Advent is the time for Christmas cookies. There is no other time of year when people are baking more cookies. Even though you could bake many of those cookies any other day as well. I wouldn’t mind if someone served me a few of these delicious Xmas Wreath Cookies with my coffee at the height of summer. They are delicious all year round. Some people might say the decorations are too »Christmassy« for July or August. But who cares? ;P
As a child, the story of the »Suppenkaspar« (a cautionary tale from an old German children’s book) would have been absolutely spot on for me. Kaspar did not like soup, neither did I. Luckily my mom made other food as well. My dislike for soup has changed a little over the years. It’s not a 360° turn, because I still do not like a clear soup (which is basically just flavored water), but it’s much better now. Place a bowl of flavorful soup with loads of stuff innit in front of me… I’m all in! Something like this easy Chorizo & White Bean Soup, for example. An absolute favorite in our house for many years already. I think this would have brought Kaspar to the table as well. Poor chap! ;)
Every celebration needs a big cake – or several small cakes. Something delicious and indulging. If you are a fan of chocolate and/or popcorn, I think I got something for you: my delicious Chocolate Caramel Popcorn Cupcakes. Delicious mini chocolate cakes meet chocolate buttercream, caramel and sweet popcorn. They do not only sound good, in my opinion, they also look great (in my opinion)… ;)
It’s hard to avoid pumpkins in autumn… They are lying around everywhere – in large containers in supermarkets, as decoration in gardens and in front of houses. I prefer to use pumpkins for baking instead of decorations (not only in autumn). The best example of an excellent use of pumpkin in a baking recipe is this extremely tasty Pumpkin Chocolate Marble Cake aka. Tiger Cake! Absolutely delicious and also very pretty to look at. I’d say everything here is just perfect. Am I exaggerating? Yes. Maybe. But no! ;P
You eat with your eyes first, right?! That’s definitely something that applies to me. I like colorful dishes, meals with a lot of veggies that are bright and vibrant. Stuff like this Sweet ‘n’ Spicy Chicken with Veggies & Coconut Rice. What’s not to love here?! One look, and you know it’s going to be good. That’s what I want from my food! ;)
The weeks before Christmas are the time for Christmas markets, mulled wine, bratwurst and candied almonds aka. »gebrannte Mandeln«. You can smell the nuts basically everywhere. Sooo good! Instead of just enjoying the smell of the nuts and nibbling on them, you can use them for baking as well. These Candied Almonds & Chocolate Nougat Cookies are the perfect sweet treat to use up »leftover nuts«… should there be any leftover after a visit to the Christmas market. ;P
I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
