Post Exam Sugar Cookies!

My exams are finally over. It felt so good to spend the afternoon not studying, just making the cookies pictured.  My next few days are going to be entirely devoted to gluttony and Christmas food haha.  These sugar cookies are really simple and the icing is great for decorating.

Cookies:

1½ cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
6 tsp vanilla

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar

1-4 drops of lemon juice
1 tbsp light corn syrup
~1 tbsp milk

Cookies: Mix butter and sugar until well combined.  Add eggs, egg yolk and vanilla.  Next in a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients slowly.  Be careful not to overmix.  Now, refrigerate for 1-2 hours.  Pre-heat oven to 350F.  Cut cookies to about 1/2 inch thickness and bake until browned around the edges (about 8-10 minutes depending on your oven)

Icing: Combine powdered sugar, corn syrup and lemon juice.  Add milk to make desired consistency of icing. 

From: Iambaker

Rocky road

Don't forget to make your own Rocky road for Christmas! It's super simple to make and delicious. Also you can variate the filling with whatever you like. You can add all from fresh raspberries to dried apricots or different kinds of nuts. If your imagination takes over why not just make several batches and your holidays are saved!

I will make mine like these:

600 grams of dark chocolate
2 bags of diced toffee sweets
2 handfuls of chopped marshmallows
1,5 cups of salted peanuts
half a cup of pistachio nuts
half a cup of dried cranberries

First thing you got to do is to melt the chocolate on low heat over a water bath.
While the chocolate is melting chop the toffee, marshmallows and peel the pistachios. When the chocolate is liquid mix it together with all the ingredients. When all of it's coated spread it evenly in a baking tray. Then put the tray in the fridge Enjoy!

(Image source: frutimotej)

Roasted Zucchini Soup

It's that time of year again, the time of year when soup makes its triumphant transition from side dish to main course.  I don't know whether it's the snow, the cold, or my textbooks' ability to crush my spirit, but soup is one of the only things I can manage to cook once December comes.  Here's a simple, delicious puree I made while avoiding my soul-sucking marketing textbook. 

2 zucchinis, chopped vertically then horizontally.

1 tbsp of crushed garlic

1/4 cup olive oil 

2 cups chicken/vegetable stock

1/4 of a jalapeño

Salt and pepper to taste

Start with chopping garlic and adding to oil.  Then, cover chopped zucchini with garlic oil mixture and put in oven at 450F until browned.  Puree together roasted zucchinis, jalapeño and 1/2 cup of chicken stock.   Move mixture to a saucepan and add the rest of the chicken stock.  Bring to a simmer, add salt and pepper and enjoy this great winter soup!

Gingerbread house

I really have got lots of Christmas feelings lately. With all of the decorations and lights around the city it feels more like winter now. Although the Madrid weather is more like a warm autumn with leaves and sunshine. During the day when the lights are not on I listen to Christmas songs as I'm missing Swedish Christmas a little bit. Will have it soon though, this time in two weeks I will be home. Decorating the tree and everything, bake again and make candy. I really want to make a gingerbread house! I haven't made one in years, I would just like to go completely overboard with it. If I'll make one I will definitely post a picture!

Carrot Leek Soup

1 medium leek

3 cups chopped carrots

2 cups chicken stock 

3 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp ginger

salt + pepper

Heat garlic and olive oil in a saucepan.  Add chopped leeks, carrots, ginger and thyme, and let cook for 5 minutes or so.  Add chicken stock and bring mixture to a boil.  After 15 minutes, or when the carrots are cooked, remove from heat and puree.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

The 90's

Don't know why I felt like listening to Rooster by Alice in chains just tonight. It's such a great song, also watched the video and it made me a bit sad. Continued with watching more videos of that great band. The ninties were so great. Wish I was a bit older so I could have taken part of it in another way. Read about Layne Staley's life and death. Made me even more sad. The way he had to go, how terrible he must have felt during his last years. Too many great people has passed away due to the same causes as him. It always seems to be the ones that have so much more to give.

Now I'm redescovering the music I will always love. Guess I should thank my brother for giving me all of his Nirvana albums for my 12th birthday. It's amazing how something like that, a gesture from a person you really look up to will shape you as a person. Didn't mean to go all deep on you, was just thinking a lot.

If you have nothing better to do you should definatley check out Mad Season. Listening to them atm!

Supernice!

Puerta del Sol on New Years

Some people are just too nice! A friend just asked if me if me and my boyfriend wanted to borrow his apartment in Madrid during New Years. Incredable, I had to ask if he was serious like a million times. Just wanted to show my appreciation for nice things like that. Thank you, all you supernice people in my life<3