Prinzessinnen Garten

Oma came over to stay with us for a couple of days. She has an amazing kitchen garden back in Holland, so I wanted to go and visit the Prinzessinnen Garten with her today.

6.000 square meter hidden behind a round-a-bout in Kreuzberg. Boxes and crates full of herbs and vegetables. Of course not really the right time, vegetable wise, but it all looks great anyway. Oma explained the girls about Jerusalem artichoke, we bought seeds for her garden. We had coffee, lemonade and carrot cake in the shadow of the foliage.

It is a beautifully warm and sunny day for the time of year and this is one of the best spots to be on a day like this. It feels fresh in their shadow, the atmosphere is extremely relaxed. People around us drinking coffee or beetroot juice. Ordering a plate of the daily special or opening the lunch box they brought themselves. What also strikes me is the diversity in people that sit here. It’s not just the organics one might expect, there also are tourist, business people, groups of friends catching up, hipsters and three generation families. That’s us

Chocolate Cake

We baked a chocolate cake today. As healthy as possible. Actually it is a beet and chocolate cake. Me, I don’t like chocolate that much. Honestly. Sometimes a little bit, then flush it away with loads of tea. I do like beets tough, I love them and could eat them every single day.

The girls do love chocolate, so this cake is the perfect combination. What I like most is the bite the raw beets give to the cake. We left it a little too long in the oven, so it went a bit dry, but solved this by eating it with some unsweetened whipped cream. You can find the recipe right HERE

Yam Yam

Sometimes during a Sunday walk the girls fall asleep in their stroller and when they do we quickly walk to a nearby terrace. Today I’m happy to be in the neighborhood of Yam Yam, a small Korean restaurant I’ve been wanting to go to for a while now to try their Bibimbap. It indeed is a very comforting dish.

The girls woke up before the food was on the table, but that was more than ok. We ordered them some fried Mandu (dumplings), so they were happy as  well. The noodles were a bit too spicy for me, but if you do like spicy this also is the place to go. We had a wonderful lunch. Hopefully next time they’ll fall asleep around the corner of Yam Yam again

Walrus

What a beautiful end of the summer day. We walk up to daddy’s office, through the Mauerpark. Cooling a bit with the two water spitting walruses

Veggies

It's all about the veg again. We added tasting and smelling to the ritual, besides poking and pinching

Sparrow

There’s two species that dominate Berlins summers. Sparrows and Wasps. It’s been many times this summer we had to change places or leave a terrace, because circled by these small striped insects. I do get nervous when the wasps around the kids. And those Berlin sparrows, those guys really are as cheeky as can be. You can’t turn your back on anything eatable.

Today they were totally lurking us at Kiezkind. Just chilling out with some sausage sandwiches and mango lassies. They almost got hold of Lou’s lunch. Nothing that can make her more mad than trying to steal her food, especially when sausages. She completely told them off, those sparrows

 

Puddle Fun

Meierei

A favorite coffee place: tes Meierei. Because they have a nice terrace under the trees of Kollwitzstrasse, good coffee, good babyccinos, the people that work here are really, really nice, they have a tasty beef soup and last but not least: they have buttered bretzels 

Confiserie Orientale

Our oldest has started preschool, a very big step. Nobody understands her and she doesn’t understand anybody back. Luckily children are flexible, do not need words to play.

To make it a bit into a party we visit another terrace after school every day. Just these first weeks of course. Today we went by Confiserie Orientale, a Turkish tearoom with a showcase full of treats. She picks a chocolate cookie, me a mascarpone and pear cake. Wow! I’m not a pie person, but this is beyond delicious. Well done!

Tempelhof

After the bulky breakfast we drive up to Tempelhof , the old disused airport in the middle of Berlin. Lawns as far as the eye can see, crossed by airstrips. Girls running around as fast as they can. It is here where our oldest drives her bike for the first time without her training wheels. Very proud parents and grandparent watching her go go go

Special Day

I can’t believe they’re 2 already! Time flies with those little ones. Green Kitchens Layered pancake-cake for breakfast. Pancakes, bananas, maple syrup, raspberries, blueberries and whipped cream all layered up. A perfect start of this day

Shiso

Definitely a favorite place for both us as for the children. This has to do with their homemade fries. A special treat after a morning of playing. They really do have delicious hamburgers and what I like best: they have fantastic veggie burgers as well. Today we had their Toad burger, with a Portobello instead of meat

New favorite

Found a new recipe that will stick in my Green Kitchen cookbook. Lasagna without the actual lasagna. I have made the melanzane version with eggplant many times, but this one with zucchini is great as wel. A bit more work when first getting the water out of the veg with salt and then oven drying. Layers of tomato sauce, zucchini, boiled eggs, mozzarella, parmesan and fresh herbs. I wasn’t sure about the eggs, but it actually tastes very good. Best new thing about this one? The added fresh mint 

Water

Still steaming hot. We can’t do a thing about it, but trying to cool down. We go by Tiny Store, they understand what children need and have a whole bunch of filled up water balloons in front of their store. After done throwing we head over to Volkspark am Weinberg to play in their cold water fountain