How I turned into my mum and found sweet happiness in a jar

Lately, I've been feeling like my life is becoming more awesome and marvelous every single day - which is very unusual for me since I normally am the kind of person who starts every second sentence with the wonderful phrase "I am so pissed off right now because..." (Alternatively "I hate everything including myself, because..."). I still am afraid that this may just be a cruel prank God is trying to play to me and something awful is going to happen in a few seconds (like my boyfriend turning out to have cancer or BiFi Rolls not being produced anymore). But I think it's just for the fact that

1) It's Easter and I effing LOVE Easter (a week ago, I talked to a good friend of mine and since he's a Muslim, I couldn't stop hugging that poor guy because he has never experienced the magic of Easter on the countryside)

2) It's spring and I'm totally high on sunlight and all those hormones. Everything's just so great, dude.

3) Holidays!!

4) My mum gave her old kitchen machine to me, which has made my life a lot easier.

How could I celebrate this gorgeous life better than with food? Exactly, there IS no better way. So today I've decided to turn  myself into my own mum and make some strawberry jam and brioches - the traditional Easter breakfast in my family (no, we're not French, we're just totally addicted to food. Seriously, take a look at the female members of my family and this is a pretty obvious fact. And when you think about it, eating strawberries in March is a remarkably stupid tradition. I mean, that's like three months before you actually can harvest them in Austria. This jam sure tastes bitter with guilt because it makes you responsible for climate change). Okay, get the party started!

The recipe:

(I used this one from Chefkoch.de and translated it)

What you'll need for 12 brioches:

• 600g (or about 21.16 oz.) flour
• 200g (or about 7 oz.) butter
• 1 cube of yeast
• 4 eggs
• 3 (or a bit more if you like it sweeter) tbsp. sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 9 tbsp. of tepid milk
• liquid butter
• 1 egg yolk

First, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk.

Mix the flour, the sugar and the milk.

Let the butter melt on low heat, so it doesn't get very hot. Then add the eggs, the salt and the butter to the dough and knead it together so it's nice and fluffy. When it's nice and fluffy enough, put it into a warm place (you can just take your oven and put in on really low heat) until its volume has doubled.

Then part the dough into 12 balls and every ball into a big one and a much smaller one. Grease your muffin tray with butter, put your balls (haha) into the molds and put on the little balls, so it looks like your brioches are wearing cute little hats (of course it's better if you have traditional brioche molds, but I don't have one, so I tried it with a muffin tray. If you have proper molds, be proud of yourself and check your privilege.).

Your brioches will look even more adorable if you brush yolk on them. Just do it.

Now bake them for 15-20 minutes in your 180°C (or 356 F) hot oven. The original recipe says you should use top and upper heat. As if my oven even had something like this. HA!

They taste best when they're still warm (which is a bit creepy because then they feel a bit like actual living creatures in your mouth), but you can easily store them for a few days. Just put them in the microwave for like ten seconds and they get hot and fluffy again.

What you’ll need for the jam:

·        1.5 kilos (or like 3.3 pounds) strawberries

·        500g (or 1.1 oz. canning sugar) 3:1

·        Four or five jars

Seriously, this couldn’t be easier. Put the glasses into the 130°C (or 266F) hot oven for about fifteen minutes to make sure they are perfectly sterile. Cut the leaves of the strawberries and blend them, together with the sugar. Then put the mixture into a pot and let it simmer for 7-9 minutes - you now the jam is ready when you put a little bit on a cold plate and it already has this special consistence. Then fill it into your glasses, close them and turn them around so they stand on their lids. Let the jam cool off and it’s ready. Honestly, that’s all! Delicious, fruity and simply wonderful. (check out this pretty cool jelly-related Little Britain video:)

This is what I love so much about food: I just take a bite of these wonderful little brioches and taste the beautifully red jam – and I know that this is the language of food: fat, sweet childhood memories and incredible happiness.

I’m sorry; it’s just those hormones again. Dude.

God, this is so great.

PS: Here's your ultimative jam-and-brioches-soundtrack:

1. Strawberry Fields forever by The Beatles
2. Jamming by Bob Marley
3. and, for the French touch, Foux du Fafa by Flight of the Conchords