"Mum, what kind of soup are we having today?" Two small noses peek under the lid. "Oh no, another invention!" This moan of disappointment makes me drop my ladle, and I would like to sign my children up for weekend dinner at an eatery. Maybe if they had tomato soup followed by borscht and sausages and then crepes they would stop complaining at the table. Then comes the next reflection: I'm so naïve! Children always find a reason to complain, even if there is tomato soup in their bowls; it is tasty, known and popular but ... the noodles are not the right shape, and so the griping begins 

I see little sign of hope that in the future when the kids are adults and have their own family my efforts will be appreciated and they will remember my culinary inventions. Maybe even sometimes call me up for a recipe... Let's do a reality check and come back to our whiners at the table.

It took me a long time to get hold of the recipe for soup with tomatoes, chickpeas and pearl barley which I prepared recently. It turned out that the traditional way of passing on the recipe on paper was more efficient than e-mail. The electronic recipe reached me many days after the soup was only a memory.

Ingredients:
100g of dry pearl barley
1 tin of chickpeas
1 carrot
1 small celery root

Sometimes my daughter cheers me up with the information that she needs something special for school. Sometimes my friend rings the doorbell to ask if they may drop by. In such situations you need an idea and the possibility to make something sweet.

When I think about the easiest and fastest cookies, French pastry always leaps to mind. It has potential both as a basic snack and a dessert. Essentially you need some fruit to make a quick dessert and in a few minutes you can make your surprise guests proud. A few days ago in the afternoon my children asked me for some cookies. French pastry, tinned pineapple and desiccated coconut, and after 25 minutes I served my dessert.

Ingredients:
1 pack of chilled French pastry
1 tin of pineapple
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons of milk

The pomegranate is known as the fruit of life. It soothes inflammations, firms the bones and muscles, prevents cancer, improves the health of people suffering from kidney failure and stunts the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Women going through the menopause should eat pomegranates because they contain oestrogen, which helps hormone replacement.

The pomegranate has a beautiful colour and sweet-sour taste. Not all children like this fruit because of the stones in the small purple segments. However, I don't know any child who doesn't like Nutella. I seldom buy it. Why? The reason is simple. Regardless of the amount of Nutella I buy, it disappears in two days. I can't resist the temptation to eat it, and I'm able to eat the contents of half a Nutella jar in one go. So I don't buy it and I don't eat it  Today I prepared a dessert which will tempt you with Nutella, which doesn't usually go with pomegranate. Its sweetness blends well with the juicy sweet-and-sour taste of the fruit. I guarantee that not only children will love this dessert.

Ingredients (for 4 people)
8 oat cookies
1 big pomegranate
250g of mascarpone cheese
50ml of 30% sweet cream
200g of Nutella

Everybody sees what the weather is like outside. I feel that autumn forgot that it should be Polish and golden, and in early September autumn changed into November's foul weather. I don't know where I should make a complaint. You have to resort to homemade remedies. The two which come to mind and which are the most popular are not good in the long run. We shouldn't drink too much, unless it's tea with ginger syrup, because a large amount of mulled wine will not go down well with the liver. Chocolate brings comfort but doesn't warm us up, and, unfortunately, it accumulates in places it shouldn't stay.

I would like to recommend you a fiery soup which is great after a windy autumn walk. If you like stronger flavours, spice the soup up with a larger amount of hot pepper.

Ingredients:
1 carrot
1 parsley root
a piece of celery root
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
300g of smoked bacon
1 tin of white beans
1 pepper
half a medium courgette

The poppy-seed cake, which is also known as poppy-seed loaf, is a traditional Christmas Eve cake. It consists of yeasty or shortbread cake rolled in a poppy-seed mass. For me, preparing a traditional rolled poppy-seed cake was always inimitable artistry, which was honed to perfection by my aunt. The cooked and strained poppy seeds were milled and mixed with nuts, honey and raisins. My cousin, who every year used to prepare poppy-seed mass, always tried to trick my aunt by milling the poppy seeds twice rather than thrice. I don't remember if she was taken in, but I still remember the jokes at the table.

According to folklore, poppy seeds eaten on Christmas Eve were intended to ensure family happiness. In the Christian tradition the poppy seed is the symbol of good crops, fertility and gentle sleep.

In my household I haven't attempted to make rolled poppyseed cake. Because of the lack of time before Christmas I usually buy ready-made poppy-seed mass. It isn't perfect but it is quite good. I used it to prepare a simpler version of poppy-seed cake, which I would like to recommend.

Ingredients:
1 tin of poppyseed mass
4 eggs