Brussels

Butternut Squash Cakes with Ras El Hanout and Pistachios

When I used to tell people I lived in London (and then in Rome), people would tend to squeal in excitement and tell me how lucky I was. Now that I live in Brussels, I don’t get quite the same reaction when I tell others where I live. Brussels is a good place to live, but it is certainly not the most exciting capital city Europe has to offer (heck it isn’t even the most exciting city Belgium as a country has to offer). Yet after growing up in Germany and having lived in a tiny village in Austria, London and Rome, there are plenty of things I really appreciate about Brussels. Rents are low, the city is very walkable, there are plenty of green spaces and the airport is within easy reach from the city centre. But you know the best part about living in Brussels? The markets. Sure, I used to go to the farmer’s market in London

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Rose Petal and Raspberry Spelt Muffins

I did not intend to be away from this space for this long without stopping by to say hello but somehow the usual one week turned into two and those quickly turned into three. Suffice to say work has been busy, I have been away, first in Italy and then in Germany, I have been trying to get on top of my never-ending list of final moving and flat-related errands and some recipes have been taking longer to test than expected (white chocolate miso brownies, I am looking at you!). These muffins were inspired by a rosy tart I am working on and that will be shared on food& in a few weeks. While Monday mornings are as good a time as any to swap weekend indulgences like buttery croissants or pancakes doused in maple syrup for porridge, there is nothing like a homemade pastry and a good cup of coffee to take the edge off the start to another

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Einkorn, Goat Yoghurt and Date Scones

I have been in Brussels just over a week now and, unsurprisingly, Brussels does not quite feel like home yet.  But I am sure things will feel different once my boxes from Rome have arrived (which should happen some time next week), my cookbooks are crammed into my bookshelf and I actually have a sofa to sit on. Until then, I will bake scones. Scones are easy and if there is anything that can make you feel at home then it is eating a freshly baked scone slathered in butter and jam (even if you are eating your scone standing in your kitchen as your flat does not yet have any chairs or a sofa). The first thing I had planned on baking in my new kitchen wasn’t these scones or anything sweet at all. Instead, I wanted to bake bread, a variation of the kamut and polenta bread I posted a while ago.  But when I wanted to weigh

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Big News!

So I have had some news to share for a while but wanted to wait until things were finalized. Now that they are, I can finally share that I will shortly be moving to Brussels to start a new job. While neither Alessandro nor I are keen on going back to long distance dating (something we were hoping we had finally put behind ourselves when I moved to Rome in 2012), it was unavoidable even before I was offered this great opportunity in Brussels as Alessandro has to move to Turin for work this summer. At least we are used to the long distance thing already, having survived years of it when I was still working in London and Alessandro was working near Milan (and hopefully it is only a matter of time before we are back to sharing the same flat). I have actually lived in Brussels before, working there for six months a few years ago (back when

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