My dream list...

Roller skating, checked!

Roller skates, rink, disco lights, only thing that was missing was 80's outfit :D Maybe it sounds funny but this was something I always wanted to do in life, it was on my dream list. Do you have such a list? What is on yours? Another thing I would love to do is to see the whales live :)

Greek Almond Crescents

This is my second recipe from the new book and Greek Almond Cookies turned out delicious.

My first recipe failed, I called it Jumbo Disaster. Or maybe it is a matter of taste because my boyfriend said they were really good. Anyway for me the recipe had too much cocoa and also cookies were a bit too hard.

But Almond Cookies are deliciously buttery with pinch of orange zest. I was thinking to get rid of the book if this recipe was a disaster too but because these goodies are really good I will keep it and try out couple more recipes!

The book was on sale, only $14.99 but has hard cover and is very nicely published with great pictures and over 280 recipes. Really good deal!

It says preparation time is 20 minutes but it took me a little bit longer.

Baking books should also show how much time it takes to wash all the dishes after baking ;)

Ingredients:
200 g butter
1 cup Icing sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon brandy
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinammon
1 cup grinded almonds

Beat the butter, icing sugar and orange zest with electric mixer. Add the egg, yolk, brandy and keep beating until the texture is smooth.

Put in flour, baking powder, cinammon and mix everything together, then stir in the almonds.

Shape small size crescents and place on the greased tray, in 2 cm distance from eachother. Bake for about 20 minutes, untill golden, at 320 F Degrees.

When cooled dust with icing sugar.

Recipe inspiration from the "Mastering the Art of Baking" by Anneka Manning.

Jumbo disaster

I bought a new baking book and trying out some recipes. Unfortunately Jumbo Chocolate Cookies turned into Jumbo Disaster :D

Now it is time to make some Greek Almond Crescents.

My colleague at work has 5 chickens and I got from him 2 dozen fresh eggs. I promised to bring in some home-made treats, so I hope this recipe works better than the previous one. If not, I am getting rid of that book :)

Carrot cupcakes

My parents always said “eat lots of carrots, they are good for your sight”. Not that I had problems with my eyes but parents always want their kids to be healthy. It’s just a memory from my childhood. Whenever my mom cooked chicken soup (polish: rosół), she always peeled extra carrots for my sister and I to eat it and I heard those words.

I never baked carrot cake in Poland but I ate it couple times in Canada and I love it, so I decided this will be my first recipe in the new year.

Actually I decided to turn carrot cake into carrot cupcakes :)

Ingredients below make about 12 regular size cupcakes. Enjoy!

2 cups raw shredded carrots
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup orange juice
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 tespooons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Cream cheese frosting:
3 ounces cream cheese
2 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoon orange juice

Mix together carrots, sugar, orange juice, eggs and vanilla sugar. Combine the remaining ingredients. Put baking cups into the baking tin, pour the dough into 3/4 of each cup and bake at 350 F degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

To make frosting mix together cream cheese, icing sugar and orange juice until the texture is smooth.

When cupcakes are cool, decorate them with frosting, put a pecan on the top of each one or a mini carrot to make it look pretty.

Calgary Herald, top bloggers

Polka Girl on the Calgary Herald website?!?! I couldn’t believe it when I saw it yesterday. What a great start for the new year. My blog among other Calgary blogs, check it out!

All the best in 2013!!!

Last year my life has changed. I decided to move to Canada. Although the beginnings were not that easy, so far I don’t regret my decision. I enjoy every day here!

I have my loved one next to me, who has always been my biggest support, made me feel good when I was feeling down, and always has a positive attitude. Thank you and sorry for being so grumpy sometimes :)

And Canada is awesome! Even if it’s minus 30 outside with a crazy snow storm, I really like this country!

I would like to wish you all the best in 2013, persistence in accomplishing your goals and making your dreams come true. Never give up, always follow your dreams and passions!

Polka girl

Christmas Time

Christmas is my favorite time of the year. It's the time when the whole house smells of gingerbread and spruce. In the morning on the 24th of December my dad shops for a fresh Christmas tree, mom makes pierogis and borsch in the kitchen (pierogis with cabbage and mushrooms are traditional Polish Christmas dishes) and me and my sister bake cookies. Then there is time to decorate the tree. And when the first star shows on the sky we have Christmas dinner with twelve dishes. Before we start we share a Christmas wafer and wish each other good health, happiness and good life.

For Christmas, I usually bake poppy seed roll, cheesecake, gingerbread cake and lots of different cookies. And my mom also boils, yes boils babka (cake) from an old family traditional recipe. She is pro in making boiled babka :)

I'm still in the stage of discovering Canadian products and looking for ingredients to make traditional recipes that I brought from home. This year baking is not as festive as previous years but I ended up making ginger bread cookies.

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon cocoa
2 tablespoons honey
2/3 cups sugar
1,5 teaspoon baking soda
1 teasppon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1 teasponn ground clove
half tespoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg
1/3 cup warm milk

Mix all ingredients together (add egg and milk at the end) and knead the dough. Roll the dough 5 mm thick and use cookie cutters to cut out christmas shapes. Whatever leftover dough roll out again and cut out more cookies. Bake cookies in 180 Celsius degrees for about 15-20 minutes. When they cool you can decorate them, use icing or melted chocolate, anything you want :)

Gingerbread cookies are soft right after taking them out from the oven, later they get hard but if you put them in a plastic bag for couple days they will get softer again. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Recipe inspiration from Kwestia Smaku.