My children are slowly growing up, and the time when mum is the only source of food in the home will come to an end. There are some dishes which they can prepare themselves. Recently, I have been able to sleep 10 minutes longer in the morning because my daughter prepares breakfast herself. It is nice, but it is sad to think that the time when they don't need me is coming.

Recently, my daughter suggested preparing a dessert together. She wanted something that was equally chocolaty, fruity and sweet. We made a dessert which met all these expectations. We wrapped dark chocolate, seasonal fruit and marshmallows in French pastry. We ate it together hot from the plate. It was nice and yummy.

Ingredients:
1 pack of chilled French pastry
150g of dark chocolate
a couple of strawberries
a handful of blueberries
a handful of raspberries
75g of marshmallows
2 tablespoons of milk

On a hot summer afternoon we can prepare extremely different dishes: either spicy grilled meat or light vegetable dishes or salad. I definitely like the second option. Because the weather spoils us with sun and blue sky, I often prepare many kinds of vegetable dishes. Today, barley groats, my favourite asparagus spears and grilled vegetables (pepper and courgette) were my choice. The crunchy sauce with cashew nuts and pistachios was an excellent addition to this meal. Parsley was also an indispensable ingredient, and not only as a decoration. "Heaven" said my husband. Maybe you would also like it?

Ingredients (for 2 people)
100g of barley groats
1 small courgette
1 pepper
a bunch of asparagus spears
2 tablespoons of olive oil
sauce:
a handful of cashew nuts
a handful of pistachios
1 tablespoon of honey
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of water
parsley

A tart is a nice cake which every time may look and taste different. You only have to use different fruit, form the dough on the top in a different way and you will make a quite beautiful and yummy dessert. Today I would like to share with you the recipe for a tart for the end of the rhubarb season. You should pick the rhubarb at the turn of May and June, because in young spears the amount of calcium oxalate is low. In the course of time this amount is higher and the rhubarb can be impaired.

I like strawberries, so I enriched the stuffing of the tart with some of my favourite fruit. They go with the rhubarb perfectly. You can decorate the top of the cake as you like. My mum grated the dough on top to make a grid. I went crazy and made a flower version of my tart. It looks wonderful, doesn't it?

Ingredients (25-27 cm cake tin)
dough:
300g of flour
100g of sugar
120g of butter
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
2 tablespoons of brown sugar (to sprinkle on the cake)
stuffing:
350g of strawberries
400g of rhubarb
3 tablespoons of brown sugar

During the weekends I usually cook more traditional dishes, because my children like eating some meat for dinner. When they eat lunch at school, my husband and I prefer to avoid meat. We like salad, groats, vegetables and fruit smoothies. Additionally, the summer heat doesn't encourage us to eat a lot of meat. Sometimes, more for flavour than for need, I sneak in a meat ingredient.

I rarely add fried bacon to salad. Today I did so and it was a great choice. Crunchy slices of bacon are excellent with grilled Belgian endives and spicy strawberry salsa. Maybe the fried bacon will be an incentive for those who prefer meat dishes. Up to now I have used Belgian endives as a kind of lettuce and to add a bit of crunchiness to salads. Today I used it in a different way and I have to say it was very tasty.

Ingredients (for 2 people)
2 Belgian endives
8 thin slices of bacon
salsa:
8 strawberries
half a chili pepper
2 tablespoons of minced basil leaves
¼ of an onion
2 tablespoons of chopped cashew nuts
1 teaspoon of honey
2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Today I would like to share with you a dish which looks bad but tastes heavenly. I think it should be interesting for anyone who, like me, doesn't like throwing food away. I used these leftover ingredients: stale challah, some fruit and coconut milk. There wasn't enough to prepare a big dish, but there was just enough for a messy dessert.

The bake with challah and in-season strawberries and blueberries combined with coconut milk and a coconut crumble topping was excellent with currant sorbet and fresh peppermint leaves. It was sweet, wonderfully crunchy on the outside and moist and fruity inside.

Ingredients (for 2 people)
half a big challah
a couple of strawberries
a handful of blueberries
150ml of coconut milk
3-4 tablespoons of maple syrup
half a teaspoon of cinnamon
crumble topping
1 tablespoon of butter
4 tablespoons of desiccated coconut
2 teaspoons of caster sugar