Double Dipping turns 1!

Sophie and I are delighted to announce our first year online our first year connected to all of you and our first year of figuring out how this blogging and posting and administrating of such a baby works. We are both so excited about YOU out there, your feedbacks verbally and in the comments. We wish we could invite you all over to celebrate with us and hear your thoughts on what you like best. To be honest the best feedback I got once was by Sharon 4 months ago who wrote:

"Breathtaking photos, I finally feel calm after a looong tirrring day xx"

At first we posted every day and decided that with the workload we have both we would not be able to keep up with the pace and you were faithful and loyal to us , we can see the numbers still climbing and your interest in what we do is a real compliment to both of us. 

Sophie and I grew together as a team, we watch each others improvements and creativity and you should read the emails we exchange if one is posting some real nice photos! Sophie is still my editor and you all are our biggest encouragement.

The biggest compliment you can make us? Please leave a comment, send me a photo from the remake of a dish, offer an opportunity to post something you like to see on our blog, text us if you love the sites we travelled to ....

How will we commemorate this big event?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Here are your favorite recipes from our metrics

Here it is ! A year of tried and tested recipes 

You are a wonderful audience and without you we would not have made it this far!

THANK YOU - and CHEERS !

JoJo

I rarely make my way to the Upper East Side lately, but when I do, good food is always involved to justify long walks in New York's prolonged winter. Keen and I made our way to JoJo's for an extended brunch this Saturday (can you believe it was actually snowing on my way there?). Situated in an adorable townhouse with beautiful windows, JoJo was a perfect relief from the New York winds that day. We shared the pancakes, eggs benedict and had the peekytoe crab to start. I loved the combination of the mango, mustard and crab as a refreshing starter. We rounded off the meal with a few too many desserts, but then again how can you choose when you have these options on the menu? We had the molten chocolate cake, passion fruit pavlova and the butterscotch pudding with creme fraiche and sea salt. My favorite, as always, was the salted butterscotch pudding, I only wish I could have had more of it.

Sunday Snapshots - Vatican City

In order to avoid the crowds that storm Vatican City and especially St Peter's Basilica every day, we got up at 6 am and ended up being the first people climbing to the top of the dome. The light was still slanted creating a beautiful haze for these pictures. Standing at the top of the dome, Rome truly felt like an eternal city, with gorgeous rooftops as far as my eyes could see.

Avocado Zucchini Sugo

Spring is making progress every day and, honestly, next to Summer, winter, and not to mention fall, it is my favorite time of year. Seems like I cannot make up my mind? True, I love all the seasons for their various foods, the feelings they bring and especially the different light.

For my food photography I prefer the days with lots of natural light and I think you can see right here, how well the green stands out - almost unreal. This is because the recipe is entirely raw, apart from the noodles themselves. But if you like, you could make zucchini noodles with a spiral cutter for a carb-free, gluten free, vegan dish that will satisfy your appetite and nourish your body with essential vitamins, minerals and enzymes.

You Need

1 organic zucchini
60 gr organic spinach, washed
1 avocado, peeled and pitted
1/2 cup pine nuts
salt, chili
1 tsp fermented garlic
2 tsp lemon juice
water
1/3 cup organic olive oil, NOAN
 

All of the above goes into a blender and the amount of water you add depends on the consistency of the sugo.  I used 1 cup maximum or less.  When I asked my friend Birgit if she wanted some of the sugo and sent her the photo she said I WANT IT PLEEEEASE ! It is so delicious ! So ask her please or try it yourself it is easy to make and a sure success. Pour the sugo over cooked and drained fresh pasta and serve, drizzled with olive oil and with some pine nuts on top. 

Rome Shortlist

Roma, where do I begin.... I felt such a strong affinity towards this city as soon as I arrived, brushing up on Italian and getting to know the place my dad grew up in, not to mention the stunning food and gelato at every corner. Any country that serves huge portions of pasta as casual appetizers is good in my book! I love the way history is interspersed with city buildings and you drink your coffee at the bar with cornetti in the mornings.

Where to stay... the beautiful Hotel de Russie with its stunning courtyard and beautiful views over Piazza del Popolo.

Where to eat... My favorites were Roscioli (Make sure you try all the types of prosciutto and parmesan. Obviously.) and Caffe Propaganda for lunch and Dal Bolognese, Alla Campana and Al Ceppo for dinners. As for gelato you can't really go very wrong, but you can check my post on Don Nino Artisan Gelateria here.

What to see... My favorite view was actually from the top of Castel Sant'Angelo, because you can see the entire city and have Vatican City at your feet. Other favorites include the Pantheon, the Forum Romanum and the Pallatine Hill and of course the Collosseum. Vatican City is a must see for any Rome visit, read on for how to avoid crowds below. If you have the time, wander through the small streets and see all the different Piazzas to get a feel for Roman life at its best.

Avoid the crowds.... When it comes to visiting Vatican City and St Peter's Basilica, you definitely want to avoid the crazy crowds and either prebook tickets with a guide, letting you skip the lines or get up really early to enter the Basilica at 7 am when it opens (we actually went up the dome at 7:30 when it opened and got to enjoy the view all to ourselves, which I highly recommend).

Gelateria Don Nino

If you follow me on instagram, you'll already know that I've been in Rome for the past few days. I can't believe it's taken me this long to visit this incredible city. My dad was born in Rome and is fluent in Italian, so walking through these beautiful streets certainly felt like home. I have more detailed posts on what to do and see here, but I quickly wanted to share this cute little Gelateria near the Pantheon with you. I've sampled my fair share of gelato while here and there are a lot of really good ones out there, but I really loved the interiors here and the Bronte Pistachio and Creme Caramel flavors at Gelateria da Nino near the Pantheon were simply to die for. That being said, you can't really go too wrong with gelato anywhere in Rome, and let's be honest, Pizza is great but there's nothing better than strolling through little cobblestone streets, gelato in hand (even if mine may or may not drip all over myself in a much less picturesque manner).

I'd love to know what your favorite things about Rome were! Have you been to Rome?

Find them here:

 

Egg White Omelette with Avocado Fan

You Need:

for 4 hungry brunchers or equivalently more:

10 whites of fresh organic eggs
smoked sea salt 
fresh pepper or chili from the mill
butter for the pan
1/2 cup leaves of fresh chives chopped

2 medium sized avocados
1/2 red onion
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice 
1 tsp maple sirup
salt, chili

• Before you make the egg white omelette: cut the red onions in thin slices and stir fry them in the pan with some butter until tender, but not brown. I love them when they are still firm but have lost their strong taste. Remove them from the pan and let them cool.
• Cut the avocados in slices and brush them with the marinate of olive oil, lemon juice, salt and sirup and chili before you combine them with the completely cooled  onions. 
• To make the scrambled eggs, whisk the egg whites with salt and pepper in a bowl. I make individual omelettes in a small pan for one portion per person. Heat your pan on medium to high, melt 1 tsp butter and pour the egg whites into the hot pan not stirring in order to cook evenly a little lifting and making holes can help the liquid seep to the bottom make sure that you do not overcook The omelette must not be turned it is better when only crisp on the outer side. 

To assemble, fill one half with a tbsp of the cooked and marinated onions, top with one half of a fan like cut avocado, fold over and sprinkle with the chopped fresh chives and serve warm with fresh white bread or toasted dark slice of bread. Sprinkle a little olive oil and lemon juice over the dish.

Miami Shortlist

I by no means consider myself an expert on Miami or what to do in Miami, especially not after spending less than three full days here. Even less so considering the fact that we were faced with Monsoon style rains my entire first day there. We made the best of it and spent our day eating and went to the movies to escape the rain (by the way, if you haven't seen Focus yet, I thought it was incredibly entertaining, but I might be wrong seeing as I was the only person laughing hysterically at Will Smith). Besides the obvious going to South Beach and visiting the Wynwood area of Miami to do some gallery hopping, I wanted to share my food favorites with you: Panther Coffee, Matador Room and Joe's for dinners (arrive fairly early in the night, they don't take reservations and the wait is pretty long, but the Lobster Mac and Cheese is worth it), Makoto for Japanese, Jugofresh for Acai bowls and juices, and of course Versailles for cortaditos and Cuban Sandwiches. One of my highlights was definitely the Vizcaya Mansion with its extensive gardens, spiral staircases and walls made of coral, it feels like a completely different world within Miami. 

Green Mayonnaise Dressing

None of the photos needed photoshopping ... the colors are like you see them - BEAUTIFUL !

Dressings are my kind of thing when it comes to salads. I often try something different as you already know. Remember the Avocado Poached Egg Salad with Grapefruit? I love that dressing!

Today I wanted to convince my family of eating frisée salad, which is difficult to love because it is kind of bitter and chewy, best thing about it is, that it looks fun - at least for decoration under raw meat my husband and son thinks. What a difficult plan I had in mind but believe it or not they ate it all and each time they like it the recipe passes and can be published. Tough crowd !

You Need:

Dressing:
50 gr fresh corn salad, washed 
4 tbsp organic olive oil from NOAN
1/2 orange, juiced
1 -2 tbsp agave sirup
1/2 avocado
1 tsp light colored miso paste - optional
1 tsp white vinegar
Garlic, salt and chili 

+
1/2 a head of a curly endive salad or frisée salad, washed
1/2 a ripe mango, peeled and in slices

Mix everything for the dressing with an immersion blender until you get the consistency of mayonnaise. The Miso paste is a a great seasoning for a lot of dishes, dressings, soups and sauces and keeps in the fridge very well. Season with salt and garlic paste. I use this fermented garlic, that is lightly salted and much better to digest than the fresh garlic.Season to taste and drizzle over your salad, the sliced mango brings some sweetness to it and eliminates the bitterness. The oil I use for many years now is called NOAN and the story behind it will inspire you, the oil is absolutely amazing and I buy it by 5 liter canisters.

This is an egg free, healthy and tasty alternative to mayo and looks just like spring itself.

DD TIP:
Try the mayonnaise once as a dip in summer for your raw vegetables ! You can substitute the corn salad with other salads but it is the greenest, spinach will work just as fine.

Searching for Spring

By the time March rolls around, we New Yorkers spend our time doing two things: complaining about the endless winter and playing bets whether yesterday's snow was the last of the year. It's also known as the time of year where I start wearing spring clothing in suboptimal temperatures (not to mention snow) and find myself wondering why I'm getting sick all of a sudden. So, in preparation for spring, I wanted to share my favorite items for spring (especially a roundup of my favorite blush colored bags). Here's to hoping this was actually the last snow fall of the season and I can wear this outfit without tights in the near future! Follow along on instagram here.

Shop the post below:

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Photos of me by Elijah Millen (Elijah's instagram)