What I love about NY Eve?$

Hi darlings! 

Well, there are two main things I love about New Years Eve!

1) Oliebollen! 

You might think, huh what on earth is that? Well, oliebollen are small round Dutch doughnuts. They are a traditional food to serve on New Year's Eve in Holland. The name of these tasty treats literally translates to "oil balls." But don't let this unappetizing name fool you, Oliebollen are truly delicious!! They are made by using two spoons to scoop dough and dropping it into a deep fryer filled with hot oil. So a round shaped “oliebol” emerges. In December many 'Oliebollen' stands appear around the country, selling the freshly baked warm doughnuts. A national newspaper even runs a yearly nation wide test that scores the many stands to find where you can buy the best Oliebol for that year! :) This is me and mum enjoying an oliebol in the city of Haarlem a few days ago!

Yesterday on my last day back home, dad & I made fresh homemade 'Oliebollen'. I think I ate about 5 of them, uh-oh ;) In Holland a lot of people make them from the packet because it's so quick and easy! So yes, I admit it, we cheated too and used a packet! All we had to add was water, the raisins and currents and let the dough rise. Then we fried them up in hot oil.....Check out the finished result:

If you want to make these (you know you want to & trust me, you won't regret it!) here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

500 grams flour

25 grams yeast

350 ml milk

250 grams (in total) of currants and raisins

Pinch of salt

Oil for deep-frying (use fresh vegetable/sunflower oil)

Method:

Put the flour in a bowl and make a depression in the centre. Pour in the yeast, which has been dissolved with a little lukewarm milk. Add the remaining milk, salt and stir. Stir the washed currants and raisins into the mix. Beat it to a smooth and airy mass, cover with a damp cloth (eg, a tea towel) and leave to rise in a warm/draft free place/room around 45min to one hour.

Heat the oil in a deep pan or in a deep fryer to 175 degrees C (= 350 degrees F). To check whether the oil is at the right temperature, stand the handle of a wooden spoon in the oil. If little bubbles form around it, the oil is ready. Use two tablespoons or an ice-cream scoop to shape balls and slide them into the hot oil. Fry the balls until they are golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. They should turn over on their own when they are ready to brown on the other side, but keep an eye on them and flip them as necessary. They should be soft and not oil soaked inside. Remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon or similar tool to a paper towel lined plate and repeat with the remaining dough. Serve them warm with a generous dusting of icing sugar! Yummmmmm

2) Celebrating a new start! 

I always see the New Year as a great opportunity to set new goals and resolutions for myself :)

Some of my News Years Resolutions for 2011 are:

♥ Planning more fun travel trips now that I am back in Europe
♥ Start exercising again.....
♥ Making new friends in London 

♥ Not being too hard on myself sometimes; allowing myself to relax & enjoy life a little more!
♥ Finding love?
♥ But most of all....

Here's wishing you more happiness 

Than all my words can tell, 

Not just alone for New Years Eve

But for all the year as well! 

xoxo Roz

Happy Hump Day %

Hello my lovelies!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas? I really enjoyed mine with family back home in The Hague. We had lots of snow & relaxed at home with lights, candles, LOTS of amazing food and all this by the smell of a real Christmas tree (♥ it!). Here a quick little collage of my time in Holland over the holidays :)

Also I got this cute email from a friend a few days ago and wanted to share it with you all because it's such a lovely message and much very in the spirit of Happy Hump Day and the upcoming New Year celebrations :)

'Let's keep living our lives like we know best, and to fly even further and higher in 2011!' 

Lots of love xoxo Roz

Christmas OOTD

Merry Christmas Everyone! Thought I'd quickly share my Christmas Morning OOTD

I got this jumper in London last week when I spotted it in a sale, cute right?

Louche Pearl Intarsia Sweater from Joy

Get it online here now on sale for only £24.50

Hat - Santa's ;)

I also want to take this moment to say a HUGE thank you to all my readers and followers! I only started this blog in February this year and never would have thought that I'd have over 660 followers by Christmas time :) I truly hope you all have a MAGICAL Christmas, filled with joy and happiness. Mine will be spend with family and lots and lots of food ;)

xoxo

Christmas White Chocolate Rocky Road

Hey everyone,

I am happy to report that, very early this morinng, I arrived safe & sound in a freezing and white Holland. After a little power nap I spend the day catching up with friends over Glühwein (= mulled wine) at the beach (which was covered in snow....) Afterwards I wrapped up all my presents, placed them under the tree and did some last minute 'baking'. I love giving people foody presents and when I found this recipe online, I thought it was an excellent idea as a Christmas treat! It's really easy to make, with no baking involved and you can pretty much change the ingredients according to your own preferences. 

Check out my DELICIOUS Christmas White Chocolate Rocky Road:

Ingredients:
♥ 250g white chocolate, chopped
♥ 1/3 cup chopped pistachio kernels, toasted
♥ 1/2 cup dried cranberries
♥ 100g white marshmallows (I used mix of white and pink)

♥ To make them even more festive & Christmassy; I added some silver decorative sugar balls to mine!

Note: You can be pretty flexible with the types and amounts of ingredients you use.

Method:

♥ Line the base and sides of a baking tin with baking paper and allow about a 2cm overhang. 

♥ Place the white chocolate in a heatproof, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, or until melted and smooth.

♥ Place pistachios, cranberries and marshmallows in a large bowl. Toss them all together. Then add melted chocolate and stir to combine. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. Refrigerate, covered, for 2 hours or until set.

♥ Cut into squares and serve. Or like me, wrap them up in cellophane and give them to people at Christmas! Don't they look yum and Christmassy? ENJOY! Merry Christmas xoxo

Getting into the Holiday Spirit $

Hey girlies,

Boohoo I am at home sick today :( Came down with a dry tickly cough a few days ago and immediately stocked up on medicine to try to beat it, but I failed. Feeling rightly miserable today so am warm in bed entertaining myself with cosy Christmas movies! They are getting me all in the holiday spirit so thought I'd share my favourite romantic Christmas films: 

Love Actually (2004)

Massive star studded cast! The story begins five weeks before Christmas and follows the lives of ten different couples or individuals through the events of their lives and romantic misadventures up until Christmas Day. 

Just adore everything about this movie and cant count how many times I have seen it on both hands! 

The above is definitely one of my favourite scenes in the film ♥ Super cute!

The Holiday (2006)

Two career women in different countries, Amanda (Diaz) and Iris (Winslet), need a break from their lives and swap homes for the holidays through a home exchange website. Hoping the change of scenery will help them forget the men who have disappointed them, they unexpectedly find that a little Christmas magic fills their holiday escape with new romance.

While you were sleeping (1995)

In this romantic comedy, Lucy (Bullock) has a boring life as a fare collector with a crush on a man she sees daily on the Chicago railway. On Christmas day she saves him after a mugging that lands him in the path of an oncoming train. Lucy ends up at the hospital and is mistaken for his fiancé. Things snowball and she gets to know his family, including his brother Jack (Pullman), who doesn’t believe she is his brother’s fiancé. Old school but Sandra is just adorable in this movie!

Four Christmases (2008)

When upscale, happily unmarried San Francisco couple Kate (Reese Witherspoon) and Brad (Vince Vaughn) find themselves socked in by fog on Christmas morning, their exotic vacation plans morph into the family-centric holiday they had, until now, gleefully avoided. Vince just cracks me up in this film,  to the point of getting tears of laugher at some scenes :p

What are some of your favourite Christmas films?? xoxo

Life is good...

Hey lovelies,

I have to admit, life is pretty damn good right now and I'm feeling very happy!

I am stoked to announce that I am officially no longer unemployed! I found a great new job in London and I start on Monday :) I will be working in the city for a Management Consulting company and the people all seem lovely. I can't  wait for this new exciting phase in my life to really take off!

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life" Confucius

What else is new? Well I am off home (Netherlands) tomorrow to celebrate Sinterklaas (St Nicolas) with my family. Sinterklaas is a fabulous Dutch tradition that we celebrate on the 5th December - it's like our Santa Clause and Christmas time. We get presents and eats loads of yummy sweets/cookies! I can't wait! Well that's if I make it there....... It's been snowing like mad here in London and as much as I love this pretty wintery white weather, it's not ideal when you are trying to leave the country! I have my fingers and toes crossed that my travels will all go smoothly this weekend. Can you cross your fingers and toes for me - it might help?? ;) Not sure if I will be able to blog much the next few days so hope you all have a great weekend! xoxo

H&M Shoping Haul

Oh how I adore London shopping! I recently checked out the fabulous new One New Change Shopping Centre in Central London and just loved it. I was so lucky to be there whilst everyone else in the city was slaving away at their desks (this being one big bonus about being unemployed, haha) so it was very quiet - which is very rare anywhere around London at this time of the year. They also had an H&M in the 'mall' which was SUPER quiet. It was a strange put very pleasuring experience. I ended up picking up the following goodies:

Wraparound dress with gathers at the shoulders & removable elasticated belt with metal buckle. I ♥ the colours of this dress and think it will be great to wear out with heels, boots and tights or even to work with a black blazer as pictured (blazer by ZARA) You can get this dress on SALE online here now at H&M for only £7.99!

Bright red figure-fit jacket with small puffy sleeves & a hook-and-eye fastening at the front. They also had it in black but I liked the bright red, especially for the holiday season! This cropped blazer is part of H&M's Holiday 2010 Collection and available online here now for £29.99. 

Left: A simple black knit roll neck jumper/dress which can be worn with jeans or leggings. Perrrfect for this cold snowy (!!) weather. Middle & Right: warm long sleeved  v-necked knit dress (just above the knee length) in black. Sorry the photo is a little dark so you can't see the nice knit detailing in the skirt part very well. I will wear this dress casually with boots & tights/leggings and can be accessorized with belts, scarves and cardi's. (Both items were UK Size 8 at  £14.99 each)

I also found these tan (or they seem to call it cognac brown LOL) imitation leather ankle boots with side zip and satin lining for only £7.99! I liked the nice and sturdy not too high (8cm) heel. Check them out online here.

Have you picked up any items at H&M recently? I am still dying to get my hands on some Lanvin pieces but fear I have missed the boat on that by now.... xoxo

Holiday Wish List

Morning everyone,

Want to know what's on my Wish list for Christmas??  Then make sure you check out my Holiday Wish List Guest Post that I did for the wonderful Andi of SaltwaterDreams! 

What are the items on your Christmas Wish List this year?? xoxo Roz