Traditional Savoie cake

 

Traditional Savoie cake

Also known as ‘Biscuit de Savoie’. This cake is very simple to make, and uses ingredients you probably already have in your cupboard. You can substitute part of the flour with corn or potato starch, this will make the cake even lighter. I have also seen others who add almond flakes in the bottom of the pan before baking, while others use orange flower water instead of a citrus zest.

 

Ingredients:

-          4 eggs

-          150 g sugar

-          150 g flour (Try 100 g flour/50 g Potato starch)

-          A pinch of salt

-          Zest of a lemon, or orange

 

-          Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until it forms stiff peaks.

-          Cream egg yolks with sugar, until light and creamy.

-          Add the zest of a lemon in the egg mixture.

-          Gently fold in the egg white in the egg mixture, while you sift in the flour little, by little.

-          Pour into a greased pan and bake for 30 mn at 180 degrees.

-          Decorate with icing sugar.

 

Traditional Gateau de Savoie

 

Mud season - Pattern review

After a failed knitting project (too big, too loose) I decided that I needed to build up my self-confidence again by knitting a simple, straight forward and fail proof design. One of my favorite designers is Elizabeth Smith. Her patterns are not only very well written, but she also offers a lot of support in the form of tips and tutorials. I had seen a pattern on her Instagram page that looked interesting and settled on giving it a try.

I felt a little wasteful after I had to give-up on my last project, but not wanting to knit with acrylic I did buy 100% wool yarn, but from a more ‘affordable’ brand.

Arctic Fritidsgarn by Trysil for the Europris was quite nice to work with, no issues with knots or cuts in the yarn, good tension, and as a bonus, Europris members get discounts on wool, so overall a good experience. How it will hold out in the long run is yet to be seen and I will update this blog post once I have worn the sweater for a certain amount of time.

I used less than four months to knit the sweater, but since I don’t knit every day, it is a little hard to say exactly how long it took. The pattern was very easy to follow, and the only thing I did differently was that I used a half size smaller knitting needles then the ones recommended. 5.5 mm for the 6 mm, and 5.00 mm for the 5.5 mm. I knitted the sweater with the waist shaping and despite having bought enough wool for long sleeves, I ended up knitting the short sleeve version.

I knitted the sweater in size medium, used about 8 balls of yarn, in the color taupe – 117

All that was left from the 8 balls of yarn

The fit: 

The sweater is compact, warm, and comfortable. The waist shaping is nice, but not mandatory for a successful fit. The short sleeves on such a chunky sweater are an interesting feature, but I think it might make the sweater more practical. I freeze easily in the winter, but I am also very active and long sleeves do get in my way.  The fact that it was easy and affordable to knit means that I can use it with a good conscience both at work (I work in a school) and around the house while doing chores. 

 

 

#mudseasonsweater

#elizabethsmithknits

 

 

'Help me to help myself' - Free pattern

 

A little pattern with a well-known maxim that sums up the essence of the Montessori method.

“We can sum this up in two sentences; the first actually said by a child to his teacher: ‘Help me to do it by myself’. The other is one we gave: ‘Every useless help is an obstacle to development.”

Maria Montessori - Citizen of the World

 

Book review: Wartime pilgrimage by H.L. Gee

I love reading, always have, and always will, but I fear that reading physical books is becoming more and more obsolete! We swipe, scroll, and skim content. We listen to audio books, and podcasts, and go with the minimalist ideal that we should not own too many books. After all, they just collect dust, their production is not eco-friendly and you can listen to the audio version as many times as you want.

All these are valid arguments, but we must not forget the benefits of holding a book in your hands. The most obvious being the hand-eye-brain coordination that happens when you hold and read a book, not only do you concentrate better on the content, but it also supports the upkeep of your language skills. And although I do regularly listen to audio books, especially when I am taking my dog on her daily walks, in all honesty I still prefer reading from physical books.

For a while now I have considered sharing my own book ratings on the blog, it would be my personal way to honor paper editions, and maybe it will encourage others to also make time for more reading in their own lives. 

So here is my first review:

Wartime pilgrimage         ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️                                                                 

By H.L. Gee

The Epworth press – 1943

 

The author takes a small vacation/pilgrimage in the English countryside during the second world war, there he meets and interacts with a variety of people.

A short, simple narrative, but with a healthy dose of good, old fashion positivity and a Godly attitude during a difficult time.

Here is a small excerpt from the book.

The author is talking to an old man outside the bombed ruins of his childhood church.

“….His fine old face, lined with care, showed something of the hard struggle he had had, but the steady eyes were those of a man who in good times and bad had tried to run the straight race…… ‘I’m an old man,’ he said at last. ‘I’ve seen all sorts of winters in my time, some hard, some mild. But whatever the weather had been, I’ve never known a springtime without snowdrops.’

…..’And perhaps, after all, God is using Hitler to shake us into a new realization of the truth; and it may be that by smashing some of the secondary things which perhaps we have come to value too highly, Hitler is helping to put first things first.’

 

 

My 5 criteria for rating books 

1. Did I read it from cover to cover?

2. Would I recommend it, or give a copy to others?

3. Will it become a part of my permanent library? (Buy my own copy, a hardback version, or would read again?)

4. Is it well written?  

5. Did I personally enjoy it?