Muffins are the nicest cakes. Everybody likes them, especially children. They are excellent for lunch, afternoon tea or for a school integration party. You can bake them all year round. In the summer you should have them with fresh fruit. In the winter add spices. They will warm you up with a nice Christmas fragrance. Muffins also have other advantages. They are swift: a few uncomplicated ingredients, which you only need to stir and put in the oven. We like cake like that, don't we? The only problem is whether to make a double serving at once?

A few days ago I bought some apricots and peaches. Although they look nice, they are sour and my children didn't want to eat them. Fruit are excellent ingredients of muffins. The muffins were moist and nicely sweet-and-sour. They were great in the warm summer afternoon.

Ingredients:
225g of flour
180g of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 banana
150ml of milk
175ml of oil
a pinch of salt
1 peach
2 apricots
caster sugar

It is extremely difficult to please people. In the winter it is too cold and it's snowy; in the summer it is too hot. When it is rainy we want it to stop raining; when it doesn't rain we pray for rain. Maybe it is because the weather is more and more extreme. People still can't understand that they contribute to climate change. We have to work hard to avoid extreme temperatures, floods and various natural disasters.

Today I would like to share with you the recipe for a dish which could help us to survive the heat like no other. Except maybe ice-cream, but it isn't suitable for dinner. Every year I prepare a new kind of cold soup. I have prepared cold soup with chard, with cucumber, with radishes, with avocado and lettuce and Spanish gazpacho. This time I prepared a cold peppermint soup with low-salt cucumber. You can serve it with hard boiled egg or with new potatoes. I ate it simply with a fresh baguette.

Ingredients (for 2 people):
300g of natural yoghurt
200g of kefir
4 low-salt cucumbers
3 fresh cucumbers
2 cloves of garlic
2 fistfuls of fresh peppermint
salt and pepper

Artichokes are distant cousins of the thistle. It is especially apparent when they flower. However ...

Artichokes are picked before they flower and their heads are still rolled up. The open, dark heads are inedible. The inner part of the artichoke is also inedible: the hair on the bottom of the flowers. Only newly ripe artichokes can be eaten whole.

Before you start to clean the artichokes, put on some disposable gloves. Dark finger tips are difficult to wash. After cleaning you have to put at once the artichokes into cool water with lemon juice (At once means immediately ) – otherwise they go brown faster than bananas, apples and avocado.

During the holiday we don't have much time for cooking. Today I would like to share with you the recipe for a fast and easy way to make a dish with artichokes, thanks to which you will appreciate the real taste of artichokes. I found the recipe at www.weganon.pl. I think that there is no easier way: a few basic ingredients, a few minutes for cleaning, a pot, a pan and ... it is ready. If you think for a while, it could be easier. You could order some in a restaurant or buy them pickled, but I assure you that it isn't the same. Getting inside the artichokes isn't easy, but you need one or two tries to learn it. In my opinion it is really worth it, because they are yummy.

Ingredients:
8 artichokes
3 cloves of garlic
4 tablespoons of chopped parsley
1 lemon
3 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper

A few years ago (I'm afraid to count how many) after school I visited my friend. My friend's grandma cared for us. She prepared some homemade delicacies for us. When we were really hungry she made cheese dumplings with semolina. GMy grandma sprinkled the fresh, hot dumplings with roasted breadcrumbs and sugar. Today I was reminded of this dish and I prepared it for my children. Because of the strawberry season, I served them with fruit and pistachios.

Ingredients:
250g of cottage cheese
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
150g of semolina
2 teaspoons of caster sugar
2 fistfuls of strawberries
a pinch of cinnamon
3 tablespoons of maple syrup
pistachios
peppermint leaves

I made spring crepes for the first time a few years ago, serving them with cottage cheese with radishes and cress. Today I called them to mind while looking for an idea for supper. Today I prepared stuffing for crepes with smoked trout, goat cheese, horseradish and lettuce. Such crepes were an excellent supper and my husband asked me for another serving for his lunch box. The green crepes were a great alternative to traditional tortillas.

Ingredients:
crepes
340g of ready semolina
700ml of milk
100g of spinach
2 eggs
4 tablespoons of oil
a hint of salt
stuffing
150g of goat cheese
200g of smoked trout
4 teaspoons of horseradish
lettuce
pepper
chives