Roxi's yogurt delight

Chopped oranges, greek yogurt and dark chocolate musli... Healthy and fresh! 

Roxi's lemon cake

This is my favourite version of lemon cake. It's easy to make and tastes good. Enjoy it together with a cup of coffee or tea. 

This is the recipe

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted
3/4 cup milk

Heat oven to 175°C.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the egg, lemon zest, the melted margarine or butter and the milk. Mix well (some lumps will remain).

Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely. 

I covered the cake in chocolate frosting and sprinkled it with chopped almonds and dried berries.

I hope you like it.

Roxi's panna cotta

This impressive looking desert is so easy to make, yet your guests will love it.

Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon unflavoured powdered gelatin (or any gelatin)
3 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch salt
Some fruits - I used peaches, strawberries and blueberries…

Place the milk in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over. Let it stand for a few minutes to soften the gelatin. Pour milk mixture into a saucepan and stir over medium heat just until the gelatin dissolves but the milk does not boil (I would say for about 5 minutes). Add the cream, honey, sugar, and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat. Pour into 6 wine glasses so that they are half full. Cool slightly. Refrigerate until set (at least 6 hours).

Spoon the fruits atop the panna cotta and serve.

Roxi's cheescake

I think this is the most appreciated desert I have ever made. It was a huge success among friends and family. Even my husband, who is not that much into cakes, loved it.  

This is the recipe if you would like to try it out.

For the crust

1 cup (100 grams) crushed digestive biscuits

1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar

4-5 tablespoons (55-65 grams) melted butter

In a small bowl combine the digestive biscuits, sugar, and melted butter. Press a tablespoon of crumbs onto the bottoms of about 12 muffin cups (sometimes I have enough filling for 15 cups) Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For the filling

2 - 8 ounce (450 grams) full fat cream cheese, room temperature 

2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (120 ml) sour cream, room temperature

With an electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the cream cheese on low speed until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and salt and beat until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and sour cream. Remove the crusts from the refrigerator and evenly divide the filling among the 12-15 muffin cups.

Bake for about 18 - 22 minutes or until firm but the centers of the cheesecakes still wobble a little. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Let it cool and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

When you serve it pour some sour cherry syrup as a finishing touch.

Enjoy!

Where past meets the present

I decided to write this blog about my life because I felt I have a lot to share. I see it as free therapy in form of a private journal. The more I write, the more I discover myself… And it’s such a nice feeling.

I put a lot of thinking into what should be the first posting about Fashion&Style on this blog. And it only felt natural to show you what fashion is like in a very special place in Romania, that I used to call home. It’s a place called Maramures, north of the country, protected by mountains and very poor infrastructure, where tradition and national identity are still very much fashionable.

Last summer I had the pleasure and honour to attend a wedding in that area. Two of our dearest friends decided to tie the knot in a very traditional manner. Pictures speak for themselves :-)

What do you think? Did you know National Geographic has included Maramures in their list of Best Trips 2015?

The big news - ladies and gentlemen, we are expecting!

I will never forget the moment I found out I was pregnant. I took at least ten pregnancy tests, just to make sure that it's for real. I couldn't say if the baby was planned... At that point in time we didn't give it much thought. We just stopped using any protection and patiently waited for it to happen. We were one of the lucky couples, so we didn't have to wait that long until congratulations were on the way.

It was actually in May last year that we made the big announcement. (God, how time flies...). Family was overexcited, friends were in shock but happy and we were somewhere in between. I guess we didn't know what to expect. Deep in my soul I was so scared... Doubt was kicking in. Is it the right time? Are we ready for a baby? How is our relationship going to change? Can we afford it financially? Turns out, when the moment comes, you are as ready as you will ever be :-) So go for it! 

Here are some pics from my pregnant days. I thought I will never say this, but when I see that belly, I kind of miss it.                                 

Confessions

It all started after I finished my education. I think I was a good student. At least when it comes to the subjects I liked. I had a flair for Sales and a good vibe for Communication. Teachers noticed me, classmates enjoyed working with me and companies seemed to be interested in my potential ( I never had problems in finding internships). So you can imagine I never put much thought into how my career will look like once I will graduate. I pretty much expected that things will just happen by themselves. Friends and family know what I am talking about.

But then, big surprise! Real life, real job market, well.. it’s real! All of a sudden I had the feeling that school was just a playing ground. I woke up one morning with the bitter realisation that I live in Denmark but speak no Danish, I work in Burger King although I have a Bachelor degree, I feel content just by making ends meet while I totally forget about my once imposing career expectations. You would say that must have been a wake up call, but things get worse. Soon after I found myself receiving unemployment benefits from the Danish state (A-kassse), just like the majority of my classmates. And A-kasse, well.. stay away from it! It’s dangerous! That’s when true laziness kicks in… I think right now I just told the story of most of the international students in Denmark (at least the ones I know).

Luckily for me, it turned out that the expression “there is always light in the end of the tunnel” has some truth behind it. Motivation never kicks in by itself, but when you surround yourself with the right kind of people, things start to move. And these take me to the moment, where with the help of a trusted Danish friend, I took the first steps into entrepreneurship and started up Real Service Aps, a cleaning company, that has been my main focus in the past year… Or at least until January, when my baby girl was born :)

It’s amazing how everything falls into place once you discover and start doing something that you like. Although there was and maybe will still be a lot of hard physical work involved, there is no greater feeling than knowing that everything I do, I do it for myself and my family. I honestly can’t picture myself being employed somewhere else.

What is your success story? Let’s spread some positivity around :)