Yesterday, when I went into the kitchen to make myself yet another cup of coffee, I suddenly had the urge to bake a cake.
Crazy, isn’t it š
The cake I made is my mother’s recipe, which contains some vague instructions like “oven temperature between 180 – 200Ā°C and “baking time 50 – 60 mins”.
I always take a risk when baking a cake; after all I’m not the best cook in the world, and my cakes tend to turn out stodgy or crumbly.
But luckily, this cake turned out to be a success, and because it is so simple yet delicious, I would like to share my mother’s recipe with you:
Ingredients
350g self-raising flour
150g unsalted butter
150g sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk (at room temperature)
vanilla essence or vanilla sugar to taste
optional: 1 cup of chopped roasted hazelnuts
Method
First mix the butter, sugar and eggs until creamy and fluffy; at this stage the mixture is still runny.
Then add the remaining ingredients gradually until the dough has an even consistency. Put the mixture into a regular sized greased loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven at 190Ā°C for about one hour.
Ta-daa! Yum yum š
Warmest wishes,
Christiane
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Himalayan salt tea light holders improve air quality in our homes at low cost by turning positively ionized air into negatively ionized air.
But what exactly does this mean? An ion is an atom or group of atoms that carries a positive or a negative charge.
Computers, TVs, air conditioning, smoke etc. produce positive ionized air, whichhas a detrimental effect on our health.
A sign of positive ionized air is “stuffiness” and a tendency to suffer more often from colds and chronic respiratory ailments.
The gentle heat of a Himalayan salt tea light holder generates ions carrying a negative charge thus creating a climate we find in the mountains, around waterfalls, by the sea or after thunderstorms.
Breathing air saturated with negative ions has a highly beneficial effect on our health. The vibrations of all our body cells are harmonised and contribute to improving our body functions.
For decades the beneficial effect of negative ions in the treatment of many illnesses has been known, such as rheumatism, allergies, respiratory diseases, sleeplessness, migraine and high blood pressure.
Salt tea light holders can be an additional and natural treatment option for such disorders.
The colour of the Himalayan salt tea light holders reinforces the rejuvenating effect on our health as colours themselves have a healing influence.
Red stands for revitalization, orange for revival, yellow for positive thinking, white for the power of concentration, apricot to alleviate emotional disorders.
The salt crystal used in tea light holders come from salt mines where crystallised salt has been deposited more than 260 million years ago.
The tea light holders are produced in their country of origin, and each one is carefully shaped by hand from a single piece of salt crystal.
Himalayan salt tea light holders are best placed where a lot of electrical equipment is used, such as offices and living rooms, but they are also beneficial in bedrooms to aid sleep and relaxation.
Don’t keep salt lamps in bathrooms or outside as high moisture can damage the lamp due to the salt’s hygroscopic properties.
Should the tea light holder get wet, simply light a tea light in it immediately to dry it out naturally.
The warm glow of our salt tea light holders creates a cosy atmosphere and adds a healthy touch to your home.
One of my favourite festivals of the year, Halloween marks the start of the party season in the run up to Christmas.
Today its main purpose is to entertain children and provide teens with the opportunity to irritate and annoy intimidated citizens in many places across the world ?
The origins of this festival are found in the ancient Celtic tradition of celebratingĀ Samhain on the 1st November, which was theĀ beginning of winterĀ for our ancestors and also the start of theĀ Celtic New Year.
As you can imagine, it was a dark, cold and gloomy time, the completion of the last harvest before everyone would huddle up in their huts and fight for survival during the harsh winter months ahead.
No wonder the Celts thought of death, ghosts and misery in general, so they believed that in the night from the 31st October to the 1st of November they could communicate with their departed relatives and friends.
To make this time of year even more atmospheric, the Celts would start their days at dusk, as darkness was seen to be a time for beginnings.
Death was regarded as important as life, reflecting the Celtsā embracing and understanding of theĀ perpetuous cycle of life and death.
Samhain was truly the darkest time for our ancestors, and today this is reflected in the way the festival is celebrated as Halloween.
The custom ofĀ Trick or TreatĀ came across to Britain from America, yet its origin is European, honouring the trickiness of the season and the human being.
We all haveĀ a dark side in our personalities, and Samhain is the time of hauntings, when the spirits of theĀ dead seek the warmth of the fireplaces and candle lights.
The spirits of departed loved-ones were welcomed, but not all spirits were deemed to be friendly.
TheĀ pumpkin lantern with the scary face was introduced to frighten away the demonsĀ attempting to disrupt that night in a nasty sort of way.
Here’s some inspiration to get you into Halloween / Samhain mood:
Activities and Rituals
End of summer, honouring /communicating with the dead, scrying, divination, last harvest, meat harvest.
Tools
Besom, cauldron,Ā tarot, obsidian ball, pendulum, runes, oghams, Ouija boards, black cauldron or bowl filled with black ink or water, or magick mirror.
Symbols & Decorations
Apples, autumn flowers, acorns, bats, black cats, bones, skulls, corn stalks, coloured leaves, crows,Ā cross, divination and the tools associated with it, ghosts, jack-o-lantern, nuts, oak leaves, ivy, pomegranates, pumpkins, scarecrows, scythes, waning moon.
Foods Apples, apple dishes, cider, meat (traditionally this is the meat harvest) especially pork, mulled cider with spices, nutsārepresenting resurrection and rebirth, pomegranates, potatoes, pumpkins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, roasted pumpkin seeds.
Work Release of bad habits, banishing, faery magick, divination of any kind, candle magick, astral projection, past life work, dark moon mysteries, mirror spells (reflection), casting protection, inner work, clearing obstacles, inspiration, workings of transition or culmination, manifesting transformation, creative visualisation, contacting those who have departed this plane.
Enjoy Halloween!Ā
Christiane
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2012 is said to be a year of transformation, and this is certainly the case for our online store!
Cosmic Collection’s virtual premises over the last two years wereĀ no longer serving us the way we would like to do business, so it was time to pack up our boxes and move.
Technology has moved on, and I now feel confident hosting and managing the store independently with a small crew of magical helpers.
I’m in the process of transferring all shop data to this new space, and despite this work being carried out, you can already place your orders here.
Quite a few items are in the SALE now, so don’t hesitate to check out those bargains and make some savings on your Christmas shopping.
And when youĀ place an order while our store is undergoing refurbishment, I will include a little gift as a thank you for your patience and support.
Of course, there are still more products to be added and departments to be created. The store overhaul will take a few more weeks to complete. But our service is as quick as usual. You order will be shipped same day or next working day by First Class Royal Mail.
In the meantime, why not subscribe to our newsletter to receive occasional mailings about product updates and of course special offers and discounts?
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with any queries, comments or suggestions. You can contact me by e-mail or post in the comment box below. I really look forward to hearing from you.
Himalayan salt tea light holders improve air quality in our homes at low cost by turning positively ionized air into negatively ionized air.
Animals
Hello lovely people,