Even while travelling as tourists my children insist on slightly less touristic food. I try not to "cook" powdered soup or meatloaves from a jar (although sometimes these dishes rescue the situation on the table), but a four-course dinner with a starter and dessert rarely comes into the picture.

To prepare today's dessert you must have a hand blender for whipped cream, but it is only one slight touristic necessity. The rest is typical shopping and seasonal fruits. If you have everything, you should prepare a smooth fruit mousse and after a while you will serve a dessert which may decorate a table not only for tourists.

All year round we can't wait for raspberries, so if they are available at markets we buy them in bulk. Remember that raspberries should be quickly washed just before serving. Otherwise you serve an unappetising paste instead of beautiful, summer, fruity treasures. If you don't like raspberries, use blueberries or strawberries. They taste great and look equally beautiful.

Ingredients (for 4 people):
500g of raspberries
500ml of 30% sweet cream
4 tablespoons of caster sugar

This year's holiday we spent in the south of Europe, where we feasted on melons and watermelons. Only the shape of the bright red watermelons is reminiscent of the ones you can buy in Poland. These melons were a revelation. I didn't expect that they could taste so much like and have the same colour as honey. They were excellent. Sometimes we had a problem deciding which type to eat.

Despite this, towards the end of the holiday, we wanted our summer fruits again. Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, currants and gooseberries - our gardens are amazing and rich with delicacies. It was no wonder that our first step after returning home was towards the fruit market. Hungry people buy with their eyes, so the amount of fruit we purchased was beyond what we were able to eat. As we didn't manage to eat everything, I made a tart with the rest of the fruity treasures. Along with its filling, this cake is distinguished by its thin, not so sweet granary dough. Try it – it is a really tasty combination.

Ingredients:
dough:
250g of whole wheat flour
75g of caster sugar
a pinch of salt
150g of butter
1 egg

Once my son heard that if he met a hedgehog with an apple on its back he should take it off. For sure it fell on the miserable animal by accident and it shouldn't be in the hedgehog's larder. hedgehogs lost a lot of appeal for my small son when he learnt that they eat beetles, snails, worms and other little tasty "dishes". Hedgehogs in stories eat apples, pears and nuts. Fortunately, the wise book "I believe in hedgehogs" by Dorota Sumińska rescues the affection for the hedgehog population.

Reminiscences about hedgehogs came to me while I prepared a dessert with raspberries. Fresh and sun-smelling raspberries arranged on a sweet chocolate mousse looked like colourful hedgehogs. I don't know if this dish will remind everyone of hedgehogs, but the dessert will for sure be tasty for everybody.

Ingredients (for 5 people)
1 pack of chilled French pastry
200g of raspberries
200ml of 30% sweet cream
200g of mascarpone cheese

Do you remember what our seasons looked like a few years ago? The winter was frosty, snowy, and it was on time. Christmas was white and we didn't worry about the snow during the winter holiday. Then came spring. A bit rainy, a bit sunny, with the temperature sufficient to wake everything up into life. June always promised the summer with a temperature up to 26C, sun and rain – just enough to make everybody happy: people on holiday and farmers during the harvest. The autumn was rainy and it got gradually colder, with painted leaves on the trees. And then everything started again with a clean slate.
For sure there were anomalies. Singularly strong frost in winter, snow in May or enormous heatwaves. But it was an exception to the rule. Rarely were there situations when the lack of snow in the winter, huge heat and lack of rain caused the most important Polish rivers to almost dry up. I remember last year waiting for the rain while the ever more shallow Vistula and Oder rivers bared the next treasures for archaeologists to find. This year's rains aren't normal. They are tropical rainstorms which cause water damage and local floods.
But we have this kind of climate and we have to deal with it. Those who can't spend the heat in the cool sea or can't go away to a chilly climate have to look for homemade ways of refreshment. One of these is eating fruit. Tropical fruits are best for the heat. They have the most water, ascorbic acid and micronutrients, which we lose by sweating. Limes, lemons, and oranges are excellent ingredients for homemade lemonade, bringing refreshment during the hottest days. Apart from the fact that they are very tasty, their look brings respite during the summer afternoon. Doesn't a jug with cool water, slices of fruit, peppermint leaves and ice cubes look beautiful?

Yesterday I read an article about parents who, when packing a suitcase for their child for camp, filled 1/3 of the baggage with sweets. I guess they were hoping that every day the child would eat just a few sweets, relishing their taste. The reality will be different. The sweets will disappear in three days, the child won't eat anything else, and the pocket money will be spent on more sweets.

I am not a proponent of a total ban on sweets. I like to eat good cookies or chocolate. I think that children who can't eat sweets at home, go at them without self-control when their parents aren't around. Too many sweets isn't good either. At school we have children who can't climb up to the third floor without panting.
Due to these thoughts, my son and I have prepared some healthy and sweet muesli bars. The preparation of this is similar to the oat cookies (link) I made. Instead of rolled oats I added boiled millet groats, whose goodness is well known.

The recipe comes from www.mamdziecko.interia.pl

Ingredients:
180g of millet groats
400ml of milk
150g of dried cranberries
50g of sunflower seeds