:: MIXTAGRAM ::

#1 Winter arrived. There`s ice everywhere, but you`re fine as long as you walk as a pinguin (they say).
#2 I do enjoy baking banana cake over and over again and than, even more eating it! :)
#3 Long walks in fluffy snow are great for clearing your mind and some fresh air + you get a bonus - burnt calories.
#4 While walking through the city, don`t you forget to look up! That`s where the real beauty is hidden.
#5 Vitamin C is important for you, but you already know that, right? I j˛`adore (one of the 6 french words that I know) mandarines!
#6 Throwing a party for your friends? Make it simple, dip dip baby. Sauces + carrot + tortillas = happy people. ;)

xo, M.

|architecture|:: ORTENIA - APARTMENTS IN NATURE ::

A while ago (actually about 2 years ago) I already wrote (here) about a project called "Open house Slovenia". This Saturday we took the opportunity and visited beautiful new eco apartments in Podčetrtek, that were mady by the architects Petra Ostanek and Tinka Prekovič.
I won`t say much, I`ll let the photos to tell their story.

Visit their website and read their story.

You can also find them on FB.

As you can see it was a foggy morning, now imagine the building in its glory while sun is shining over it. ;)
I`d definitely love to spend a weekend there!

xo, M. 

:: MIXTAGRAM ::

  Happy Holidays!

Instagram: majarotovnik

|cuisine| :: BANANA CAKE WITH WALLNUTS ::

I was in sauna a few days ago and a friend had a magazine wit her, so while she was reading, I was just glancing over the pages and I saw this recipe that looked super delicious, so I took a photo of it and this is how I came to this post about banana cake with wallnuts. :)

I actually made three of them in the last week! What can I say, I have friends with good taste that like to try out my cooking masterpieces. :)

Anyhow, Banana cake + Lemon cake = winwin! :)

So, if you want to make a banana cake of your own, you`ll need:

3 ripe bananas (3 zrele banane)

300g spelt flour (300g pirine moke)

125g butter (125g masla, jaz sem uporabila kokosovo)

100g brown sugar (100g rjavega sladkorja)

2 eggs (2 jajci)

100g walnut kernels (100g orehovih jedrc)

1/2 baking powder (1/2 pecilnega praška)

2 tbs sour cream (2 žlici kisle smetane)

cinnamon (cimet), a pinch of salt (ščepec soli), nutmeg (muškatni orešček)

SLO: Model namastite z maslom, ostalo maslo pa zmehčajte. Grobo sesekljajte orehova jedrca in z vilicami pretlačite banane. Te zmešajte z zmehčanim maslom in jim dodajte še jajci ki ste jih razžvrkljali s sladkorjem.

Moko presejte v skledo in ji dodajte pecilni prašek, cimet, muškatni orešček in sol. Suhe sestavine dobro zmešajte s preostalimi in na koncu dodajte še orehe - nekaj si jih pustite, da jih boste potresli po vrhu. Testo vlijte v namaščen pekač in pecite okrog 45 min v pečici, segreti na 180 stopinj.

ENG: Grease the cake model with butter, soften the rest of it (I just "cooked" it, so I got liquid out of it). Mash bananas with a fork, add butter,sour cream & eggs, which you have mixed with sugar. Next step is to sieve the flour into a bowl, add baking poweder, cinnamon, nutmeg and that pinch of salt. Mix the dry ingridients with the rest and on the end add the wallnuts - leave some, for the decoration. Bake 45 minuts at 180 degrees. Sorry, I discovered that my english is not so good when it comes to the cooking expressions, but I think, you`ll still be able to make a damn fine banana cake! ;)

xo, M.

:: MIXTAGRAM ::

It`s here, the magical December that we were all waiting for to come. I`m really not a winter type, cuz I`m freakin` cold all the time (seriously, what`s up with that?), but there is something special about December. 

I love the cinnamon smell and I always bake like crazy (not just in december, but during the whole winter), because honestly, what`s better than a house that smells of freshly baked cookies (yum!). I love hot chocolate or a big cup of cacao with marshmallows, I love chunky sweaters, twinkling lights, festive atmosphere, x-mass decorations, fireplace, snowlakes falling from the sky, dinners with family and friends, ... and so on. I`m sure you feel the same way, right? Or maybe not? 

Anyhow, this are some of the moments from my Instalife..

Are you following me already?

Instagram: majarotovnik

1. Weekend breakfast , 2. Sunday afternoon, 3. Nails love, 4. Pelicon - Slovenian beer on kickstarter + it`s really tasty, 5. Opening of a Pop-up Home, 6. Art - a store, where my wallet loses weight very easily :)
Ok, gotta go now, cuz I`m baking something good....you`ll find out soon what I`m talking about.
Cheers! x
M.

:: WOODY the Christmas Tree ::

Uh, it`s a long time since my last post, but that`s what happens when you`re busy. It`s really not usual for me, that I don`t have time for blogging, pinterest and all the other internet fun. I kind of miss it, but from time to time, life hits me really hard and I have to work on other things a bit more.

Today, I`ll introduce to you one of the projects we are working on right now and that`s "Woody the Christmas Tree". Woody is made out of a spruce wood, so it`s natural and very stylish. There are two versions of it, Woody Natural or Woody White, whatever goes best into your space/place. 

We made a FB page for it (here), so please don`t hesitate to give a big like to Woody and share the news. 

If you are from Celje or Ljubljana, you can check out Woody White in stores of And by Andraž, along with the recycled ornaments made by moi. :) 

Of course, you can also have a Woody of your own, just write me an email, so we can discuss the details! ;) 

Xo, Maja

woody natural

And by Andraž - Citypark Ljubljana

the ornaments

:: A LITTLE OF WHAT I FANCY ::

1. Clipper tea is what makes my day better (especially mornings & evenings). Maybe it will work for you too. 

2. Make your living room lovely with a beautiful Mimi pillow cloud. I`m in love <3.

3. Rich Hobos beanie will keep you warm, while exploring the woods in Autumn. It works, believe me. 

4. I love spending rainy days on a couch, with a good book, tea & candles (yankee candles are the one that I fancy). If you`re not a book person, replace it with your loved one. That should be fine as well. ;) 

+  a bonus --> Chestnusts, just because I love them so much, don`t you?!

I have to be honest and say I don`t really feel inspired for blogging lately and that`s why I don`t post that much. It`s better to wait a bit and find my "mojo" again, than make a bunch of posts that don`t really mean anything to me. Anyhow, this is a new add to the blog  "A liitle of what I fancy" & I hope you`ll enjoy it.

Have a great week and stay lovely as you are. :)
+ A big hug to everyone (oh, yeah...I`m a hugger)!
xo, M.

|events - exhibition| ::VIŽDE - OTROC SO LAČN, TK JE::

On Friday I went with my girls to Žalec, to check out what "Vižde" prepared for us this time.

They organised a charity (art) exhibition of young artists that are coming from Žalec & Celje. In my opinion it was great, very well organised, fresh & new for our region, which I approve very much, because I think we definitely need more events like this, so "Bravo" boys&girls, well done & keep it going! ;) 

Lately, I`m asking myself, what are all the talented artists from my town doing, because I know there are a couple of them, but I don`t see much going on...I really hope people will at some point collaborate and make something good out of it (a kickass fresh idea of an event would be a good start, or just something very simple, but good for the city - we really need to be working on bringing life back into it, because at the moment, it`s just sad).

You don`t really need much though. Just time, some effort and an idea of course.

So, Celje....please, surprise me.

If there is anyone with an idea, but he needs help with the organisation, just contact me, I`m all in, I really think, we could do so much more. Nobody is really trying for the public good anymore, everyone started to be egoistic and just do, whatever is best for them. I get it to some point, but I still think, that we are the ones that can change things, we just need to help each other out. Even though you`ll do something for free once, that doesn`t mean you are not valuable, it just means you`re trying at your best + hoping for the best and it will come back to you (good karma and stuff like that). :)

Ah, whatever, it`s better I go to sleep instead of writting an essay here, cuz I was a bit carried away....anyhow, my muscles are still soar from the marathon on Sunday, tomorrow is the last working day for this week (yey!) and I had a kebab today for lunch (healthy, I know) - which was superlicious btw. :)

Good night, 

xo, M.

:: WHAT`S YOURS? ::

  I just want to wish you a wonderful (what`s left of) weekend! 

 xo, M.

+ I decided to share this video with you, because I watched it a couple of times already and it still makes me cry a bit ..  it`s beautiful.

What`s yours? I kind of get lost in my thoughts everytime I see this video... 

|recipe| :: CAULIFLOWER CALZONE / CVETAČNI CALZONE ::

|ENG|

Through a friend of mine I found out about the "The Iron You" - A healthy living blog with tasty recipes and since then I`m totally hooked on it. I already made the "Cauliflower Crust Calzone", which turned out delicious! (I actually made it twice last week) :) 

I never thought that Cauliflower can be so good! Anyhow, if you are a sporty person and you like to eat healthy than I definitely recommend you to visit "The Iron You"... and than, who knows, you might even apply for the Ironman competition. :)

I decided not to write the recipe since you can find the english version here, but I`ll do it in a slovenian way for a change. :)

|SLO|

Prijateljica me je seznanila z blogom "The Iron You" - kjer lahko najdete nasvete za zdravo življenje, mene pa so predvsem očarali okusni recepti. Blog mi je sicer čisto pisan na kožo, tako, da me je popolnoma prevzel. Odkrila sem ga prejšnji teden in takoj naslednji dan sem že preizkusila recept za cvetačni calzone. Vam povem, odlično je uspelo! (dvakrat v treh dneh) :)

Jutri pa se lotim tistega čudovitega chia čokoladnega moussa...Mmmm.

Skratka, recept za cvetačni calzone bom zapisala samo v slovenščini, ker v angleščini ga najdete tukaj.

Sestavine za "testo": 

• cvetača (1)
• jajce (1)
• mozzarella (50g)
• sol, poper, origano

Sestavine za nadev: 

• mozzarella (50g)
• sveža bazilika
• paradižnikova omaka

Cvetačo (surovo) narežite na drobne kose in jo zmeljite, da dobite cvetačni riž, ki ga nato postavite v mikrovalovno za 8min, da se skuha. Cvetačni riž je nato potrebno ožeti, namreč vsebuje veliko vode in če želite, da bo skorja hrustljava, se je potrebno potruditi in jo izstisniti čim več. Torej, na kuhinjsko krpo zvrnite riž in počakajte par minutk, da se zadeva malce ohladi, da si ne opečete rok pri ožemanju. :)

*Med kuhanjem riža, na pladenj pripravite peki papir, ki ga rahlo naoljite z olivnim oljem in postavite v pečico na 220 stopinj, da se segreje.

Ko ste vodo izstisnili, v cvetačni riž dodate jajco, 50g mozzarele (naribane), sol + poper, ter po želji še kakšne začimbe (origano, česen,..) in vse skupaj dobro zmešajte. Iz pečice nato vzamite pladenj in na papirju oblikujte "palačinke" (2 ali 3 - odvisno od velikosti cvetače, jaz sem dobila dve), ter jih postavite v pečico za točno 10min. Po 10min vse skupaj vzamite ven (delajte hitro) in na polovičko nadevajte paradižnikovo omakco, mozzarello (naribano) in liste bazilike (nasekljane), ter si z lopatko pomagajte, da prazno polovico prevrnete čez, da dobite calzone. S prsti si pomagajte, da lepo zaprete robove (jaz sem to pozabila, kar se vidi tudi na sliki) in postavite v pečico še za 12min.  

Servirajte vroče in mogoče ob kakšni dobri solatki. Je res ful dobro in tudi nasitno, čeprav ne izgleda veliko. 

To je to, upam, da vam je všeč, tako kot je meni. Sprobajte in mi podajte kakšen feedback. 

Pozdravček, 

M.