Good food, Time Together & Sauerkraut

After some tough and overly long days at work, I felt I really had to make time to cook a proper dinner for Dave. One where we light up a candle and really sit down for a moment.
I am the master of preparing a healthy dinner in 10min out of what is left in the kitchen, but this time I put a little more effort in.

We even did Yoga together for the first time in a little while.
Little breaks are so important.
The dish above, I just completely made it up out of the blue. That's why I leave this recipe pretty open If you want to try it here is what I did:

Red Peppers (or capsicums how they are called in Australia)
Sesame Oil
Sauerkraut out of a jar
Honey
Cheese
Red Onion
Fresh Parsley
Black Pepper

Preheat the oven, Cut the peppers in half, get rid of the seeds and the white stuff, drizzle with a few drops of sesame oil and place them in the oven at 210.

 In the meantime fry a red onion and add the sauerkraut (depending on the size of the peppers you wish to fill) once there is less liquid in the pan add 2 tblsp honey and slowly on a low heat. Keep frying until the sauerkraut until it browns in parts and gets slightly caramelized.
Add black pepper.

Get the peppers out of the oven, stuff the sauerkraut filling in and top with a few thin slices of cheese.
Bake until the cheese is melted and golden. Decorate with fresh parsley.

I served them with scrambled egg with mushrooms & alfalfa sprouts.
Serve with a little I love you note, if that's what you feel like!

Yep this is what we had... Don't know if anyone else would enjoy this but we did!

And because I so much fun stuffing the peppers  we cooked a real stuffed recipe for filled mushrooms together another night. It was yummy, you can find it here

Aroma Festival & Rooftop Coffee

Every City needs a coffee festival! That's where we spend our Sunday.
Starting the day with a ferry ride to get to a breakfast spot, just made for the best little day off.
This city is just so pretty! We had the most amazing views from the water, and although I have seen it now for a while, I am still stunned every single time I see the opera house and the bridge, the skyline by the water...this city looks good from every angle!

The actual Aroma Festival was so crowded with looooong queues in front of ever single coffee stall,
so we actually went to the nearby cafe on top of the museum which has a bit a view and saw the whole thing from above.
It is really smart that this coffee festival takes place in Winter as my body really couldn't cope well with coffee in the Summer time here. So I enjoy it while I can. The smell of all the fresh roasted coffee and spices was amazing.
It was so good to catch up with The Gentlemen and get some great ideas together.
A little bit of good coffee, amazing food and strolling around and I feel fully recharged.
I am currently revamping my good old professional blog, which I started as when I still worked as fashion designer, years ago. I got quite some plans for it and will keep you in the loop of what is happening! I am so excited, I am actually bubbling around with excitement like a child before Christmas.

What have you been up to?

Balance & Mountains

We spent a day in the mountains!
The weather was beautifully crisp but not too cold for us Summer lovers.
While I was loving the air, the views the fantastic food and cute little shops, I couldn't help but realize that I look a little tired, even though I was smiling & happy.

My face is telling me I need a holiday.
I think we were a little zombied out. Loving our jobs so much makes it harder to take time off, but I realized lately that health always has to come first.
Thank you face for showing me when it's time to rest so made room for daily yoga before work in the mornings. Relaxing has become that foreign concept...

No matter in which direction you drive out of Sydney it seems it you will always end up in the most beautiful nature. I have been up and down the coast by now and further inland at the Blue Mountains it just as amazing as by the beaches.
Although I have seen pictures of this area before it's very different to actually see it with your own eyes. They aren't really Mountains, like the Alps, but they are sure incredibly beautiful.
There is a blue mist surrounding them from the eucalyptus trees and it smells very fresh and sweet.
I felt like going hiking and exploring straight away, but we were saving that for our next trip when we will bring a little more time along. I can't wait!
I am still feeling like a tourist, after living here for half a year now.
But instead of traveling & holidaying I just still feel so driven to make things happen.
I am so grateful for every opportunity, to meet new people, to collaborate & to be a better artist every day. Some new ideas were nourished by the yummy blueberry pancakes for breakfast and all the other treats. Australia sure knows how to make food!

Winter Work & Wet Weeks

So so much has happend since I last updated this little blog of ours.
I have had week where I had a photo-shoot every single day, most of them in the pouring rain on location...but it was still really really fun and so worth it.
I have gotten a great opportunity for more fashion makeup work, which is super exciting and my little wedding business is growing and growing, so many lovely brides to be, it's always great meeting them and creating their makeup & hair.
I am now listed on The Lane, which is super exciting and I have lately met so many inspiring people.
I am over the moon and so grateful for all this great opportunities and can't express how much I love my job. There is also a little photo makeup tutorial over at This Little Port, check it out if you haven't already.
All very exciting, so we have both been working our butts off lately. Dave has a challenging and great project to design right now, so we have both had long days and short nights.

We had Pizza in bed & one night in front of Dave's parents fireplace.
One night we even celebrated a little and went out for a yummy local dinner.
The other day we met up with some fam and explored the farmers markets for an early breakfast.
And I have been shopping some spicy teas to keep us warm.
I love this city so much, and there is still a lot to discover.

Well that was a little roundup of mainly work work & work.
And while I love it like this, I am dreaming of a little weekend away in the mountains next month, just to catch up and get some time with my awesome man!
And some time for picture taking.
What have you been up to?

Winter is for snuggling and roasting pumpkins

 Dave is back! And with him the camera and our pictures.
While I have been busy I have missed him and and it's good to have him back.
He also came with a big bag full of makeup for my professional kit, as I gave him a list, what to get.
(For the ones that haven't bought cosmetics in Australia, you might want to know that the price for most makeup products is double the amount of what you pay in the USA or UK, and I go through A LOT of products, as it's my job!)
So it has been one happy start of the week. Much needed, as the temperature has now really dropped and it has been constantly raining for over a week, which has messed up my work schedule a little. Some location photo shoots I was supposed to work on, had to be rescheduled.
Winter also really leave more time to reflect and set goals, once more.
I am finding myself on a roll with my work and having big plans.
And I am back into an amazing routine daily yoga, which feels soooooo good.
The good side about it is, it's so much to be indoors hearing the rain, getting work done and even finding pleasure in the most boring paperwork.
And in the evenings? We are looking at some gorgeous houses online, which is so much fun. We are hoping to get one with a nice outdoor area, so once Summer is back, we can eat outdoors. Dreaming of a big kitchen lovely new equipment and a view. 
And we are cooking delicious meals, like this roasted stuffed pumpkin.
Do you want to try our recipe? Here it is:

You need: (this serves 4)
2 small butternut squash

garlic clove, crushed
3 tbsp olive oil
a pinch dried chilli flakes
1 tsp thyme, chopped or dried
courgette/zuchini, cut into 2cm chunks
red pepper, cut into 2cm chunks
2 small red onions, cut into thin wedges
200g cherry tomatoes
50g pine nuts
100g goat's cheese, crumbled
1 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tbsp parmesan

How to put it all together:

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds then cut criss-cross patterns over the cut-side of each one. Mix together the garlic, 2 tbsp olive oil, chilli and thyme and brush this mixture over the flesh. Bake for about 30-40 minutes until the flesh is tender.

To make the filling, put the courgette, pepper and onion in a roasting tin and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil. Season and roast for about 20-25 minutes until tender and starting to brown at the edges. Add the cherry tomatoes and pine nuts and cook for another 10 minutes.

Mix the breadcrumbs, parsley and parmesan. Arrange the roasted vegetables and goat’s cheese in the squash halves, scatter with the breadcrumb mix and bake for a further 10 minutes or until golden and bubbling. (We didn't make this recipe up on our own, it's originally from Olive Magazine in March 2007)

I hope you enjoyed as we are not often posting recipes?
In case it's wonderfully sunny where you are save this recipe for Autumn, to cheer you up once summer is gone. Or maybe try this with red peppers and put it on the BBQ instead!?
Happy cooking!