Miniature Plants

Four years ago, I was visiting Netherlands and one of the souvenirs I brought back home were three mini pots, two of them with strawberry seeds and the third with sunflower seeds. The thing is that the instructions were in dutch and I wasn't really sure how to plant and take care of the seeds. They came with some kind of condensed soil that I was supposed to prepare and then plant the seeds, so after a couple of (failed) attempts to read the instructions - no, google translate didn't work as expected- I put them aside and almost forgot about them for a few years. I found them again last month, while I was decluttering a closet and I thought that I should give them a chance, even without instructions. I poured a small amount of tiepid water until the soil actually looked like soil and not like a bar of chocolate! When it got nice and smooth, I planted the seeds and waited -with not much hope, I must admit, because the seeds had expired two years ago!

But I guess nature doesn't know about expiry dates! Here it is, my sunflower seedling! The strawberries haven't showed any signs of life yet, but I'm being optimistic!

Broccoli Au Gratin With Soft Garlic Bread Sticks

As the weather gets colder, my apetite for creamy dishes increases and since this is the best season for fresh broccoli, I decided to prepare an all time classic, easy to make dish: broccoli au gratin. To accompany it, I made some delicious, soft and a bit spicy bread. 

INGREDIENTS FOR BROCCOLI AU GRATIN:

1 Kg fresh broccoli cut into florets (or frozen, if that's all that you have)

3 Tablespoons flour

3 Tablespoons butter

500 ml milk

200 gr yellow cheese (edam, chedar etc)

200 gr hard cheese (parmesan, greek graviera etc)

nutmeg

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven at 180C. Boil the broccoli in salted water  for around 20 minutes until they are soft. If you're using frozen broccoli, cooking time will be diminished to10-15 minutes. Once they are ready, transfer to a colander and drain well until there's no excess water. 

Prepare the bechamel sauce. In a pan melt the butter, add the flour and mix using a whisk. While still whisking, slowly add the milk until you have a soft cream. Remove from heat add the cheese and a pinch of nutmeg. Put the broccoli in a casserole dish and cover them with bechamel. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown. 

INGREDIENTS FOR SOFT BREAD STICKS

550 gr all purpose flour

330 gr water

1 package dry yeast

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 Tablespoon salt

2 Tablespoons butter melted

INGREDIENTS FOR BRUSHING ON TOP

1 Tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

In a bowl pour the water (heated until hot, not boiling), the yeast and the sugar. Let it sit for 5 minutes. In a mixer bowl put the flour and the salt, mix them together. Add the yeast and the melted butter and knead with the dough hook of your mixer for around 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl and give it a square shape. Cut it in half then in 4th, until you have 8-10 sticks. Put the sticks on cooking paper and let them rise for 45-60 minutes, covered with a towel or plastic wrap. Preheat oven at 200C. Bake them for 6 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the brushing. Melt the butter, add the salt and the garlic powder and mix well. Remove the bread from the oven and brush them with the mixture. Bake for another 6 minutes or until lightly browned. 

The original recipe for bread sticks can be found here .

Handmade extra-rich hand cream

Now that the weather got colder, many of us suffer from dry skin and it's not uncommon to experience itching, redness and other annoying symptoms, all due to cold! Today, we'll make a lush hand cream, that will help you battle all the above. Before you go to bed, wash your hands with a mild soap and then apply this all-natural, nourishing cream! If you can bear sleeping with gloves on, that will help even more to make your skin super soft and hydrated. 

Ingedients: (will make approximately one small jar like the one in the photo)

15 gr pure beeswax

2 tablespoons jojoba oil 

8 tablespoons olive oil (or if you prefer it more light go for grapeseed oil)

4 tablespoons water

8-10 drops lavender essential oil (lavander oil is known for its beneficial properties against eczema and similar skin problems)

Water and oils (except the essential oil) need to be warm (not hot!) in order to mix well with the beeswax, so before you do anything else, make sure you have your oils and water in the right temperature. Melt the beeswax in bain marie (double boiler) and when it's almost melted, add the olive oil and the jojoba oil. Whisk for a couple of minutes. 

Remove from heat and start adding the water, tablespoon by tablespoon, while still stirring.  While it's cooling make sure you blend it from time to time, to ensure that the ingredients will not separate. When it's cool enough, add the essential oil. If you add the essential oil when the mix is still hot, this will ruin its scent  and properties and you don't want that to happen. Mix well and it's ready!