Some of my favorite dishes have - what I'd like to call - an increased raised eyebrow factor. Take homemade pasta or gnocchi for instance, mentioning these may likely give you the one or other odd look and make people wonder: She can't be that crazy, making all pasta or gnocchi herself, no??
I can see Oliver nodding here, but no, I'm not. Well, it's not exactly like that, homemade pasta still is a rather infrequent companion at our table, reserved for special occasions or dear guests. However, homemade gnocchi are a whole different story. Huge difference. Because I love potatoes so much, I love (love love!) these little bite-sized pillows, always have, always will!

Funny and strange coincidences definitely spice up life...don't you think so, too? Odd things like bumping into an old friend from school a 1000 miles away from home? Or picking up the phone to call somebody - just to find out that this person wanted to give you a call the very same second and is already in the line? The last memorable coincidence led me to a great restaurant experience as well as a touch-up for a classic pasta recipe and started with a little newspaper reading...

Ever since my friend Kristin started to sell my book at her coffee bar, I get lovely feedback. Almost on a daily basis. For instance from a little girl who, encouraged by her dad, pointed out how much she liked the cheese cake they baked, and a young guy, who claimed (with a wink) that he can now marry his girlfriend - because she finally proved that she indeed can cook (my mini-quiche recipe). Together with the email feedback from avid readers it gives a nice, yet not representative hit list of the recipes my readers' most often picked as their firsts to try (and which - in case you're wondering - have been followed by rave reviews, too).

These days I especially have a wish for one little skill: a very readable, pleasing to the eye and charming handwriting. Whenever somebody asks me to sign a copy of my book I'm a bit hesitant, because I know my handwriting just too well, and it is about as far from pretty as it can get. Heck, I try my best to make up for the messy writing by whit and charm, but when my grandpa called me the other day to inquire about what I had written in his book, it dawned on me that I failed. It sucked.

Anyway... if you're up for a little guessing game yourself and are willing to 'decipher' one of the following photos, you may be in for a delicious treat (including a scrawly signature, if you insist). So while I'm traveling and am away visiting dear friends, the comment section remains open and is awaiting your suggestions on what these pictures show. Drop a note until October 14th 2008 and do not forget to add a valid email address as well. Everybody with at least one correct answer goes to the pool of candidates from which Oliver will pick three random entries (manually, no voting machines from the ETC are involved ... ;-), who will receive a copy of my book (either in German or English language) - as long as you live on this planet. Happy guessing!

Am I cute? But what am I?

No, this wasn't supposed to happen. Another very simple cake from my childhood... but which?

Update:
Thank you all for participating! The fruit shown in the first picture is indeed a rose apple (and comes with many more names, the second one shows my last and failed attempt at baking a what we refer to as a butter cake (basically a sheet cake made from yeast dough with butter and (cinnamon) sugar on top. It all looked good until my grandpa called me on the phone to share some exciting news... and I completely forgot about the cake. Quite inedible, from the oven into the trash. I was pretty impressed, that some of you even guessed the cake right (and I wasn't impressed any less by the fact, that so many of you knew that I make sponge cake rolls quite often...). Oliver has already picked three book winners (randomly) and I will contact them via email over the next days and annonce them here over the upcoming weekend. So check your mailboxes, guys and gals :)

 

Why 99? It could have also been 78 or 104, who counts when it comes to favorite cakes. And I do have many many favorite ones: the quick poppyseed cake is one of them (no matter if baked the original way or in a jar), this chocolate cake as well as this Nutella banana combo and its little sibling, the peanut butter cake. Oh, and don't forget my strawberry or rhubarb favorites and my grandma's sponge cake roll!