Recently, I concluded that I could get creative and make effective desserts and yummy cakes, and my children like apple-pie and home-made kissel anyway. It doesn't change my stance and I will experiment in the kitchen, but sometimes I go back to basics and make traditional home desserts. This time I prepared home-made kissel with apricots. My kissel was a bit sour and I softened the taste with some vanilla cream. The flavours complemented each other. My children ate the kissel in a flash. Just like the adults. The dessert was so yummy.

Ingredients:
6-8 big apricots
5 tablespoons of maple syrup
2-3 tablespoons of potato flour

I have a suspicion that in the summer time my daughter could eat only broad beans and fruit. Maybe sometimes she would eat pork chops or pasta, but the basis of her diet is clearly defined. As a special request I prepared a dish which contains two beloved ingredients: spaghetti and broad beans. For me this combination was risky, but the dish turned out really delicious. It shows, according to my daughter's theory, that to spaghetti we can add practically anything. With a bit of luck and seasoning, it will be an amazing dish on the plate.

Ingredients:
100g of spaghetti
200g of broad beans
2 cloves of garlic
half a small onion
small chili pepper
2 tablespoons of lemon peel
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
salt and pepper

Until now I have only prepared upside-down cake with pineapple. We really like it. Just after baking it has a sweet, crunchy caramel layer, and the next day it is deliciously wet from the pineapple juice. Too much leftover fruit, which I didn't want to throw away, meant that I took a risk and prepared an upside-down cake with gooseberries, currants and apricots.

The idea was great, the fruit was used up and the cake was really delicious. Acidulous fruit and sweet cake was a great combination. Upside-down is a nice idea, because there is no risk the juice from the delicious cake will result in a sad layer. In my home it wouldn't be wasted for sure, but I (like any other hostess I guess) don't like a sad layer surprise in the oven.

Ingredients (20cm cake tin)
150g of butter
150g of sugar
2 eggs
200g of flour
150ml of natural yoghurt
1.5 teaspoons of baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
Fruit (gooseberries, apricots and currants) and 3 tablespoons of brown sugar for sprinkling in the cake tin

I like to eat light vegetable soup in the summer. Not necessarily when the summer shows its cold face though. Vegetable soup is excellent also on a hot day. It is a swift dish and tastes great. In my home today for the main dish there was... more soup and everyone was happy. Fortunately, we like vegetables, and I will think about another idea for dinner... tomorrow. Maybe it will be colder.

Ingredients:
1 small green courgette
0.5kg of green beans
1 onion
6 cloves of garlic
2 stems of celery
2 tablespoons of butter
0.5l of vegetable stock
1 tin of coconut milk
3 tablespoons of chopped parsley
salt and pepper

When it is hot outside, baking cakes and cookies should be forbidden. However, if it sizzles for a few days and I have to prepare a dessert, I think about cold cheesecake. I don't like big cold cheesecakes prepared in a cake tin. I prefer small cheesecakes prepared in a baking tin for muffins, which when decorated with fruit look like small jewels on a plate. They look more glamorous.

Today I prepared my small refreshing cheesecakes with bilberries and raspberries. They are a beautiful colour. You absolutely must add peppermint leaves to make small works of art.

Ingredients (for 6 cheesecakes.)
200g of mascarpone cheese
200g of raspberries
200g of bilberries
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
4 teaspoons of gelatine
60g of oat cookies
2 tablespoons of butter