Sunday Snapshots - this year's last

Out and about to new shores, as this year draws to an end and we look back and reflect on what made this year special.
Was it things learned or new territories explored.

Friendships we lost or new ones we found. The moment we were able to enjoy as it happened or the moment we discovered by looking back on it's value.

It is a magical time of year after Christmas and before New Year's Eve.
Peace and rest settles in and the mind can reflect upon what was and what will come to pass.

Have we been able to to set our foot on paths not explored or do we hope to do that next time with more energy and courage?
That is the tricky thing about those new paths, they look inviting but what will come out if it after the next turn?

His eyes are fixed on the shore ahead, his mind is set on things to explore, his heart is at ease. With God's help everything is possible.

These photos were taken on a recent adventure to Königssee in Bavaria.

Brooklyn Heights Snapshots

As you guys read this, I'll be up in the air somewhere high above the Atlantic Ocean, on my way home for the holidays. I'm really going to miss New York, but I'm excited for my time in Europe and Asia over the next couple weeks and I hope you guys will follow along on my adventures. Have a wonderful and restful weekend preparing for the holidays.

Power Cookies Truly Vegan

Friday, 5th of December

Are you searching for inspiration? I am always , and I look for it in the internet, in my cookbooks on the menus of all the restaurants and through the windows of creative food stores and caterers.

Do you know that we cannot just see something and not be influenced by it? When it comes to food, that is only partially true because we do not gain weight as long as we just admire it and I am so thankful it does not end up on the hips for all the cookbooks and magazines I read all the time. But when it comes to movies, let alone the news, we feel strong emotions looking at the pictures. They can lift us up, or pull us down, they can motivate us and manipulate us and we have so little control over it. 

Looking at food however like the photos of this recipe, shall make you happy and lift you up and eating them will give you power as well. Gluten-free and free of guilt.

Another recipe by my friend Claudia !

You Need

Chocolate chips homemade:

120 gr/ 1 cup cashews, soaked for two hours
60gr/ 1/2 cup maple sirup
60gr/ 1/2 cup Cocoa powder
1 tsp Vanilla-powder
pinch of salt

Mix all the above ingredients except the cocoa powder. Add the sifted Cocoapowder and mix until smooth. Squeeze small drops with the help of an icing bag on a parchment paper and let dry at maximum 42° in a dehydrator. They are really worth the effort, much better than the bought version with milk and sugar and chewy, yes chewy! I love them and would eat it any time on its own as a treat!

If you are not allergic you can use the store bought ones look at the label to make sure you get those without sugar.

Cookies:

300gr / 2 1/2 cups fine cashew flour
210gr / 1 3/4 cups Gluten-free oatmeal flour
60gr / 1/2 cup maple sirup
1 tbsp coconut flower sugar
1 tbsp vanilla powder
1/2 tbsp sea salt
1 cup of the above chocolate chips, you can also use real raw cocoa nips, then add a little more sweetness

Mix all except the chips they must be added last and form cookies of your preferred size, mine are 5 cm in diameter and let them dry in the dyhadrator for 1/2 a day/over night if you like them on the chewy side.

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Vanillekipferl -Traditional Austrian Christmas Cookies

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The stage is set at the Steiereck

Some sights are better than anything else. Watching a magician pull out a white rabbit from his top hat is a well known one and still we cannot understand where the rabbit came from.
I've been an adult for a long time now, but I still love illusions and each time I watch the quick hands of a magician, I try to figure out how they could trick me so easily and turn a simple trick into a miracle. It is a game of the mind and takes long hours of practice. That's how I feel about the process of Vanillekipferl, a traditional Austrian christmas cookie. They're incredibly delicate, but have to be quickly dusted in powdered vanilla sugar.

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Vanillekipferl can be made with almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts or a mix of any of them. After they are baked, before they cool off all together, you should roll them in vanilla sugar. The tool is an artist's brush and this is a cart full of icing sugar.

First the cookies are dropped into the icing sugar then they are hidden completely and the brush will find it again and recover it.

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On a warm plate the Vanillekipferl are served and the whole trick is not an illusion but a sensation. Serving is a devotion. Telling a story so your imagination comes to life is a gift. 

The Steirereck tells a sweet story by serving Vanillekipferl bathed in a cart full of icing sugar.

Trace the tracks 

Rainy Daze in New York City

Sometimes it's really hard to find clarity and peace during the holiday season, between buying presents and the holiday rush. I know for myself I haven't had more than a few minutes to process that Christmas is in less than two weeks between finals and working on photography and packing up my life to leave the city during winter break. I've actually secretly enjoyed the quiet rainy days by myself in my apartment studying. (The last picture is the view from the living room of my apartment) Even when I get exceedingly busy, I make sure to be thankful for all the positive things in my life right now.

What do you do to alleviate stress?

Ruby Hotel - Lean Luxury

Booking your hotel has never been easier, checking in and out even more!

I find it hard to believe sometime, how easy I get used to amenities in life and how much we all know about the good side of life. BUT?

What is Lean Luxury?

Luxury is by all means a personal thing, for some it is luxurious or expensive items such as diamonds, an expensive holiday, sleep or the new smart phone, for me it is dinner with my husband and a one on one time. For a lot of my friends it is time in general ! For you it might be something entirely different. But what is a hotel that offers "lean" luxury" like the Ruby Sofien Hotel?

Here is what it is not:

- no concierge
- no room service
- no reception queues
- no laundry service
- no in-room minibar
- no parking facilities in-house
- no fitness or spa facilities
- no restaurant
- no phone or offline reservations

This might still be on your list for luxury if you book your hotel stay in Vienna. The masterminds behind this concept said: Ok, we save on what is commonly stressed in hotels such as the list above and share luxury where it benefits the independent guest who loves privacy, who travels on a budget and who enjoys comfort, high quality materials and out of the box thinking most. And their guest list gets longer and longer.

Here is what Lean Luxury is:

Print the access card to your room with a click

• free WIFI throughout the hotel
• great organic breakfast buffet at only 9,50 per person
• a great bar and café serving food and drinks 24/7
• streamlined self-checkin for super-fast check-in
• digital Vienna City Guide with insider tips and special events
• galley kitchen with free hot drinks and snacks vending machine
• multi-functional in-room sound system
• in-room tablets to surf and explore the Rubyverse (coming soon)
• free bikes
• free guitars
• ironing facility (in galley kitchen)

Nooks to enjoy your organic breakfast

Book your room online and check in at the bar/reception which is open 24 hours.

Ruby Hotel has 77 rooms with 5 STAR rooms in the heart of the city, 2 STAR space with 3 STAR rates!
There are IMACs and the possibility to plug in your e-guitar any time of day or night and set the tone for your own party! No worries, the rooms allow uninterrupted sleep for the guest next door, due to the soundproof structure of the rooms. 

Antique pieces of furniture, Thonet chairs and a living room atmosphere.

The breakfast offeres everything fresh and  organic. Self service of course.

Ruby Sofien Hote,l open only since May, is a young and fun concept and soon there will be a second hotel of that kind. I will come with  friends one day just to have breakfast and maybe do some Christmas shopping later. I love the the bar area especially because one looks into the beautifully restored Sofien Saal. A ballroom, a bath and a concert room. Now back to its original beauty after a devastating fire ruined the building, it was nearly torn down

Foto by Wikimedia

Denisa Becker Is your contact for group inquiries and
would love to welcome you at RUBY Hotel & Bar. 

denisa.becker@ruby-hotels.com