As far as I know, we live in a cold temperate climate. We should have everything just right, but we sometimes have some extremes. A dry and blistering summer like something from hell has just finished and everybody is looking forward with relief to a beautiful golden autumn. And what do we have? It's the first half of October and ... it's winter. And so I ask: where is the moderate weather?

This weather doesn't serve to lift my mood. My friend who is a blogger says that everybody has difficult times when they need to lie on the sofa under a duvet and pretend not to exist. I recently felt like this. Unfortunately, I can't lie on the sofa because of my duties, so my husband set out to lift my mood by preparing a simple but imaginative and very tasty breakfast. It later emerged that the afflatus came from a TV program by Karol Okrasa, but my husband's execution was original. Master Okrasa warned us not to change the ingredients. The lightly salty and original taste of goat cheese goes well with the sweetness of the honey and walnuts.

Ingredients:

4 slices of white bread (French bread or challah)

100g of goat's cottage cheese

4 tablespoons of honey

50g of walnuts

Extraordinary, fast and simple recipes are always valued. I am especially interested in them because I have so little time in the afternoon. My proposition for little sandwiches made from French pastry offer a supper which you can prepare in a flash and, what's more, they are not just ordinary frankfurters. The remarkable recipe:

Ingredients:

1 pack of chilled French pastry

120g of mini mozzarella cheese

200g of cherry tomatoes

10 black olives

basil leaves

salt and pepper

Courgette is a product with significant culinary potential. You can eat it raw or cooked. It is excellent grilled, fried or stuffed. It is now possible to buy many different varieties of this vegetable and it has made dishes more interesting and tasty. This year I ate for the first time raw courgette in a salad with carrot, dill and onion. It was very tasty.

My children like grilled courgette the most so this is how it is served most often on our table. This time I use grilled courgette to prepare a light and dainty snack with smoked salmon and cottage cheese. You may spice up the filling in your own way using natural cottage cheese and onion, garlic, horseradish and herbs. I use ready horseradish cottage cheese and enrich it with thyme. This dish is elegant and colourful. It is perfect as a starter before a slap-up meal and as a light supper or snack.

Ingredients for 8 rolls

2 little courgettes

200g of smoked salmon

Second breakfast is an undervalued meal. In fact, second breakfast is only eaten by children in kindergarten and pupils during playtime at school. Working adults settle for coffee. If they for some reason don't eat their breakfast in the morning, they go to fast-food restaurants. A grumbling stomach effectively disrupts even quiet thoughts. Dietitians advise eating five meals during the day with proper three-to-four-hour breaks. This ensures our well-being, corrects our insulin levels and prevents rapid jumps in our blood glucose level, which prevents body fat from amassing.

Today's recipe is for a second breakfast dish. You may prepare it earlier and then reheat it a bit so it is convenient for lunch at work.  It will be liked by adults and children, and for gourmands who count calories it could be a dessert without remorse.

Ingredients (for one portion):

120g of millet groats

300ml of water

Millet groats are one of the best and oldest types of groats. As well as a lot of nutritional value they have another advantage which is critical in culinary terms: They go with both salty and sweet dishes.

They have a little starch, but a lot of easily assimilated protein, vitamins from the B group, iron and copper. Millet groats are light and don't provoke allergies because they don't contain gluten. Not many people know that they are a natural rhinorrhoea remedy because they have antivirus properties and reduce inflammation of mucosa. Millet groats are a very valuable product for students and people who hard work because they contain a lot of vitamin E and lecithin and improve memory and concentration. Women who care for their hair, skin and nails should eat them because they are a rich source of silica and prevent osteoporosis.

Modern cooking puts speed and convenience first. It generally suits me but when it comes to cooking millet groats I follow my grandma's and mum's instructions. I tried to cook millet groats "from the bag" but notwithstanding the cooking time, they had a pappy texture and I didn't like them.

Today a few instructions on how to cook crumbly and tasty millet groats.