New blog lay out!

Hi!! No throwback thursday today as I have been busy creating a new lay out for the blog. I really love it! Has a vintage feel to it, and I love the bunnies in the header. What do you think?? I have changed the colours here and there and changed some bits and bobs.
Besides this, I have been super busy with my mums birthday. Planning the party and baking for all the guests. I am happy to say that it was a big succes. The carrotcake I baked was gone before I could say 'Would you like some carrotcake?' So that was great!

Here me and my mum are preparing for partyime. See my mum standing in a ray of sunshine haha?! Luckily the weather was nice and everyone had a great time. This weekend, my yardsale is coming up....oh boy. Will keep you updated! Have a great day!

{LIFE} Snapshots of life

Hi all! Wow, this week has been kinda crazy. It's my mum's birthday tomorrow and I promised I would do all the baking...for 15 people. Uhhm yeah. Easier said than done, that's for sure! I am just done. While typing this I stell smell of sugar and vanilla haha. I ended up making 16 cupcakes, 18 scones, 18 brownies, buttercream for all the cupcakes, a cinnamon/pear cake and a carrotcake. Oh yeah. I need some sleep now lol. First I have a batch of pics for you in my Snapshots of life!

My little appletree is growing his first apple!!

The first bakingbatch, cupcakes and brownies,

Visiting a gardencentre with mummy!

The result in my yard, pretty plants.

Playing a wordgame with my nephew.

The pear cinnamon cake, with powdered sugar.

A messy kitchen after my baking.

{Recipe} Strawberry curd

Hi friends! I came across an awesome recipe online: Strawberry curd. Now how amazing does that sound?! Some of my favourite things to indulge in are scones and  lemon curd. So when I saw this recipe for strawberry curd...all I thought was: I will have to try this out. But I thought I would share it with you guys too! I am sure this recipe, joined with scones and tea will be heavenly!

Recipe courtesy of CosmoCookie.blogspot.com

Strawberry Curd
Ingredients:
2 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch (for the Dutchies, maizena can be used instead)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons or 1/2 stick) butter, cut into pieces
Directions:
In a food processor or blender pulse strawberries until smooth. Strain through a fine strainer to remove seeds. In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Add strawberry puree, lemon juice, and egg yolks. Cook over medium heat for 7 to 8 minutes, or until very thick, whisking constantly. Remove from heat. Gradually add butter, whisking until melted. Let cool. Place in a jar and store in refrigerator.

Throwback thursday: visiting a friend, back in the day!

Hi friends. In this post of Throwback thursday I have some fun pictures of meeting a friend. She lives on the other side of the country so we don't see each other much at all. Back in 2008 I stayed at her house for a few days and we explored the city and surroundings she lives in. We also went to the zoo for a day (you all know I love my zoo's!) They even had brown bears at the zoo, which are my favourite animals of all! I could have spent the whole day just sitting by the bears! We also visited the impressive site Westerbork, which used to be a German camp in the World War 2. There was a museum there too, with stories and pictures of the people that were held in the camp. And even some personal belongings of those people. An impressive visit it was.

Peace ya'll !

Not a big horsefan, but this one was sweet

My friends cool ride

We took lots of walks in the woods, with her dogs (just one shown here)

Pretty lake

Bear!! Susie is happy

My friend posing with a pinguin

The pinguin is bigger than me!

We also visited Kamp Westerbork, a German camp in the war

The museum was also very impressive, with stories about the Dutch Jews

Also impressive, this is the biggest rock in the provinc...yes mam!

{LIFE} Snapshots of life

Hi all! It's monday (already!) so it is time for another snapshots of life. Unfortunately it is not a very interesting one, I did some baking...and some gardening, but mostly I have been cleaning my home and sorting out things for my yardsale. The yardsale is in two weeks, so every day I have cleaned a cupboard or closet. As I said, not very interesting, but hey..it's gotta be done! Hope you all had a fabulous week, and don't forget to email me if you want to be a guest blogger!

A fondant cake I made for a neighbour, me and fondant aren't best friends!

Did some gardening on the lovely weather

My home looked like this most of the time, lots of stuff on the floor!

Looking for guest bloggers!!

Hi friends! I hope you are all having a great weekend so far. I have been doing lots of cleaning, and throwing old stuff out. I am having a yardsale in two weeks, so the perfect time to sort out all my things!
As the title of this post says, I am looking for guest bloggers who would like to do a fun or inspiring post on this blog. I will be away for two weeks mid September, and for that period of time I would like to give other bloggers an opportunity to post on Even Sweeter Dreams!
So if you have an idea for a cool, fun, inspiring post. It can be anything: a DIY post, a fun fashionshoot, a nice recipe. Just send me an email at evensweeterdreams@gmail.com with your post-idea! I will accept emails untill the 7th of September. I am looking forward to your ideas and posts!

Throwback Thursday: Popjournalism

Hi all! It's time for another fun Throwback Thursday post. As some of you know, I was a popjournalist for 5 years. I really loved it, at first I was really insecure though. I was scared interviewing people, but as my confidence grew, I got better at that. I got to see some awesome concerts, met some great people and got to do some awesome things. Why did I stop you might think? Well, I was really getting fed up with the big ego's in the industry. I just felt out of place in that world. I don't regret this desicion, but I appreciate all the cool things I got to do and people I got to meet. So in this post I will share some cool moments with you!

I met this lovely band, Blood Red Shoes, twice for an interview and photoshoot! 

Hanging out backstage at festivals, having fun!

Becoming aquinted with people you are a fan of. Such as the lovely band Moke.

And with this crazy bunch, the band Rigby. Such sweet guys.

Capturing a nice moment on stage.

Awesome band, even cooler people. Ok they are not on the pic..but the show kicked ass

Red carpet fun, with Rigby again!

Getting to kiss a bandmember is never a bad thing...

{Recipe} The 3 ingredient peanut butter cookie

For all you peanut butter junkies out there, I have a super easy and very tasty recipe. A cookie with just 3 ingredients! All you need in your cupboard is one egg, sugar and peanut butter. The cookies turn out really nice, with a lovely texture.

Ingredients
1 cup of peanut butter
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 325 F (or 160 C). Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Mix the sugar and peanut butter. Mix untill combined. In a small bowl, crack the egg and beat lightly with a fork. Add the egg to the peanut butter mixture. Continue stirring untill the egg is incorporated into the mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. After removing from fridge, scoop out small balls of dough and flatten them out. Space the cookies about 2 inches apart. With a fork, make a criss-cross pattern on the dough. Place into the oven for 20 minutes. Let them cool on a cooling rack. For an added texture/flavour, you can add some chocolate, by melting some chocolate in a bowl and dip the cookies in the chocolate. Enjoy!

{LIFE} Snapshots of life

It has been a busy week last week, and with great weather! We visited the seaside, a local festival and I played some tennis with my nephew, which he loved. He wants to be the new Rafael Nadal! And suprise surpise, no baking shots (gasp!). This week I will be back in the baking game though, with a applepie and chocolatecake waiting to be baked. Hope you all had a great week, and an even better one to come!

Reading a great book in the sun, oh joy!

Playing a mean game of tennis. My nephew kicked ass too haha.

Visited a local festival. How Dutch can this picture get right?!

There was a cactus at the festival too...

And a tree.

Visited a bunker from WW 2.

The sea! I love the sea, yeah that's all.

And we visited a museum about floods in Holland, quite impressive.

{Shopping}The Storybook Rabbit

Hi friends! From now on I will post a new feature about some great online shops I have discovered. I love sites like Etsy and DaWanda (the European Etsy) Such creative people roam the net! Just a few days ago I came across the shop called The Storybook Rabbit, even the name is cute! But when you see what the shops has to offer, you will melt for sure. The shop is owned by Kelly from Australia and she makes the cutest things. Like these handpainted plates.

Aren't they the cutest plates you have ever seen?! Or what about these adorable earstuds?

Her shop is just filled with this kind of cuteness. She also has a blog called Made By White. So be sure to take a look! Have a great day all!

Throwback thursday: Paris

In the spring of 2010 me and my best friend went to Paris, to celebrate the fact that we had been best friends for 10 years. We took the Thalys train and were in the heart of Paris in 2,5 hours. That makes the city seem so close, but it is soooo different! A world of difference really. I love the small streets and restaurants (though really expensive), and just the overall atmosphere. Alot of amazing buildings and lots of art all around. The Notre Dame was my favourite, so detailed and beautiful. Hopefully I will be going back to Paris in December this year.