October's Scavenger Hunt

 Thank you so much for your replies on my last posting!The information was really helpful and it cleared things up for me. I knew I could count on my bloggy friends!
Once again linking with Greenthumb and her monthly Scavenger Hunt: a wonderful excuse to take the camera in my hands! Unfortunately I couldn't find a photo for every category. Here's what I came up with:

Flower: have you ever seen this flower? We call it wax flower because it looks and feels like wax!

Orange: it had to be my oranges and since you like them so, I posted not one, but two photos!

2: puppets speaking English in the classroom. A good activity.

Rubbish: rubbish soon to be turned into precious compost! this is my compost pile in a corner out in my garden
 

Emotion: I was so happy to see that my pupil S enjoyed the activity.

Flight: an old photo from my last trip by plane

Home Made: my vegetables straight from the garden

 

Black and White:

Coffee Time: Greek coffee time actually!

Help!

Thank you so much for answering my questions on Halloween on my last posting. As I've mentioned before, I'm an English teacher in Greece and this year I'm planning a cultural project for my classes on British festivals and customs. I believe that it's important not only to teach them the language but also pass on some cultural elements with hands on activities and role play.And what a better reliable source of information on the British customs than you, my blog friends! As you can imagine, I can use all the help I could get!
So far here are the festivals/ customs I'm planning on teaching them:

Halloween (focusing on the Scottish origin)

Bonfire night ( since you suggested it!)

Christmas (christmas crackers, christmas pudding, carols- any other ideas?)

Pancake day

Easter (egg rolling, egg hunt- any other ideas?)

I would appreciate it, if you could share any other customs that I haven't included in my list, suffice that they are traditional (that you, as children took part in) and that they're still big occassions in the UK . I'm sooo looking forward to your feedback! Thank you so much in advance!

PS. Two school years ago I organized a Pancake day at school and the kids had a blast! If you're interested in how it went, have a look here.

Tea Party Tuesday: vintage tea treats

Autumn and winter come together with sickness for me since I catch any virus that's moves around school. I've been ill for the last days with all the hits: an ustoppable running nose, severe headache, a sore throat and a cough. As you can imagine I had a great weekend and what's more, I missed the national holiday yesterday. Today, first day at school I asked to get home from work earlier, since I wasn't feeling that great- no energy to confront my 8 year olds! However, to sweeten the pill a bit, because I'd rather deal with my energetic pupils than being ill, I stopped by the oldest pastry shop there is in town before getting back home. 

It was the first time I went there and regretted that I hadn't so far! The owner is a sweet smiley old man and his pastry shop, founded in the 60's, comes out straight from the past. 
 All the sweets are made and decorated the old way and the interior hasn't had any major rennovation. Just by looking at the shop windows and the cakes decorated in the old fashion, I remembered the cakes and sweet treats I used to have in my outings with my parents when I was a child. After I browsed  and  reminisced a bit a lot I got myself a couple of these vintage sweets and headed home for a generous cup of herb tea to feel better.

It's Tea Party Tuesday on Chantille Fleur today and it's been a while since I wanted to take part. Although this is not the TPT posting I meant for, my vintage sweet finds made me really happy and tea filled me with comfort and warmth today. So, I'm thinking, I'll finish off the box of my vintage sweets, complement them with more cups of tea and have my own tea party!!!!!!!

Golden

I woke up to a wonderful early sunny Sunday and the first thing I noticed was the orange/lemon tree in my garden. I had to share the photo with you, as the oranges and lemons are turning gold. 

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Τwo seasons on a platter

I feel I have neglected myself lately- lots of work and stress and bad eating hours and meals. So today I decided to prepare a proper lunch:burgers, chips and salad. Coming back from work  I had to improvise a salad with what's in the garden.

 Right now there is a bit of this and a bit of that and it's so obvious which seasons is leaving and which is coming just by looking at today's harvest. The more the rocket gets, the less the tomatoes. Goodbye summer, hello fall!

What's in your garden?

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Done!

It took me all morning and all the strenght I had left from the week but I'm quite happy with the result!

 It's not a bright or intense colour, but it's a quite dramatic and modern shade that suits the overall character of the house. Of course I didn't apply the colour that I bought, I thought it was too brownish, and I just had to add a touch of black and make it more greyish.

Now I need to find something for the wall. I have two options in mind: I will either print and frame a couple of photos that I took on my travels or I will ask my pupils to make me a painting! 

 The next step will be to change or alter the table and chairs. New projects on the way!

Saturday project

Every autumn I kind of need a change in my living space. I've decided to paint the wall of my dining room. I've been thinking the whole week what vibrant colour I would use, as it's classic beige. I thought of teraccota, deep red or ochre. 

Finally, I decided to play it safe and keep it simple and elegant; out of the infinite possibilities of the colour pallette, I chose a chocolate-grey shade. I'm thinking (I'm afraid) it suits my mood...

Any projects of your own for the weekend?

Straight away

It feels that there is no way back to summer anymore.The weather report says that this weekend will be hot. I don't believe them. Today I woke up in the middle of the night  to the sound of heavy rain. All I could think of was what shoes I would wear to school so I don't get all wet. When I got up it was still pouring, the clouds were dark grey and I felt awful. No option left but search for the ultimate winter shoes, my boots- which as you might have guessed I totally hate right now. Fortunately there was a mood change the minute I got to school; those happy faces always have and continue to save me when in my darkest times. I spent the day with puppet making and puppet theater, rhymes, songs and crafts. Still, winter is coming straight away...

Scavenger Hunt: September

Having missed a couple of Greenthumb's SH because I hadn't put the whole collection together, I decided to take part with what I have for September, hence the delayed posting. So, here are my photos and I hope you like them! Remember to stop by Greenthumb's wonderful blog to see the excellent photos the other creative participants have collected this month!

White: too bad summer is over...

 

Repetition: yellow chairs in open air cinema. Too bad they're never full.

Ears: hungry ones!

Beach Life: exploring the beach

Lace: the designs the waves make on the sand remind me of delicate lace

 

Tree: my breakfast provider, our fig tree

New: don't you like this warm, new yellow paint on my classroom's wall? I just love it!

1: A soap of olive oilmy mum made

Graffiti: on my school wall

Door Handle: 

The last

Now I know. Exactly a week ago, last Sunday that is, I had my last swim for the summer. And I really didn't enjoyed it that much, since the water was cool and it was windy again.

Last day at the beach

Since then it seems like we're moving quickly towars autumn. A few days ago I wore shorts, now I'm wearing long sleeves and socks! And it's really strange, as it's been too many years that we had had warm weather almost up until November. It was quite unnatural, but we had got used to it, especially me, who loves the sun and light clothes!  This year the transition of seasons is more natural, yet, I'm not at all prepared for it. This year I don't long for winter at all. I'm really scared of it actually and the depression it'll probably bring...My best self comes out in summer, where days are long and warm. I exercise effortlessly (swimming, cycling, walking), I go out a lot, I 'm full of energy, optimism and creativity.In winter I hybernate.
 Just a while ago, I put all my colourful, bright, exciting summer clothes away and took out my gloomy, dark winter clothes out. I thought that it's the worst start for my Sunday. 

Who wouldn't prefer these...

...to these?

No, actually the worst start is these clouds outside.

People say that this winter will be the worst of the last years in terms of cold and rain- awful. I guess I simply must face it and find ways to appreciate it. First step? To bring some colour into my wardrobe.Next? Don't know... Any tricks to suggest?
Are you a winter or summer person?

My kind of weather, for sure.

Bundt-a-Month: Mocha Fudge Cake with coffee icing

They say that one of the good things about blogging is that it's not just a diary, but a record of our current ideas, interests, hobbies and thoughts and that it's interesting to see the evolment of them all. Looking back at my postings I've come to the conclusion that I get obsessed with one thing from time to time and all my postings revolve around it. For example, in summer all my postings had to do with the sea and almost nothing else- not my crafting, not my travels, not my cooking, not my garden. This period of time, I'm into cooking and baking, hence I post only about them. Does this happen to you, or do your postings vary in theme? Have you noticed?

So, within this cooking obsession framework, I made the AWESOME Mocha Fudge Cake with coffee icing (see here for the recipe) for the weekend. It's taken from the best cookbook I own so far: BBC Good Food Magazine Book of Cakes and Bakes. It's a cake I used to make quite often in the past but it's been like forever since I last made it and I thought that it would be a great contribution to the Bundt-a-Month baking event, organized by Baker Street, a paradise-site for people who love baking. Thanks to Greenthumb, I heard about it and decided to take part. So....here it is!

The cake has a strong coffee flavour which is enhanced by the icing. I used a really old- I might even say vintage- bundt passed on to me by my mum. It's the tin my childhood cakes were made in! I haven't stopped using it ever since, and this blog event was the perfect opportunity to make it famous!!!!!!!

The cake is divine with a cup of coffee and I assure you, you will try really hard not to eat it at once when you make it!

Τhe last?

Today I had a swim. The atmosphere and the sun light are totally different- you can tell fall is coming, however, the water was really warm and refreshing. I enjoyed it despite the wind. The smell of the sea weed on the pebbles was intoxicating!

 It felt so good- all worries gone. I wonder, will this swim be the last for this year?

Tiramisu Veloce Recipe

From the lovely comments you left on my last posting, I saw that many of you or your families are tiramisu lovers!Since it's a super easy recipe, why not make it yourselves this weekend? I made it with a few alterations and made only half of it (served 6).

Here's what you'll need:

15 sponge fingers
285ml good strong coffee
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp icing sugar
500 g mascarpone
2 vanilla pods
140ml vin santo (I used brandy and some of my mum's walnut liquer)
zest and juice of 1 orange (I skipped this! )
100 gr best-quality dark chocolate (I used cocoa)

Arrange the sponge fingers in a deep dish. 
Sweeten the coffee with the caster sugar and pour over the sponge fingers, covering them completely (they will suck it all up). Pour over them the orange juice as well.
Whisk the mascarpone with the icing sugar and the seeds of the vanilla pods. 
Add the vin santo.
Lay the mascarpone mixture over the sponge fingers.
Grate chocolate and orange zest on top or simply finish off with  a good layer of cocoa.

It won't take you more than 15' to make, I assure you!

Good luck!

PS The recipe is taken from Jamie Oliver's 'Jamie's Italy'

Velvet

Hi everyone!It's been a while since I've posted, but it's the beginning of schools and days go by really quickly! My mum's birthday gave me the opportunity to make a birthday cake and join in with Belleau Kitchen Random Recipes Challenge.
For the challenge, I randomly chose one of my cookbooks (I own only a few) and then I randomly chose a page and executed the recipe on that page. The book I chose was Jamie in Italy, a gift I got from my girlfriends some years ago, which is an absolute hit- everything I've tried is really nice.

The recipe I made was tiramisu .It was so easy that I wondered why I had never made it before. It turned out to be my mum's birthday cake, which due to the excitement of the occassion I forgot to photograph with the candles on, instead I managed to take a photo of the last piece! It was the perfect dessert  after a heavy lunch- airy and light- and everyone loved it!