Recently, with more and more wariness, I reach for the next Scandinavian detective story. If you think of the most awful crime, scary circumstances or sophisticated torture methods you will find them in one of these books. Crimes which cause children and elderly people to suffer are for me the most harrowing. I found both situations in the "Sezon niewinnych" ("I'm travelling alone") by Samuel Bjørk. Only the fact that it is an excellent novel which is difficult to put down allowed me to read it from the cover to cover. I felt exactly the same when I read "Klara i półmrok" ("Klara and the Twilight") by Jose Carlos Somoza. On the one hand I felt disgusted and angry, so I closed it every few pages, and on the other hand it drew me like a magnet, so I opened it again and read on. This time it was similar. I turned page after page, equally fearing what the next one would bring and eager to find out what would happen next.

The bodies of two six-year-old girls are found in a Norwegian province. The setting looks like a stage design. The girls are clean, well-tended and clothed in dolls' dresses. They have school bags and airline tags round their necks with the information: "I'm travelling alone". Carved into their fingernails are the numbers I and II. The detective Holger Munch and Mia Krüger, his subordinate with a sixth sense, investigate the murder. She discovers that it is connected with an unsolved matter concerning the six-year-old kidnaping of an infant, and the numbers suggest that the girls won't be the last victims. Mia and Holger work against the clock, the murder and the police officers' own demons leading them by the nose.

The first cake I ever dared to bake by myself was a chocolate cake. I have since baked it many times, always using the same recipe, and many times I have spoiled it at the beginning of preparation. It is necessary to cool down the chocolate mixture before adding the rest of the ingredients. On a hot summer day this process is very long, so I accelerated it by putting the pot with the mixture into some cold water in the kitchen sink. Many times, by mistake, I turned on the tap and poured water onto the cooling mixture. In hindsight these situations were amusing, but at the time it wasn't funny.

This chocolate cake is excellent without any additives. You can enrich it with your favourite nuts or butter icing. Today I added some plums to the top of the cake. It was great and its sweet chocolate-plum aroma lingered long in my home.

Ingredients (25cm cake tin):
200g of flour
150g of butter
3 tablespoons of cocoa
120g of brown sugar
15ml of almond milk
100g of dark chocolate
1 egg
1 teaspoon of baking powder
plums

I hate getting up in the morning. Every day, the morning alarm at 6 o'clock is difficult for me. My first thought after awakening every day is the same: "I'll go to bed earlier this evening". Usually, everything finishes with these wishes, because "early" in the evening doesn't exist. When I don't have to get up early, I wake up at 8 o'clock. Then, regardless of the weather outside, my day looks different.

Today I decided to prepare a reward for myself. For these awful mornings. I prepared a breakfast which was so yummy only common sense stopped me from eating a second helping. Buckwheat flakes with almond milk, fruit and some drops of maple syrup. Ok, there were more than several drops of maple syrup, but it was a reward, wasn't it? 

Ingredients:
250ml of almond milk
5 tablespoons of buckwheat flakes
a pinch of salt
fruit (figs, grapes, banana, blueberries)
nuts (cashews, almonds)
3 tablespoons of maple syrup

One day in a restaurant in Warsaw a waiter recommended black pudding with raspberries as a starter. This combination sounded so exotic that we had to try it. The dish was surprisingly tasty. Such seemingly strange combinations require courage, knowledge and intuition from the chef. Essentially, we can put into a pot or onto a plate anything we want. The combination is not always edible. The real masters of fusion food mix ingredients from different cultures and traditions to make new culinary goodies. Lobster with strawberries, chocolate with chili, vegetables as desserts – some of the combinations are on the menu, but there are as many countries as there are possible combinations. We have to dare to experiment.

Today I would like to share with you my proposal for an unusual combination: salad with figs and white beans in a spicy parsley sauce. I recommend adding colourful cherry tomatoes to balance the floury taste of the beans and the gently sweet taste of the figs. They will be equally beautiful as a decoration on the dish.

Ingredients (for 2 people)
200g of white beans
2 fresh figs
12 cherry tomatoes
a fistful of blueberries
dip:
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of water
half a chili pepper
2 tablespoons of minced parsley
1 clove of garlic
salt and pepper

Everyone can see what the weather is like outside. I think the summer has forgotten that it should go on until 21st September. For two weeks - almost without pause - it has been raining and windy, and the temperature doesn't really enthuse. Maybe it should be this way to help pupils at the beginning of the school year. It is difficult to learn when it is sunny outside and the bike and ball are more appealing than books.

Today I would like to propose an almost-autumn fiery soup with white vegetables and pears. The chili pepper and ginger give the soup an interesting flavour and warm us up on rainy afternoons.

Ingredients (for 3 people)
¼ small celery root
10 cm piece of leek (white part)
2 parsley roots
2 cm piece of ginger
2 big pears
2 tablespoons of butter
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
vegetable stock
salt and pepper
half a chili pepper
1 tablespoon of nigella