pink brownies

You know by now my addiction for sweets...well, since I first tasted the brownies in the States years ago, fell in love with them then...still loving them today. It's always a YES when it comes to this chocolate wonders...if you know what I mean! :):)))

Turkey trip ...Istanbul details

Yep...that's right. Cell phones on Airplane Mode, please! :D 

I can't tell you how happy I am. But I'll try :)) Bottom line is: part of our theatre crew is going to the "Black Sea" Int. Theatre Festival in Trabzon, Turkey. It's like a gift, a dream coming true. I've worked for it like 6 months, from the first step...sending the DVD with the theatre play to Turkey (that was selected a couple of months later), till arranging the mini coach to take us form the Istanbul airport to the Old Center of the city(to visit it) and back... 

Stay tuned...this is the beginning of a beautiful journey!!

The fact that we had to wake up at about 4.30 am, to be at 6 at the Baia mare Airport for our flight to Bucharest...is not even worth mentioning :)) We were all there...smiling, excited (at least I was)...and with a terrible feeling longing to fly. For me it's a true joy to get out of the country. After we passed the check in area, we all waited patiently to board the little "tractor" that was going to fly us in the heart of Romania...

...our first flight from Baia Mare to Bucharest... :)

Time flew by...and before we knew it, we took our second flight form Bucharest to Istanbul. It was fun to see some of the people in our group  saying.." I'll be ok on air "...well, things changed when they didn't knew how to react faster once the plane took off :)) I thought they were going to tear up the front seats, that hard they clenched them :)) 

Anyways...in the Ataturk Airport, after we left our big luggage at a special office, we got in a mini coach that led us right in the middle of the Old City center of  Istanbul. here are some pics I took form the coach of the surroundings. It was the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II (408-450) who expanded the area of his imperial capital of Constantinople by building these great land walls farther out into the country. When finished, the Theodosian Walls were almost 7 km (over 4 miles) in length. With periodic repairs, they defended the city effectively until the late 19th century.

Hand painted ceramics from the Turkey are among the very finest quality in the Mediterranean region.

Turkish cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottoman Cuisine which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asia Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighbour's cuisines, including that of western Europe. The Ottomans fused various culinary traditions of their realm with influences from Middle Eastern cuisines along with traditional Turkish elements from Central Asia (such as yogurt), creating a vast array of specialties - many with strong regional associations. It was a true delight for the eye and not only to see these dishes!

One of the many various architectural type of buildings on the Istanbul streets...

If you wanted to buy a nice carpet...well, Turkey is the finest spot!

a huge type of bread! :)

How nice was this setting...just perfect for sippin' an apple tea or enjoy a hookah (nargileh).

And then...the Turkish sweets...Oh, dear Alah...or God...or whomever... these windows were a true heaven for sweets addicts like me. This is just one pic...you'll see more!

Stay tuned! The journey has just began!

Apfelstrudel

I got so angry when my fave pastry raised the cake's prices so much (a stupid romanian habit), that it wasn't worth it buying sweets from their shop anymore... So I said...I'm going to try to do whatever sweets and cakes I want with my own bear hands! It's not the first time I do sweet things, but it was a first doing an apple strudel (it's one of my fave sweets ever!) It was a bit of work, but let me tell you guys...in the end, it's worth every moment spent doing it! With cinnamon and apples, when it's still warm, with vanilla ice cream..mmmm... it's a first class restaurant recipe...not to mention it's a viennese speciality. You can find a recipe here. 

Have some fun! Bake smth! :) <- today's quote :)))

Love, Gab~

Cinnamon Apple Muffins

It was the first time I tried to bake muffins...and since I just tried to find a recipe browsing the internet knowing what I have already at home, I said a Cinnamon Apple recipe will do just fine. I wanted to post the source of the recipe, but I just could not find it anymore...if anyone wants to try it, I'll write it down for you(I did some notes); it's easy, with simple ingredients. Tell me what do you think! Only one out of the 12 muffins made it through the next day... :))))) We're like velociraptors when it comes to sweets...can't help it...

They had a perfect flavour...besides, I love cinnamon - daa...:))- 

Just look how the apple pieces show off inside the muffin!! Delicious!

Hope you enjoyed the post, 

Love, Gab~

Panna Cotta

I wanted to make this sweet for a couple of months now, and since yesterday was special, I thought that Panna Cotta would be a perfect way to celebrate both Woman's Day and 1 year since my bf quit smoking. I found the recipe on this blog ( it's in romanian), but I'm sure you can find it anywhere! I gave it a shot, but I would really want to taste one in a restaurant too, to make the difference. I've decorated it with forest fruits sauce, plenty of it, since we both love berries. :) Enjoy the pics and let me know if you ever did Panna Cotta! 

See ya, 

Love, Gab~

A lil' bit of heaven

when life steps in...

Today was supossed to be the day the holidays were officialy over for me. We were meant to go home in Baia and start the theatre work. All packed up, we waved good bye my family and got going. These were the best winter holidays in the last years.

...but not so fast...when we were about 250 km away from Baia, Mate's car broke. So bad that we had to get it into an auto service in Sighisoara, the closest city from where the car refused to ride anymore :(

We tried to let it go (we were both quite sad and tentioned) and enjoy another day of extended vacation in Sighisoara. Since the car was going to be ready to go only the second day, that evening we've took a walk into the old fortress of this beautiful town. We had some hot drinks and a desert at "Casa Cerbului" Restaurant and we called it a night.

These traditional donuts with blueberry jam and cream made my day...

Bufi and the Oreo's

I guess cats don't hunt birds anymore...

@Braila....theatre festival

Here we are, left Maramures land for 3 days to attend the "Zile si nopti" Theatre Festival in Braila. The trip was 12 hours long, but we did it by night, so I could sleep...and the time flew a lot more easier. It was my first time in Braila...to be honest, the town looks very bad, close to horrible. Anyway this is just a first impression, but one thing is absolutely sure -> I'll never go there again for fun or to visit it. During the day we've arrived, we went for a walk to see the Danube and we were lucky enough to enjoy the sunny weather.

Then we went to look for a cake shop that Mate and Inna said it has good cookies and sweets...and we found it. The pics below will tell you everything ♥♥ :)

Molten Lava Cake

Finally I made this really delicious and simple cake recipe, that Mate loved and couldn't get enough of... Molten Lava Cake...if you like chocolate, you'll fell love with this one, for sure!