Diet vegetable soup - recipe (with step-by-step photos)

Ingredients:

• 500 milliliters of tomato juice
• 3 carrots
• 2 spoons with olive oil
• 1 medium parsnip
• 1 onion
• a few tomatoes
• a few leaves of cabbage
• a few leaves of lovage
• a few basil leaves
• pepper
• salt

Boil the vegetables.

When ready, mash them and add the pepper, the salt, the tomato juice, the olive oil and the basil and put it back on the fire.

 Let it boil for a few minutes. Remove from the fire and add the chopped lovage .

For the croutons:

Crush a small clove of garlic and mix it with some olive oil.

Chop a few slices of bread and then mix the bread cubes with the garlic / oil mixture.

Put it in the oven at 200 Celsius degrees until brown.

Now, pour the soup in a bowl, add the croutons et ... voila, you have your diet soup.

Enjoy!

The famous pub quarter in Dublin, Ireland

When in Dublin ... Temple Bar.

 

Photos from last summer's visit to Porto, Portugal

About 8 years ago we've been the first time to Porto and last year we returned for a refresher.

Still great.

 

 

Hotel review - Hilton Belfast, Northern Ireland

The room is big and the bed is comfortable. Coffee/tea facilities in the room.

Good internet connection. Great views over the entire city.

Covered parking for 18 GBP per day (there's no other choice in the area).

Decent breakfast. 

Trip to Inverness, Scotland

Again, the only town worth seeing in Scotland is Edinburgh.

Hotel review - New Drumossie Hotel, Inverness, Scotland

Difficult to find. The address shown on the internet is not the correct one. They know about this problem and they do nothing!

Breakfast was a bit disappointing and you have to loose a lot of time to ask the waiter for some toasted bread or any item of warm food. The pastries were good and fresh on the first day, but then they put everyday the remainings from the previous day.

Free internet connection and free parking places in front of the hotel.

Dog show 26 - 27 March ,2016, Luxembourg

For those who are still in Luxembourg for Easter, this is a pleasant way to spend half a day.

Enjoy the show and the lovely dogs!

More info can be found here

Caramel apple mousse cake

Ingredients for the dough:

• 180 grams of flour
• 120 grams of sugar
• 100 milliliters of milk
• 60 milliliters of sunflower oil
• 4 eggs
• 3 spoons with cocoa powder
• 2 apples
• 1 spoon with baking powder
• salt

Ingredients for the apple mousse:

• 400 grams of chopped apples
• 50 grams of sugar
• 250 grams of mascarpone cheese
• 4 grams of gelatin sheets

Ingredients for the caramel filling:

• 300 milliliters of milk
• 100 grams of sugar
• 50 grams of butter
• 30 grams of fresh cream
• 4 grams of gelatin sheets
• 2 eggs
• 2 spoons with flour
• 2 spoons with water

Prepare the dough:

Beat the eggs with the sugar for 5 minutes until the mixture doubles its volume.
Add the milk and the sunflower oil and mix well.

Mix the flour with the baking powder, the salt and the cocoa powder and then add it over the eggs. Mix well and then divide the composition in 2 equal parts.

Clean and cut the apples into rings.

Put one part of the composition in an oven tray and add half of the apples. Put the composition in the preheated oven at 180 Celsius degrees for 15-20 minutes or until ready.

Repeat the baking process with the second half of the dough.

Prepare the apple mousse:

Clean and cut the apples. Put them in a pot over fire together with the sugar. Let them simmer for 15 minutes.

Hydrate the gelatin.

When the apples are softened, remove from fire and then mash them. While the apples are still warm, add the hydrated gelatin and mix until well incorporated.

Let the apples cool! Add the mascarpone cheese and mix until well incorporated. Put it in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the cake.

Prepare the caramel filling:

Beat the eggs with half of the sugar for 5 minutes.

Add the flour and the milk over the eggs/sugar mixture and let everything boil at slow fire until thick like a pudding.

Meanwhile prepare the caramel:

Mix the remaining sugar with the water and leave it at slow fire to caramelize.

When golden brown, add the butter and incorporate. Add the fresh cream and incorporate.

Hydrate the gelatin and incorporate it in the caramel while still warm.

Mix the caramel with the egg composition and put it aside.

On a plate, add one layer of dough, then the apple mousse, then the second layer of dought and lastly the caramel filling.

Cover the top with a thin layer of pure caramel.

Enjoy!

The original recipe can be found here

Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum, Bucharest, Romania - part 3

The best place to buy various handmade products, as shown in the photos below: