Chocolate cake with raspberries

I'm so sorry that this post is not going to be in English because it is an awesome and so easy cake to make, but I'm just not good with cooking terminology. Please use Google translate and I think you will get the idea what to do.

Ako se sjećate, obećala sam podijeliti recept za čokoladnu tortu koju sam napravila za Valentinovo. Eh, evo ga :) nadam se da ćete probati napraviti ovu tortu, jer je zaista ukusna, a lako se pravi.

Čokoladna torta sa malinama

Sastojci:
• 200 g čokolade za kuhanje (za kolač)
• 100 g čokolade za kuhanje (za glazuru)
• 200 g šećera u prahu
• 250 g maslaca (200 g za kolač, 50 g za glazuru)
• 200 g brašna
• 4 jaja (odvojiti bjelanjke od žumanjaka)
• 1/2 dllikera od naranče (Triple Sec Curacao)
• naribana kore narandže 
• 200 g višnji ili malina, ili nekog drugog bobičastog voća

Priprema:
1. Zagrijati pećnicu na 200°C (donji grijač i vrući zrak)
2. Namazati kalup za tortu s maslacem i brašnom ili staviti papir za pečenje
3. Izmutiti čvrsti snijeg od bjelanjaka
4. Otopiti maslac, dodati čokoladu i lagano mješati dok se čokolada ne istopi
5. U posudi umutiti žumanjke, šećer, naribanu koru narandže i liker od narandže
6. Pažljivo dodati čokoladnu smjesu
7. Dodati snijeg od bjelanjaka, ali ne mutiti mikserom, nego samo sa kašikom lagano promješati
8. Uliti smjesu u kalup
9. Peći oko 13-15 minuta. Napomena: torta nakon što je pečena ostane i dalje mekana u sredini i sočna (ne treba provjeravati viljuškom)
10. Premazati otopljenom čokoladom na maslacu i posipati višnjama ili malinama
11. Dobro ohladiti prije serviranja.


Uživajte!

Challenge day

Did you have fun putting those inspirational sticky notes on random places?

I accomplished this challenge in last possible moment because I didn't have a chance to go out often last week. But, luckily, yesterday was nice weather outside and me and my kids took a little walk and had fun choosing where to put sticky notes.  

It is funny how at first you feel so silly doing this things, but when you brake the ice, you have so much fun and just can't stop smiling.

Anyway, it is time for next challenge and it is time to write something in Bosnian. So sorry people reading only in English, this new challenge is totally local oriented.

Ok, sljedeće subote je 1.Mart, Dan Nezavisnosti BiH, tako da je sljedeći izazov: proslavite i obilježite taj dan kao što niste nikada do sada.

Možete okačiti zastave na prozore ili balkone, možete iskoristiti plave, žute i bijele balone i zakačiti ih za auto, ili ogradu ako živite u kući. Možete šetati gradom sa rekvizitima koje inače koristite kada su utakmice reprezentacija BiH. Crtajte sa djecom zastave ili ih pravite od papira. Probajte biti kreativni i pokažite da volite ovu državu.

Nadam se ćete prihvatiti ovaj izazov i hvala što čitate moj blog.

Baby growing - month by month

Few days ago our little girl turn 7 months!!! 

Is this for real?!? 7! I did NOT gave her a permission to grow so fast! Someone please tell her to stop, or at least slow down! :)

Time flies so fast and everything changes so fast, so today I want to inspire you to photograph your children and track their growth while you still have a chance. Here are few ideas.

1. place a toy along with the baby on the photo - he will over grow it eventually. 

(source)

(source)

2.  it would be great idea to take photo every month on a chair or any piece of furniture to compare how the baby grows. 

(I couldn't find original source for this photo)

(source)

3. and here is my personal favorite: in the laundry or any other basket 

(I couldn't find original source for this photo)

Unfortunately I came across these ideas few months after duoSIS was born, but I was lucky enough to have pictures from her stroller basket, pretty much from every month, so I just kept taking these photos, even we don't use this basket any more. All this photos are taken with mobile phone camera. They are not perfect and if I could turn back time I would have  done it differently , but it is nice to have them anyway.

Thanks for stopping by.

Melt an ice cube

OK, here is the last kid activity for this month, and in a case you didn't notice they all had some connection with water. So it was our 'WATER MONTH'. I'm sure we will redo all of them when summer comes.

So, this is an easy, but fun and educational one. It is the dice game which will help the little ones to understand what melts ice the fastest. The great thing about this activity is that you don't need anything except an ice cubes, some water, salt and dice.

You can find pdf file with instructions here. (Note: since it is winter, we used kitchen cloth instead of the shirt when dice showed 2)

It didn't take long to figure out the salt is the winner. And it was just to big temptation not to taste salted water :)

At the end, we added hot water to the list, so maybe you should do it as well.

You can even make this a real game with two or more children, and the first one to melt ice cube wins.

Try it. It's fun :)


Next month Mondays will be all about cars, so get ready little car lovers, it's going to be a fun ride.

Thanks for reading.

Enjoy the moment

Baby flower headband

This headband is so cute and pretty, yet so easy to make.

I can't say that is a no sew thing to do, because you will have to use needle and tread, but it is definitely no sewing machine project. :)

You can find original tutorial here, and this is how I did it:

I hope you like this and that you will make one for your self, or your little girl, or some other special girl in your life ;)

Thanks for stopping by.

Live your life, be happy

First of all I must say that I was touched by your comments and impressions for yesterday's post (comments are on my Facebook profile). I really didn't expect that, and I was so happy to see that even small but good things still get to people. Thank you!

And I must say that I'm gonna make a little change in schedule, just for two days. So, craft post will be published tomorrow.

And for today I'm gonna share two things I stumbled upon, very inspiring, and to continue with this good spirit for a little longer :)

So first, there is a post from handsfreemama blog titled: "The Day I Stopped Saying ‘Hurry Up’". It is a bit long, but please read it. It is beautiful and we all should do the same thing, whether it applies for your children or any other important thing in your life.

And second is this great video made in Cakovec (Croatia). They are so great, so beautiful, so happy, I just couldn't stop smiling watching this. 

If there is anyone who has a video skills required to make something like this but in Sarajevo, please do it. Contact me, I will help you to organize everything :)

Thank you for reading my blog. 

Challenge day

Did you do something nice for your neighbors? We did and I can't wait to tell you about it :)

We used Valentines day as an excuse to make some heart shaped cookies for our neighbors. We put them into small freezer bags, and add a tag which said "Have a Lovely day" and attached them to their doors late at night, so it would be like little surprise for them as soon as they go out. I felt really weird sneaking up everybody doors and putting these little bags on the handles, but after I finished it felt really good. I was smiling big time :-D Downside is that we didn't sign on those tags, so we are not sure that they know from whom did they get the cookies, but never mind, we had a fun making this little presents.

Here are few pics.

Here is next week challenge: Leave sticky notes with inspirational messages on them in random places, such as a grocery store shelf, the mirror in a public bathroom, or on a car's windshield. 

I think this is an easy challenge, but it can be fun. I know I would be happy to see some of this signs at some places you don't expect them to be :)

(source)

Please share your experience with the last challenge, if you have one.

Thanks for stopping by.

Choosing a Digital Camera

Here is the first post written by duoTATA!!! Hooray! I hope you'll like it :)
______________________________________
Do you know how many times we heard this sentence "Aaaa, you are photographer! Can you tell me what camera should I buy?" :)
Well, even the question doesn't seem difficult, it is very hard to answer.

Before you buy a digital camera, you have to do some research. Internet is, of course, a good start, but you can also use photo magazines, or ask questions at your local retailer. After you finish with your research, and choose your best three models, go to shop and try them out (yes, it is possible :) ) 

Here are few guidelines you should fallow when choosing new camera:

• Think about how and where you’ll use your camera. Remember don’t buy more than you need.
• How experienced are you? Do you want a camera that is simple to use, or are you more of an artist and you want better control over your pictures?
• In the photo world often applies "the more you pay the more its worth". So, you must know how much can you afford to spend?
• Decide what resolution you need. The more megapixels making up the picture, the higher resolution will be. Digital camera manufacturers have told us that more is better. Yes, it is better, if you intend for a lot of your pictures to be printed in a large size, but 5-6 megapixels is more than enough.
• If you plan to take pictures of subjects that are far away, consider what kind of zoom feature you will need. Digital zoom or optical zoom. Digital zoom simply enlarges each pixel electronically, while optical zoom involves a physical lens magnification of the image you are photographing. Digital zoom is redundant because you can just as easily increase the size of your picture on your computer. So disregard all the marketing stories told by the manufacturers, and look at cameras with the best optical zoom features.
• Once you have decided on the right camera for you, try to negotiate the price with your retailer. Add to your confidence by checking the Internet for the prices charged for the camera you want to buy. While some retailers may refuse to budge on the price of the camera, they may be willing to include memory cards, batteries or a camera case with your purchase. 

Good luck finding your perfect camera

Make a rock candy

OK, this is not so much a kid activity but I promise, your kid (or kids) gonna love it ;) 
I mean, who wouldn't be happy with making your own candy?!

So, you will need:

• tall glasses or jars
• water
• sugar - lots of sugar, I guess I used more then one kilo and it is enough for two glasses
• food coloring
• bamboo skewers
• clothespins

1. Remove the pointy edge from the bamboo skewers. Use clothespins to make a bamboo skewers hang in the glass about 2 cm form the bottom. Leave them aside until you pour the sugar liquid into the glass.
2. Mix equal parts of water and sugar in a pot until dissolved. Then continue to add sugar until you have 3:1 ratio. It will get to a point where it won’t dissolve anymore.
3. Leave it to cool for about 15-20 minutes.
4. Pour the sugar solution into the glasses almost to the top. 
5. Add food coloring to each glass.
6. Then submerge the skewer back into the glass making sure that it is hanging straight down the middle without touching the sides.
7. Put it someplace where it will not be disturbed.
8. Now comes the hard part, you have to wait! The sugar crystals will grow over the next 3-7 days.

Here is how it looks after 3 days:

And here is after 8:

Ta-Da!!! Ready to be eaten...

And here is the happy face :)

Note: in the first photo you can see the orange and the green version, but for some reason, in the green glass sugar crystals have formed on the side of glass?!? I have no idea why this happen, I guess it was because different food coloring, cos that was the only difference. For the orange one we used 'Eterika' food coloring and for the green Dr.Oetker.

Thanks for reading.

Thankful thougths

Of course there are more important things, and I'm sure I will be writing about them soon, but I'm really thankful for the Internet.

I ask myself often how did actually people get the informations they need before Internet era?! Now you just type anything you like to know and PUFF, hundreds of possible places to check for what you looking for. Or even if you looking for some specific word, no need to read it all, just type ctrl+f+word and there you have it... isn't just simplifying everything?

I must say that I'm extra thankful for internet while I'm on maternity leave cos I have to stay at home a lot, and if there wasn't Internet I'm not sure how would I know what is going on in the world. 

And while I'm breastfeeding my baby, I'm pretty sure I would fall asleep every time if I didn't have (OK) my smartphone and WiFi :) and with it I can 'talk' to my friends, plan some activities, find recipes for that day's lunch, or just explore blogland...

So, bottom line, I think we are privileged to live in this time of free informations and I think it wouldn't be possible if there was no Internet.

Enjoy the moment

Happy Valentines Day

I can't believe I'm late to publish today's post, but yesterday was quite a busy day. I had a lot of things to do and to finish, I didn't have time to prepare the photos... 

Anyhow, Happy Valentines Day to you all, and I hope you will spend it with someone you really love and cherish.

I owe you a photo to show you our little hearts tree, so here it is:

The tree is painted on the wall. I just used that garland I showed you yesterday and made it look like it wrapped around the tree. 

For my hubby I made a cake in a shape of heart (ha ha, did you even doubt?) 
It is very goooood chocolate cake with raspberries on the top. 

I will share a recipe soon :)

Unfortunately I didn't have time to help mine little one to make a special gift for one little girl, but maybe it is better this way, cos he's to young. Next year we will make something, I promise.

However, we did make something together but, you will have to wait until next Wednesday to see what was it :) 

Have a lovely day and lovely weekend. 

I still like these hearts

I made these hearts for our Valentine's day decorations long time ago, but I still like them and I still use them.

I never thought, while I was making this, that I'm gonna share process how to make it so I don't have any step by step tutorial, but I'm lucky that my hubby likes to photograph almost everything we do, so here are some pictures.

This is really simple garland and I think there is no need for any explanations, just cut the hearts and sew them trough the middle, leaving some spaces with thread.

And here is our love tree. Isn't it pretty? :)

Tomorrow I will show you I used these hearts for this Valentines's day.

Thanks for stopping by.

Challenge day

So, did you contact any 'lost' friends during last seven days? 

I actually did manage to get in touch with some friends and even arranged two visits :) can't wait to see them in person :) However, I did try to contact one dear, old friend, and she did not answer :( but I'm not giving up on her just jet, maybe I have wrong number. I will try again.

What I really liked about this challenge is that I kept thinking about who I should call and get it done as soon as I remembered someone. And I enjoyed hearing these people. :)


Here is next challenge, I think it will push us little bit further: do something nice for your neighbor.

You can knock on their door just to say hello, or leave them a note by the door or in the mailbox, bring them a treat or some flowers... it is a warm winter here, but if you live somewhere where is cold, you can help shovel the snow, or maybe help to do some gardening. 

If you do any of this things, please comeback next Wednesday and share your story. I would love to hear about it.

Wedding day photography

Here is my first 'wedding post' and I feel kinda nervous because I'm not sure how it should look like. OK, here we go...

Unfortunately I wasn't there to photograph this beautiful wedding but still I really enjoy to see how duoTATA did an amazing job. Even if it was January and not nice weather at all, and almost no option to go outside to make some romantic and beautiful photos, he somehow manged to capture some great shots. Here are my favorites and I hope you will like them too.

I especially like genuine behavior on these two, you can feel the happiness :)

This is something that we tried to make for a first time and I like the result. So funny :)

And this is my personal favorite. Isn't she adorable?! I just can't imagine how much she needed that 'energy refill' and it is so cute that she is hiding :) 

To see more of our work please visit our Facebook webpage.

Thank you for reading.

Homemade lavalamp

I know you totally liked the last Monday's post and I'm so happy for that, so here is another interesting and easy activity for the little ones.

You will need this:

• cooking oil
• water
• food coloring
• an empty water bottle 
• antacid tablets

Fill each bottle a little more than half with oil. Then fill the rest with water. Leave some empty space at the top. Add food coloring. Break antacid tablets in smaller parts and put them in, one by one :) And watch the magic happen...

Try it, it is a real fun :)

One more tip, this is great opportunity to teach kids how oil and water don't mix together. Just give them straw, or something similar, and let them try before you add food coloring.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Thankful thoughts

The other day a beautiful thing happen, my little boy was thrilled with idea to hold his little sister in his lap!:-)
For the first time! :)

I'm so thankful for having this two little stinkers and I'm so thankful for the moments like this :-) I love them so much, I love seeing how they grow affection for each other. DuoSis became fond of her brother I think as soon as she was born. It's enough to hear his voice and she is like spelled, looking at him all the times...
On the other hand, that is not the case with this little boy. He loves her alright, but she has to be on some distance and don't bother him at all. So I appreciate these moments where he shows how he really feels about her.

What are your experiences with siblings love? Any advice?

Enjoy the moment

Chinese New Year

I just couldn"t resist and had to make a post about out little celebration for the Chinese New Year which started on 31.01.2014 (and this is the year of Horse). We called some dear friends to come over to celebrate and have fun with us.

So this is what we did...

I had an idea to make masks and let the boys do the coloring, but it was really to much for them and luckily I saw that as soon as I cut this shape, so coloring was done by me :) I found printable for this mask here. 

Aren't they just adorable little Dragon Warriors?!

And after the game with masks was over, we had a little workshop where we made this dancing dragons and learned 'The great race story'. Do you know that one? I didn't, but as a preparation for this day I learned it and told it to the boys. You can read it here. They liked it and thought it is really cool that they are tigers in the Chinese Zodiac. 

I don't have photos to show how we made the dancing dragons, but I think you can see it is not to difficult :)

And for the last activity I made them these red envelopes for their lucky money (I guess kids in China receive more money, but I gave them just few coins).

And that's it. 

Hope you like this.

Thanks for reading.