Until now I have looked with jealousy at beautiful cracked cookies presented in pictures on FB and Instagram. But I never got round to making them. Finally, when my son was bothering me, I decided to get cracking and I baked two baking trays of these sweets. Preparing them was very easy, but waiting for the cookies to be ready overexerted the patience of my younger child. It was good that the amount of baked cookies was enough to humour the little rascal. Remember to chill the dough balls. It is the best way to have them perfectly cracked. If you haven't made these beautiful and delicious cookies – just do it – it is really worth it.

Ingredients:
350g of flour
150g of butter
2 eggs
200-250g of caster sugar
100g of chocolate drops
1.5 teaspoons of baking powder
0.5 teaspoon of baking soda
3 tablespoons of cocoa
1 teaspoon of lemon juice

I love fish soup. I don't care if it is spicy as hell with pepper or mild with dill. However, ever since I started preparing fish soup, I have heard about the legendary ucha soup, which "someone ate in times of yore". I have never managed to try the original recipe, so I fumbled around the Internet and I found a few recipes. I put them all together and prepared my version of ucha soup. Ucha soup is a viscid soup full of white meat, freshwater fish and vegetables. Its name is from the old Russian word "jucha" which means brew. It is served with a slice of lemon and dill or parsley. Apparently, you traditionally add a glass of vodka. I didn't, but the soup was still really delicious.

Ingredients:
residue
some pieces of fish
2 bay leaves
2 allspices
3 peppers
1 teaspoon of salt
1 onion
soup
500g of white fish fillets (in my soup were sander cod)
2 carrots
1 parsley root
a piece of celery
5 potatoes
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
half a chili pepper
1 teaspoon of butter
salt and pepper

I love chocolate. Other sweets may as well not exist. My favourite is dessert chocolate or dark chocolate, but I don't like very dark chocolate. 70% cocoa is the highest amount for me; any higher and it ceases to be a pleasure. My love for chocolate is shown by how I turn typical versions of desserts into chocolate ones. Chocolate hasn't let me down in this regard so far. This time I chose panna cotta. Till now I have made traditional vanilla panna cotta with raspberry or strawberry sauce. Today I offer a chocolatey one with mango mousse. It's fantastic in my opinion. What about you? Yes or no?

Ingredients:
250 ml of 30% sweet cream
250 ml of milk
50g of dark chocolate
80 g of sugar
10 g of gelatine
a couple of drops of vanilla essence
2 mangos
1 teaspoon of lemon juice

'Oh no! Not stuffed mushrooms' – said my son, who isn't a mushroom fan – 'Yesterday I had to eat oyster mushrooms'. When he looked into the oven he thought that we would eat meatballs, which were being cooked at that moment. Later it turned out to be one dish – mushrooms stuffed with mincemeat. We all sat at the table willingly, and I can say that the dinner was delicious.

I have made stuffed mushrooms a few times, but I don't know why I only just stuffed them with mincemeat for the first time. It certainly won't be the last time. I am curious if you will like it as much as we did. Mushrooms can be served as dinner, but they can also be a hot starter for carnival.

Ingredients:
20 mushrooms
stuffing
500g of mincemeat
300g of spinach
1 shallot
2 cloves of garlic
4 tablespoons of breadcrumbs
3 teaspoons of butter
150g of mozzarella
salt and pepper

Shortbread is a very useful product used in both sweet and savoury baked goods. It is great as a base for cakes and tarts; we can bake delicious cookies, croissants or pies. Your choice is limited only by your imagination and the kinds of ingredients you add. Today I offer you quick shortbread scones with plums, which are perfect as a dessert with afternoon coffee or as a sweet extra for breakfast. You can also take a plate of cookies and lose yourself in a wonderful book. Unfortunately, you will then have to start the baking all over again 

Ingredients
400g of flour
200g of 18% cream
200g of butter
3 tablespoons of caster sugar
2 egg yolks
plums
2 tablespoons of milk
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
caster sugar for sprinkling