Amsterdam, a simply unique city

Its not the first time I've been in Amsterdam, but every time we go we always end up seeing something new and surprising!

Cannot help taking pictures of Dutch bikes,



Nothing like taking a stroll on the the Farmers Market on the Noordermarkts street,



the white furniture recovered, simple but beautiful!

flipping the porcelain cups I've found out that they are made in Belgium!!

The flavors, smells and visual delights of the bio farmers market,







The unexpected in the canals,

probably a bachelor party,

in Amsterdam you can always find floating cakes slices :P

new means of traveling,

Strongly recommend renting a bike in Amsterdam, specially one that doesn't shout out load... tourist :P you can rent a low profile bike at...

When cycling around the canals from time to time we had to stop to see some of the coolest stores in the Jordaan neighborhood,

vintage houseware shop,



We had to stop at the Albert Cuyp Market!

the traditional sandwich with herring, not the most appealing to the eye but tasty!

cute cat taking care of the fabric stand :P


traffic jammmmmm!

some interesting finds..



this one made me smile!!!

Simple, recycled and unique, this is Freitag

The brand Freitag is one that should inspire people to think outside of the box. This brand does all kind of bags specially the messenger one. They are made with materials like well-traveled truck tarpaulins, unraveled seat belts, bicycle inner tubes beyond repair and recycled airbags. Since they are made or trunk tarpaulins they are pretty resistant!

I had the opportunity to visit their main store in Zürich. Its simply impressive, is built out of cargo boxes!

You could go until the 4th box.

Each bag they produce is unique, since it will be cut out of a unique truck tarpaulins. This image simple translate this point very well,

(image from Freitag)

The other weekend while strolling in Cologne we ended up finding a Freitag shop, i really like their minimalist and well organized way of showing their products.

They had quite a lot of unique products!





Also if by any change you have some spare truck tarpaulins you can always sell them to Freitag :)

Simple, recycled and unique!

We love cookies!

One of the easiest things you can bake are cookies, easy to assemble and fast in the baking.

The most impressing ones I've seen are this Giant Toblerone Cookies
simple to do and cause quite and impression as they are simple Huge!!!!!

You can use toblerone or another normal black chocolate they come up always really tasty!

Hugeeee super duper cookies!

If you are looking for a more nutrient cookie then there is also the wonderful Oatmeal and raisin cookies from Rachel's book Bake.

The recipe is the following (makes about 30 cookies):

110g (4oz) butter, softened
110g (4oz) caster sugar
110g (4oz) soft brown sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp water
1tsp vanilla extract
250g (9oz) porridge oats
110g (4oz) self-raising flour
1 level tsp salt
110g (4oz) raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 180’C (350’F), Gas Mark 4.
2. Cream the butter in a large bowl or in an electric food mixer until soft. Add the sugars and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg, water and vanilla extract while still beating. Reduce the speed and gently mix in the oats, flour, salt and raisins to form a dough.
3. Using your hands, roll the dough into walnut sized balls and place slightly apart on two baking trays.

4. Bake in the oven for 12-25 minutes or until light golden brown but still slightly soft in the center.
5. Allow to cool on the trays for a minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

They are simply yummy at any time :)

Universal Sync between bloggers!

The other day i was taking a stroll in Leuven and remembered that i had to buy some tofu for my quiches. So i went to this Asia shop and bought my tofu.. but you know you never end there in shopping.. there is always something more that catches your eye! and this time were these really sweet tea boxes! i have no doubt the tea is great but the boxes were simply delightful just for 2.50 euros each!

The other day i was reading the blog Oh Joy! and guess what i found!

(image from the Martha Stewart's website)

The exact same tea tins! used in a way i wouldn't imagine at a first glance. But it is nice idea for center pieces, simple and delightful.

Also following one of my favorite blogs Decor8 here they are again!

(pic from Decor8)

If your closest Asia shop doesn't have them you can buy them here

Digging a bit more about these tea tins i came across another way to use them.. rather then storing tea!

(pic from CountryLiving)

Endless possibilities for a simple and pretty tea tins!

This is what i call a Universal Sync Between bloggers :)