Sweet

After a beautiful and sunny long weekend in Zurich, I’m back to Istanbul. I always love coming home, not only because of my cats but because I enjoy the moments that allow me to process the past trip. I usually dive deep into work straight away, edit photos, write down thoughts, make lists of my favorite places and pursue ideas I’ve come across while wandering around. Not this time. This time I got really sick, the second I stepped foot into the taxi in Istanbul. Don’t you think it’s a funny coincidence. After we arrived in our flat, only 45 min later I felt like a truck has rolled over me. For the next three days I wasn’t capable of doing anything. The only hour I felt better, I decided to bake a vegan rhubarb almond cake. After that I went back to bed and didn’t do much for the next day or so….

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I had a plan. I even had a list of to-do’s for that said plan. And then I got hungry. My plan was to only post savory recipes for a while. I had just gotten back from Israel (and written a Quick Food Guide to Tel Aviv) with lots of inspiration for savory dishes. Like Vegan Shakshuka, Sabich, Israeli Salad and Cauliflower Sinya. And then on Friday afternoon, the weekend was near, I was craving something sweet. That doesn’t happen too often. But when it happens I usually make fruit crumble because it’s easy, it feels a little healthy and it’s super quick. I don’t remember why my mind suddenly wanted a cobbler. Probably because I was browsing Pinterest while developing my appetite for a sweet treat and simultaneously came across faring well‘s recipe for Peach Blackberry Cobbler.

I had never tried cobbler before and the recipe looked fairly easy, so I gave it a try. In comparison to crumble or crisp, a cobbler is not baked with a crust of a mixture of cereals, flour and nuts that loosely covers the whole fruit filling and has a streusel-like texture. Cobbler is made with a biscuit crust. At first I was afraid that the discs of dough would be too dry after baking but I guess the fruit filling keeps it moist and soft inside and crispy outside. Either way it’s a new dessert favorite in the bwv household….

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This is probably the toughest post I’ve written to date. Why? I’m on a juice cleanse and I didn’t prepare any content for my blog or Instagram. I was however smart enough to shoot some photos over the weekend as I’d imagine it would be a little challenging (read impossible) to cook or bake something while on a juice cleanse. So at least, these photos don’t smell like freshly baked banana bread but I still had to edit them and write down the recipe for you. You’re welcome! Because banana bread turned into doughnuts need to be in everyone’s life and I didn’t want you to miss out on it any longer. I have most of the batch waiting for me in the freezer for when I’m done with my cleanse the day after tomorrow.

Though, writing this post wasn’t the easiest task of today, I’m thankful and glad I did it. I’ll be (hopefully) putting together a post about my juicing experience soon but this 3-day cleanse is as much about getting back on healthy food track as it is about self discipline. Yes, I hear you and myself say “Don’t be too harsh on yourself”. I’m not. I just want to prove to myself that I can still begin and finish something even though it’s hard. And trust me, I thought this juice cleanse would come easy for me. But it’s much more challenging than expected. And writing down the recipe for these banana bread doughnuts is just another milestone I managed to reach….

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Note to myself: Let’s keep this post short.

Hopefully these pictures speak for themselves. And you find the idea of replacing bananas with avocados in a banana bread to make it a sweet avocado bread as fascinating as I do. Are you still following? So yes, this is a banana bread but with avocados and it’s one of those food revelations I wish I had discovered earlier in my life. If you make it with white wheat flour and white sugar, it will definitely have a greenish colouring. I used dark whole wheat flour and brown coconut sugar, so it turned out rather brown than green. You can add more sugar if you want to have more of a cake than a sweet bread. And the other way around, add less sugar if you want a neutral bread instead of a sweet bread.

I’ve used MINIMALIST BAKER’S ONE BOWL BANANA BREAD as a rough base for this recipe. Dana’s recipe is vegan and gluten-free. The Sweet Avocado Bread is only vegan but you can follow Dana’s recipe if you’d like to make a gluten-free version. In terms of flavour, the avocado taste is actually quite strong which I loved. The texture is super moist and almost creamy and it’s best when fresh (2-3 days) or toasted. I sliced mine and popped it in the freezer so we’ll have some delicious sweet breakfast bread for Sunday mornings….

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Did you notice, that it’s almost February again? Where have these three and a half weeks of January been? It seems like time flies like crazy and then again, it’s very slow sometimes. But I also feel that I’ve become slower. That I take more time and try to get less distracted. I read a book instead of scrolling through Instagram. I bake Sourdough bread instead of committing to yet again another time consuming project I actually don’t have time for. And I spend more calming moments with my cats instead of checking my phone. I even took up Yoga again after I got back from our holidays in Sri Lanka.

And that’s because on New Years Eve I didn’t make a list of things and goals that I want to achieve in 2017. I decided to take a step back. And live a more mindful and slower life. Maybe not always and everywhere but here and there. The more I tell myself that I can take my time to evolve, learn and accomplish goals, the more I relax. It’s like magic. I haven’t felt anxious or overwhelmed in weeks. I’m at ease with myself and my work. I have fallen in love with photography all over again. I have even slightly changed my editing style and feel very comfortable with the mood and vibe of my recent photos. But, there is a big BUT….

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Last week I had a talk with friends about the perfect gift. We all agreed that it’s super difficult to give someone trinkets and nonsense things. At least not if the person didn’t put it specifically on her or his wish-list. Like that drinking game for your grown-up cousin…maybe not so cool. Or that ‘bake your own boyfriend’ cookie cutter might be funny once but probably ends up in the drawer and never be used again. You probably wouldn’t want any dust catchers in your home either.

There are a few gift ideas I love to fall back on when I don’t have anything specific in mind. Like when non of my family members and friends mention in my presence “Oh, I’d wish I had (fill in the blank)”.Since that pretty much never happens I almost always turn to my “the great three”. …

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How come we are already two weeks into December? I’ve not even bought a single Christmas present yet, though I have a list of things in my mind. Phew, at least something. But where have all those days gone? I feel like I haven’t done anything though I did actually achieve a lot. Or let’s rewrite that last part. I’ve started a lot of things in the past few weeks. But then again I wish I would have more time to finish what I started. Because lately I’m very very excited about…me? This blog? My work? All things related to black.white.vivid.! I feel very motivated and inspired at the moment. I can’t even really explain the shift of my mindset because, you know, it’s dark outside. And rainy. And cold. So normally my brain, heart and soul would go into sleep mode. But not this year. Not this year….

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I have a small confession to make. I’m not a big fan of Christmas. Ups. There I said it. Apart from not liking chocolate, that’s probably another unusual (read weird) characteristic about myself. It’s not that I hate Christmas or that I want to hide in a cave for three days while everyone else is singing under the Christmas tree. I’d just rather avoid all the hectic and unhealthy food that comes with it and spend my holidays in the sun. Or like my Aussie friends do it, with a casual BBQ outside in the backyard.

But let’s talk about the things I do actually love about Christmas. And that’s spending time with my family and friends, cooking together and giving each other presents. That’s why I’ve teamed up with The Body Shop. To give you more time for the important things during Christmas. This year you don’t need to run around like a crazy chicken looking for the perfect gift. Or search endless recipe websites for delicious but super healthy and easy Christmas cookies. I’ve got you covered….

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