A Day Trip to Odessa

Last month we had some friends visit us all the way from China, via France, Istanbul, Bulgaria & Romania; you know, the usual trajectory people take. They are a wonderful couple, and we decided to take them to visit our friends in Southern Moldova & then head off to explore the coastal City of Odessa, in Ukraine, which is on the Black Sea. Here are a few shots from the trip...

Nutella Cupcakes

Sometimes a girl just needs a little Nutella in her life...

For the recipe, click here.

Ginger Cookies

Last month I received an issue of Real Simple Magazine {which I never signed up for and will forever be baffled as to how they managed to get to me all the way in Moldova} and there was a stunning photo of Ginger-Molasses Cookies which they had used to make Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches...so I ripped it right out of there and stuck it in my baking binder. I should add that I'm generally skeptical of their food recipes because a) I have tried some before and they didn't turn out so well and b) sometimes they don't even sound appetizing. But nonetheless, this recipe looked reasonable and delicious so I decided to try it out, the only small addition being that I threw in a few chopped up pieces of candied ginger for kicks. In the end, I used about half the dough to make ice cream sandwiches and half to make mini ginger sandwiches with lemon buttercream frosting.