BLACK & WHITE STRIPEY TROUSERS

Recently life has been exciting but crazily busy. Posting regularly has been pretty much impossible as any time off between classes and working at the restaurant is spent working on my dissertation or painting a wall in the apartment. D has also been ridiculously busy and it feels like the apartment is going to take forever to finish - especially seeing as we want to make or restore so many pieces of furniture.

With all this excitement and spring finally on its way, it felt like the right time for a change. So, off to the hairdressers I went to chop off my long hair and get myself a fringe. It's taken a little getting used to but I like it so far. 

Today, we finally got the chance to grab a bite to eat together by the lake and snap some photos. I paired these stripey black and white trousers with these zigzag espadrilles and love the combination. What do you think? How would you wear either of these items?

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day. :)

Trousers: Mango, Shoes: Zara, Rings: H&M, T-shirt & handbag: from my Granny's wardrobe, Earrings: borrowed from my mum, Necklaces: no brand

SIMPLY SOFIA: HOMEMADE ALMOND MILK

If you are a milk lover who can't, shouldn't or doesn't want to drink milk then this recipe is for you. A little while ago, I was told to try to cut down on lactose products. If you follow this blog, you will know that I never cut lactose out 100%, but I have stopped drinking milk which was pretty tricky. I learnt to love soy milk in cereal but have always found the taste quite strong.

This weekend, I made homemade almond milk and it was pretty amazing. This is now probably one of my favourite recipes and it is ever so simple. It require only 2 ingredients and 10-15 minutes preparation (excluding the soaking time). I've already finished the first batch but I'm planning on making a whole lot more and testing out tons of recipes for you lot.

Recipe slightly adapted from here. Ingredients: 130g almonds, plenty of water for soaking, 600ml water for the milk. Method: Soak almonds in plenty of water for at least 4 hours (overnight if possible). If you want to (and can be bothered to) remove the skins, soak in warm water and the skin will slip off if you push them between your fingers - I didn't bother. Discard the water and place soaked almonds into the blender. Start the blender and add water 200ml at a time. Mix well until almonds are pulverised and liquid is white and frothy. Place a clean and rinsed 100% cotton tea towel over a sieve and pour in the liquid. When you're left with the almond pulp put the sieve to the side and squeeze remaining liquid through the fabric. Pour milk into a sterilised glass container and pop it into the fridge. Store for up to 3 days. 

In your tea towel, you will be left with almond pulp which you can dry in your oven (20 minutes at 100°C). It is pretty tasteless and can be used instead of flour. I'll post recipes of how to use it soon.

Enjoy almond milk in smoothies, coffee, cereal, hot chocolate or other. I like it best in the morning - ice-cold with chocolate powder and a little icing sugar to hide the faint bitter taste.

SIMPLY SOFIA: PINEAPPLE & PROSECCO COCKTAIL

We always have so much fun making up recipes from things we have in the fridge - it's like a little Sunday challenge. You see, in Switzerland it's pretty tricky to find a supermarket that's open on a Sunday, so we tend to spend the day making up recipes from leftovers. We had half a pineapple and a bottle of prosecco and thought it would be fun to make a pineapple cocktail - kind of like a play on the typical Italian Bellini cocktail but all homemade.

Recipe makes 5-7 cocktails. Ingredients: 1 bottle prosecco, 1/3 of a fresh pineapple, icing sugar or Canadou sugar syrup to sweeten. Candied ginger, mint leaves & wooden skewers for the decoration.

Cut shapes out of your pineapple for the fruit skewers and put aside. Trim the skin off the rest of the pineapple and cut into chunks. Place in a mixing bowl and blend until smooth. Pass blended pineapple through a fine sieve. Taste and sweeten with icing sugar or sugar syrup if necessary or simply if you like it sweet like me :). Place a spoonful or two at the bottom of each champagne glass.

To prepare the fruit skewers, cover pineapple balls with icing sugar and lightly colour using a blowtorch (be careful!). Skewer 2 pineapple balls and 1 piece of candied ginger. Add a sprig of mint and/or pineapple leaves to add some colour. Place skewer in the glass and pour over the prosecco.