I didn't know that cake with pineapple from a tin is an American invention. First I made it, then I did some digging and now I know all about it. In the original recipe, it is an upturned cake. I made my own version with pineapple slices on top, just like I usually do when making cakes with fruit. Next time I will do it the American way.

This is one of those cakes which is tastier the next day, when the cake is moist from the fruit. It is simple, cheap and perfect with afternoon coffee at home.

Ingredients:

125g of butter

270g of flour

4 eggs

1 teaspoon of baking powder

125g of sugar

3 tablespoons of desiccated coconut

1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar

3 tablespoon of caster sugar

1 tin of pineapple

Today I would like to share with you a recipe for a satisfying breakfast or early supper. Pumpernickel with smoked salmon looks interesting, and my son couldn't decide whether it looks more like a sandwich or a cake.

Pumpernickel probably comes from Germany and in the XVII century its name meant 'sad layer', bread that is hard to digest. It is dark, baked in a baking pan, sourdough, with coarse-grained rye flour, honey, treacle or extract from apples and malt. Pumpernickel is brown, sometimes almost black. It is baked at a low temperature (120-150C) but for a very long time of up to 16 hours.

Pumpernickel has a low glycemic index (46) so it is perfect for people who have an active lifestyle, exercise often, and would like to lose weight.

Ingredients:

4 slices of pumpernickel

2 tablespoons of butter

a half of clove of garlic

2 tablespoons of minced dill

100g of smoked salmon

Today's dish appeared on our menu after my husband went on a trip with his male friends. I found out that on such trips men do not only drink beer, eat crisps and for lunch order pizza or hamburgers. Very 'male' food has many advantages: it is simple, doesn't need any sophisticated ingredients or complicated preparation. It is practical in the positive sense of the word. I think for this reason, dishes made with courgette and pepper appeal to us.

I always have the following ingredients in my kitchen: courgette, pepper, onion, garlic and pesto. Because it only needs a short time to prepare, this dish is excellent on busy days.

It is immensely important not to overdo the vegetable. If the vegetables are not crunchy, the dish will lose its character and it won't look nice. If you like monochromatic combinations, you can add green pepper to the courgette, and if you like colourful dishes, you can combine it with various peppers.

Ingredients:

1 big courgette

1 pepper

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

The banana has been known in Europe since the XIX century and despite such a short history, it has gained ground on European tables through its excellent taste and rich nutritional value. It contains magnesium and potassium, which have a positive impact on our heart, and substances which reduce cholesterol.

When you have low spirits – get a banana. These fruits contain tryptophan – an amino acid which our body converts into serotonin – a happiness hormone.

People grow only 20 from almost 800 known species of banana, each of which differs in size, shape, colour and pulp and starch content. There are bananas which taste like apple, red bananas and inedible bananas which are used for the production of paper and rope.

In the kitchen bananas have universal application. In our latitude we use them mainly for desserts. We add them to salads, fruit cocktails and cakes. Until recently I didn't like hot bananas. Recently I have prepared grilled bananas with brown sugar and ice cream. This quick and simple dessert was very tasty. I decided to explore this further and prepared bananas in French pastry. Again I was not disappointed. I found an inspiring recipe on the blog arabeskawaniliowa.

Ingredients:

1 pack of chilled French pastry

6 bananas

In the wild, oyster mushrooms grow on tree trunks. We can find them in forests on dead deciduous trees literally all over the world (except Antarctica), but their homeland is China.

Oyster mushrooms have amazing health benefits. They supply easily assimilable protein, folic acid, amino acids, Vitamin B and mineral salts. Substances which reduce cholesterol and sugar level in the blood have been detected too. Japanese scientists demonstrated that extract from oyster mushrooms could decrease tumors. Slovakian scientists extracted from them a substance which improves the immune system.

Young mushrooms are the best for cooking. Older ones could be stringy. You should keep cleaning to a minimum because they easily soak up water. Oyster mushrooms can be fried or baked and they are an excellent filling for crepes and dumplings.

Up to now I have fried oyster mushrooms in butter and served with garlic and dill. For the first time, I decided to bake them. From a few ingredients I made a very tasty and distinctively flavorsome salad.

Ingredients (for two people):

250g of oyster mushrooms

100g of fresh young spinach

8 dried tomatoes in olive oil

2 tablespoons of dried thyme