NEUSPEŠNO TEKMOVANJE / FAILED COMPETITION

V naši družini imamo kar nekaj nasprotij. Že samo mož in jaz se zelo razlikujeva v določenih pogledih. In eno takih področij je tekmovalnost. Moška polovica je tekmovalna in vsak izziv izkoristi za spodbudo, da postane sam še boljši. Jaz pa tekmovanja in tekmovalnost (sploh športno) raje prepustim drugim in bi se nasprotniku najraje umaknila in ga spustila naprej in od tekmovalnosti ne dobim nikakršne vzpodbude in zagona.

V nasprotju s temi občutki sem se v oktobru odločila pridružiti tekmovanju - kuharskemu tekmovanju. Bolj natančno sem želela objaviti fotografijo svojega  izdelka na Cookalong, ki ga vsak mesec razpiše Nigella Lawson. Oktobrski recept mi je bil zelo všeč in zato sem si en oktobrski vikend vzela čas in se lotila peke.
Njeni recepti so vedno lepo napisani, jasni in celo v metričnem sistemu, tako da s tem ni bilo nobenih težav.
Težave so nastopile, ko sem želela objaviti sliko. Po prijavi na njeno stran, mi je stalno javljalo, da se uporabniško ime in geslo ne ujemata. Po približno desetih poskusih v štirih dneh sem obupala.
Na mojo pritožbo na njeni FB strani tudi ni bilo nobenega odziva (pa nisem bila edina s to težavo), tako da sem pač (spet) vrgla puško v koruzo.

Torto smo z največjim veseljem pojedli in večja verjetnost je, da bom prej spet pekla to torto, kot poskušala sodelovati v kakšnem tekmovanju.

TESTO:

50 g grenkega kakava
100 g rjavega sladkorja
250 ml vrele vode
125 g mehkega masla
150 sladkorja
225 g moke
1/2 žličke pecilnega praška
1/2 žličke sode bikarbone
vanilijev sladkor
2 veliki jajci

Sestavin je dovolj za eno torto s premerom približno 20 cm, ki jo po peki prerežemo ali pa spečemo dve ločeni plasti.

V posodo damo kakav in rjav sladkor ter dolijemo vrelo vodo in dobro premešamo.
V drugi posodi penasto umešamo maslo in sladkor, v tretji pa pripravimo mešanico moke, pecilnega praška in sode bikarbone.
Mešanici masla in sladkorja dodamo vanilijev sladkor nato pa prvo jajce in zvrhana žlica moke ter drugo jajce in nato še ostanek suhih sestavin. Na koncu umešamo še kakavovo mešanico.
Testo damo v namaščen model za torte (ali dva) ter pečemo približno 30 minut v pečici segreti na 180°C.

KREMA:
125 ml vode
30g rjavega sladkorja
175 g masla, narezanega na kocke
300 g dobre temne čokolade, narezane na majhne koščke

Takoj, ko damo testo v pečico začnemo pripravljati kremo.
V kozico damo vodo, rjav sladkor in maslo in stopimo na majhnem ognju. Ko začne tekočina vreti, kozico umaknemo iz ognja in dodamo narezano čokolado. Vsebino kozice narahlo "zavrtimo", da pride vsa čokolada v stik z vročo vsebino. Pustimo za kratek čas, da se čokolada stopi, nato pa z metlico premešamo kremo dokler ni gladka in sijoča.

Krema naj stoji vsaj eno uro, da se ohladi in strdi, vendar jo v vmesnem času občasno premešamo.

Ko je testo pečeno in ohlajeno in krema lepo trda, sestavimo torto.

We have quite a few contradictions in our family. My husband and I are very different in some aspects. One of them is competitions. My better half is extremely competitive and he uses every chance he gets to compete and to use the competition to improve him.

On the other hand I don't like competitions (especially the sports kind) and am perfectly fine to let my opponent win. And I don't get any motivation from competing.

In put those feelings aside in October when I decided to join a competition – a cooking competition. I wanted to join the Nigella Lawson Cookalong. I really liked the October's recipe and so I took some time for baking on one weekend in October.

I find all Nigela's recipes nicely written, clear and they are even in the metric system, so I had no problems there.

Problems arose when I tried to post a picture. After logging on to her page, I constantly got a message that the username and password do not match. After about ten attempts in four days, I gave up.

I even complained on her FB page, but got no response (but I was not the only one with this problem), so I just (again) threw in the towel.

We ate the cake, which was gorgeous, but the odds are that I will sooner bake this cake again then enter another competition.

NOVI ZAČETKI / NEW BEGINNINGS

Kot sem omenila v starejši objavi se trenutno ukvarjam z oviro na moji poti.

Imela sem izdelano celotno strategijo, ki se je potem sesula zaradi dodatnih okoliščin. Kljub vsemu pa je prišlo do preboja - sicer na popolnoma drugačen način kot se mi kdaj koli predstavljala, ampak nekaj pa se je le premaknilo.
Za oceno posledic je še dosti prezgodaj, ampak resnično pričakujem, da ne bo negativnih in da so lahko spremembe samo na bolje. Očitno je nekaj optimizma še ostalo v meni.


Sem se pa istočasno lotila še nečesa novega. Nečesa, ki tudi zahteva veliko dela in energije, ampak mi daje zadovoljstvo.

Pridobila sem uradni papir, da lahko svoje izdelke tudi prodam.

In tako zadnje čase pridno šivam, fotografiram, razmišljam....
Vse je seveda še v povojih, ampak začetek pa je.

Tukaj pa malo za prvi vtis:
Torbice za robčke
Kozmetične torbice
Vrečke za malico
Ovitki za sendviče
Vrečke za prigrizke

As I mentioned in an earlier post I am currently dealing with an obstacle in my life.

I had a strategy all planed out but it all collapsed with additional circumstances. Nevertheless, there has been a breakthrough - in a completely different way than I ever imagined but it happened.

It is too early to make in assessment, but I really expect the consequences won't be negative and that the changes will be for the better. Obviously some optimism is left in me.

In the mean time I started something new. Something that also requires a lot of work and energy, but it gives me satisfaction.

I have gained an official paper that I can legally sell my products.

And so I am eagerly sewing, taking pictures, thinking…

I am only at the beginning, but things are moving in the right direction.

Here you can take a sneak preview:

Tissue bags

Cosmeticbags

Lunch bags

Sandwich wraps

Snack bags

MOJ ANGEL / MY ANGEL

Razmišljanje mojega malega angelčka na poti domov

Manumajčica št. 2: A tisti, ki so res v nebesih, kdaj padejo na tla?

Jaz: Mislim, da ne.

M. št. 2: A v nebesih govorijo?

Jaz: Verjetno.

M. št. 2: Kje so že tisti, ki so poredni?

Jaz: V peklu.

M. št. 2: Ja točno pekel, tam je pa velik ognja, mi je Manumajčica št. 1 povedala.


Sem se pa zadržala, da ji nisem rekla, da ne bi imela nič proti, če bi kdaj kdo iz nebes padel na tla, samo da tisti iz pekla ne bi stalno hodili nazaj in mi grenili življenja.

Še krilca se skoraj vidi, a ne? / You can almost see the wings, don't you?

The way my little angel thinks:

Manugirl No. 2: Do the ones who are really in heaven ever fall to the ground?

Me: I think not.

M. No. 2: Do they talk in heaven?

Me: Probably.

M. No. 2: I can't remember where the naughty ones go?

Me: To the hell.

M. No. 2: Yeah, exactly hell, there is a lot of fire; Manugirl no. 1 told me so.

I really had to hold myself back and be quiet. But I wanted to tell her that I wouldn’t mind if someone would occasionally fall from heaven, if only the ones that are in hell stayed there and not keep constantly returning and keep making my life a living hell.

PREDSTAVE / IMAGINE

Trenutno sem v življenju naletela na veliko oviro. Obstajala je že nekaj časa, zdaj pa se je mala snežena kepica zakotalila po dolgi strmini in pred menoj pristala kot snežni zamet. Očitno je ne smem več ignorirati.

Že samo življenje s to oviro je bilo težavno, spoznanje, da moram nekaj ukreniti glede te ovire pa mi je pobralo vso energijo, ki bi jo lahko v normalnih razmerah drugače porabila. Samo odstranjevanje ovire me izčrpava tako psihično kot fizično. Na mojo srečo in veselje mi mož popolnoma stoji ob strani in me podpira pri mojem boju. 
Seveda pa na račun tega trpi tako družina kot moje ustvarjanje, ki ga v zadnjem času skorajda ni. Ravno tako sem bolj kot ne neaktivna v kuhinji, kakšnih novih kulinaričnih dosežkov pa že dolgo ni bilo. 
Na tem mestu se moram zahvalit še svojemu tastu, ki veliko pomaga pri otrocih in nas pogosto reši pred stradanjem s svojimi juhicami, mineštrami in drugimi dobrotami.

Trenutno imam začrtano strategijo svojega boja in že to mi daje nekaj upanja, čeprav si možnih posledic še ne znam predstavljati.

Lahko pa si predstavljam okus čokoladne pite z malinami, s katero smo se sladkali mrzlega junija.

TESTO:

250 g moke
100 g masla (na sobni temperaturi, narezano na majhne kocke)
100 g sladkorja v prahu
ščep soli
2 jajci

V posodo damo moko, maslo, sladkor in sol ter s prsti mešamo dokler ne dobimo "drobtin". Nato dodamo še jajci in gnetemo dokler ne dobimo gladkega testa.
Testo oblikujemo v kepo, zavijemo v prozorno folijo za živila in pustimo počivati v hladilniku eno do dve uri.

240 g ohlajenega testa  na pomokani površini razvaljamo na debelino 2-3 mm in z njim obložimo dobro namaščen okrogel pekač za pite premera 20 cm in ponovno postavimo v hladilnik za vsaj 20 min.
Testo večkrat prebodemo z vilicami in "slepo"  pečemo 20 minut v pečici ogreti na 190°C (na testo položimo papir za peko in nanj natresemo suha fižolova zrna). Nato znižamo temperaturo pečice na 180°C, odstranimo papir in fižol in pečemo še 5 minut.
Testo vzamemo iz pečice in pustimo, da se ohladi medtem pa pripravimo nadev.


NADEV:

250 ml sladke smetane
200 g drobno nasekljane dobre temne čokolade (delež kakava 60-70%)
25 g agavinega sirupa
50 g masla, narezanega na majhne koščke

250 g malin

V kozici na srednjem ognju segrejemo smetano. Ko zavre, umaknemo iz ognja in dodamo sirup in čokolado. Z metlico mešamo dokler ne dobimo gladke kreme. Ob stalnem mešanju dodamo še maslo, košček za koščkom.

Na pečeno testo razporedimo maline in čeznje prelijemo kremo. Počakamo, da se ohladi, nato pa postavimo v hladilnik za vsaj dve uri preden postrežemo.

Pito režemo z zelo ostrim nožem, ki ga pomočimo v vročo vodo za vsak kos.
Postrežemo jo hladno, vendar ne takoj iz hladilnika.

I ran in to a major obstacle in my life right now. Actually it has been there for some time, but now the small snow ball roll down the long slope and landed in front of me as a large pile of snow. Obviously I can not longer ignore it.

Admitting the existence of this obstacle was a difficult thing to do, deciding that something must be done about it was even harder. I spent all my energy on these decisions, the energy that could have been otherwise spent. Working on removing the obstacle is draining me both mentally and physically. Luckily for me, my husband fully stands by me and supports me in my fight.

Of course there are some consequences in our family life and my creating is suffering badly. I am also inactive in the kitchen. Lately I haven't made any new culinary achievements.

At this point, I have to thank my father in law, who is helping us a lot with the children and he often saves us from starvation with his soups, stews and other delicacies.

Currently I have outlined the strategy for the fight and it gives me some hope, even though I can not even imagine the potential consequences.

But I can vividly imagine the taste of chocolate pie with raspberries, which we had back in the cold month of June.

DOUGH:

250 g flour

100 g butter (at room temperature, cut into small cubes)

100g caster sugar

pinch of salt

2 eggs

Put the flour, butter, sugar and salt in a dish and mix it by hand until you get "crumbs". Then, add eggs and knead until you get smooth dough.

Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in transparent foil and let it rest in the refrigerator for one to two hours.

Roll out 240 g chilled dough on a floured surface to a thickness of 2-3 mm and put it in a well-greased pie mold (20cm diameter) and put back in the fridge for at least 20 min.

Prick the dough several times with a fork and "blind« bake for 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 190 °C (line the dough with baking paper and put some dry beans on it). Lower the oven temperature to 180 °C, remove the paper with the beans and bake for another 5 minutes.

Take the dough out and allow it to cool while you prepare the filling.

FILLING:

250 ml whipping cream

200 g finely chopped good dark chocolate

25 g agave syrup

50 g butter, cut into small pieces

250 g raspberries

Heat the cream in a saucepan over medium heat. When it boils, remove from the stove and add the syrup and chocolate. Mix with the whisk until you get a smooth cream. Carry on mixing and add the butter, piece by piece.

Spread the raspberries on the baked pie and pour the cream over them. Allow to cool and then place in the refrigerator for at least two hours before serving.

Cut the pie with a very sharp knife, dipped in hot water for each piece.

Serve it cold, but not straight from the fridge.

NEW GIRL IN TOWN

Tema moje današnje objave me navdaja hkrati z navdušenjem in rahlim razočaranjem, ampak na koncu prevlada navdušenje.
V torek sem šla po dolgem času v službo s kolesom in se domov vračala po Trubarjevi ulici in popolnoma presenečena zagledala trgovino Šivilja in the House - trgovinica namenjena šivanju krpank, da se izrazim po slovensko (oziroma patchworkov ali quiltov mednarodno). Danes pa sem si vzela deset minut časa, da sem si ta mali raj tudi ogledala. Ponujajo različno blago, dodatke, opremo in celo tečaje ob zelo prijazni postrežbi.
Nekaj takega sem močno pogrešala v naši mali, ljubi Sloveniji, občudovala v različnih internetnih trgovinah in vzdihovala zaradi ogromnih poštnin.
Skratka veliko razlogov za navdušenje.

Zakaj sem pa razočarana?
Ker se je na dnu moje duše, nekje potlačena skrivala idejica, da bi "ko bi bila velika" imela neko tako trgovinico. Z dodatkom aparata za kavo in čajnika in dnevno svežega peciva, da bi lahko združila dva svoja hobija oziroma veselji.

Ker pa seveda nisem tako podjeten in avanturističen tip človeka, da bi pustila trenutno službo in se podala v samostojne vode in ker so moje šiviljske sposobnosti pravzaprav ljubiteljske in daleč od profesionalnih, sem izredno vesela, da je nekdo prišel na podobno idejo in bil tako pogumen, da jo je uresničil in da zdaj obstaja kraj kamor grem lahko po material in nasvete.

Skratka na koncu dejansko prevlada navdušenje!

P.S. Naj povem, da se s šivanjem krpank še nisem prav veliko ukvarjala. Pravzaprav imam samo nekaj začetkov, ki sem se jih naučila po brezplačnem internetnem tečaju , ampak blago je uporabno za veliko različnih projektov.

POLETNA PISARNA / SUMMER OFFICE

Kot sem že obljubila, je čas da razkrijem svojo novo poletno pisarno.

Naše stanovanje ni ravno pretirano veliko, pa še mansardno je. In kar nas je trenutno pet, prostor pa si delimo s tremi računalniki, dvema šivalnima strojema, likalno desko in šiviljsko lutko, veslaško napravo, vsaj tremi dojenčki, množico plišastih igrač in konkretnim številom škatel z lego kockami (poleg vsega ostalega), je prostora lahko hitro premalo. Predvsem pa včasih zmanjka kakšna "luknja" kamor bi se človek umaknil ali zatekel po malo miru.
Zadnjih nekaj let imamo v uporabi še balkon, ki ga nismo uporabljali za kaj dosti drugega kot za sušenje perila. Ob zadnjem obisku priljubljene Švedske trgovine preko meje, sem po dooooolgem razmišljanju in razpravljanju kupila lesene plošče za oblaganje balkonskih tal in tako je naš balkon dobil novo, dosti bolj privlačno podobo.

Bila sem celo tako pridna, da sem naredila posnetke PREJ in POTEM.

As I promised, it's time to reveal my new summer office.

Our apartment is not particularly large, and partially in the attic. There is five of us living here, but we share our living space with three computers, two sewing machines, ironing board and dressmaking dummy, rowing machine, at least three babies, a large amount of plush toys, and quite a few boxes of LEGO blocks (in addition to everything else). As you can imagine there is quickly not enough space for everything and everyone. Sometimes you need a place to hide and there isn't any.

Few years ago we acquired balcony but haven't used it for much more then hanging our laundry to dry. At my last visit to the popular Swedish store across the border, I bought (after a lot of thoughts and discussions) wood panels for balcony floor. And so our balcony got a new, much more attractive appearance.

I even remembered to take BEFORE and AFTER pictures.

PREJ / BEFORE

POTEM / AFTER

Na žalost od prenove balkona vreme ni ravno omogočalo posedanja v prelepem okolju, ampak glede na to, da se je začel že prvi poletni mesec, čakam nove priložnosti. Takrat pa izpod strehe potegnem klopco, na mizico pripravim pijačo in UŽIVAM.

Trenutno se ukvarjam z mislijo kako na balkon postavit šivalne stroje. Ampak verjetno že rahlo pretiravam, a ne?

Kje se bo pa po novem sušilo perilo, pa tudi še ne vem.

Unfortunately, after the renovation of the balcony the weather is not exactly allowing me to sit end enjoy the beautiful surroundings, but hopefully the summer is jut around the corner (it is already June). When it warms up a little bit, I will pull the bench from under the roof, prepare the table and enjoy a drink.

I am trying to think of a way to bring my sewing machines out, but I am probably slightly exaggerating, or am I not?

I also haven't figured out where we will hang our laundry now.

KONČNO / FINALLY

Z obžalovanjem moram priznati, da je od zadnje objave minilo toliko časa, da moram kar malo pomislit kako se zadevam streže.

V zadnjem času je bilo zalo naporno obdobje (hm, če pomislim, kdaj pa ni) in bila sem tako fizično kot psihično zelo utrujena. Kljub vsemu mi je uspelo kar nekaj narediti in ustvariti, ampak zvečer, ko je ponavadi moj čas za objave na blogu, pa mi je zmanjkalo štrene. Ne samo, da nisem bila sposobna tvoriti stavkov, ampak sem ponavadi ob devetih zvečer že spala.

Prejšnji teden pa se je zgodilo nekaj tako pomembnega, da se moram pohvaliti tudi tukaj. Zadeva sicer ni idealna, je daleč od tistega kar bi imela in še dlje od mojih sanj, ampak začetek je pa vseeno.

Imam namreč svojo MIZO. 

To je bila že zelo dolgo moja želja, ki pa se ni in ni hotela uresničiti. V pripravi je načrt za še eno mizo, v temnem kotičku mansarde, trenutna pa je dobila mesto na prehodu iz kuhinje v dnevno sobo, točno ob oknu. Kaj hočem lepšega. 

Zdaj pa novim zmagam naproti!

P.S. To objavo sem napisala v svoji "poletni pisarni", ki jo bom razkrila v naslednji objavi.

Sadly I have to admit that it has been almost two month since my last post.

These two months were really exhausting (um, if I think about it, which month is not) and I was both physically and mentally very tired. Nevertheless, I managed to do quite a few things and create some stuff, but in the evenings when it is usually my time to post on the blog, I was so ran down that I was not able to produce sentences and was usually asleep by nine o'clock.

Last week something happened, something so important that I have to share it here. The thing is far from ideal, it is not at all what I would like to have even further from my dreams, but it is a start anyway.

I have my own DESK.

This has been on my wish list for a very long time, but somehow it did not happen. We also have a plan for another table in a dark corner of our living room (tucked under the roof).

My brand new desk is placed between the kitchen and the living room, right next to a window. What would I want more?

Now let's get busy!

P.S. This post was written in my "summer office". Wait for the next post.