a tiny hole for a ribbon before I put them in the oven :) So half of them is without it :) My lovely husband wanted to be a part of this fun and cut the ribbons and put gingerbread on the tree :)

I love the smell of gingerbread when I come home.

 

Leto jsem pekla jen z jedne davky a vykrajovala jsem je trosku vetsi at to jde rychleji od ruky :)

This year I made just one batch and cut them out slightly bigger.

Tohle jsou pernicky ktere pekla moje maminka v loni. Ma krasne vypsanou ruku. Peceni vanocniho cukrovi a pernicku je nase rodinna tradice.

This is my mom's gingerbread from last year. Her hand is nice and steady.

Christmas baking is our family tradition.

A co vy jak u vas probihaji vanocni pripravy a cely ten shon?

And what about you? What are you up to this Christmas?

My first applique - Christmas tree

I haven't done applique yet so when I saw this gorgeous Christmas tree applique pillow in Handmade magazine I knew this would be perfect project for me. I didn't make pillow since I made so many lately I made pot holders instead. I am very pleased with result for a first time :) 

I will send them to my aunt as a little Christmas surprise. She loves sewing and does patchwork too. 

Aplikace jsem jeste nikdy nezkousela a tak kdyz jsem videla v casopise Handmade nadherny vanocni stromecek naaplikovany na polstari, bylo  mi jasne ze tohle musim zkusit. Polstarku uz jsem ale usila dost a tak jsem se rozhodla ze usiju misto nej vanocni chnapky. Vysledek me opravdu potesil :) 

Jako male vanocni prekvapeni je poslu me tete ktera taky rada sije a propadla patchworku.

Thank you for stopping by!

Dekuji Vam za navstevu!

Hanka 

Pro kamaradku/For my friend

Mam kamaradku, ktera nadherne foti. Ma to jako konicka a casto pri foceni pouziva ruzne rekvizity a tak me napadlo ji usit vesele praporky. Casto foti na zakazku maminky a tatinky s detma a myslim ze k tehle prilezitosti by se ji mohly hodit.

Mam moc rada takove barevne siti kdyz muzu vyuzit vsech moznych latek co se mi doma nastradaly.  

Tak ted uz jen zabalit a poslat postaka pres more za ni :)

Snad se ji budou libit.

I have a friend and her hobby is photography. She takes a beautiful shots and often uses a different things to create a theme. So I got an idea to make her cheerful buntings. She often takes a pictures of families with children and  for that occasion I thought they would be perfect.

I love this kind of sewing when I can use all my scraps and leftovers of fabrics. So now it's time to wrap it up and send my postman across the sea :)

I hope she will like it.

Taste of France - Ouiche Lorraine tutorial

Quiche Lorraine is typical French savoury open pie with filling of custard, bacon, onion and cheese. There are many variants of quiche today. It's delicious warm or cold. I like to top up mine with tomatoes and serve it room temperature with salad.

It's not difficult to make it at home and it tastes so much better then store-bought.

So if you feel like cooking lets get started :)

You will need:

 

Base Short pastry:
200g plain flour
100g butter, cold cut into pieces
50ml cold water
1/4tsp. salt

Filling: 
220ml milk
150ml cream
5 eggs
1/2tsp. salt
70g cheese, grated
70g onion, minced
70g bacon, chopped 
1 Tbsp. oil
1 tomato, sliced

First make a short pastry. Mix all ingredients by hand just until combine and form the dough into a disk. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate 1 hour. 
When the dough is nice and cold roll out on floured surface and transfer into round 25cm or 10inch tart pan. Let it rest in refrigerator at least 1hour. Dough needs to be cold before it goes into the oven to prevent shrinking.

Now it's time to prebake the pastry often called "bake blind" this will ensure that pastry is cooked and prevents shrinking. Fill the tart with foil and uncooked rice or beans.
Bake 170C for 14 min. Then remove the foil/rice and bake for another 4 min. It should be in light color.

For the filling:
Saute onion and bacon in the pan with 1Tbsp. oil. Add this mixture into prebaked tart.
In large bowl whisk together milk, cream, eggs and salt. 

Slowly pour egg mixture into tart and sprinkle with cheese. Top with tomatoes if you like.

Bake 170C until golden brown and filling is set.

Serve warm or cold with fresh salad.

Enjoy :)