Gosh, it's been a while since I last posted something here, I got snowed under work :( Meanwhile the real snow has melted, and this weekend we're enjoying really springy weather - sunny and nearly 20C outside! I've made my beloved dew cheesecake, as it's too early for fresh fruit dessert, and this one tastes like ice-cream so I decided it will do as the first spring dessert! I could say that making it this time round was a bit of an adventure, as electricity decided it was time to start turning itself on and of, just as I was in the middle of baking and whisking egg whites! All in all, though the cake turned out great and tasted delicious as usual, so there's only a small bit left for dessert tomorrow. Guess that's good? ;-) To make a big cheese cake you need: For the base: 2 large cups of flour 0.5 large cup of sugar 2 egg yokes 1 whole egg 2 teaspoons of baking powder 0.5 tub of margarine (125 g) Mix all ingredients and knead until smooth. Then...

I really like making cakes. Although I have a really sweet tooth, I could venture to say that it is the making of the cake that I enjoy the most, eating it is just an extra :) Carrot cake is one of my favourites, and really easy to make, I guess it could be labelled "fool proof". Initially I used to make it without the icing - I would simply sprinkle icing sugar on top. Yet, I must admit that the icing definitely gives the cake the finishing touch, and fantastically complements the flavour. For the cake you need: 3-4 large, sweet carrots (the quality of carrots is crucial here - they can really spoil the cake if they aren't sweet enough) 1 apple 2 large cups of flour (250 millilitres) 1 large cup of sugar 1 large cup of oil 4 eggs 2 teaspoons of baking powder 1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon Peel and finely grate the carrots. Mix flour, sugar and baking powder and cinnamon in a large bowl, add the eggs and oil, stir in grated carrots. Mix all the ingredients we...

Every now and then I feel a need to make fuss of a meal and go for a three dish dinner thing. Today was one of those days :) The whole meal was prepared in Italian style, however after the main we were so full that  dessert comprised only of Italian espresso, still delicious though! I got the idea for the starter from one of the Italian places we frequent for lunches and dinners - bread balls (made of pizza dough) served with pesto genovese (basil based pesto), pesto rosso (pesto with sun dried tomatoes), and salted butter. For the starter you need: about half a cup of flour a pinch of yeast salt lukewarm water or milk a splash of olive oil Mix all ingredients and knead the dough well until it's soft and playable. Sprinkle olive oil onto it place it in a bowl, and leave in a warm place to grow for about half an hour. Then form small balls and place them on a baking tray, leave some space between them as they'll grow during baking. Preheat the oven to about 180C ...

Call it a cliché, but there is no Valentine's Day without hearts all around! Though, I'm glad that the school days, when wearing red on Valentine's Day at some point become compulsory, are over! Today, however, I couldn't totally resist the spirit of the day and decided to make a heart-shaped pizza for lunch. As I mentioned in my earlier posts - weekday lunches must most of all be quick to prepare -and today was no exception. I've heard from many people that making pizza takes lots of time, but mine was ready in less than 30 minutes! I didn't leave the dough to rest too much- only as long as I needed to peel and slice the mushrooms and prepare tomato sauce (though here I took a shortcut :). The dough: All you need for is flour (probably slightly less than 0.5 kilogram, but my pizzas are made so intuitively that the proportions are nothing more than an estimate), a bit of yeast (I used dry to save time) - probably 1/4 teaspoon a dash of olive oil a pinch ...

Every now and again the day comes when I hear the question 'Could we possibly have some real meat?'. "The real meat" being something else than chicken, which for some reason tends to appear in a great majority of my favourite meals. So, every now and again I back down, buy some pork or beef to later ask myself why I don't do it more often! Beef, after all is actually the king of meats - not only is it tender, soft and flavoursome, but it is also filling and amazingly simple and quick to prepare. The idea for this meal has been following me for a few days, and finally today I got around to making it. This beef-based dish is great for lunch or dinner, and in my opinion gives plenty of energy to keep warm, thus it's ideal for this time of year. The simplicity of preparation and short cooking time are just a bonus here! :) I used about 250-300g piece of beef, which I sliced, seasoned with pepper and put thinly sliced garlic on each side of the chops.The thin...

Although I really like cooking and could spend ages in the kitchen preparing, tasting and 'bringing the meal to perfection', on an average day time is of essence so lunch must be tasty, but  most of all quick. It took us a while to fight the temptation of takeaways or fast food bars (old habits! :) as an option for quick lunch, but by now, I've developed quite a selection of quick and tasty meals. The luxury of 'slow cooking' is reserved for the weekends and actually, the first time I prepared this meal was indeed at the weekend, as I expected the preparation to be much longer than it really is.  I was quite shocked how quickly the parcels were ready to be served (only to disappear from the plates even faster!). The meal combines the necessary requirements for a 'weekday lunch' - it is stunningly easy to prepare and truly delicious - could one ask for more? Depending in the imagination they may be square, triangular, or circular shaped. I usually go for ...

I remember "assisting" my Nan when she was baking those delicious custard cupcakes. There was probably more disturbance than help on my side, and unfortunately I was a bit too small back then to learn how to make them properly. Now, by cupcakes I mean something sightly different to the iced sponges you see everywhere - the Polish cupcake is more of a sweet pastry case with a gooey filling - all generously dusted with enough icing sugar to give my husband a coughing fit. These days, this type of cakes is available pretty much in any cake shop, but there's nothing like home-made ones! Maybe it's just me, but that seems to be the case with all cakes - you can buy them to save yourself the hassle of preparation, but the bought ones are never quite as good. Plus, there's a part of my that will make me try to make it 'just the way it should be' :) This time though, as it sometimes happens, not everything went according to the plan. The recipe is really easy...

Italian cuisine is often to be considered to be simple. I guess it is like with elegance - simplicity is the key. Good quality, real Italian ingredients are crucial, combined with a bit a passion, and not too complex a recipe. Pronto! Though, to tell you the truth, my very first steps with Italian cuisine included ... using instant sauces ... Nowadays I can't quite comprehend how anybody can claim they taste of anything, but I guess it takes trying to "the real deal" ...   The very first thing I cooked from scratch, and we both instantly loved, was spaghetti Pomodoro e Basilico, as the Italian call it. Even though for the Italian it is "primo piato" (first dish), an introduction to the main meal, it is just the matter of the amount, as it surely can be the main meal as well! All we need is spaghetti pasta, 4-5 ripe, sweet tomatoes, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tablespoon of passata, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, a few basil leaves, salt and pepper to seaso...

It's hard to believe that it took until now to see some snow this winter! No snow in December, no white Christmas, and when everybody got really and truly fed up with the omnipresent colour gray - surprise! The snow had arrived. Finally we've got the evenings with white flakes dancing outside the windows, and mornings with the whole world covered with white fluff. There's always been something magical about snow for me. I've always loved  wrapping myself in a warm blanket and sipping hot cocoa or chocolate while looking at the white painted world outside.  Speaking of hot choccy, I've got a great recipe for a winter cuppa for two, or two servings for one, since it's that good! It really is dead easy to prepare and there's no way to spoil it, no matter how much of a cooking klutz one might be! Better still - I've hear that not only is it delicious, but apparently there's something about the way the fats from chocolate and milk combine in th...