Pink love

It's really grey outside so we decided to brighten up our day a little. Here's 10 of our favourite products in pink - because pink remind us of spring cherry blossom!

They all come from our online store:

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10 

Don't forget to like us on Facebook to get 10% off and a free gift with every order! But hurry, offer ends on the 14.11.12! 

Picnic date

Here's another super simple, yet original date idea - Indoor Picnic Date. Enjoy!

The Picnic Date

Ok, somehow it doesn't look as good as it really was, but that's just to give you an idea. For that date you really don't need much! And you can prepare in literally 10 minutes!

What I did:

• Bought cheese: brie, Camembert, cheddar
• Bought ham (at least I pretended it was ham) 
• Got fresh bread - baguettes works best
• Got my favourite wine
• Got some fresh vegetables (just imagine they are on the photo)
• Set up the scene: put blanket on the floor, lit some candles, sprinkle everything with little paper hearts, hung paper clouds to make it look like a real picnic outside, brought the biggest plants we have - we needed some trees!

Other ideas for the date, which I didn't have time to make:

• Prepare "summer" salad - just put together lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes.. you have the idea. Mix olive oil with honey, salt, black pepper, crushed garlic, a little bit of hot chili and lemon juice and add to salad, then sprinkle everything with roasted pumpkin seeds or chopped roasted nuts
• Pour some olive oil in a small bowl, add some spices if you like - use for dipping your bread in
• Hang bunting up for more festive look

Obviously, Mr Boyfriend and I couldn't just clean up everything after we finished taking photos... So we had another very nice date!

Valentine's date idea

I was thinking of an unusual way of celebrating Valentine's Day with Mr. Boyfriend. I wanted something more than dinner/romantic evening (nothing wrong with that of course! I just wanted to create something we haven't done yet). I came up with some ideas on how to spend the day a little bit different. So I'm starting a Valentine's series with ideas for a date, easy DIY's and original gifts. I hope you will find some inspiration here! Enjoy!

PS. I know the pictures are not good.. I'm saving up for a new camera, so hopefully soon they will get much better :)

The sweetest date

I don't think I know anyone who wouldn't like sweets! Surprise your date with hand-made sweets and have a great evening! After all, chocolate is a grate aphrodisiac :)

What I did:

• cinnamon cupcakes - you can find a recipe here (just add cinnamon and chocolate chips instead of coffee)
• waffles with a choice of toppings, like whipped cream, sliced banana, choco powder, jam, dried fruits, chopped nuts etc
• marshmallow lollipops 
• hot chocolate - the best recipe is from Isak - check it out here
• pink decorations to add even more sweetness 

I've planned super easy tutorials for everything I made for the date - I'll share it with you this week :)

Mr Boyfriend really liked the idea. Plus we got to eat everything after taking photos! 

New wallpaper

So I decided not to be lazy and wallpapered the shop (not all of it of course, just one wall). It was supposed to be a half-day project but Mr Boyfriend, hopefully-soon-to-be-sister-in-law and I ended up doing it for almost whole weekend... But the outcome is totally worth it! It makes such a difference! I. LOVE. IT.

The wallpaper is from Isak and you can order it in the shop (and different designs too!).

In the shop

I've just realised it's been two weeks since I'd posted anything on the blog. I'm pretty busy in the shop - working on the changing room (managed to pre-paint three walls so far...), ordering, choosing products, ordering... And I love it!

We've been opened for a month now and I feel like celebrating this little anniversary. Wine, cupcakes, friends. Sounds good, don't you think?

I don't think I shared that with you - my little shop on Isak web. We're the only ones in Slovakia to sell those beautiful, happy things made by Sandra Isaksson. And we are really proud of it too!

I know I've already shared the picture...Now you see how desperately I need to buy a camera!

Coffee and walnut cupcakes

The best cupcakes ever! Well, the best recipe I've tried so far anyway. Although I realise that the picture does not sell it too well.. Had few mishaps when making them last night (set too low temperature and the cakes melted, saved only 3 of them and the rest became one big mess...). They were delicious anyway! Making more tonight as Mr Boyfriend simply looooves them :)


You will need:
175g flour
175g butter at room temperature
175g caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp baking powder
45ml espresso coffee (or freshly brewed, strong coffee)
50g walnuts (or pretty much as many or as little as you want)


For the syrup
30 ml hot espresso coffee
50g light muscovado sugar


For the topping
150g butter
200g icing sugar
3 tsp instant coffee 

Preheat the oven to 180C. Mix together flour, butter, sugar, baking powder and eggs until smooth. Add coffee and chopped walnuts.
Spoon the mixture into 12 paper cake cases and bake for about 15 min (the tops should spring back when pressed with a finger).
While the cakes are baking, stir together coffee and sugar. You should get thick syrup.
As soon as the cakes are out of the oven, pierce them in several places and drizzle over the syrup, leave to cool.
To make the topping, cream the butter with sugar and coffee for about 3 min. Put the mixture into the piping bag and pipe it on to the cakes. As I don't have a pipng bag I used an ordinary plastic bag and cut off the corner. You could also spread the buttercream on with a knife.


Enjoy!


PS. I'll try to translate the recipe to Slovak tonight (need to ask my sweet assistant for help)


Kat 




As promised here we come in Slovak :)


Budete potrebovať: 
175g polohrubej múky
175g krupicového cukru
175g masla v izbovej teplote
3 veľké vajcia
1 lyžička kypriaceho prášku
45ml espresso kávy (čerstvo uvarená)
50g orechov


Sirup:
30ml espresso kávy
50g hnedého cukru


Na ozdobenie:
200g práškového cukru
150g masla
3 lyžičky instantnej kávy


Postup:
Predhrejeme rúru na 180 C.
Vymiešame do hladka múku, cukor, maslo, vajíčka a prášok do pečiva. Pridáme studenú kávu a nasekané orechy. 
Lyžičkou naberáme masu do 12 formičiek a pečieme 15 minút. Sú hotové keď ich zmačknete a oni sa vrátia naspäť.
Kým sú v rúre, urobíme si sirup. Do horúcej kávy pridáme cukor a vymiešame.
Keď ich dáme z rúry von, urobíme do nich dierky a polejeme ich sirupom. Necháme vychladnúť.
Na ozdobu vymiešame práškový cukor, maslo a kávu.
Keď cup cakes vychladnú, ozdobíme ich krémom.


Dobrú chuť!