Bagels for lunch

I can give my highest recommendations to the hostel Manhattan Inn. It is a small place, with dorm rooms that all have bathroom ensuite. I was in a six-bed female dorm for two days, and really enjoyed my stay. I was concerned that there would be a lot of noise from the other dorms, but as soon as the door was closed we could only hear the traffic outside (hard to avoid the noise of traffic in NY). There is a small common room/ kitchen where breakfast is self-served in the morning included in the price. The breakfast consists of coffee, tea, juice, cornflakes, milk, fresh fruit and a selection of bagels and muffins with butter and jam, on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Since I am picky and prefer muesli and low-fat milk in the morning, I bought my breakfast myself from the deli on the corner, and allowed myself to bring a bagel and a muffin for my lunch. Mmm... delicious.

Illustration courtesy: Harlan Bakeries

Mourning Dr. Oetker

Sarah sent me an online newspaper article about the sad news of today: Dr. Oetker has passed away. We know him and love him for his baking powder, sugar toppings, christmas recipes and more. Thank you Dr. Oetker for all the joy and lovely bakery you have given to this world. Your memory lives on.

Illustration courtesy: Die ganze Welt is aus Papier

Christmas fun the Danish way

Last weekend Sarah visited me in Nijmegen (actually my first visitor who is not a close family member). We made sure to start December with a lot of christmas fun the Danish way, e.g. baking christmas cookies. We did not limit ourselves to the traditional Danish brown coookies ('brunkager') but we also made chocolate muffins and chocolate cake.

The immense pile of brunkager brought joy and christmas spirit to my colleagues at the university the next day.