Hot and strong black tea is my favourite way to begin the day. I drink coffee only if I really want it or when meeting a friend. Then it is more like milk with coffee than coffee with milk, but for me the taste and fragrance is the most important. During the day I drink green tea, and in the evening I drink herbal tea. For many years we haven't added sugar to tea. I make an exception only for one sweet addition to tea – confiture. Tea with confiture is for me a kind of dessert. The tea should be served in your favourite cup. I like adding apricot, orange, or cranberry homemade confiture to my tea.

Today I would like to share with you the recipe for my favourite homemade cranberry-rosemary confiture. I also add orange peel and juice to it. It is fragrant and sweet-and-sour, and you have to be careful not to eat the whole jar of confiture with one cup of tea .

Ingredients:
500g of fresh cranberries
5-6 tablespoons of maple syrup
the peel and juice of one orange
2-3 twigs of rosemary

Did you know that grog was treated like medicine on ships? Sailors, especially those who spent a long time on the rough seas suffered from scurvy. One of the easiest ways to avoid this illness was to eat products which are rich in ascorbic acid – citrus fruit and sauerkraut. Grog ensured a daily dose of the vitamin.

There isn't just one right recipe for grog. For sure you need dark rum, lemon and sugar. You may use also cinnamon and cloves. You can prepare grog with hot water, but I like hot, strong black tea instead of water. Maybe it isn't sailor's grog, but it is my own, fiery and very yummy grog. I recommend it for a winter evening with an interesting book under a soft blanket in front of the fireplace. I had a dream... Maybe those who aren't planning a rowdy New Year's Eve party will use my grog recipe for a lovely evening.

Ingredients (for 2 people)
300ml of hot, strong black tea
1-2 teaspoons of brown sugar
a lemon
an orange
a few cloves
2-3 pieces of cinnamon
200ml of dark rum

Maybe for some people it sounds strange, but sometimes I don't want sandwiches with meat. Then I make something else. When I have enough time I prepare pâté with vegetables, fish and meat, but most often I make pastes. Generally, we like all pastes, but there are exceptions. One of them is avocado paste. Pieces of avocado are an edible salad ingredient, but crushed avocado is inedible.

When I found the recipe for guacamole with quinoa at www.naszakasza.pl I decided to make it for myself. The tip in the recipe says it is excellent with roast salmon or chicken, but I ate it the way I like the most – with dark bread. I recommend it!

Ingredients
1 avocado
75g of quinoa
a small red pepper
a piece of chili pepper
1 clove of garlic
half a shallot
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
salt and pepper

I don't know whether labneh is really cheese or rather natural Greek yoghurt drained from whey, but that isn't important. What's important is that it is yummy and smooth, and every time you make it, you can use any ingredients you like to make a different version of the meal. Absolutely everybody can make labneh. You don't need any culinary abilities. You only have to drain some whey and wait for two days. Then you only need fresh bread and you can enjoy a yummy breakfast.

This time I prepared labneh with dried tomatoes and wild garlic. You can add the ingredients you like or ... add nothing and after two days make an excellent cheesecake with your labneh. It is so delectably smooth and creamy. Cheesecake with labneh is wonderful.
I made the 200g labneh with 400g of Greek yoghurt.

Ingredients:
400g of Greek yoghurt
half a teaspoon of salt
4-5 dried tomatoes
1 tablespoon of wild garlic

Today I would like to share with you the recipe for a nice autumn breakfast to savour. It can also be a recommendation for afternoon tea served with hot tea or fragrant, black-as-night coffee. You can make the French toast with caramelized pears in a few moments, so you have a lot of time to relish and enjoy good company.

If you want to prepare a dry version of the French toast, for example with bacon and eggs, use good quality bread for toast. If like me you want to savour it with a sweet breakfast, use challah – no other bread will taste better.

Ingredients (for 2 people)
6 slices of challah
150ml of milk
2 eggs
3 tablespoons of clarified butter
2 big hard pears
3-4 tablespoons of maple syrup
2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice
half a teaspoon of cinnamon