Weekend Treasures

I've enjoyed the beautiful sunday outside in the autumn sun, brunching, drinking spritzer, and chatting the day away. I've also started on some Christmas presents, unusually early. But it's the same traditional toil every year; come the week before Christmas I am stressing out like nuts and can't find anything appropriate for the ones I love. Because I want gifts to be special, thoughtful and suiting. Perfectionism always breaks my legs.

Well, but I started. And I would love to post the result right now, but the lady it's for stumbles upon this site every now and then, so I will have to keep it a secret. Oh, the tensionnnn...

Grandma sent me some recipes from my childhood (with the most awesome vintage illustrations). She used to make this unbelievably rich and luscious chocolate cake. And even though she says the recipe is nothing special at all (my grandma isn't exactly of the cheerful kind, as you might remember from the conversation at my grandparent's diamond wedding about her lovely hairstyle), it brings back memories from good old times. Like doing crossword puzzles together. Feeding the chicken. Spending half the day in that old tree, playing with my cousin. And 4 o'clock sharply we had to come in for tea. There it was, that juicy chocolate indulgence. Even though I've got a ton of new recipes for chocolate cakes, none of them will mentally send me back into that old tree - big-eyed and red cheeked.

And some more music is on the way. I'll see these talented guys in concert this weekend. Here's a little video of one of their rehearsals.