happy weekend!

:)

Aronia berry syrup recipe

quite easy to make -  the worst part is the picking and mushing...

here, it is very popular to make and drink berry juices form syrup. last week i made my second batch of aronia syrup and it is sooo good. it's my second favorite, first is black current!

this is a recipe from my friend and it works for all kinds of berries:
- wash picked berries and mush them up with your fingers in a large pot - it is best to mush them in smaller amounts before adding more.
- fill the pot with water so it is leveled with the mushed berries(or just slightly above the berries)
- add a little bit of citric acid and mix - i used aout 2 tbsps for 5 liters of berries
- cover pot and let it sit for 24-48 hrs at room temp (beware - while fermenting the juice level will rise!)
- then strain the berry juice and try to squeeze out all of the remaining juice from berries (do it over the strainer)
- add sugar to the juice - 1kg sugar/1 liter of juice
then you can either make the non-boiled or boiled version, or both!:
(the non-boiled version is great because you don't loose any vitamins, but it doesn't last that long.)
- after adding sugar stir occasionally until dissolved.....took me about an hour. (good to do while doing another kithcen chore :)! i didn't want to take my chances, so i stored mine in the fridge. 3 liters lasted for about a week....we drank it all :)!
- for the boiled version - let boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. fill glass bottles while still hot and cap.

p.s. aronia berries are very high in vitamin C and antioxidents :)!

we love wild mushroom: hunting...and eating!!!

mushroom hunting is like a treasure hunt!

since we have forests right behend our house, we go almost everyday :) ...Ji with his basket, me with baby St in my ergo(best baby carrier!), with a hiking pole (VERY helpful with carrying the extra weight ;) - used it during pregnancy too!) and even dad comes with us when he has time.

this photo is from 2 days ago. we only fould a couple but this one was worth it!

and they are delicious! - in soups, with scrambled eggs, pickled...yum!

p.s. for those of you who are not familiar with wild mushrooms, some can be very! poisonous!

log pillows

a little wedding present for our friends

to keep them  w a r m  and  c o s y!!!

- log basket from a local basket maker

- very large log pillows made by me :)

peek-a-boo :)

plastic-bottle-marble-rattle

St has learned to crawl......so i'm constantly in the need of things to keep him busy to get anything(!!!) done around the house. when Ji was little, i learned that most of the time ordinary household items are far more interesting than real toys....or a combo of the two :)...

just water in the bottle was fun, but the marbles

swirling around (or both :) were even more fun :)

make sure the lid is on really tight!

the shadow of the bottle was pretty cool also...

sock-pea-bags

i've had a bunch of boys' socks in need of toe-repair in my "repair basket" for a couple of months(!!!) and had been contemplating, if i should repair them or just up/down cycle them as cleaning rags, when the other day i got the idea of making quick and easy play pea-bags out of them...didn't have beans at home ;)

Ji had fun filling them.....and chasing all the run-away peas :)

we had fun throwing them into a basket and cardboard-box-lion's-mouth (easy!). and even dad joined us on this one!

1.sew the bottom seam with sewing machine

2. fill with peas ;)                         

3.pin the top part(to hold the peas in place)

4. sew the top seam

5. cut off excess fabric

(6. ...now use the scraps as cleaning rags :)

snack-sac

cotton is better than plastic :)!

antipasta salad :))!

it's asparagus season here now and i loooove asparagus! this is a wonderful recipe i learned from a highschool friend - it's easy, refreshing and very yummy!

serves 4:
- cooked pasta  500g
- steamed asparagus  500g
- cherry tomato 300-400g
- eidam or cheddar cubes 200g
- sliced ham (the real kind!)  150g
- homemade italian dressing - here (i use fresh basil and don't add peppers)


p.s. it's a cold (room temp.) salad - mix the "warm" ingredients together after cooled to room temp...the cheese is not supposed to melt!

dobrou chuť!!!