Well, a lot has changed since I last posted anything. I'd probably forget about this blog altogether, be it not for the need to look up the recipes I keep here! As a part of my language practice I've started an Italian blog about the ins-outs of my Italian adventure and thought that home-made-happiness could be its English twin site.

Of course, I mean pork, not the whole pig :-) the name for the dish was somehow inspired by the names of dishes I used to find really fascinating as a kid. A lot of dishes served covered with some variety of white sauce, often a cream or cheese based sauces tend to be called ".... under the duvet" or "... under the cover". Funny, isn't it? I remember how gripping I used to find cookbooks, or my mum's recipe scrapbook as a child. Not that I wouldn't read other books, I did. I was quite a bookworm, and actually that hasn't changed. There was certainly something intriguing about the dish names I found there, sadly most of the dishes rarely lived up to the expectations :-) The names still don't cease to amuse me - when I see all the "the royal style" dishes - meats (mostly game), fish, pates, and even soups. There were also the 'luxurious', 'exquisite' or 'gourment' dishes - raging from meats, through salads, b

I wasn't going to make anything special for Valentines, as day was going to be rather on a hectic side, but the craving for shortbread come all of the sudden and I couldn't get rid of it! ;-) I was very pleasantly surprised to find out how easy they are to prepare. All in all, I ended up making a small batch for the evening during my lunch break :-) Ingredients:  150 g soft butter 55 g caster sugar 180 g plain, all purpose flour Use an electric whisk to cream butter and sugar. When the mixture is smooth, spoon in the flour and knead the dough until all ingredients combine. Gently roll the dough on a floured surface -don't press the rolling pin hard, as the dough is very brittle. When it's about 1 cm thick cut out the shapes and prickle them with a fork. You may need to use a fish-slice to transfer the biscuits onto a baking tray.    Bake in 160C for about 15-20 mins., until they start getting golden-brown. That really is all there is to do! They are FAB

It's definitely one of the best days in a year - diets are completely out of the question and it's actually required to eat doughnuts and other goodies. With time, this has lead to various competition, like eating as many doughnuts as you can - to time limits etc., which may not necessarily be the best idea. However, the concept of enjoying sweeties for a day is certainly down my street! Apart from doughnuts, snot her traditional treat are faworki, aka 'brushwood' or Angel Wings, as they are brittle and apparently resemble wooden twigs that were used to heat houses. Popular in Poland, Lithuania and Germany, they are traditionally eaten during the Carnival, on Fat Thursday and on Mardi Grass, the Tuesday preceding the Ash Wednesday. The name comes from the medieval period when women would give a ribbon "favour" to their favourite knight.  They're neither as difficult, nor time-consuming to prepare as they may seem, but they do disappear from t