store some fruit for 'grandmother's baked tea'

i have gotten a couple of jars from friends and it is soooo good i had to make my own :)

the idea is to gather and store fruit (in the freezer) all summer long and at the end of the summer you mix everything together along with some sugar and spices, bake in the oven, fill into jars and enjoy drinking on cold fall and winter days!

ingredients:
2kg of fruit - at least 4 different kinds
1kg sugar
2 cloves
1 tbsp cinnamon
125 ml czech rum - optional ;)

directions:
1. mix all of the ingredients and bake on a thick pan at 175°C for 30-40 min.
2. fill jars immediately(be careful not to burn yourself) and turn up-side-down to let the tops latch on
3. to make tea: pour hot water over 2-3 tblsps of in a cup. and be sure to eat the fruit too!

this first batch i made i used: red currents, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, plums(sliced), tart cherries and one apple(sliced)! it's sooo yummy....it won't last until the fall :)!

p.s. i already made a batch because i started storing fruit too late last summer and missed out on red currents(gives the tea great flavor), so as soon as the currents were ripe (this week) i made a betch using the rest of my stored fruit! ;)

little hedgehogs

.....it's still christmas ;)

 

traditional christmas cookies that my family has been making for generations!

they have always been my favorite and they are my boys' favorite too :)

 

 

babovka / marble cake / poop balls ;)

don't worry, this recipe has nothing to do with poop - the name "poop balls" was made up by 2 silly 14 yr old girls.....who accidentally added too much cocoa, which made the batter too thick, so they decided to make balls out of it. and guess what it resembled? they ended up eating the "poop"/cocoa balls raw and never got to any baking. but i definately recommend baking it, it's delicious!

this is the first recipe i learned from my wonderful mom(...her plate on the photo :) and i am dedicating it to my old childhood friend Erica :)...dobrou chut!

ingredients:
300 g medium-ground flour (polohruba)
150 g sugar
1 vanilla sugar (or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)
250 ml whipping cream
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tbsp dutch cocoa

directions:
- excluding the cocoa, mix everything together until the batter is smooth
- put about 1/ 4 of the batter into a separate bowl and mix in the cocoa
- then pour the batter into a greased and floured form - first vanilla, then cocoa, then the rest of the vanilla (you can play around with the proportions ;)
- bake for approx 45min at 150° C (i always test with a toothpick). i also add a small oven-safe pot of water on the oven rack to keep the cake moist. tip: sometimes when the top of the cake is starting to brown but the inside is still raw, i turn down the temp and let it bake slower
- when finished, take out of the oven, cover with a tea towel and let it cool down. then put plate on top, flip, sprinkle some powdered sugar and serve :)!

black current syrup

i'm not that fond of black currents to eat fresh off the bush, but this is THE BEST berry syrup i have ever had and i finally had enough black currents to make make it this year :)

the recipe is form a different friend than the aronia syrup recipe, so it's a little different :

- 4 kg of black currents
- 2 liters water
- 50 g of citric acid
- sugar - for every 1 liters of current juice 1 1/2 kg of sugar

- MUSH the berries by hand (try to mush all of them), ADD citric acid, cover and let stand for 2 days to ferment
- STRAIN the juice from the berries and try to squeeze out all of the remaining juice from berries (do it over the strainer).
- in a pot combine juice with SUGAR and bring to a BOIL and remove from burner.
- GATHER and discard the foam from the top (so it doesn't go moldy).
- FILL bottles and cap. (my friend also recommended before putting the top on, dipping it in the citric acid to help preserve).

p.s. my friend uses this recipe for all kinds of berries.
p.p.s. you can recycle and use empty glass bottles with twist-off tops.

apple štrůdl beer dough

yes, beer!!!
...i make apple štrůdl (pronouced stroodle - it's like apple pie but in a roll) almost every week and a friend recommended beer dough to me. at first i was a little hesitant - beer, only 3 ingredients and no egg? but i decided to try it and it was the best dough i have ever tried and i'm sticking with this recipe for good!!! so here it is...only i have 4 ingredients, cause i like mine a little sweet(eventhough the beer makes it sweet a little already i still add a tbs of sugar).

400g flour - i use medium(as opposed to finely) ground
125g softened unsalted butter
200ml beer

1 tbsp sugar(optional)

directions:
mix untill smooth and let sit in the fridge - makes it easier to roll out!

note: i'm sure the taste differs a little depending on the beer - i used Svijany - a czech tradtional type of beer. and i would say it's a bit sweeter than american beer.

apple filling:

6-8 apples of choice (my fave is james grieve!)

2-3 tbsp sugar

cinnamon 2tsp
handfull of chopped walnuts (optional)

crumb topping - piškoty or graham crackers

directions for rolling:
- make a strip of apple filling in 1/3 of the dough, leaving
approx. 4cm of the ends blank(they will be tucked in)
- sprinkle a thin layer of crumbs(i just crush the piškoty
with my fingers) on top - to soak up some of the juice
from the apples, so the roll isn'y too soggy)
- fold over the 1/3 flap of dough
- roll over
- add a thin strip of apple filling + crumbs
- fold ends inward
- fold the remaining flap over the top

glaze:
- glaze with a beaten egg
- make fork holes along the top - to let out excess steam

bake:
- 180° C untill golden brown - approx 20 min

dobrou chuť :)

Mezirici chocolate sauce

this is the B.E.S.T. chocolate sauce i have ever had! it's our family's traditional recipe, originally from my great grandmother (so i named it after the town where she lived - Mezirici (pronouced mezyreechee)), but i learned it from my wonderful mom, who always made and makes it to top: our delicious b-day cakes as kids, christmas pastries, crepes with strawberries and whipped cream and icecream sundays! ....or we would just secretly take a spoonful.... :)

                          ingredients:

                          3/4 cup sugar

                          50 ml water

                          125 g cool butter

                          2-3 tbsp dutch cocoa

...you might think that i made a mistake with the amt. of water, but i didn't - it really

is the key to making it "creamy"...if you want it more runny, just add a little water.

1. prepare bowl (heat resistant) with butter - small slices or cubes, add cocoa on top
2. combine sugar and water in a pot, med-high heat, stir until disolved and comes to a boil
3. pour the hot sugar-water over the butter-cocoa and stir until all ingredients combine (1-2min)

p.s. the other day my sis sent me the link to banana icecream, and i'm just "ok" w/ bananas, but this was actually really good(and heathy!) and has just one ingredient! and made a great combo w/ the chocolate sauce...since the icecream is so healthy, we don't have to feel guilty about the chocolate, right ;) ?

yummy gingerbread cookies

i n g r e i e n t s :

500 g flour

100 g sugar

250 g honey

1/8 l   water

1 egg

2 tsp of gingerbread spice mix*

2 tsp of holland cocoa

2 tsp baking soda

* i used this spice mix(but not the recipe),

   or here's a homemade mix

 m i x,   k n e a d,   m a k e,   b a k e:

1. m i x  flour, spice mix and soda in a bowl

2. simmer water, sugar and honey together

3. while still warm, pour sugar-honey-water into the flour

mix and  k n e a d  together (by hand or - i used my kitchenaid)

4. add egg and  k n e a d  again

5. refridgerate dough for a couple of hours

6. m a k e - roll out dough and cut out cookies

(note: we also used cookie stamps and a knife to decorate)

7. b a k e  at med-high heat and remove from oven shortly

after the cookies rise (it also depends on how thin you make your

cookies, but we baked ours at 180° C for about 3-4 minutes)

  

optional:

- as soon as you take them out of the oven - while still hot, glaze with (very well) beaten egg.

tip: if you want to have darker brown cookies, add 1-2tsp  of cocoa to the egg.

optional2:

 - when cookies are cool(i usually do it the next day), decorate with icing. 

tip: if you're having a hard time making straight lines with your icing, try making a line of dots or dashs(that is, if your icing is not too runny), looks better than a runny line! and makes the cookies cuter!

if you intend to store them, store in a container with a cinnamon stick, a few cloves and vanilla bean stick :)

p.s. they make lovely ornaments!

best ever liver-pork-pâté!

this is a recipe from my mom's good friend.
the first time i tasted this pâté i fell in love with it...everyone does!

...i didn't want to put easy in the title, since all of the recipes i post are easy, but it really is easy. i even compared it to pâté recipes in my cookbook and all of them had much more ingredients and were also more complicated.


ingredients:
300g ground pork liver (1 liver is approx 500-600g)
900g ground streaky pork (the bacon cut)
1 large finely chopped onion
20g salt
1 tsp peper
2 tsp of seasoning - i use either trader joe's 21seasoning salute or alnatura klare gemusebruhe
mason jars and lids

3 STEPS: 1. MIX thoroughly with your hands or in your kitchen aid - smaller portions and on low.
2. FILL jars only 2/3 full (if you fill it more, the juices will get under the lid and it won't be able to suction.
3. COOK - lightly boil for 2hrs.

notes and tips:
- for those of you who have a meat grinder, grind it yourself :)! - i have a grinder attachment to my favorite(!!!) kitchen appliance - kitchen aid :).
- if the lid doesn't end up suctioning, which has happened to me many times - put in freezer or give out to friends for ealry consumption :)!
- 1 liver makes a batch of approx 10 300ml jars(filled only 2/3!)

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...:)))

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 :)!

simple and yummy!!!

one of my life credos is "simplicity is beautiful" and here are 2 REALLY simple and REALLY yummy recipes:

no-knead bread  -   link
 

- whenever we're expecting company and i don't feel like/don't have time to make a time-consuming lunch/dinner this bread is great! along with the fresh bread i serve garlic-herb butter, and/or a cheese spread, sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, etc.- whatever you like! it goes with just about anything! and a plate of assorted hams and cheeses, a plate of veggies and other additional appetizers like olives in VOI with garlic and herbs, etc. it tastes like ciabatta, only better having it fresh from the oven! the bread is really simple, the only "but" is you have to prepare the dough ahead of time. i've tried using plain white flour but it tastes even better with a white flour specially made for bread baking - for czech readers it's "PENAM pšeničná chlebová mouka."

lemon ice cream - link
- i've never had a liking for lemon ice cream, but this is soooo delicious! it's also very simple but you also have to prepare it ahead of time. i actually like it best when it's not totally frozen and still a little soft. you can have it plain, or add some berries (i love it with raspberries) or with a homemade family recipe chocolate icing(i'll give the recipe for the chocolate next time since St is waking up already - it's the best chocolate icing i've ever had!!!) 
p.s. don't forget to use organic(bio) lemons since we add some lemon peel.