I have to get to the bottom of the phenomenon of bickies. They are nothing special but they are addictive, moreish and they don't let you leave if there is even the smallest crumb left on the plate. If you want to prepare almond-cinnamon cookies for Christmas, don't make the same mistake I did, and wait a few days. Unless you have stronger determination than me. My cookies are almost gone. I have to make them again, and again and again ... and maybe some of them will make it to the Christmas table.

I made almond-cinnamon cookies in a trice, just like I ate them. They were delicate, crunchy and had a beautiful Christmas smell. Make them in any shape or without any shape, sprinkle them with sugar or do what I did: decorate them with chocolate and almond flakes. However, you make them, the cookies will be excellent. Unfortunately...

Ingredients (45 cookies)
100g of ground almonds
200g of flour
100g of caster sugar
175g of butter
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
a pinch of salt
decoration
100g of dark chocolate
100g of white chocolate
almond flakes

Traditionally, during the Polish Christmas Eve supper we don't eat any meat. Instead we have twelve dishes with fish, mushrooms, vegetables and cabbage. In my home everybody waits for their favourite meal: my husband and daughter for the herring dishes and vegetable salad, my son for the fried fish, while I wait for dumplings and jellied carp.

One of the traditional dishes in many Polish homes is łazanki with cabbage and mushrooms. Łazanki are small, square noodles. The best dish is made with noble porcini mushrooms. I sometimes mix these forest mushrooms with sliced champignons, which look beautiful among the noodles. Łazanki are a Christmas Eve dish, but sometimes when my children ask me I prepare it during the rest of the year too.

Ingredients:
500g of sauerkraut
1 onion
60g of dried porcini
6-7 champignons
1 tablespoon of caraway seeds
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons of butter
300g of łazanki
salt and pepper

If I ever had to stop eating meat, I would only be able to do it if I could still eat fish. I like all kinds of fish, so I like to go to the seaside where dinners in fish restaurants are an obligatory part of the agenda. On the Polish west coast we often visit a fish and chip shop in Kamień Pomorski. For a few years they have prepared excellent fish dishes with fresh fish from the sea. The local fish soup is second to none, and we always eat it when we are there.

Today I would like to share with you the recipe for my fish soup. It has a lot of tomato with spicy ajvar and a couple of types of fish. The kind of fish you choose depends on what you like and what you can buy. You can use fillet of fish, which is convenient because there are no bones. It's better to buy whole fish from which you can cut fillets and use the rest to cook fish bouillon. Cooked this way it has a deep and more intense taste.

Ingredients
bouillon
0.3 kg of leftover fish
3 allspices
2 bay leaves
1 clove garlic (with skin)
a quarter of onion
the rest
0.7 kg of fish fillet
1 carrot
1 parsley root

Fish reigns on Christmas Eve. Traditionally, we serve herrings, carp, zander, and sometimes salmon. In our home we like fried carp and jellied carp, and we have herring served with onion or in a cream sauce. It is our steady repertoire. Every year we prepare something new and interesting. Certain dishes have settled with us for a long time, but others, even though they were good, don't come back the next year.

This time I would like to propose to you a salad with anchovies, beetroots and eggs. It looks extremely decorative, especially when served in glasses. Next time I will add a layer of diced doll pickles mixed with hot peppers. This sour and spicy taste should go very well with the salty anchovies and sweet beetroots.

Ingredients (for 2 people):
200g of anchovies
2 beetroots
3 eggs
2 tablespoons of minced parsley
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of honey
salt and pepper

Poppyseed cakes, ginger cakes, cheese cakes ... the traditional Christmas table groans with excellent, sweet food. Mums, aunts and grandmas excel in preparing new, surprising goodies. Today I would like to share with you a recipe for a dessert which on the one hand is traditional because it is a cheese cake, and on the other hand is simpler and served in a slightly different way.

Oreo mini cheesecakes will be a beautiful and very tasty treat on the Christmas table. They are easy to prepare, and you can make them between preparing the Christmas Eve soup and baking loin. They will be appreciated by very busy housewives, and all children will be delighted with the small sweeties.
The recipe comes from www.haps.gazeta.pl

Ingredients (for 12 mini cheese cakes):
250ml of 30% sweet cream
400g of mascarpone cheese
3 teaspoons of caster sugar
22 oreo cookies
lemon zest
75g of dark chocolate
3 walnuts
peppermint leaves