Welcome to my new Blog!

I wish everyone the best health, the strength to make your dreams come true and the tiny bit of luck we all need once in a while to enjoy the unexpected!

I celebrate the beginning of 2015 with a new blog!

Welcome to:

Comfy, Cosy, … Living

Let’s create Paradise!

Last year I started my first blogging experience.  I thought I was quite the expert when it came down to cooking.  And I must admit, it’s true … I am a pretty good kitchen queen … as long as I have recipes and cook books.  When it comes down to being creative, I have learned that there are lots of blogger colleagues who are far more creative then I am.  But I love blogging and meeting new likeminded people among the blogging community.  That’s why I had to rethink my Blog adventure.

From my previous blog “Essenzfertig”, I learned three important facts:

-  I miss reading and writing in English.  Born and raised in Belgium, I was taught that languages are a struggle to learn, but once captured they’re an absolute treasure.  I want to submerge in foreign languages and cultures.  I was raised by anglophile parents.  So from early on in my life, English was my second language.  Ever since I came to Germany, the English language became almost, I’m afraid to say, redundant.  And I miss it!  Not to speak or hear English almost makes me feel homesick.  So the new blog had to be in English!!

-  Although my creativity in the kitchen has room for development, creativity is a sanity saving pillar in my life.  My daytime job (Insurance, believe it or not!) is very strict and compliance driven.  I need to be creative in my spare time, to balance this out.  My daughter, Charlotte, is the best excuse to experiment with knitting needles, a sewing machine and seasonal decorations.  My husband Peter, on the other hand, is my creativity engine for kitchen and garden.

-  Blogging is not just reading and writing.  I discovered a whole new world: Social Media became more transparent, IT and Web design are no longer a foreign language (although I still need to learn much much more) and my private life has a whole new perspective:  I will be learning and developing myself for the rest of my life!

These facts combined lead to my new blog:  A home and self-made paradise, where we as a family are comfy and cosy.  We are LIVING!

So let’s kick of 2015 with a toast.

In December we received the invitation to celebrate old & new with our neighbour friends.  They’re always good for a theme party.  This year’s Theme: Black & White with a twist.  The twist being cocktails.  If that isn’t an invitation!! Each couple should prepare one cocktail for the party crew.  I have to admit, I was afraid for major headaches. Mixing various sorts of cocktails.

When it comes to cocktails, there is one that is my absolute favourite.  It’s very traditional and a classic, but with a very personal story.  And the story goes: My husband and I met drinking Mojito’s.  End of 2015 we celebrate our 10th anniversary.  And in these 10 years we never drank a Mojito by ourselves.  We only drink Mojito’s in each other’s company.  That’s romance for you!  And to give the story an extra happy ending: He proposed in the same bar where we first kissed, over a virgin Mojito.  Our daughter was the reason for the “virgin” Mojito.

So you see, 2015 will be a party year.  That’s why I raise my glass and post this recipe:

Ingredients

• 1½ limes, cut into wedges
• 20 fresh mint leaves
• 2½ tsp granulated sugar
• handful ice
• 65ml/2½fl oz white rum
• sparkling water
• fresh mint sprig, to garnish

Preparation method

1. Put the limes, mint and sugar into a highball glass and mash with the end of a clean rolling pin, to bruise the mint and release the lime juice.
2. Add the ice and pour over the rum.
3. Add the sparkling water and stir well.
4. Finish of with mint sprig and serve.

A toast to the love of my life, the biggest reason for my happiness; to Peter and our Mojito’s.

A toast to my new blog: Comfy, Cosy, … Living!  I hope to enspire you, be enspired by your comments and I hope we’ll have lots of fun together!

A toast to all, I wish a Happy New Year!!

How did you spend New Year’s Eve?