go fly a kite!

easy-peasy cake!

...so easy, even the kids can make it!

last week St turned 1(yay!!!)and this is the cake i made him. first thing he did was grab some piškoty - has one in his hand on the photo :)

Ji loves this cake and also enjoys making it! and even dad had second helpings....he doesn't have much of a sweet-tooth(more like meat-tooth...lol), so that means it really is really good! 

ingredients:

- piškoty - lady fingers

- 200ml whipping cream

- 200ml sour cream
- 1-2 tbs sugar

- fruit - canned/frozen/fresh - i used frozen strawberries and blueberries and canned mandarin oranges and peaches

- agar(optional)

- cake pan or if you don't want to make a "cake," you can just put it in bowls

directions:
- whip up the whipping cream with the sugar(i use vanilla sugar)
- gently stir in the sour cream *1
- start layering: 1. piškoty, 2. wc-sc, 3. fruit *2
- refridgerate *3
- agar layer according to the instructions *4
- decorate *5

* notes/tips:
1. the amount of creams vary depending on how many layers you want to make...i made 6 layers (2 of each) and used a 22cm cake mold. the ratio if wc/sc is up to you - the best thing to do is taste as you go along :)
2. for the first layer of piškoty, i fiil in the holes between the whole piskoty with broken up pieces. if you are using frozen fruit, make the cake with it still frozen, so it doesn't get soggy. if you are not going to add a final agar layer and you are using canned and/or frozen fruit -  after adding the fruit, spread another thin layer of cream on(so the fruit doesn't dry up).
3. usually a couple of hours will do...depending on the number of layers. if you are going to add agar, refridgerate for an hour or so, just to set it and get it cool before you add the agar.
4. i like mine thin, just to make a nice glaze. make it natural or add some fruit juice or syrup to add color.
5. after you take off the outer cake pan ring you can add some piškoty to the perimeter - the cream soaks through so it's moist enough to just stick them on.

p.s. this cake is also really good with just one type of fruit - like fresh strawberries...:)))

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 :)