Recently, my daughter stopped liking carrots, either fresh or cooked. Recently, meaning since yesterday, when I prepared a yummy, fragrant ginger-orange soup with new carrots. My daughter said that she had never liked carrots, but she is well-bred and didn't say so. Well... I don't know if it is good or not. Fortunately, I rarely prepare carrot soup, so she hasn't had to suffer much. For sure, she is well-bred, because even though she doesn't like carrots, she ate the soup without fussing. My son said that the soup was excellent. He still likes carrots... for now 

The soup looks like a ray of sunshine, which is a good reason to remember this recipe. It can lighten the dark November afternoon. The soup is fragrant, but not too spicy and warms you up nicely. I prepared some crunchy parsley-garlic croutons for the soup.

Ingredients:
soup:
1kg of new carrots
1 small onion
2-cm piece of ginger
100ml of orange juice
0.5ml of vegetable stock
0.5ml of milk (or sweet cream)
1 tablespoon of butter
salt and pepper
croutons
5 slices of bread
2 tablespoons of butter
1 clove of garlic
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley

Gardeners know that wild strawberry bushes can't grow and bear fruit near strawberries or raspberries. They like the company of lavender or chives. Maybe they know that next to strawberries and raspberries – the queens of the summer - they look inconspicuous. It is not true. We all know that there is nothing better than wild strawberries, garden-fresh in grandma's garden on a summer day.

Today I bought a small basket of fresh, ripe wild strawberries. This fruit doesn't keep for long, so you need to eat it fast. So I prepared a yummy dessert with wild strawberries. I didn't cook them, because they are so delicious fresh. We ate them fresh with stracciatella cream and almonds.

Ingredients (for 2 people)
200g of wild strawberries
100g of 30% sweet cream
100g of mascarpone cheese
100g of chocolate drops
2 teaspoons of caster sugar
a couple drops of vanilla essence
a couple of cantucini
a few almonds

When I saw in the newspaper a photo with a shortbread croissant with sweet cottage cheese and fruit I thought it must be yummy and excellent idea for a holiday breakfast. Only during the holiday can we celebrate breakfast prepared slowly and eaten with relish. You don't need to hurry yourself or your children. You can sit down to a beautifully set table and enjoy the delicious delights. I replaced the shortbread croissant with larger breakfast croissants and I used fresh fruit in season. You may use your favourite bread. Brew up your favourite tea, or maybe you prefer cocoa or fragrant coffee. A glass of freshly squeezed orange juice complements the perfect breakfast. You must admit that it sounds great.

Ingredients (for 2 people)
2 big croissants
150g of cottage cheese
100g of natural yoghurt
2 teaspoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of peanut butter
2 fistfuls of favourite fruit

When I ask foreigners what the best Polish dish is they often say sour soup and dumplings. Many countries have their own recipes for dumplings, but apparently only in Poland are there so many types of stuffing. We can have dumplings for every occasion. We have dumplings with meat, dumplings for vegetarians and, especially for children, sweet dumplings, for example with bilberries and sour cream. It is worth mentioning royal dumplings with cabbage and mushrooms for Christmas Eve.

We like the most dumplings with meat, and "ruskie" with potatoes, cheese and onion. Sometimes I prepare dumplings with oyster mushrooms, spinach, buckwheat groats and cheese. This time I decided to prepare dumplings with lentil stuffing. I used green lentils, which are harder than red ones, and the stuffing is more compact and easier to cover with the dough.

Ingredients
dough
500g of flour
4 tablespoons of oil
250-300 ml of boiling water
a pinch of salt
stuffing
100g of dry green lentils
2 cloves of garlic
1 big onion
4 tablespoons of chopped parsley
1 tablespoon of butter
salt and pepper

Though I find it very hard to believe, holidays are not only for children. After a sunny day, we usually drink local wine or we prepare holiday drinks.

Making use of the end of the strawberry season, I recommend preparing a light strawberry rum drink. The blended strawberries are excellent not only for milk cocktails, but are great for low alcohol drinks. Mix them with sparkling wine, rum or tequila and enjoy a refreshing sweet drink with a bit of liquor. If you don't like the combination of rum and sparkling wine, add Sprite or simply sparkling water. Add frozen strawberries so as not to dilute the drink with dissolved ice.

Ingredients (for 2 drinks)
10 ripe frozen strawberries
50ml of orange juice
25ml of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
50ml of white rum
50ml of sparkling wine