Today my son proved to me that almost everything can be eaten with caster sugar. I have known for a long time that he likes eating every kind of sweet pancake with fruit and caster sugar. The only extra which is able to entice him is maple syrup. Today I saw that he likes dry pancakes, which in my opinion are best with non-sweet extras, with caster sugar. I talked my little fusspot into trying one pancake with tomato and beansprouts (he likes both of them), but the rest of the dinner was sweet.

The rest of my family really enjoyed their kohlrabi and carrot pancakes with pork rinds, kale, beansprouts and cherry tomatoes. Horseradish added piquancy to the mild pancakes. As always, my daughter overwhelmed them with ketchup, but she thought the dinner was delicious. You can choose your favourite extras. I am curious whether you like them sweet or dry?

Ingredients (20 pancakes)
dough
2 kohlrabies
2 carrots
half an onion
2 cloves of garlic
a fistful of minced dill
2 eggs
5 tablespoons of flour
salt and pepper
oil for frying

To this day I don't know how I managed to buy duck thighs instead of chicken ones. I only realised that I didn't have what I went out for when I was back home, standing at my fridge. Thinking that in any case it would be roasted, I decided not to go back to the shop to change it. After all, poultry is poultry. Thanks to this mistake, my Sunday dinner was princely.

I like the combination of meat with fruit. I usually add dried fruit when I roast pork neck, and I add apples with marjoram to fried chicken liver. This time I also used this proven method and I roasted my duck thighs with apples, oranges and cranberries. A hint of garlic and marjoram in the roasted meat completed the dish.

Ingredients:
4 duck thighs
2 tablespoons of marjoram
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of mustard
1 tablespoon of honey
3 tablespoons of oil
1 teaspoon of butter
4 cloves of garlic (unpeeled)
salt and pepper
fruit
4 apples
2 oranges
3 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons of butter
a fistful of cranberries

The majority of parents whose children go to school contend with the same problem every morning: what to prepare for packed lunch so that it will be tasty, healthy and attractive? I'm not the only one who knows that it is a difficult task, and yet another lunch which comes back uneaten from school doesn't help. Of course we can choose the line of least resistance and pack a Bath bun, but do we want to do that every day? Normal sandwiches are boring – I remember that sometimes I used to feed my packed lunch to homeless dogs. I don't want to even think about how many lunches are binned.

Today I would like to share with you an idea which works out for me. Tortilla. You may put a lot of goodies into it, it is easy to pack, and it doesn't make your hands dirty when eating. The perfect lunch? So far – yes, until it gets boring.
I found the recipe in the Lidl cookery book. I changed it a bit to suit my own taste.

Ingredients:
2 tortillas
2 big slices of ham
4 big leaves of lettuce
1 mango
3 tablespoons of cottage goat cheese
2 teaspoons of horseradish

There are dishes which we associate with particular extras. In my home a joint of meat has always been served with potatoes and horseradish or mustard; frikadelles with carrot and peas; and fish with sauerkraut. Even though I can imagine that roast chicken is excellent with fried beetroot, I will automatically serve it with lettuce and cream, and pork chops with cucumber salad.

Cooking stereotypes, or if you prefer - traditions, are nice to follow, but without a bit of madness there wouldn't be so many interesting and surprising combinations. Today I would like to share with you another way to serve traditional frikadelles. Of course, hamburgers aren't my idea (which is a pity because the financial profits would let me sleep better) and I associate them mostly with fast food restaurants. In pictures they look beautiful, but in reality we often get a sandwich which looks like somebody sat on it. Try to prepare it yourself at home. Your children will be delighted with this kind of dinner.

Apparently, hamburgers should be made from beef. Each to his own. I prefer something more exquisite so I use turkey. Choose for yourself. You can bake the roll at home or buy your favourite. I chose a kaiser roll with sesame seeds because we like them the most.

Ingredients:
frikadelles
350g of mince turkey
1 small onion
1 clove of garlic
250ml of milk
1 egg
1 dry kaiser roll
1 teaspoon of herby pepper
breadcrumbs
salt

When we have at home a fussy little eater who doesn't like any food, we try to find dishes to change our difficult situation at the table. A few parents, like me, try to prepare a varied diet for the little fusspot, even though he would prefer to eat tomato soup, borscht and crepes with sweet cottage cheese.

There are many different ways of smuggling fruit and vegetables, healthy groats and granary products into meals. For me, one of these ways is various types of pikelets. Fortunately, regardless of their ingredients, pikelets are accepted without grizzling, which means I can experiment with fruit, vegetables and groats. "Pikelet" is the magic word for a peaceful dinner or supper.

This time I smuggled some millet groats (whose health properties are obvious) into some mild pikelets. The recipe comes from the book "Succulent pikelets" by ZPR Media SA publisher. The original recipe suggests serving the pikelets with a bit of peanut butter or chocolate. I served them with natural yoghurt and fruit. I must admit they were really yummy.

Ingredients:
100g of millet groats
2 bananas
2 eggs
half a teaspoon of cinnamon
oil for frying