My first Mille-feuille

They say pregnant women have cravings. I am not so 100% sure because well I had cravings before. Since I live in a country foreign to mine, I miss a lot of things that scream "home" and many of those are food related. I think that the tongue has a great memory of tastes. Sometimes I remember my mother's cooking or a particular dish I had in a good restaurant and it brings back memories. But if I am pretty good at Romanian main dishes, there have been many desserts I've missed.

You're going to say this recipe is not Romanian. Yes and no, it has a French name but in Romania it is also very popular, it's called a cremşnit, it is also a Hungarian staple food, named kremes, sometimes served with a layer of jam. I just love how food "travels", don't you?.

The mille-feuille or vanilla slice recipe I found online is the closest thing to the one my grandmother used to make. (Missing the country food and the family recipes, great combo, but not having pregnancy cravings, no, no). You can read more about the different types of this cake on wikipedia  I made mine without the icing because that's how I remember it from Grandma (and I was running dangerously low on icing sugar for the big batch I made, maybe next time).

The recipe is this (so simple, I don't believe I never tried before):

Crème pâtissière (vanilla cream) as shown in the video below (funny the guy, I can see him bossing around
the kitchen staff)
Puff pastry (I used a roll of 275gr for about 6 not very big servings)

In translation:
250 ml milk
1 vanilla stick (or vanilla extract)
50 gr sugar
30gr flour

You can double or triple or even quadruple the quantities, to suit your needs. I did 4x but I have leftover.

Bring milk to a boil with the vanilla stick or a few drops of extract. In the mean time whisk the eggs with the butter until they turn white, add the flour. Remove the vanilla stick and pour milk over the mixture and stir well.

Put the whole mixture back on the stove and after it starts to boil, stir for about 3-5 minutes until it hardens.

Pour in a glass container covered in plastic film, close it and put the container in the fridge for later use.

Once you did everything this guy said and left the crème pâtissière in the fridge for as long as you could, bake the puff pastry sheet (or sheets) in the oven, for about 15 minutes at 180°C. Use a fork to make holes in the pastry so it doesn't swell. Cut the pastry in order to make as many layers as you want (2 or 3 should be enough)

Now you can assemble the layers. A nice touch is to crumble the pastry on the top layer and sprinkle sugar, like I did, here. Sorry for the bad picture, I had it for breakfast, I couldn't resist but the light was not great.

PS. Last time I said I would share the recipe of stuffed kitchen I made to go with the ratatouille. Unfortunately I have no pictures to show you I can only tell you I used smoked sausages and cheese to stuff the boneless chicken thighs. The guys will have a nice lunch today!

Ok, I stop with the food and promise my next two posts will not be food related. Later.

Step by step real Ratatouille

Yesterday I prepared this ratatouille for my husband and his colleagues to share at work. There is a group of French guys and they always have lunch together with a different person cooking every day. Since I am  at home with little or nothing to do, I thought it would be nice if I cooked for them and I chose a French recipe. Because that's the best way to know if your French cuisine is good or not: have your food tasted by the natives :)

Ratatouille is a meal from the sun baked South of France and contains several vegetables but usually tomatoes, peppers, zuchinni, egg plant. The secret to a good ratatouille is of course in the ingredients and if you listen to the great chefs, in the layering of the vegetables and cooking them separately. Personally I prefer to mix them earlier then the cook book says and leaving a little more sauce (some say to drain it completely but I just think you loose flavour). So you see, perfection is in the eye of the beholder.

And behold! the veggies I used. I cooked for about 6 people so the exact quantities are not so important when you cook for a large number. I took a large eggplant, two big zuchinni, some of the ugliest tomatoes I could find at the grocer's (these are the best) and more (twisted) peppers of the kapia variety than you can see here (because I just love the taste). And of course as many onions as I could cut through the tears.

I started by heating olive oil in a big wok and proceeded to cutting the onions (and crying my pregnant heart out, no fingers  were lost). Next, I started chopping the peppers. Tip: try to cut all the vegetables about the same size, let's say 1cm x 1cm. It will look better and the texture will feel nicer too. (Check out my photo collage :) ).

 When the onions were only half way done (try not to burn the meal), I threw in the peppers. I like them well done. A little later on I added some wine to the mix. Diced the zuchinni and eggplant and added to the pot when the onions were translucid. Perfect! Normally, you don't need to add water because the vegetables give a lot of their own. If you have potatoes, carrots, olives at hand, add those as well.

And now you wait with a glass of wine, thinking about the lavender in Provence. Or the port of Cassis with it's boats and colourful houses. A promenade in the old town of Nice... Ahh.

Let's get back to our ratatouille which has been cooking for about 20 minutes or the time for the sauce to reduce (leave as much sauce as you prefer, you can also strain it). Since the vegetables are cook, we'll sprinkle abundantly with Herbes de Provence, some drops of green Tabasco for a bit of a punch  and voila!

This is one of those dishes which gets better the day after so today I am making the stuffed chicken the guys will have in their plates for lunch. (the chicken bits in the picture are from my husbands heavy protein diet). I'll share the stuffed chicken recipe with you, next time.

Being Pregnant in Czech Republic

I am already 8+ months pregnant and by now the questions regarding where I am going to give birth have been cleared. For me it was an easy choice, no point in going back to Romania to pay a lot in a private hospital and I have no French insurance so again, no point in going to France either. So Czech Republic it is and the maternity in our city which is at very good standards, according to friends and colleagues.

I did  my research of course, like any good expat here I accesses the fairly good reading material of expats.cz They talk more about how it is to be pregnant in the Capital, here and which hospital to choose if you give birth in Prague, as if all pregnant expats lived in Prague. Even so, this is good reading material and does point to hospitals outside of Prague (Horovice being a preferred choice for Western Prague).

As I am employed here I have access to the great benefits of Czech social security. I went on maternity leave 6 weeks before the due date (you have between 8 and 6 weeks but you can even go later; no one does). The maternity leave itself is 28 weeks long and is followed by a parental leave of 1 to 4 years with the majority of Czech Mums going for 3. I still have time to decide how much time I want to spend out of the workforce.

The articles I mentioned before hit some other interesting points such as the doctor not being so inclined to hold your hand ans in the West. I don't know about other countries but in Romania, the doctor is not holding your hand a lot either. Here, I find my doctor is a little šup šup as they say, asking me if everything is ok and dismissing me quite fast if the answer is yes. We will see about how nice the midwives are, here the doctor only checks in on the birth but unless something critical happens, he will not play a major role.

I have been getting ultrasounds every visit - Once every 3 or 4 weeks, then every 2 weeks and now every week until I give birth. And I have a notebook where the doctor writes all the test results and other info related to my pregnancy. In this respect, I am well looked after, I can't complain.

Many have asked me if I will go for a C section, in Romania it's easy to pay for one and doctors prefer it as it's more lucrative and fast. In the Czech Republic, they are on the side of vaginal birth and not very keen on epidural (hooray for me! Not!) but they do offer relaxation techniques such as bath, shower, birth ball etc, in the early stage.

Like everywhere, there is a myth that pregnant women are treated better. To be honest, I did not see any change in the people on the street, I don't think the ladies in shops are less rude just because of the bump. Only the ladies in the canteen where nicer, offering to serve even food which was not paired together on the fixed menu.

So that's about all, if I missed something or you have questions about being pregnant in Czech Republic, just ask me. I will let you know about giving birth as well :)

Inspiration : living spaces under the eaves

I am soon going to move into a new apartment with great terrace in a quiet neighborhood, close enough to the nature and to the city center not to feel to disconnected. This is a two story apartment right under the roof so my challenges are to create living and storage space under the eaves and in the low ceiling bedroom upstairs.

Since we started discussing buying, I've created some pinterest boards full of ideas for design and I thought it nice to share with you. I haven't found a lot of living rooms with low ceiling but the ones below are like nest to curl up and read or talk to friends. This is the space I want to create and here is my inspiration for it.

Notice the Barcelona chair? I was at first attracted by the wall behind, next I noticed the couch because it is in the same style I am looking for and only after the lounge chair.I think this is good blending. Great place to relax and wonderful idea for my decoration challenges.

Source: denofopulence.tumblr.com via Ioana on Pinterest

I love the bookcase, it doesn't look too much as a library, still remains a cosy place to relax and read but also entertain guests.

Source: houzz.com via Ioana on Pinterest

This next room looks a bit empty but I let your imagination do the rest. The idea of shelves around the stairs is interesting but unfortunately I have no use for it. I like the light though. Oh, and the couch. Plus, soccer table in the corner.

Source: blog.gessato.com via Ioana on Pinterest

The last idea picture is not my favorite but it closely resembles the spaces I will have to decorate.I love the way they framed the loft window.

Source: houzz.com via Ioana on Pinterest

My garden this year 2013

This year I managed to plant 3 tomatoes, 2 bell pepper plants and a zucchini plus some flowers. I am not really making an effort because we are moving to another place with a terrace and a very small garden. I don't really feel like moving all the flowers and pots so I am keeping things down to a minimum.

You can see the bell peppers are starting to grow and the tomatoes are flowering which is a miracle given the cold weather this year. I started planting the balcony very late but so far so good, just hope the move will not affect the plants too much.

And my target for next year is my current neighbor's garden. Ok, ok, I will have only 20sqm of actual soil, it will be something similar in size to the small rectangle at the bottom left of the picture but I have to have a target, right?

Wedding inspiration: String heart

We wanted to involve our family and friends as much as possible in the wedding preparations. This was quite difficult because everyone lives so far from us and from each other but we still managed to give them small projects before or during the big day that they were all very happy.

You should attempt asking for help like this only if you think the people are willing to participate and if you really need it. It's a fine line but for us it worked because for example my husband's grandma was very excited about the wedding but wanted to participate in the organization and didn't know what to do.

So I showed her some ideas I had and the one we both loved the most was the string heart. You can see a tutorial here. She had already done something like it in the past, she is very artistic, but she was nervous to do make this heart for her grandson's wedding. And here is the end result.

We had hearts almost everywhere at the wedding: on the invitations, menus, balloon hearts, metal hearts, etc. This framed string heart was used in some of the artistic pictures we took in order to use as thank you cards and also many people took pictures with it.

Grandma used a silk backdrop and a thrifted frame she painted gold. She was very surprised to see we used it as a decor and to take pictures with it, at first she didn't know what it woudl be for.

Hope it inspires you and you find this as a fun project if you want to involve someone in your wedding.

Swimming pool in Plzen

I cannot believe I've been living here for 4 years and have just now discovered the main swimming pool here. I knew there were 3 municipal swimming pools but I had never visited either of them until two weeks ago, on a rainy Saturday. And I've been back twice since then.

The main swimming pool in Slovany has a big indoor pool used for competitions and smaller pools for relaxation or for children. On top of that there are two whirlpools, a toboggan and an outdoor pool. Oh and sauna as well.

The main pool goes from 1,20m to 2,10 and it is usually divided into a section for the public (the shallow part in the week) and a section for the different sporting activities of the club.

If you are member of the club you can take part in water polo, synchronized swimming, different swimming categories, etc. If you just want to exercise you can simply swim or go for aqua aerobics which takes place every day and is part of the entrance ticket. Which costs about 2,5 euros for 1h30. I will go for aqua aerobics next time, seems great for pregnant me.

So far I just relaxed in the dedicated pool you see pictured above. It is heated to about 32°C and there are different water and air jets massaging you. I love the lounge area in the lower part of the picture, where water jets massage your back and legs and you can just enjoy. It's great on a rainy, cold day. I also swam in the larger pool but I only ventured a little bit to the deeper end and I was quite tired very fast. I'll go for the aerobics, it seemed easy but tiring. In a year or so we'll take junior for his first lessons.

There were a lot of people during the weekend, of course, less so during the week and in the evening (they close at 21.00) but all seemed to have fun and enjoy the place respectfully. In the end it is like an aqua park but owned by the municipality. There is a restaurant and a boarding house and you can even go for aerobics and cardio classes.

Czechs never cease to amaze me with the love they have for sports and water sports in particular, like they were born sailors. Now that I discovered this place, I am thinking about taking a permanentka, monthly pass and take advantage of this sport mania.

The pictures are from the website of the swimming pool. Of course, I did not take any pictures there but you can even check the webcam and see which lanes are open and how many people there are, before you go.

What to do in Prague between two flights

This post could have been titled : What to see in Prague if you wanted to go for a roughly 10km walk. Or what to do in Prague if you've only got one day. Or better yet, what to do in Prague when there is no flood warning In fact this is my essential guide to Prague so enjoy :) First things first, link to the map of the itinerary I suggest you, this is from mapy.cz.

So you came here by plane, I already gave you the how to get to Prague from the airport in my previous post, here. Let's say for example, you get off the udnerground at Malostranska station. You are at the foot of the castle and you can go against (one) flow of tourists by climbing the old castle steps and going to the Castle by what is usually considered it's back door. In Prague you will never be able to avoid all tourists all the time : they come at you from all directions, every time. But they normally come down from the Castle this way (so not up) and you should have less of them to worry about. Bonus point is the Castle wineyard.

Now, visit the Castle, of course. But remember you don't have a lot of time so don't buy tickets to visit the inside rooms, leave that for another time. Just visit the part of the Cathedral which is free and you can even take pictures, the entrace gives you a good view of the inside, as well, a teaser in case you want to see more next time. There will be a next time, trust me.

Walk out of the Castle (notice the big Hercules figures at the main gate?). Don't forget to take pictures of the panorama from both the entrance and exit. Just try to find a space among the tourists perched on the wall.

You can continue your trek through the square in front of the Castle and are now faced with 2 options: 1. continue to the Loretta Church - worth while especially if the bells will be rung, or 2. go down to Nerudova street and walk towards Mikulasske Namesti and the Church of St Nicholas.

At this point you will be faced with two options again. First is to go to the Charles Bridge, cross it and head into Old Town or to go into Kampa. I suggest you go to the area of Kampa, there you will find some nice streets and restaurants as well as the Kafka museum. I know you don't have a lot of time but just go inside the courtyard and take a look at the David Cerny statues in front of the museum.

Going around you can pass through a garden or park, these are hidden gems of Prague: the Vojanovy sady or the Valdstejnska zahrada. Attention, it is a lot of walking around so go there only if you are ready for it.

Next, cross the bridge, of course, but take care, it is usually full of tourists. So full that it takes longer than you would think to cross. Once on the other side of the bridge, go into Josefov, the Jewish quarter by passing through Old town. Take a look at the Castle from the Rudolfinum, a great concert hall and then continue to the jewish cemetery's back door for a peek at the tombstones without paying the exaggerated fee.

Continue exploring the Jewish quarter and it's many souvenir shops while paying attention to the architecture. Have your picture taken with Kafka in the square of the same name. There is a big statue of a headless guy holding a small one on his shoulder. I'll let you ponder on that one.

No tour of Prague would be complete without the Clock in the Old Town Square. It is easy to find: just look for were there are the most tourists. Take a walk around the Square. Sometimes there are some attactions or a market. Go inside St Tyn, the Church with 2 black belltowers.

Go towards the Municipal House, Obecni Dum, a jewel of Art Nouveau. Next to it is the Powder Tower, a remnant of the old city walls. Pass underneath and continue on the very shopping street Na Porici, towards Vaclavske Namesti. If you are not too tired you can head into one of the shopping galleries and go to the Ovocny trh street to the Stavovske theatre where Mozart played his operas. In Prague, just walk around and you will be surprised.

By going around this way, you can find a market on Havelska street and get some souvenirs and cheap post cards before finding yourself back on Vaclavske Namesti at the place called Mustek. This is the rendez-vous place in Prague, everyone meets up at the New Yorker store.

Now you see the National Museum, walk up to the Statue of Vaclav. This is a historic place because Czech people like to start their revolutions from here. The museum offers another pretty view of Prague. After you finish taking your pictures, go to the underground station and take the tube back to the airport (towards Zlicin and then bus 100 or to the train station and then the Airport Express bus).

Floods in Czech Republic 2013 - Plzen

As you've probably heard already, 2013 is a year of bad weather, here in the CZ. Right now the capital is flooded as well as many cities, there have already been several deaths and incidents due to the heavy rainfall and flooding. Many bridges are closed, especially in the West and North of the Country.

For information in English go to the Expats website here. The have links to the best resources available right now in English and Czech.

Because I've been asked how was the situation in Pilsen, here is a picture of the river which is not even 100m from our flat. Luckily we are on an elevated area. As you can see, the river had gone beyond the trees opn Saturday, covering the pedestrian paths on either side. I did not check the status today but surely it's worse because it has been raining eversince.

Nothing to be done except to keep safe, drink bottled water and if possible, help those in need.

Wedding inspiration: Pompoms

The big wedding trend lately has been DIY, all things DIY in fact, from décor to food, I even read somewhere about DIY music. Now, the reasons are of course different but pride and money are the most frequent ones As appealing as it may be, my advice to you is to think twice if it is worth the trouble to DIY

I had to weight in a lot of pro and cons and decided to stick to some basic things that I really could do by myself or with help from family and friends. I chose to take care of the flowers and the balloons and decided that pompoms where to much hassle. Honestly, you'll not have enough time the D day (or the days before) so stick to what is basic and important to you.

I got my initial inspiration to do the pompoms from Dana's wonderful wedding. She inspired me to make my dream wedding, just the way I wanted to. Below are some pics to get you drooling over pompoms. Dana was just an adorable bride.

Source: danarogoz.one.ro via Ioana on Pinterest

Choose a colour scheme. Mine would have been in the pinks and creams but I love these brown and green ones.

Source: ruffledblog.com via Ioana on Pinterest

Source: greenweddingshoes.com via Ioana on Pinterest

If you really want to make the pompoms (and send me pictures), here's how on Holly's blog.She gives detailed step by step instructions on how to do the pompoms and this is what I used to make mine. Yeah, because I did make about 20 of them, even 2 toned ones, before I realized that for me, personally, buying balloons and having my friends and family inflate them, was the best options.

So what I can suggest if you want to go the DIY pompom way is start in advance and involve the people around you.