When baking cookies and cakes I like the aroma the most. I like the fruity aroma when I make plum cake or apple pie, the caramel aroma when I have cookies in the oven, but most of all I like the chocolatey aroma of brownies. Such an intoxicating aroma filled my home when I recently baked chocolate cookies. The delightful smell even lured my book-loving daughter from her room.

Small and light cookies were the ingredients of home-made cookie sandwiches with chocolate-nut cream and pistachios. I didn't manage to fill all the cookies with cream. Some of them were eaten just after baking. To tell the truth I wasn't surprised – they were really excellent.

Ingredients:
cookies
60g of butter
1 tin of aquafaba
150g of dark chocolate
100g of caster sugar
120g of flour
½ teaspoon of baking powder
50g of chocolate dots
creme
100g of white chocolate
120g of peanut butter
a pinch of salt

After our last skiing holiday in Italy my son asked me to add ravioli to our menu. These small dumplings are most often served with ricotta cheese and spinach. My son liked them stuffed with meat and served in bouillon or with butter and Parmesan.

Recently I used cooked duck thighs. You can also use roast meat which you have leftover after dinner. My son said this was the best ravioli he had ever eaten. My son is very nice. For the next weekend he ordered meat ravioli in bouillon. I wonder when he will be bored with them.

Ingredients:
dough:
500g of flour
4 tablespoons of olive oil
a pinch of salt
200ml of hot water
stuffing
2 duck thighs (cooked or roasted)
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of butter
salt and pepper
for serving
1 teaspoon of butter
1 tablespoon of Parmesan

Even though the weather outside doesn't resemble the hot summer at all, I prepared a typical summer soup. It wasn't a dinner dish, but rather a light lunch, and in the summer for sure I will prepare it often. I served the cold soup with natural yoghurt, avocado and lettuce with roast almond flakes and raspberries. It wooed me with its looks and taste. It was the best cold soup I have eaten up to now. The idea for this dish comes from www.jadłonomia.pl but I prepared and served it in my own way.

Ingredients (for 2 people)
400ml of natural yoghurt
200ml of vege milk
1 avocado
6 tablespoons of chopped lettuce
4 tablespoons of chopped chives
4 tablespoons of chopped dill
4 tablespoons of almond flakes
a piece of chili pepper
a few raspberries

I have made rustic tarts with pears, apples and plums. Every time they were excellent. The combination of the crunchy, vanilla-almond tart with fruit is always a good idea. You have to remember to use hard fruit, or you will have an unappetizing sad layer instead of an attractive cake.

This time instead of Polish fruit I used pineapple slices to make mini rustic tarts. The hot cake with vanilla ice cream was delicious and everybody had their own cake. It prevented an argument about who got the biggest part of the cake.

Ingredients:
1 pineapple
8 tablespoons of brown sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 tablespoons of milk
vanilla ice cream
dough
130g of wheat flour
3 tablespoons of wheat meal
4 tablespoons of minced almonds
2 tablespoons of caster sugar
2 tablespoons of cream
120g of butter

Going into my daughter's room is like entering a fantastically well-stocked library. She received such a large number of books for Christmas, her birthday and Saint Nicholas' Day that I hoped they would last at least until the spring. I was so naïve . Despite the fact that some of her beloved books really don't appeal to me, when I go into her room and poke around I always find something for myself.

When I recently, encouraged by the sombre cover, reached for "The Night Gardener" by Jonathan's Auxier my daughter, with a twinkle in her eye, warned me: "Remember, it's my book!" Now I know why she guards it so jealously. It is for sure the best book for teenagers that I have read recently. I can say that everyone, both younger and older readers, will find something of value.

With few exceptions plants, especially trees, are viewed positively. "The Night Gardener" is all about a tree which has dark associations from the beginning. Some orphaned kids go to work for a family in an old property in Windsor. The house, the neighbourhood, and the residents of the house give us the shivers and the reader's first reaction is the desire to scream at the main characters: "Turn tail!" After this we impatiently turn the pages to find out about the characters' fates. The pervasive terror and mystery wrap their tentacles around the new residents. The property, surrounded by a forest with the mysterious name "The Sour Woods", is both a shelter for the homeless siblings and also a mortal danger. It turns out that the tree grants people their biggest desires. It might seem like a dream come true. However, just like in real life, nothing is for free. The dark and forceful character of the Night Gardener heightens the horror.