A few years ago (I'm afraid to count how many) after school I visited my friend. My friend's grandma cared for us. She prepared some homemade delicacies for us. When we were really hungry she made cheese dumplings with semolina. GMy grandma sprinkled the fresh, hot dumplings with roasted breadcrumbs and sugar. Today I was reminded of this dish and I prepared it for my children. Because of the strawberry season, I served them with fruit and pistachios.

Ingredients:
250g of cottage cheese
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
150g of semolina
2 teaspoons of caster sugar
2 fistfuls of strawberries
a pinch of cinnamon
3 tablespoons of maple syrup
pistachios
peppermint leaves

I know that we eat first with our eyes. If something looks beautiful and smells nice on the plate, it could well be a yummy dish. Most often our taste buds can confirm it. Disordered dishes with groats, pasta or salads are sometimes yummy but don't look nice. Recently, photos of such dishes have shown the ingredients placed side by side. It really does look better that way.

Today I would like to share with you the recipe for a lunch which I served in such a way. I prepared the buckwheat groats with mozzarella cheese, avocado, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. Just after taking a photo, I mixed everything up and I ate my disordered dish with pleasure. I recommend it.

Ingredients (for 2 people)
100g of buckwheat groats
half a bunch of chard with beetroots and leaves
half an onion
2 cloves of garlic
100g of small mushrooms
100g of mozzarella
A couple of cherry tomatoes
1 avocado
2 tablespoons of butter
salt and pepper

Though we would rather eat light dishes in the spring and summer, sometimes we need to eat something serious. It's best if we don't need to spend half the day in the kitchen and the result on the plate is excellent.

Today I would like to share with you the recipe for a not too complicated, swift and very yummy dish – leek soup with mincemeat. My children were suspicious until they tried it. Then they asked for a second helping.

The recipe comes from the book "Ekspresowe potrawy rodzinne" ("Swift family dishes").

Ingredients:
2 leeks
500g of mincemeat
1l of vegetable stock
1 tin of sweetcorn
1 small onion
200ml of sweet cream
1 bay leaf
2 allspices
2 tablespoons of oil
salt and pepper
half a bunch of parsley

Shrimps, langoustine, lobster and mussels are our favourite ingredients of dishes. In Poland we buy them frozen. During the last long weekend in May we visited Valencia. This beautiful city, the third biggest in Spain, is situated on the Mediterranean coast, so we could easily buy fresh fish and seafood. If you want to buy fresh fish and seafood, you should look for big markets instead of small shops. We visited such a market every day in Valencia. We were enchanted with the friendly atmosphere. The salespeople already greeted us with a cheery "hola!" on the second day. When I asked a lady for an easy Spanish way of preparing seafood, she said "the easiest is with white wine , olive oil, garlic and parsley".

We decided to take advantage of the opportunity presented by a seaside city. We bought a lot of shrimps, langoustines, white wine, garlic, parsley and chili pepper and played at cooking. For our children we shelled the shrimps, leaving only the heads and tails. It was a lot of work, but the prospect of the yummy food and nice wine sugared the pill. We served the seafood with a fresh, crunchy baguette. It was excellent for mopping up the yummy sauce in the pan.

Ingredients:
1.5kg of seafood
300ml of dry white wine
4 cloves of garlic
a bunch of parsley
1 chili pepper
3 tablespoons of olive oil

For spaghetti carbonara, just as in a lot of Italian dishes, you need a couple of basic ingredients and a little time, and you have an excellent meal. Some people say that for "proper" carbonara sauce you needn't add sweet cream. The sauce should be prepared with raw egg yolks. I think that all recipes are fine if the dish is yummy and we like it. In my home we don't eat raw egg yolks, so without doubt we make carbonara sauce with sweet cream. Regardless of the basis for the meal, carbonara spaghetti is an easy and swift dish. The best quality ingredients are the only necessity.

Ingredients:
200g of spaghetti
150g of smoked bacon or ham
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of olive oil
250ml of 30% sweet cream
2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
salt and pepper