Let’s Have a Coffee

Pumpkin Spice Latte

I have decided to introduce a new category here. Don’t worry, of course I will continue posting recipes, a mix of very simple and easy ones, such as these quick and chocolaty cupcakes, but also more complicated cakes, like this cream cheese cake with apples and salted caramel, which we even had for Christmas.

Reason for starting this new category is pretty simple, I have realized that I enjoy reading about more personal matters from other bloggers. I have also found out that people seem to enjoy learning more about me, at least whenever I get more personal, the response rate is high. You will find 35 fun facts about me in this blog post. I often get feedback that these facts are interesting and that I should talk more about myself. For that reason I am inviting you to a virtual coffee with me. I don’t know yet how often I am going to do this, I also don’t yet what exactly it will contain. But regardless, I would also like to talk about other things. For sure baking and recipes will also play a role in this category, but not necessarily the dominant role.

I decided to open the category with one of the questions I get most often and which I have had to answer many times over:

Who eats all the things you bake?

I have answered this question in my FAQs, but will give the long version here. The short answer is, it is definitely not only me who eats all the food and also not only my husband and me, because yes, we would be fat if we ate everything I bake. And I can also assure you that I don’t throw anything of what I bake. Usually how it works is as follows: I usually take pictures of everything I bake. I find it very important that you see also inside a layered cake, so I like to cut into a cake when I photograph it. You know, the typical first slice. Usually this is the piece I will eat. I often eat ith with my eyes closed and try to answer the question of whether anything still needs to be improved or whether this is how I want to post the recipe. And once I am done taking pictures, I pass on whatever I bake to family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, there are many people out there who will happily share their feedback and who enjoy eating what I made. For me baking is only half of the fun. I find it very relaxing and it most definitely destresses me. However, even more enjoyable is watching people eating what I made. It is just so much fun! I think I give away about 70% of what I bake, this can be anyone, mail delivery may get lucky or good friends. Sometimes people specifically request something, other times my gift to a birthday party will be the birthday cake. Below you will see some pictures of things I made for others.

From the left: classic black forest cake I made as a birthday cake, plum tart with cinnamon streusel for some relatives, Sachertorte, which I even mailed to somebody’s wedding (the picture is from the recipient), sponge roll with berries for a get together and plum cinnamon cupakes for a birthday

And then I would like to talk about rye flour. Not in food, but for hair. Yes, you read right. You need to know that I am a person who doesn’t like to use a lot of products either for my hair or skin. I like it simple and easy. I just hate spending so much time on painting nails and the like, it’s just not my thing. Blow-drying my hair? I try avoiding it. But unfortunately, my hair is rather stubborn, it get’s greasy quickly and my scalp often feels itchy. So I tried different shampoos, expensive ones. Some got me some relief for half a year, but then somehow my hair would get itchy again and just look funny. So I tried more natural products, but somehow this didn’t seem to help either.

A current self portrait of me, I got the idea of taking your self portrait from the blogger Christina Key (in German), highly recommend it

And then by accident I stumpled across this blog entry by Sandra (in German). She talks about the fact of actually washing your hair with rye flour. I was immediately intrigued when I read this, I had never heard of it. And since I am a person who likes trying new things, I gave it a shot and washed my hair according to her instructions. And immediately liked the result. My scalp didn’t itch and my hair felt strong. I was definitely going to try this for a while. Since mid-August I have been washing my hair with rye flour. Previously I had to wash my hair every second day, now I do it every third and sometimes fourth. I am so excited that apparently my hair problem was solved, so I also wanted to let you know the recipe:

Prepare the night before:

  • 20 grams of rye flour
  • 40 grams of water

Stir until combined and leave in the fridge overnight. As you can see, I have an average hair length, if you have shorter hair, you will need less, if yours is longer, you will have to prepare more. The next day I take this mix and use it like regular shampoo. Meaning, I first wet my hair, then I shampoo the rye-flour mix into my whole hair and then rinse it. You need to be sure to rinse it thoroughly. Otherwise it may look like you have dandruff. You can brush out the leftovers, but hey, who wants to look like they have dandruff? So as stated, rinse thoroughly.

People have asked whether it is hard to get rid of the rye paste. It actually isn’t hard at all because rye has much less gluten than wheat. For that reason you cannot simply change the rye flour for wheat flour. That is going to be a huge mess!

I can highly recommend washing your hair with this mix, as stated I have been doing it for two months now. I can’t believe I am talking about my hair on my blog, who would have thought? But it is something that is occupying me. I am very excited about it and wanted to share. It looks like my hair problem is finally over. You know, the itchy feeling, dandruff, greasy hair, all of it gone. I really feel like celebrating. Maybe you want to celebrate with me? I am virtually sharing these pumpkin caramel cupcakes with you. Who wants to eat one with me?

Pumpkin Cupcake with CaramelP.S.: The featured image shows homemade pumpkin spice latte, believe me, you never want to go back!

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2 Comments

  • Reply
    Ramona
    Wednesday October 10th, 2018 at 12:40 AM

    Hey Jenny! Coole Idee mit dem shampoo! Not macht erfinderisch – mir geht es zwar gut mit den Shampoos, aber weniger ist oft mehr und seltener Haare waschen klingt super! Gibt es das überall, oder kaufst du das Mehl an einem bestimmten Ort? Saluditos desde Berlin! Ramona

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Wednesday October 10th, 2018 at 01:32 AM

      Hallo Ramona, ich kaufe das Roggenmehl in normalen Supermärkten wie Rewe. Kann ich nur empfehlen. Grüße aus Hamburg!

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