My Dears,

The world has not been spoiling us recently. Maybe that allows us to appreciate what is most important: health, family and friends and freedom. It would be nice if even if just for a minute we could breathe easily, knowing that everything will be ok. And maybe it is exactly this I would like to wish you on this amazing day. I would like to wish you also health, love and time with family and friends. Find the time for rest, conversation and playing with children. Enjoy a moment of respite by the glittery Christmas tree, with candles and homemade gingerbread. And in the New Year let's hope for fewer horrible surprises, and may our dreams come true.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sometimes I wonder which dishes you serve at Christmas. Maybe you are a traditionalist and have old, yellowed recipes for dishes which you love and always make? Maybe you like to experiment and on your Christmas table there are dishes from all over the world? And maybe a little bit of all of them? Traditional food but with something new?

We like most of the traditional Christmas dishes, but for some time we have rejected meals which were always there but nobody liked them. Now I don't make dried carp and mushroom soup, but I prepare sander and red borsch with dumplings.

Today I would like to share with you a recipe for new dumplings. They are traditional because they don't contain meat, but also new because they are with fish. I used roast salmon to make the stuffing for these dumplings. If somebody doesn't want to risk making these new dumplings for Christmas, maybe they should keep the recipe for the future. I recommend them!

Ingredients:
dough:
500g of flour
4 tablespoons of oil
250-300 ml boiling water
a pinch of salt
stuffing:
300g of roasted salmon
250g of fresh spinach
4-5 big dried tomatoes from olive oil
2 tablespoons of small capers
1 shallot
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of butter
salt and pepper

11th of November is traditionally a day when you serve goose in Poland. This tradition also exists in Sweden, Hungary, Slovenia, Austria and Germany. Poland is also the main producer of this delicious meat, so in almost every aforementioned country there is Polish goose. Nevertheless, this type of meat is not popular here. We remember about it only on 11th of November and then forget about it for another year. Even though the 11th of November was a long time ago, I wanted to offer you goose for dinner (maybe for Christmas dinner?). You can add marjoram, thyme, juniper, ginger and caraway seeds, and you usually serve it with apples, cranberries, dried plums, beetroots and red cabbage. I marinated the goose thigh for 12 hours in a marinade made of soy sauce with rosemary, thyme and garlic, and in the end I applied apricot jam, so it would blush beautifully. I will immodestly declare that this dish was amazing and the smell of roasted meat meant that it was hard to wait for dinner.

Ingredients:
4 goose thighs
2 tablespoons of oil
2-3 tablespoons of apricot jam
250ml of chicken bouillon
5-6 dried apricots
marinade
5 tablespoons of soya sauce
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
1 chili pepper
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon of chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon of chopped thyme

It won't be long until the rustling fall leaves turn into icy winter. Fall is my favourite season and maybe that's why I want to keep the warm fruity smell for as long as possible. I found a great way to do this, because it is also a very delicious way. I baked apple cinnamon bars, which smell like fall and taste warm and homely. I really recommend it to everyone, even those who don't like fall. This homemade cake is a delicious way to end Sunday dinner. The original recipe comes from Instagram #fitwafflekitchen.

Ingredients (20cm baking pan)
vanilla layer
2 eggs
300g of flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
200g of sugar
300ml of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
100g of melted butter
cinnamon layer
100g of brown sugar
120g of melted butter
2 tablespoons of cinnamon