just a bit of dirt....

Honeysuckle

Today´s afternoon was spent for gardening..It had 

been raining the past  few days,

 so I thought this would be the perfect time to 

have dirty hands and plant a couple of new 

shrubs...

 Here, I´d like to share with you the small backyard of our row house with  

all the plants we have...I have an apple tree, the conifer hedges, a tamarisk 

tree, a rose bush, honeysuckle and many shrubs which

 I honestly do not know what the names are.

I just knew them by colors of their flowers,  LOL!

I´ve been trying to shape this shrub as topiary , the trunk is getting

 thicker as it gets older.

 Mind you, these 4 branches of forsythia  that I cut a week ago have been 

developing roots. Imagine, I just stuck these into the earth, 

didn´t do anything and they simply thrive and grow and grow...

One of the forsythia branches that I stuck on earth..

Tulips

Buxus

Hibiscus

Ternatas

And so , I planted a camelia and a peony. The peony is called 

"Pfingstrosen"in german, because they would normally 

flower when the  Pentecost is nearing and that is sometime in June.

Camelia

As some of you may have remembered , we have constructed the 

flooring with tiles to replace  the wooden slabs that got rotten

 from the constant change of  weather... 

Now we are a happy with our decision to have the 

tiled floor as the backyard is now almost maintenance free...

My apple tree... hopefully this would bear many fruits this season.

Spring onions - these were my cooking leftovers that I planted today in a pot. In a few days , new growth will dramatically be seen soon.

The shrubs of the peonies & lilies overshadow the salad greens.

The salad greens in a raised bed.

potted bell pepper 

Ivy

When gardening, I seldom wear gloves...

I just need to feel the dirt in my hands and that makes me smile!

 Hope you enjoy the pics. 

 Happy weekend!

Easy Carrot-Plum Cake

The most important thing in baking this moist cake is the ingredients...

there isn´t really a secret in baking this one,.....simply gather and 

prepare the needed ingredients beforehand and soon  you´re 

halfway done... 

 Easy Carrot-Plum Cake

(makes 9 servings)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups sugar (or 1 1/2 cups sweetener like

 stevia in powder form)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 pack vanilla sugar

3 cups freshly shredded carrots

1 cup chopped walnut

1 cup chopped dried plums 

1 cup freshly shredded coconut  or

 dried coconut flakes

5 large eggs

1 1/4 cups olive oil or salad oil

1 cup buttermilk

Preparations: 

1.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a  21cm x 25 cm baking pan with a baking sheet. In a large bowl, using spoon, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking 

powder , baking soda, vanilla sugar and salt.

Add the carrots, nuts, dried plums and the coconut flakes..mix well until the carrots and the rest of the dry ingredients are well coated by the flour.

2. 

In another bowl, beat eggs slightly using a fork. then add the oil and the buttermilk. Stir the egg mixture to the flour.  Mix well til all ingredients are moistened..

3. 

Pour  the batter into the square pan lined with baking sheet. Bake for about 1 hour  in the preheated oven... Test if done by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake ...when the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is ready..

4.

Let the cake cool completely, then remove from pan and cut into squares.

Arrange on a platter and serve with jam topping and whipped cream...

This cake is so scrumptious, your family would surely

be craving and would ask for more!

Happy Baking!

a purple shopping bag.....

You may be wondering about the color of my new shopping bag...  well,

 read on please!

This was my former WIP ( work in progress) project some

2 decades back... wondering why 2 decades...?

Well, I had an ambition to own a purple pullover, so I bought the woolen yarn to make one..

As I come from a tropical land, I didn´t realize I was not supposed to make this at all, reason is....I found out that I´m allergic to wool, with those tiny micro fibers getting into my nose and I always had to sneeze... and soooo, that was the end of my love affair with wool.... In short, I can´t wear any of these cozy pullovers because they irritate my skin tremendously and I get colds from this allergy... so what to do?

....decades after, I discover in the attic of our house that the basket full of yarns were still there untouched.... so I thought of at least to make something out of those yarns...

so, the idea of making a  purple shopping bag came into my mind as I do  not have to wear it anyway...

The yarn colors varied because I crocheted and knitted an abstract sort of pulli..

........ but, I guess the various hues made the bag interesting...

When I finished crocheting this bag, I sew in a lining out of a fabric from my stash. It´s a fabric  that looks like a tafetta...

Then, I crocheted that closure piece and used a vintage button that I already once used for a jacket..

In a matter of a week, I was able to finish this bag...

I just thought this can be used to make an errand to the fresh market or  supermarket to buy little things such as milk, diary, fresh bread or whatever little things one may need for a quick errand...

That´s it, ....I hope you like today´s bag post!

Coming up on my next posts, a book bag and many more ideas.

I hope all of you enjoyed Easter with your loved ones!

 Wishing you joyful days ahead..

xoxo,

Mercy

a quick dinner.... Mozarella & Ham Tart

Here is one idea for dinner which is also good as snacks.
I always have a ready made phylo sheet ( butter dough from local supermarket) in the fridge and by the time dinner is nearing and haven´t decided what to serve, I make this  quick   and super easy tart..and as I said, it´s also  good for snacks or in betweens...

Quick Mozarella & Ham Tart

(makes 4 pieces) 

Ingredients : 

1 ready made  phylo sheet ( from supermarket)

1 pack  Mozarella cheese -light
thin slices of ham

Optional : salt & pepper 

Preparations:

1.
 Take out the dough, cut into 4 parts
and spread  over 4 teflon tart forms, trim  the sides
 putting a bit of more dough to thicken the rim of the form.
 Bake in a preheated oven of 180°C (lower rack) for
 10 minutes  til golden brown, take out from the oven and 
 set aside.   Blind baking is not necessary here.

2.
 Cut 1 pack Mozarella light ( 30% less fat)  into slices and 
 and spread  the pieces together with the sliced ham on top of the baked tart casing. 

3.
 Put the filled tart cases back in the oven and bake for
 10-15 minutes more  at 180°C. 


 Tip: I don´t season the tart with salt & as the ham and mozarella are already seasoned with it....

Happy Baking!

the flowers of my apple tree

A closer look at each flower led me to believe that they maybe related to roses...the wild roses I have seen along the countrysides, in the outskirts of Vienna are almost  identical to these ones...

And so,  it´s now Springtime here and my apple tree is fully blooming....

.....in pale pinks & whites, oh how lovely they are!!!

All of its flowers are prospective apple fruits ... it´s kinda long process!

First, they start blooming in Spring, mostly in the begining part of April....

some of the weak ones will fall off the tree and the more robust 

ones will become the crispiest, juiciest and sweetest apples

 I´ve ever eaten so far.

I make my harvest into a jelly or use them as fillings

 for my Apple Strudel.

My wish is that I hope to harvest many fruits in Autum, then 

we´ll have to trim the tree again to prepare for the next season.... 

and I  just love that process.

Have a nice Thursday everyone !