Happy Solstice!

Winter is going down, the Sun is going up since today! A good reason to keep a good mood and smile in these dark evenings!

Ginger jam

Autumn has really come now, so I'd like to share something sweet, warm and spicy )

This kind of jam will do very well for the season. It's not only tasty but prevents season flu and gives extra energy to live your full life on windy and rainy days. But you need to have some patience because this jam can fairly be called "slow food": the whole process of making is 5-6 days.

So you need:

fresh ginger - 1 cup

apples - 1 cup

sugar - 1 - 1 1/2 cup 

Peel and dice ginger. Place it into a bowl of water for 2-3 days and change the water every day - to remove bitterness. You may add orange skin into the bowl.

Peel and chop apples (or process in a blender), add infused ginger (and orange skins if you took them), place all ingridients in a sausepan, add sugar. Bring to a boil and keep on the simmer for few minutes untis sugar melts. Then turn off the cooker and leave the mixture till the next day. The next day boil it again and keep on the simmer for 5 minutes. Repeat for 2 more days. 

You've got an unusual dessert for your family and a good present for anyone.

Apples everywhere...

Apples rule! We have so many apples that they will soon fill the kitchen up to the ceiling. And...apple pies, apple pancakes, jams, dry apples - it's not the whole list of things you can make of them!

Here is a very easy recepie of  russian apple jam "5 minutes". In this kind of jam all nutrients and vitamins are preserved very well, so it's a healthy and quite low-sugar dessert.

You need:
apples - peeled and destoned - 1 kilo
white sugar - 200g

Dice apples, place in an enamel bowl (sausepan) and cover them with sugar. Leave for an hour (until juice appears), stirring occasionally. When the mixture is juicy enough, place the bowl on a cooker and slowly reduce to boiling - it will take about 5 min. Don't forget to stir the mixture vigorously all the time. Jam is ready! Fill some jars with it and keep in a cool place.
This jam doesn't have long shelf life, though it even needn't it - because it too tasty!))

Summer flowers

There are some flowers that are especially gorgeous there this summer.

Lilac

Garden violets

...some more of them

 

Jasmine

Though tulips have already gone, I can't but place the picture of them.

First crocus and blossoming willow

Yes, first flowrs are only appearing now - happily smiling under the really warm sun.

WILLOW

CROCUS

Spring willow

Spring is coming so slowly here in the North. But the sun is fabulous and trees and birds are waking up.

Blossoming willow

Church bell

Happy sparrow

Semolina and lemon cake

This is a veganised variant of a popular Russian recepie. I love lemon cakes, so I add lemon, but instead /or you can add raisins or some other dry or fresh fruit.

For a middle-sized cake I took:

semolina - 250g
soy flour - 2 tbs
sugar - 3 full tbs
a half of lemon
baking soda - 1 1/2 tea sp
baking powder - 1/2 tea sp
apple vinegar - a splash
vanilla sugar with natural vanilla extract - 2 tea sp
vegan margarin - 2 tbs
see salt - a pinch, to taste

Preheat an oven to 200 degrees C. Mix well semolina with margarin in a bowl. Grind lemon (rind, flesh and juice - all goes), add it to the bowl. Add sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, soy flour and baking powder and mix well. Extinguish soda with vinegar, add to the bowl. Add some water to make a thick batter, mix very well again.
Grease a middle-sized baking form, put your batter into it and level a bit. Put into the oven, bake for about 40 min.
You'll get something like this, very fragrant and tasty:

Semolina cake