Picture Of The Week

                                                                  

Sunday!
Enjoying a wonderful, sunny day in Rome.

There is nothing better for such moments than one of these amazing Italian breakfasts.

Crisp, fragrant cornetti,  freshly squeezed orange juice and  a superb cappuccino-ready to start my day!

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Guest Room Upgrade

I love to have house guests. Good friends are coming over for the weekend and we have not seen each other for ages. I’m really looking forward to their visit.

So how to transform a plain, boring room in a warm and welcoming retreat?

It’s simple and fun.

Just put a touch of color, for example a touch of bright strawberry ( as in the lampshade, orchids and flowers in the cushion) in different shades and combine with a hint of green (as in the cushion and the green orchid leaves).

As a little extra for your guests: a small glass bowl with chocolates

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Picture Of The Week

I love chestnuts. There a few things that symbolize autumn better than these shiny brown nuts.

Found this basket on display in a tiny flower shop close to Via Frattina in the center of Rome.

Aren’t they pretty?

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Alicias' Sensational Apple Cake

This is a recipe from my sister in law Alicia, until now a very well kept “Family Secret”.

 Easy to bake and delightful.

You need:

-1 cup of caster sugar

-1 cup of self raising flour

-¾  cup of high quality sunflower oil

-3 eggs

-8 apples (peeled and, core and stem removed)

-1/8 Cup of lemon juice

-a bit of butter to grease the baking pan

For the decoration:

-1 and a  1/2 Cup whipped cream

-lemon zest

-ground cinnamon

Preparation:

 -Cut the apples in half and then in medium slices.

-Mix all other ingredients and cream them.

-Grease  a rectangular  baking pan with butter

-Pour the 2/3 of the creamed ingredients in, then add the sliced apples and pour the rest of the ingredients over the apples.

Preheat oven on Medium heat

Bake on medium heat until slightly golden brown and  a cake-tester comes out clean.

10-12 portions.

Enjoy!

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