The last day of the year gives us food for thought. Everybody who made New Year's resolutions can think about which ones they achieved and if it's worth trying again with the ones they didn't. I don't make New Years resolutions. If I am not able to deliver, they make me frustrated and dissatisfied. Now I try to take up the gauntlet and realize my dreams which I meet on my way. One of my challenges for the last few years has been systematically updating my blog. I would like to thank everybody who assists me with this work. Without you it would be more difficult and less inspiring.

Celebrating the year's end and with the next one in front of us, I wish that all your dreams will come true; that your goals will always be clear and you will chase after them. Let positive people be around you, the people who have inspired and pushed you forward. Let the New Year 2019 be better than the one which is coming to an end.

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve is an amazing time. Everybody should spend it the way they like. Some people will go to a buzzing party, and some will choose binge-watching films or an absorbing book. One thing unites all of these: yummy food. Everybody prepares something special and tasty to eat. After all, this day only comes once a year. The best dishes are the ones which don't need a lot of work. Many of us spend New Year's afternoon in different ways. The New Year's dishes should be bite-size. We pick them up on the fly between one dance and the next. And the ingredients – the less creamy the better. A "picturesque" blob of whipped cream or sauce on our evening dress isn't what merrymakers dream of.

That's why today I would like to share with you the recipe for sweet chocolate pralines with nut butter inside. They look amazing and are excellent. Both small and adult merrymakers love them. Prepare them the day before to let the chocolate congeal. You may use small paper muffin moulds or special silicon praline cases.

Ingredients (for 30 pralines)
400g of plain chocolate
10 teaspoons of nut butter
2 teaspoons of caster sugar
a pinch of salt
70g of white chocolate
colourful sugar decorations

We like herrings. Everybody except for my son, but he basically doesn't like anything so I don't care about it. We like traditional herrings with onion the most, but every year for Christmas Eve I try to prepare a new herring dish. This year, thanks to www.igraszkilosu.pl we had orange-cranberry herrings with chili pepper and rosemary on our table. Preparing this meal only takes a little while. The most difficult thing is waiting. You have to leave the herrings in the fridge for the whole night. I have to say it is worth the wait. The herrings are gentle but definitely smell nice and are tasty with the orange and slightly sour cranberries. A smattering of chili pepper, which isn't in the original recipe, spices them up nicely.

Ingredients:
4 pieces of herring in oil
100g of fresh cranberries
orange peel
juice of 2 oranges
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 red onion
1 chili pepper
125ml of oil
1 twig of rosemary

Before Christmas we think that everything is important: twelve traditional dishes on the Christmas Eve table, shopping, clean windows, polished floor and a lot of sophisticated presents. When we stop during the pre-Christmas madness for a while and search our hearts, we understand that the most important thing is our family. If we don't have anybody to sit with at the table, give a hug or smile over a cup of hot cocoa, all our efforts are pointless.

At this amazing time of year, I wish you to meet only friendly, loving people who will share the magic of Christmas time with you. I hope the coming days will be full of health, fulfilled dreams, nice family meetings and smiles on children's faces.

Merry Christmas!

The winter in the kitchen smells of gingerbread, nuts, chocolate and cranberries. Today I would like to share with you the recipe for a dessert which excellently combines these ingredients. It is a great idea for dessert after Christmas dinner, but you may prepare it whenever you like. This dessert could be a way to use up the gingerbread cookies after Christmas when everybody has got bored with them. In my family it isn't possible. I have to hide our gingerbread cookies to have a few left for Christmas.

I prepare coconut-vanilla tapioca, white like the snow, for this dessert. But if you like, you can prepare chocolate tapioca or add some cinnamon when cooking.

Ingredients:
60g of tapioca
400ml of coconut milk
200ml of milk
2 teaspoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
a couple of gingerbread cookies
a couple of walnuts