CHOCOLATE IS A SALAD..

     

 "Chocolate comes from cacao, which is a tree. 

That makes it a plant. Chocolate is a salad".

       Good news ladies, the following recipe proves that this 

     quotes is true. A healthy recipe for chocolate mousse. 

                                                       Easy, fast... Hope you like it!

avocado - dates - raw cacao powder - agave syrup 

                                 or honey - almond or coconut milk 

 

DUTCHIE

As I wrote earlier, it's time to improve my styling skills, so here is another one. 
In my opinion, Dutch food isn't the best in the world. But we do have some nice dishes. Dutch pancakes is one of them. Simple, classic.

(spelt) flour - milk - egg's - salt - (coconut) oil or butter 

MUFFIN TOP

As I'm back home for a couple of weeks now, I decided to get back to work. Time to improve my food styling skills. And as my teacher at the styling academy told me, it takes a lot of practise. 
Back to work also meant going back to the gym and eat healthy, two things I didn't do in Italy at all. ;) I think a healthy lifestyle doesn't have to exclude good food, just change recipes and find alternatives for unhealthy ingredients. (:
Here is my first try, pumpkin muffins without added sugar.

Pumpkin - egg whites - honey -  greek yoghurt - flour - baking powder (mixture) | roasted almonds - cream cheese - honey - lemon and yoghurt  (topping). 

SUMMER FLEW BY(E)

The moment I arrived in Holland, I realised.. summer is over. Since I'm back, it's raining, raining and raining and 15 degrees is all we get I guess.

To me, summer flew by even faster than usually. Probably, because I had such a great time in Italy. Time flies when you're having fun..

So now that summer is over, I say let's welcome autumn, with her beautiful colors. 

One last summer post before I surrender to this upcoming season. I would like to show you the result of one of the assignments I did at Artemis Styling academy last semester. The theme was 'summer and love', a fictitious assignment for ELLE magazine. 

photography: Michelle den Braber

A DREAM CALLED TUSCANY

After 4 weeks in Firenze, I moved to a smaller seaside city called 'Viareggio'. I live with an Italian family and other students in a big house near the beach. I feel so lucky.
I'm going to school every day still, and my Italian is still improving, but it is difficult. Especially the grammar. I think 'the problem' in general is that students don't 'dare' to speak because we are afraid to make mistakes. But I think I already made a lot of improvement and I promised myself I will continue learning the language after I leave Italy. 

I really love life here. Going to the beach whenever you want, eating delicious Italian food and I love the culture and language. People are really relaxed and seem to love life, every minute of it. 

When my parents came to visit me, we made a small roadtrip trough Tuscany. Volterra, Lucca, Pietrasanta, San Martino in Freddana, Firenze and a seaside town in Liguria called Portovenere, every place is beautiful in it's own way. Nature leaves you speachless and the old towns are like small open-air museums.

Here are some pictures of my time in Viareggio and the roadtrip. Enjoy x

FIRENZE DIARY

I had the intention to post often, since I'm in one of the most beautiful cities of Italy - Florence, but time seems to fly.. What a great city! Everywhere you go is a 'postcard' kind of view. Typical Italian streets, the river which divides the city into two parts and inspiring art everywhere. And the food.. the love those people put into their recipes, so inspiring. Italian dishes aren't complicated in general. Simple but tasty recipes - which most of the time are in a family for ages - made with fresh ingredients, that's the Italian secret.

I will be moving to a seaside town this weekend, so this is the perfect moment to share some pictures from my time in Florence with you. Enjoy! 

Florence, you have been great to me - x

THE GREAT FINDS OF FLORENCE

I’m thinking about re-naming my apartment ‘Hotel Marieke’, as I already had two friends over in one week. It’s so much fun! I love to share my life and favorite places in the city with them and it is so nice to talk to each other without the daily stress and deadlines we have at home. This week me and my second visitor and one of my best friends – Laura – walked around the city centre a lot and found some great stores, restaurants and bars. I’m starting to find my way in this beautiful city.

I always love the stores and restaurants you find without looking for them, because they turn out to be a great find often. One of those places, in my opinion is a vintage store called ‘I Chiodo’. This store doesn’t only sell amazing pieces, they customize whatever you would like to have customized. Shoes, denim shorts, bags, accessories, the owners of this little store make every piece even more special using studs, dying techniques and other nice details. I found Levi’s denim shorts there, which now have a nice dye dip look - done in 10 minutes -. The thing I like most about this store is the fact that the owners 'build' the store together, using their passion, creativity, motivation, sense of style and skills.

Italians are known for their love for food. Meat is an important part of their meals, especially dinner. I became a vegetarian a while ago and eating healthy without meat is challenging here. Fortunately, I found this great vegan/vegatarian restaurant in the city centre of Florence, called Brac. This is not just a restaurant, but a bookstore, courtyard, restaurant and library all in one. The interior is minimalistic, modern and alternative, which is rare in Florence. Furthermore, there are a thousand books, to buy or to read while eating. Not only the interior and concept is great in my opinion, the food is even better. Delicious pasta’s, salads, panini’s, desserts and coffee, everything is worth trying.
For those who find it hard to choose, Brac has the perfect solution, called ‘piatto unico’. A plate with smaller portions of different dishes, which you can put together yourself. All the dishes are without meat, some without dairy, egg’s or fish as well. A great place to visit if you're in Florence and it's not expensive at all. 

Here are some pictures of both places, hope you like them! 

I Chiodo Vintage store
Via dell'Anguillara 39/R

La Libreria Brac

via de Vagellai 18