A little feast for a little cat (and red soup for the redhead)~

Greetings,

My little furball is fiiiinally getting better and because he had been such a poor little bean recently (his ear infection got so bad overnight, that he suffered from balance issued), that I decided to conjure up a special kind of meal for him to get well and strong fast!~

~Roasted chicken hearts with hemp oil and a tad of crème fraiche~

I just love cooking and especially cooking for other people...err....or cats in this case.
That way, I can make sure that what lands on my furball's dish is great quality without nasty additives. It is always important to research a little beforehand, as there are certain foods cats should absolutely not eat (like onions and garlic for example!), but other than that it is not that hard.

Just because I don't eat meat, doesn't mean my cat is going to miss out on it.

I get very angry when I hear people trying to force a vegetarian or vegan diet onto their cats - if you want a herbivore, get a bunny, they are super cute , fluffy and cuddly as well, but don't torment a carnivore.

That being said, I bought a pack of eco chicken hearts from a farm and prepared the meat (with a cat watching and licking his little lips already) by cutting them into even pieces.

After frying them with only a little oil and long enough to make sure they are evenly cooked, it was time to chop them up. My cat doesn't mind rough but mouth sized pieces, he is as much into rustic food as myself it seems~

Garnishing the dish by mixing in just a little storebough catfood that is super rich in vitamins, as well as some hemp oil and finishing off with a wee bit of crème fraiche.

 "Give it to me, I'm not gonna share"

For some reason the Ginnicat has the habit to always eat with his paws when I serve slices of meat - he just knows it is an elegant occasion.

I also made some very quick tomato soup, because I myself am still sick, but the recipe is so simple, I will list the ingredients for you very quick:

-Passata / cooked and pureed tomatoes

-1 cup vegetable broth

- salt and pepper

-as much garlic as you can handle/enjoy (I am not a measure)

-oregano

-lovage

-(crème fraiche; if you want a cream soup)

Just throw it all in a cauldron (yes, laughing hysterically like a mad witch as you go, you know the drill~) and let it boil and simmer for a while. adding in spices and water until your tastebuds are in awe~

~*Have you guys ever cooked for your pets before?*~

How an Elf avoids a starting cold~

Greetings dear readers,

It is the season for colds, cough and sore throats again, so your Elf has decided to share some of her favourite home remedies to defeat a cold before it breaks out. Maybe, because she has just once again managed to get hold of something that has tried messing with her immunity. *flex*

I personally am not the greatest fan of reaching for medication as a first resort (in fact, I tend to avoid it as much as possible and merely use it as a backup plan) - I prefer to treat the cause and not just the symptom. 

Know the little warning signs and stages:

Is there anything you notice that happens every time before you are getting sick? Most of the time there are small stages that occur the more the cold proceeds.
For me the first warning sign is always feeling cold for no reason (and especially getting ridiculously cold feet), and then, if I don't immediately take care of myself and/or be weak of immune system at the moment, followed by the Apocalyptic riders of the Flu: Sore throat, cough, runny nose, headache, etc.

This is where you have to start working it - and the earlier, the better. Most colds I dodge by putting on very warm clothes, sometimes a scarf - but most importantly: immediately drinking a hot cup of tea followed by many more.
I will leave my special tea remedies at the end of this post if you are interested.

Fresh air and a good mixture of rest and movement
Determining whether you are still in the beginning stage where some minor activity can help you defeat the cold (tidying in the house, short walk with a veeery warm coat and hat...) or if you already feel as though you need some rest. 

Tea.

Tea is a lot more powerful than some people want to believe. Especially in the early stages it does not matter much what kind of tea you are indulging in, as long as you are drinking enough and keeping your body warm inside out. 

My basic tea remedy for the colder months

- 3+ slices of fresh ginger

- Roiboos tea

- one small cinnamon stick

- some honey

This tea does wonders in getting you warm again and depending on what other symptoms I might be having, I add in different ingredients to make my brew even more helpful:

-Sore throat/cough: no cinnamon, exchanging roiboos for Ginseng/Echinacea/Sage/Thyme/Rosemary (one or as many of them as I can get my hands on)

-General sick feeling without fever: Ginger + honey + lemon (+green tea)

-Feeling nauseous: Pure Ginger tea

Bonus: I also love incorporating herbs like thyms, sage and rosemary into my cooking, as well as adding loads of garlic~

Sage and honey have desinfective properties, ginger, echinacea and ginseng are a boost for your immune system and rosemary and thyme are especially good for anything throat related. The cinnamon and Roiboos tea help warming you up from the inside, but I personally find cinnamon to harsh on a sore throat/cough so I use it more in the early stages or as a general autumn/winter drink to stay warm and cozy.~

~*Do you have any favourite ways to beat a cold that is trying to break out?*~

A day of adventuring (as to be expected)

Haven't I spoken about randomly leaving everything behind to run off into the wilderness for a day or so?
The epic return on my migrane had taken place right after my awakening and I, being the unpredictable person I sometimes can be, cancelled all of my plans - which included going to a medieval fair - and started to stuff my backpack with all sorts of nomsies, some sutdy materials and one liter of boiling hot water in a thermos for teamaking purposes. I even brought my very own mug.

My hike took me to the woods, up the mountain and away from the busy paths until I finally found a spot where I felt like lingering for a while. That while turned into a day and I had a grand time just observing, feeling and enjoying my surroundings.

Nom nom nom...

All the elven goodness

I even felt like having some meat for a change -- you either go hard or you go home

Also included but not pretty enough for the photo were a bottle of berry smoothie and a very random salad, as well as some more bread and loads of different teabags

There is something very homely about bringing a real mug; when you use the cap of your thermos, you feel like a traveller, when you have a real mug, you feel at home.

The Elf prior to eating with grand apetite and anticipation 

Veins of the trees; isn't nature marvellous?

Sometimes it is just really nice to reconnect with nature and just enjoy it with all of your senses. It was good to have a day to myself again, recharge my energy and just be in the moment rather than stuck inbetween planning and organization. Nature is my personal escape and now that it's getting warmer, I cannot wait to go have some tea amongst the trees more often.
With a real mug of course.
I take tea very seriously.

Autumnal Pumpkin Pastry [Recipe]

Over the last years I have gotten so many requests (especially on Instagram) regarding how to recreate the meals I cook.
I really enjoy standing in teh kitchen and experimenting about, but the one wee problem is, that I am not a big fan of measurements which makes it complicated to share most recipes.

But here is one of my alltime favourites, that is easy to make and does not require any measurements at all, for you are the one to decide how much of what ingredient you would wish to add.

I will share a few more of the "shareable" recipes with you, but I hope you understand, that most dishes are extremely complicated if not impossible to explain when you have no fixed directions and go by "how the dough looks and feels" :)

Of couse you can use whatever vegetables (or even meats) or spices you prefer but here i will share with you what I've made today.

(Also please excuse if some pictures are a wee bit out of focus or the colours seem off, I had to take pictures with my phone as usually and it is always a bit of a guessing game how alright the pictures turn out thehe!)

 

Ingredients:

~ puff pastry
~ small pumpkin (not sure about the English word but we call the particular pumpkin I like the most "Hokkaido" but you can really use any type)
~ mushrooms of choice (I used chantrelle and cep from the nearby forest)
~ some zucchini
~ sweet potato
~ mustard (I use any hot mustard, not to keen on the sweet types)
~ greek cheese
~ one garlic clove
~ a few dark olives
~ some olive oil
~ spices: salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, cayenne and ground cumin


How to prepare your dish:


Start out by cutting your vegetables into bite sized bits. The only exception is the garlic, which you want to cut as tiny as possible (no one wants to find a huge chunk of garlic in theri food, trust me). Also cut your olives and break your greek cheese into crumbles of your own prefered size.

 

Now you want to pre-boil/steam your vegetables (if you use meats, make sure to already fry it properly). Technically it is possible to skip this step but I am a wee bit finicky with certain foods and prefer this dish when everything is nice and soft. 

 

Whilst I am steaming the harder vegetables, I am just quickly frying my mushrooms in a pan. Makre sure to not go to crazy on the oil, otherwise your mushrooms will be soaked with it afterwards. Also keep in mind the boiling/steaming time of your remaining vegetables: the hardest (in this case sweet potatoes) go in first and the softest (the zucchini) last. I steam them for approximately 15 - 20 minutes - if you are going for the boiling option, just wait until everything starts to become soft enough to be almost serveable.

~

Once you are done wit the quick frying and you still have to wait until your boiling time is over, you can already start by preparing your puff pastry: Take an oven safe baking form and gently grease it with either oil or butter. Then gently lay it our with your puff pastry and put a thin layer of mustard all over. 

In an empty bowl, mix all your vegetables (also the garlic), the greek cheese and spices together (I recommend to spice after your own liking - but beware of the salt, as greek cheese is naturally salty!) Add 1 - 3 tablespoons of olive oil depending on your size of dish.  Preheat your oven to about 220°C

Now you can fill your baking form with the vegetable mix that should by now contain every of your ingredients.

You can either cut off the flaps of pie that were too big for your container, or you feel artsy like me and made wee decorations out of it.

Finally your dish is ready to enter the dragon's lair. I'd recommend putting the carrying baking tray onto the second lowest option, but if you have an tiny oven without trays in different heights, that is fine too!

I leave my "pastry" in the oven for about 20 minutes, but in this case, because I made quite a lot and used an actual cake form, I expanded the baking time to 40minutes. Just watch for your puff pastry - it is supposed to be light to golden brown not  black as night :)

~

I hope you guys enjoyed this tiny recipe, it is one of my favourites and I love switching ingredients and spices around . If you have not been blessed with allergies, I recommend putting some parmesan on top about 10mins before it is done and serve it with a crème fraîche dip!

A wonderful sunday evening to you all.*~