How I found my path to slow and gentle living in the countryside coming from a big city.
I wasn't naturally a calm and soft person - living quietly and peacefully was a challenge. I used to be loud and somewhat extroverted, wearing my outgoing personality as a mask. In reality, I always craved softness and light, but found it difficult to adopt in my own life. As the result I developed a lot of anxieties.

I started practicing slow living in the city - when I wasn't surrounded by nature daily and beautiful views were something I had to seek out. In this video I'm sharing my path and obstacles I encountered on this journey and how you too can adopt slow and soft life when you're living in the city.

_______

Flower Shortbread Cookies

370g plain flour
120g ground nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts would work perfectly)
180g room temp butter
90g cane sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp lemon juice
Pinch of salt (if using salted butter then skip this step)

In a large bowl whisk together soft butter and sugar until creamy. Then add an egg and whisk again. Add baking sods and pour 1 tbsp of lemon on top of it to make soda bubble. Add flour and ground nuts. (You can use whole nuts and grind them in a blender).
Mix everything well with a spatula first, then by hand. If your dough is too sticky - add extra flour. If it's too dry then add 1-2 tbsp of cold water.
Leave the dough to rest in the fridge for at least 30 mins.
Sprinkle your surface with some flour. Roll the dough out to about 3mm thick (it's best to roll out in pieces, but if you have large enough surface to work on then you can roll out the entire dough). Use cookie cutter or a glass to cut out round cookie shapes. I also cut out some heart and flower shapes from a piece of carton and used them to make cute shapes in the middle of my cookies. You will need an equal amount of plain cookies which will serve as a base and cookies with a shape cut out in the middle which will serve as a top.
Preheat the oven to 180C/ 356F and bake your cookies for 12 minutes.
Let them cool down before assembling.

You can use any jam you like, either store bought or homemade. I used a homemade raspberry jam and store-bought peach jam.

For homemade raspberry jam combine 400g frozen or fresh raspberries, 100g of sugar (or more to taste). Simmer for 10 minutes until sugar is dissolved. In a separate bowl combine 1 tsp of agar agar powder with 2 tbsp of lemon juice. Add into your jam and simmer for another 5 mins until your jam thickens.

Let the jam cool.
To assemble the cookies:
Add 1 tsp of jam to the middle of a plain base cookie, then place a cookie with a cut out shape on top. Press gently.

Optional frosting:
Combine 1 tbsp of powdered sugar with 1/2 of a lemon and mix until smooth.
To make green frosting add 1/4 tsp of matcha powder or a drop of green food colouring.

_____________


Find me on Instagram:
www.instagram.com/dariashew

Filmed on: Fujifilm XH2S with 33mm f1.4 lens
Edited with: Premiere Pro CC
Music: Epidemic Sound

______________

key words:
#cottagecore #softlife #slowliving
soft life, gentle living, soft living, soft girl, cottagecore, slow living, english countryside, country cottage, countryside life, rural life, rhododendron woods, isabella plantation, slow living in the city, springtime vlog, spring vlog, endless days of spring, spring baking, seasonal baking, flower cookies

свернуть