Amy and the Great World

Archives for October 2016

Baking Slovakia

I Love Fall + Bake Off Bake Along Week 8

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I’m not sure when it became “basic” to love fall but since it’s always been my favorite season, I guess I’m the epitome of basic.

I’m so basic I actually go leaf-peeping every year, and I love every second of it.

This past weekend we went to Slovakia with some friends, and it may have been the most successful leaf-peeping ever. I have never seen colors like that before! I took over 500 pictures in less than two days, and now I’m going to share some with YOU.

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You’re welcome.

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In other news, it’s week 8 of the Bake Off Bake Along with Amanda and Ala! Only two weeks left!

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Last week, week 7, I ran out of time to post my bake, but I did make a roulade that turned into a gray triangle so…I wasn’t too sad I didn’t have to share photos with you.

And THIS week, I have a guest baker!

E stepped in when I ran out of times and he took on Tudor week. Yes, Tudor week (i.e. Henry VIII) was an actual theme, and it included meat pies, marzipan, and cookies called jumbles.

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Yes, E is a total prince. A prince who can bake.

He made this recipe, which don’t look as perfect as Paul Hollywood’s, but since they’re lemon and not flavored with mace, aniseed and caraway seeds like Paul’s are, I have a feeling they might be slightly more delicious (although maybe less period-accurate).

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Thanks to my husband for stepping in! Just a few more bakes left in the challenge and I am determined to make it through…cross your fingers.

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And please, come over and help us eat all these jumbles?!

Hungary

Nine Months in Budapest (By the Numbers)

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Nine months! I’ve lived in Budapest as long as it takes for a human to grow another human. Not bad, eh?

I am feeling more at home in Budapest than ever, despite continued challenges. I can’t believe that in a few short months, I’ll have been here for one year. Love it!

NINE MONTHS IN BUDAPEST: BY THE NUMBERS

ONE WEEKEND at Oktoberfest! I admit that I had never felt very motivated to get to Oktoberfest, but when several friends from overseas (and one of our friends who just moved to Frankfurt) decided to go, we couldn’t miss the chance. It was SO MUCH FUN although also a wild event.

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A QUICK STOPOVER in the lovely Salzburg!

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FOUR MORE BAKES for the Bake Off Bake Along. Most of these one didn’t go great, except for my beautiful cake. It’s still be a fun challenge!

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MANY HOURS soaking up fall here in Pest.

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ONE EVENING celebrating our first anniversary. Still can’t believe we’ve been married for one year.

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ONE DAY at the zoo with the kids.

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THREE DELIVERIES of groceries. I feel like it’s cheating to get groceries delivered but we recently discovered our nearby market does that here and it’s amazzzzing. It’s like Christmas every time it comes!

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FIVE NIGHTS (at least) eating this awesome butternut squash soup made by my awesome husband.

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ONE MORNING at the local farmer’s market. Obviously I had one item I was specifically looking for…all the gourds.

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TWO HOURS at the chimney cake festival at the nearby castle in the park.

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THREE HOURS at Sunday brunch with some girls! One of these days I’ll remember to take pictures of the actual people in my life. They exist. I swear.

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ONE WORKING SATURDAY at my school’s Harvest Fest! One of Hungary’s worst customs, in my opinion, is working Saturdays. Working Saturdays are make-up days for holidays. I.e., if the holiday is a Tuesday and you also get that Monday off, you have to make it up on a Saturday. THE WORST. At least it didn’t feel like a real work day with the festival.

How was your month??

Baking Expat Life Hungary

A Castle in the Park + Bake Along Week 6

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I’ve raved about our new flat quite a bit already, but I haven’t told you much about our new neighborhood.

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When we moved to Budapest last January, we lived in a pretty primo location right by the river and the Parliament building. In June, I quit my old job and got a new one, which meant that we had to move to a new place and a new area of the city.

I had no love for our tiny, barely functional flat, but I was disappointed to leave the ‘hood. I mean, my commute included walking by this every day!

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(Not to mention it was close to the river, great restaurants, and well-centered in the city.)

While I immediately loved our new flat, I wasn’t sure about our new neighborhood at first. However, now that I know the transit links, have explored the area more, and have gotten spoiled with my 10-minute walk to work, I’m quite happy here!

The best part about the area is that we are very close to Budapest’s City Park, or Varosliget. This park is kind of equivalent to New York’s Central Park–it has a zoo, famous baths, an ice-skating ring in winter, and…a castle!

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The first time I found it was a surprise–I had no idea it was there–but now I visit it often, because it’s fall and I need frequent park walks, and it also happens to hold almost weekly festivals. This weekend was the Kürtőskalács, or chimney cake, festival (known as trdelník in CZ!).

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After a walk with some friends to get us some cakes, I came home and made another cake for this week’s Bake Off Bake Along, hosted by Amanda and Ala!

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That’s right–this week I finally attempted the showstopper, which is always the biggest and most elaborate of the three bake choices.

While I was technically supposed to make a three-layer cake, I could only manage two…and with just two of us, I think three would have been a bit insane.

It also seemed like a good time to incorporate some fall flavors. You know where I’m going with this…pumpkin.

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I attempted to make this Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake, from Amanda herself, but used a cinnamon buttercream, loosely based off of this recipe, to pipe roses.

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While I’m not sure cinnamon-colored roses are exactly the best choice, and my piping leaves a bit to be desired, this cake is AMAZING. While I’m one of those people who think cake without frosting is kind of a waste of time, even I don’t even think this cake needs any frosting–it’s that good! Not that the cinnamon buttercream was a hardship to eat.

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I’m so happy I finally had a good bake–pastry week and batter week weren’t exactly successful so I’ve been feeling more anxious about baking than I ever thought possible. I even caught myself starting into the oven for way too long just like they do on the show…

I’m in good company.

Next week–desserts! And week 7 already!

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