Monday, November 25, 2013

Savoury Sweet Potato Pie

The first snowflakes officially herald the advent of oven-baked food in our home, like this sweet potato pie:


The recipe is based on one which I posted here a while ago as potato-mash quiche. This time I used a 1-2 shortcrust pastry (1 part non-hydrogenated margarine, 2 parts flour and of course some salt, turmeric and ice-water) and the filling base consisted of half sweet potatoes and half floury normal potatoes. The added vegetables were golden ball turnips, carrots and pointed cabbage. Add some chili flakes for extra spice and enjoy :)

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Christmas time is drawing close

Today the garden nursery Huben in Ladenburg, not far from our home, held a pre-Advent event. Mainly to sell their wreaths and other deco for the Christmas tides. We didn't expect the crowd that was there, they had to set up people to control the parking and their even was a doorman who made people wait at the entrance of the glasshouse where the main exhibition was held. Thus, long queues were waiting patiently in front of it.

 
For the children there was a roundabout and some, unimpressed by all the people, sheep wagging their tails at us.

 
Outside you could have a look at their ponds, morbid and beautiful with fallen leaves, instead of rustling on the soil, now rotting slowly on top of the pool floor.

 
They also have a Zen garden which was quite nice, albeit a bit too much of an Asian mix :)

 
One of the most visited sites were of course the mulled wine and 'Bratwurst' (sausage) stands. Obviously the favourite Advent food for Germans.

 
At some point we fled the crowded nursery and headed for a more quiet place, the Roman villa in Hirschberg:
 
 
This is the little byway to the little temple they had on their estate:

 
It got quite late or rather it is getting dark quite early, anyway, on our way back we saw the first public Christmas decoration in Schriesheim. It's not even the first Sunday of Advent! Still, it had a nice and cozy ambiance :) and gave, together with some tapas in our Kaffeehaus, a nice finishing touch to the day :D