Birthday get-together with the friends

Since a few years back I have my friends over for my famous Ris á la Malta for my Birthday.
(It's cold Christmas porridge mixed with lightly whipped cream, sugar and vanilla sugar served with hot strawberry sauce. You can serve it with oranges/strawberries/grapes at the side as well. And to be fair, I did one batch with oranges (then called Orange-paddy), and one "clean" batch).

My hard liquer days are looong gone (pffffttt, hahaha, hardly!).

This was the look of the evening
(do you spot my lovely necklace by PinkAbsinthe? Click on name to go to her Etsy.com and buy one you too!)

And I was nice enough to serve my starving guests both homemade gingerbread bats (of course!)

and Lussekatter/Saffron Buns. Recipe HERE.

(Oh, God! Look at my arm to the left - it looks awful at that angle!)

I had a lovely evening with all my lovely friends who are just too cute!

Look at all the wonderful gifts they gave me!

As my friends went home I lightly throw myself in the sofa and started to eat the After Eights left as my dear husband cleaned up everything and started the washing machine. Sweet!

See? When you serve your sweetheart fantastic homemade pastries he volunteers to clean up after you!

That's what makes a luxury wife!

Today's make up

I'm having my sweet friends over for "Ris a la Malta", bat gingerbread and saffron buns:)


Must leave now!

Kids Christmas crafting 2011

You all know how I just looove to torture my kids with endless crafting? The other day was time for another punishment!
"-So, your bed isn't made to perfection! You go straight and do some Christmas crafting young lady!"

And so poor Fairlight wandered off to the Zwart Chateau with her head down.
In tears she so painted a small baking form (in Sweden used for "almond clams") with white acrylic paint. When it was dried she filled it with some green moss she plucked on her way home from school.

She twirled some steel wire around it (we we're supposed to add some white pearls to the wire as well, but forgot), added an old Christmas tree candle holder, and tadaa, she's got her own candle to light, and blow out every morning at breakfast!
Sweet idea, right?
You can do lots of fun stuff with those baking forms, just Google.
(And, please, no kids were harmed during this crafting).