Tiramisu inspired birthday cake

 

This month I'm celebrating not only a birthday of my special someone, but also the first anniversary of Lemon & Strawberries! The time is passing so fast, that it only occurred to me when I realized I'm posting a birthday cake recipe and remembered that I started this blog with one too!
Throughout this year I've learned a lot about blogging, taking food pictures and got tons and tons new ideas! I found many interesting recipes to try out, but I also found great communities of bloggers like me, who are a great support when I'm second-guessing myself. So to celebrate all of this, and many more milestones I've reached last year, I'm sharing with you an amazing recipe for a tiramisu inspired birthday cake - soft, fluffy and delicious!

Greek meatballs & kritharaki (orzo) in tomato sauce

Past two weeks were extremely busy for me and I didn't even have time to eat properly! What a shame! Today I'm making it up and decided to cook these delicious meatballs, served with kritharaki pasta & tomato sauce. This dish is one of the best comfort food you can think of! I mean, who doesn't like the classic combination of meatballs and pasta, right? I used kritharaki (orzo), but you can serve these amazing meatballs with any other type of pasta you like. 

Classic polish tomato soup

This tomato soup is one of my favorites. Why? Because it's very simple to make, delicious and perfect for colder days. It can be made with an addition of rice or noodles and I prefer the latter. The main taste comes from either fresh tomatoes or tomato paste - I like both versions, but the one with tomato paste usually gets thicker and I think it makes a better comfort food in the Winter.
In my recipe I've used kritharaki pasta (also called "orzo"), but any type of pasta will be good!
Tomato soup is pretty fast to cook so I make it often when I don't have much time. If you're looking for an idea for easy, delicious and comforting dinner, then you should try my tomato soup!

It's Fat Thursday! You need to have them: polish pączki with marmalade.

Happy Fat Thursday everyone! It's one of my favorite polish holidays! It belongs to the tradition of celebrating Carnival and marks a beginning of the last week of that period. During that day we're eating huge amounts of sweets - because when the Lent starts, we shouldn't do it anymore - it's a time of fasting in Catholic Christian religion. Traditionally on Fat Thursday people are eating "faworki" ("angel wings") and other delicious sweets, but the hero of a day are "pączki". Pączki are polish type of donuts with rose marmalade filling, but recently other variations appear like for example pączki with chocolate or vanilla and even eggnog cream.

My favorite are the ones with rose marmalade and since I couldn't get it in Greece, I've decided to mix hard strawberry marmalade with some rose water - it came out delicious!

They say you've got to eat at least one pączek on Fat Thursday to have a good luck for the rest of a year, so forget the calories and grab one!

Polish apple pie from my mom's cookbook - classic "szarlotka"

 

I love apples! Well, who doesn't? This recipe for a delicious apple pie comes from a family cookbook my mom wrote and gave me when I moved to Greece - I mentioned it on another occasion - when I was making a brownie.
Apple pie (szarlotka) is a perfect dessert no matter what time of a year it is. In the Summer it tastes amazing with some ice cream on top, in the Winter it's perfect with a cup of tea or hot chocolate. It smells delicious - apples and cinnamon is a mouth-watering combination for me! Plus this apple pie comes with a light foam and sweet crumble on top - what else could I possibly need?

Greek bean soup (Fasolada)

 

Lately it's pretty cold, even in Greece. Days like these I really enjoy food that warms you up! This bean soup (fasolada) is one of such dishes - hearty, spicy and perfect in the Winter. It's also pretty simple, just few ingredients, it doesn't need much attention and the only thing that takes time is soaking & cooking beans (unless you're using canned ones). Fasolada is one of my favourite Greek dishes - the taste is amazing, it's one of those comfort foods that we all need sometimes, especially in the cold, gloomy days!

The best herring salad ever! (Polish Christmas food #6)

As you might have noticed, we're eating a lot of fish on Christmas Eve in Poland - it's because traditionally we're not supposed to eat meat that day. And this is why we get pretty creative when it comes to fish based dishes! This salad is a perfect appetizer - it combines saltiness of herrings, sweetness of raisins and sour taste of the marinade it's made with. And before you'll think it's weird to make fishes with raisins - trust me, it's a perfect combo! Surprising, but amazing. This herring salad is one of traditional foods for Christmas in my family's house - my mom was the first to make it and since everyone loved it from a first bite, it became a must-have for every year!

Honeypie with walnuts (miodownik) - Polish Christmas food #5

This is my favourite Christmas cake - it smells and tastes like heaven - honey & walnuts combination is simply amazing! It's made with two or more layers of honey shortbread with semolina based cream and topped with walnuts layer. This cake is another traditional food you'll find on my family's table during Christmas - since I remember it was a part of our celebration - sometimes my grandma made it, sometimes my aunt or my mom. Now I'm making it in Greece too and it's one of the greatest Christmas hits!

Cabbage rolls with mushrooms & gravy - Polish Christmas food #4

Continuation of my Polish Christmas preparation! Today "gołąbki" - cabbage rolls! You might have tried traditional cabbage rolls (or made lazy version of them). Usually they're filled with rice, minced meat and onion. This particular type is a meatless version - the one we serve on Christmas Eve in Poland. They're stuffed with mushrooms and rice or buckwheat. Plus, there is a mushroom gravy and hey, who doesn't love gravy?
These cabbage rolls are great not only as part of Christmas dinner, but also as an alternative if you're a vegetarian or you just want to try something different!

Borscht with "uszka" (mini dumplings with mushrooms) - Polish Christmas food #3

I'm continuing my preparation for Christmas Eve dinner. In Poland, we're having a festive dinner on 24th of December - so you may say we start celebrating a day before everyone else!
This day is very special and so is the food we serve. There is twelve traditional dishes and the custom says you need to at least take a bite of every one of them!
Today's recipe - borscht with uszka is served for starters. "Uszka" are tiny dumplings stuffed with mushrooms - their name means "little ears" and it's because of their shape. This type of borscht is light, spicy and it will warm you up - necessary thing in the Winter! We make several types of borscht, but this one is different than others - clean, made only with few ingredients and no meat, as we're not eating any on Christmas Eve. Borscht is specific for a region of Poland I grew up in, in other places at that day they may serve you mushrooms soup or fish soup. 

Pierogi with sauerkraut and mushrooms (Polish Christmas food #2)

 

As I mentioned some time ago, pierogi are one of the most popular and characteristic Polish dishes and come in many tastes and variations (like "ruskie" with cottage cheese and potatoes). The ones I'm presenting today are a traditional Christmas version - stuffed with sauerkraut and mushrooms.
Of course you can make them anytime you want, but it's something else if you wait a whole year to make them  - just for Christmas Eve's dinner!

This is my second Polish recipe for Christmas (first is here if you want to check: fish a'la greek) and there will be more. Hopefully I can make it all before Christmas!

Fish a'la greek that no Greek ever heard about (Polish Christmas food #1)

Have you ever heard of "fish a'la Greek"? Well, for sure if you're Polish and almost certainly no if you're Greek! Nobody knows how name of this dish was developed, but it's widely known in Poland. It's also one of the twelve traditional Christmas dishes in many houses, including mine.
Fish a'la Greek is light, delicious and aromatic dish, that is great not only for Christmas! It's made with fish fillets fried and then braised or mixed with vegetable sauce.
Christmas season has started - this is a first recipe of more to come - we'll be celebrating Polish style, so join me!

Shortbread vanilla cookies & 100 FB fans celebration

Last week fanpage of Lemon & Strawberries has reached 100+ fans! It's a big thing for me and I want to thank you all for your likes & support! This kind of a milestone called for some special sweets - so I've decided to make these little shortbread cookies.

I made two versions - with sprinkled sugar on top and special "facebook" version decorated with royal icing. It was my first attempt to use it and I'm pretty proud of myself, as they turned out very cute! So, grab a cookie and celebrate with me!

Baletki (Polish) - fluffy biscuits with marmalade and poppy seeds

 

Just look at these little cuties! Aren't they adorable? Baletki (which would literally translate to "ballet shoes") are small, fluffy bits of pleasure - they melt in your mouth and are just perfect for an afternoon tea or coffee time. When I was a kid we used to buy them at the pastry shop and because they're extremely light, you would get tons of them for a reasonable price. Their taste takes me back to my childhood, so it's a little bit sentimental recipe. I liked to separate them and eat marmalade first, then the cookies. I never made them before and it was a great surprise to me how easy to make they are and how little time they need!

Lazy cabbage rolls (leniwe gołąbki) in tomato sauce

Who doesn't love cabbage rolls? They're delicious and to die for, but there is one problem - they take a lot of time to make. This version of classic Polish cabbage rolls is a solution!

The taste is amazing, they're easy to make and you won't have to spend hours in the kitchen in order to enjoy them! Lazy cabbage rolls are quite popular in Poland - my mom makes them, when there is not enough time to make traditional ones. My reason to make these delicious food yesterday was the fact, that there was half of a cabbage sitting in the fridge and I had to figure out what to do with it. So, I thought - I've got cabbage, I've got meat - lazy cabbage rolls that is! And let me tell you - they were a hit!

Tourlou tourlou - Greek ratatouille

Tourlou - tourlou is one of these dishes one cannot stop eating! It's so rich in taste and colorful that everyone loves it. Its name means "mixed up" and basically that's what you do - you mix various vegetables into this delicious combination. I didn't know tourlou before I came to Greece - in Poland we make a vegetable stew dishes, but with completely different spicing and ingredients, so it was a very pleasant surprise for me and my taste buds. 

When I was doing a research about it, I found two ways of making it - one calls for a pot and you braise vegetables on a medium heat and the other one is made in the oven on a deep baking pan. Personally I like it made in a pot, as I'm getting more of the delicious juices this way and I just love to dip my bread in it. 

Tourlou is perfect comfort food and easy to make, it also gets better in time! So grab a big pot and make enough to enjoy it next day as well!

Polish sour cucumber soup (Zupa ogórkowa)

This is one of my favourite Polish soups and I missed it greatly for a very long time. Don't get me wrong, I love Greek cuisine with all my heart - it's amazing, but - sometimes, just sometimes I get these cravings for something I grew up with.
And this time I really wanted sour cucumber soup (zupa ogórkowa)! I mean it - I was ready to make preservs myself, just to have the necessary ingredient - sour cucumbers (ogórki kiszone). But there was a problem - I couldn't find small cucumbers suitable for making this type of pickles. Not to mention branches of dill (top parts, with seeds). I was getting really desperated, but then I thought I will ask around and maybe someone knows "something". As it turned out - there is a Polish shop here in Thessaloniki! Yay! So one day I went there hoping to find my precious sour cucumbers and imagine what a wonderful moment it was when I saw them on a shelf! My precious!

So here's the recipe for a delicious, Polish sour cucumber soup - perfect for cold days - it will warm you up and fill your belly with goodness!

Polish steamed dumplings (Pampuchy) with pork stew and beetroot salad

Sometimes I really miss some Polish dishes and today was one of these days. Pampuchy are a type of yeast based dumplings, that are very popular in Poland. Depending on a region one can find them served as savory or sweet dish. I remember eating them in two versions - sweet with sauce made from fruits and cream and with stew, as in my recipe.
Also it's the first time in my life I made pampuchy from a scratch! When I lived in Poland we used to buy them precooked to save time. I must say - homemade are much better! They're really soft and fluffy and will go well with almost any type of sauce or even just with some fried onions on top. I also heard of them being stuffed with meat, groats or fruits, but never had them in such version.

Polish classic beetroot salad

In Poland we love beetroots! We prepare them in many different ways: marinated, as salads, warm side dishes, as a spread mixed with horseradish and of course - made into soups, like botwinka and worldwide known borstch! This simple salad is one of my favorites - doesn't take long to make, it's slightly sweet and sour and goes well with any meat dishes you can think of - cutlets, stews, meatballs etc. 

Game of Thrones inspired sugar cookies

No matter if you're throwing a themed party or planning a nice movie night with your significant other, it's good to surprise your guests or beloved ones with some delicious snacks! I'm a big fan of "Game of Thrones" series and books, so I've decided to make some special GoT themed cookies to munch while I'm re-reading it and waiting for the new season of series. Plus, I came across Food 'n Film blogging challenge on Cooking for Kishore blog, so the idea appeared just in time! They are also perfect for movie-themed Halloween party or birthday.

These sugar cookies are delicious, crunchy and really great, but addition of dark and white chocolate makes them even better!