Birthdays are for CAKE

India is way to cool now (that's how she walks around these days) and no hello Kitty cakes for the missus anymore ....Some grown-up meringue, raspberry and cheesecake and to be sure, some extra small chocolate cakes if the vanilla-cheesecake wasn't her or her brother's taste (don't panic, they liked them BOTH..you have to be pretty fast to get a good piece of cake around this house)

The Britney tickets are cool too ...so mum scored !

We will inform you on the concert when it's due in July ....hopefully we can make a picture or two and Brit will reach a hand and pull India on stage !!

:-))

Every year it get's more difficult to get original and inventive...The older the child gets, the more input and the more 'cool' it has to be ....very hard...sigh !

This year I got some inspiration from a Dutch fellow Blogger, Noeks, and I did a more grown-up version of the treats we did for India to give and distribute in school. Wok-cartons, filled with freshly made micro-wave popcorn, self printed and cut-out labels with little flowery Parisian tags ....Nice, right ??

...

Right ?

sweet !

Remember the post about the best bakery in town a few weeks ago ?
Well, I mentioned my friend H. - she came by yesterday to bring me some Christmas sweetness : little 'pralines' made of marzipan en covered in nuts and dark chocolat !
AND as an extra, she gave me this little 'pateken' (Antwerp flemisch for pastry) : a mouthful of chocolat in the form of profiterolles...
H. knows how to spoil me...so sweet of her !

Lints bakery

When people move from another city or even country into a new town...the first thing they do is search for a good bakery...
My friend H. did so too...
She is crazy about this bakery and the delicious pastries they sell...she even hides them from her husband :-)

I can understand the importance of a good bakery cause when I moved to the other side of town a few years ago, there wasn't any good bakery around, not in a mile...so I was very happy when I moved back to my old neighbourhood, close to the yummie bakeries...
When I go to school with my children every morning, we pass 3 bakeries...can you imagine...but I have to admit it's true...that Lints sells the best pastries in this town...
I've known Lints since I was a teenager as my school was just across the building were Lints is housed...
I have seen many changes interior wise ; the interior now is smaller, more of a walk-through shop but the displays full of delicacies are the best since 1987 !

In a few days time we celebrate Sinterklaas down here ...chocolat - chocolat and again chocolat !!
Speculoos (= gingerbread cookies) in Sinterklaas shaped form, is so mmmmmm
( I like to dip them in my hot tea ; I know that sounds dingy ....but it really tastes nice )