Gingerbread cookies

Christmas is right around the corner and I'm more than excited. I'm the kind of person who loves Christmas and all the fun and festive things that come with it. I love snow, Christmas trees, festive decorations, when the people you love come together, the food, cinnamon and last but not least the gingerbread which I make every single year. I believe I have the tastiest recipe for this special cookie. I love making them, because it is so delicious and christmassy and also it is so fun to make them with family and friends.

I came back home from Portugal to Hungary for the holidays so I can spend this wonderful time with the people I love most. Yesterday my sister and I decided to make the traditional gingerbread cookies. We had such a good time making them and I decided to upload this recipe with some photos so you can see how ours turned out.

INGREDIENTS: 

250g honey

100g sugar
50g butter
325g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg

2 teaspoons gingerbread spice (ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg)

Heat up the honey in a saucepan, add sugar and the butter and let it cool. Mix together the flour, baking powder and the gingerbread spice in a separate bowl. Add the honey mixture and the egg and mix until you get a dough. Chill that in the fridge for minimum 2 hours. Put your dough on a floured work surface and get your rolling pin and roll it until it is a 0,5-1 cm thick. Then get your cookie cutter and press them on the rolled out dough to get the shape you want. Bake them in 180°C oven for about 5-7 minutes. When they are done feel free to decorate them with frosting.

If this recipe inspired you to make gingerbread cookies this Christmas then make sure to tweet me or tag me on instagram so I can see your recreations.

Merry Christmas!

Easy and tasty appetizers

Before your guests arrive you make the soup, the main course and you definitely put time and effort into making the dessert. But there is always that question: what treat should I greet them with? You don't want to give them something that fills them too much, but everyone likes to eat a little something with their welcome drinks. For this week I decided to show you two easy and tasty appetizers. If you are in a rush this is perfect because these are ready in no time and they look like you've put a lot of effort into making them. 

1st sandwich 

2 slices of brown bread (with sunflower seeds)

olive oil

7 cherry tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

basil

salt and pepper

(it makes two bread slices)

Toast the bread slices and drizzle some olive oil on top of them. Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the chopped garlic cloves until they are a bit brown and then add the sliced cherry tomatoes and the basil. Let them fry until the tomatoes become soft and then season it with salt and pepper. Put it on top of your bread and put a basil leaf on top of the bread for decoration.

2nd sandwich

2 brown bread (with sunflower seeds)

olive oil

2 slices of salmon 

arugula (rukkola)

almond (peeled and sliced)

(it makes two bread slices)

Toast the bread slices and drizzle some olive oil on top of them. Put one slice of salmon on each bread and then squeeze some lemon juice on top of it. Add the arugula and also some peeled and sliced almond on top.

If you make these appetizers then I guarantee that your guests won't be disappointed. So if  you do try this amazing and easy recipe then make sure to write a comment or take a picture of it and upload it to instagram or twitter and also don't forget to tag me in the photo .(instagram: @breakfast_at_katas , twitter: @breatkatas)

Arroz doce

For my first real Portuguese recipe, I decided to make arroz doce which is a delicious dessert. Whenever I go to a portuguese restaurant I always order this to finish a great meal. It is sweet and cinnamony. This recipe has a little bit of a twist, because I used 

sweetened condensed milk instead of sugar and I have no regrets, it tastes amazing. If you want to make a portuguese dessert, but you don't want something too complicated, then this is the recipe for you. Also if you come to Portugal you must try arroz doce. 

INGREDIENTS:
4 cups of water
2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 tablespoon  of salt
210g of rice
480 ml of milk
100g of sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
cinnamon

Get a saucepan and bring your water, butter, salt to a boil. Then add the rice and on a medium to low heat let it cook for 25-30 minutes (until the rice cooks and absorbs the water), then add the warm milk (boil it a few minutes before). Let this cook for 5 more minutes and then add the sweetened condensed milk gradually while steering the mixture. In a separate bowl take your egg yolks and a few tablespoons of the rice mixture and quickly whisk them together so the eggs don't cook. Pour the mixtures back to the saucepan and let that simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste it and if you feel that it could be sweeter then add more of the sweetened condensed milk. Let it cool completely and put it in the fridge to chill and serve it with cinnamon on top. 

I hope you feel inspired to make this portuguese recipe and if you do then be sure to write a comment or take a picture of it and upload it to instagram and don't forget to tag me in the photo .(@breakfast_at_katas).