Pistachio Cookies

December 20, 2015.Reading time 5 minutes.

Initially, my plan for today was to come up with a nice Christmas cookie recipe, as I did last year around this time, but I couldn’t come up with something nice and Christmassy that I actually felt like eating, too. I only knew I wanted to bake pistachio cookies, so in the end I just […]

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

December 17, 2015.Reading time 5 minutes.

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion… she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit – the more sparkly, more wild – the better. And life is pretty close to perfect for Lola, especially with her hot rocker boyfriend. That is, until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighbourhood and […]

Mini-Reviews [1]

December 6, 2015.Reading time 4 minutes.

I usually review every book I read, but over the past few months there have been a few books that I didn’t feel like writing a full review about. It felt kind of weird to not write about them at all, so that’s why today I’m doing a couple of mini-reviews! The Night is Darkening […]

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

December 4, 2015.Reading time 4 minutes.

Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of the town funeral home, which Alison and her family referred to as the Fun Home. It was not until college that Alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A few weeks after this revelation, […]

Monthly Recap – November

November 29, 2015.Reading time 6 minutes.

Yikes, the end of the year is nearing already! It’s gotten really cold and winter-y here, which means lots of tea, cosy jumpers and blankets. I’m looking forward to Christmas, but I kind of can’t believe we’re almost done with 2015… I know, I know, it’s a cliché, but really, what’s up with time going by […]

Northern Lights (The Golden Compass) by Philip Pullman

November 27, 2015.Reading time 6 minutes.

Twelve-year-old Lyra Belacqua lives unparented and half-wild among the scholars of Jordan College. One day her uncle, Lord Asriel, an experimental theologian and explorer, arrives with terrifying news from the north. Impelled at first by her own curiosity, but soon pursued by appalling dangers, Lyra is drawn into a savage struggle among the armoured bears […]

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake

November 22, 2015.Reading time 6 minutes.

Since I don’t have a lot of experience with baking gluten-free stuff, coming up with a gluten-free baked goodie for a charity sale last week was quite a challenge! Gluten-free bakes often turn out dry and crumbly, so I figured going with a carrot cake would be a good idea – there was no way […]

Spiced (Speculaas) Muffins with Almond Paste

November 15, 2015.Reading time 6 minutes.

Whenever autumn rolls around, I get the urge to bake delicious things with speculaas spices. Speculaas is a big favourite here in the Netherlands, and the speculaas and chocolate muffins I made last year became a huge success with my friends and family, and it’s still one of my favourite recipes. This year, I decided to go […]

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

November 12, 2015.Reading time 6 minutes.

Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and […]