A long overdue blog update…

I've been busy these past couple months, enjoying summer, gardening and spending time with friends and family and so it happened without planing that I took a " Blog Holiday " ;)  But I am back and here are some pics to show you what I've been up to.....

Ani nevim jak se to stalo, neplanovane "blogove prazdniny" se protahly a uz je tu podzim. Leto me naprosto pohltilo, zahrada, pratele, rodina ( no vzdyt to vsichni znate) ale jsem zpet a vy muzete nahlednout, co se u nas deje.....

Plum dumplings.
Svestkove knedliky.

Growing grandsons ♥
A vnoucci povyrostli ♥

Fun, quick project at my daughters request.....
Rychlovka na dcerino prani.....

 and here is Koa, modeling his new booties.
Koa predvadi jeho nove backurky.

I made comfrey oitment. We have comfrey growing like weeds in our garden.
Put 2 handfuls of clean, cut up comfrey root ( you can add leaves too) in to 1/2 kg lard and cook for 10 minutes. Let cool and sit for 24 ours, then reheat and strain into clean container. I keep mine in the fridge. 
 
Uvarila jsem  Kostivalovy krem.
Do 1/2 kg sádla přidáme 2 hrsti nakrájených očištěných kořenů (příp. i listů) a vše 10 minut smažíme. Druhý den mast mírně zahřejeme, přepasírujeme přes plátýnko a slijeme do kelímků. Mast jsem si ulozila do lednice.

October

I kdyz ukladam fotky do pocitace a mam naplanovano se s vami podelit o stripky z naseho zivota, posledni dobou to nejak hrozne rychle leti a ja uz zase peknou dobu nic nenepsala. Pocasi je nad rijnovym normalem a tak vyuzivame kazdeho slunecneho dne a uzivame tento necekany "darek" Posledni tyden byly po ranu mlhy ale k poledni uz bylo zase krasne. Tady par fotek z mych rannich vyletu nasim okolim.

Even though I am saving photos in my computer and planing to blog about bits and pieces from our life, the time just fly and it is already October! Unexpectedly beautiful one, above season temperatures and  lots of sun. We are totally taking advantage of  this "gift", spending days outdoor as much as we can. We had lots of fogy mornings and I take my camera with me going for walks in our neighborhood. Here are some of the shots.

Pozdni rano a uz zase vyleza slunicko....
Late morning and the sun is coming out....

Ani po vecerech nezahalim,tady je "ochutnavka"  rozhackovane deky :)
Iam not procrastinating, here is a sneak peak of  chrochet blanket i just started  :)

Predu a barvim. 
More spinning and dyeing.

 I kdyz je stale krasne, v nasem jidelnicku jsou ted vic a vic tak rikajic "comfort food"
We have more and more comfort food on our table regardless the nice weather.

 Bochanky se sladkych brambor, kruti prsa plnena houbovou nadivkou a cokoladove susenky z testa ze sladkych brambor.

Sweet potatoes biscuits, mushroom stuffed turkey breast,  sweet potatoes, chocolate chunks cookies.

 

Verim, ze si take uzivate podzimu,zdravim, M

                                               I hope you are enjoying  fall as well, xo M.

Homemade Cherry Pie Filling

Zavarovala jsem tresnovou napln na kolac, tzv. "pie". Chtela jsem vyzkouset neco jineho,protoze mame jeste stale lonskou urodu v mrazaku. Je to rychle a do druhe davky jsem pridala cerny rybiz, ktery miluji a napln byla take vyborna.  Davku v receptu jsem znasobila,  po uvareni naplnila do sklenic a 20 minut povarila ve vodni lazni.

I've been busy making cherry pie filling. I though I'll try something different this summer since we still have frozen cherries from the last season in the freezer :) It's easy and fast and I made a second butch adding black current, which I love! It turned out deliciously good as well. I multiplied the ingredients, filled the jars and processed them in the boiling water bath for 20 minutes.

 image by "my baking addiction"




Recept:
5-6 hrnku vypeckovanych tresni
1/2 hrnku vody
2 lzice citronove stavy
2/3 hrnku cukru (podle kyselosti tresni muzete upravit)
4 lzice kukuricneho skrobu
1/4 lzicky mandlove treste

Vsecny ingredience ( mimo mandlove treste) smichame a asi 10 minut povarime, nakonec pridame trest. Po vychladnuti muzeme okamzite pouzit, par dni vydrzi v lednicce  a jiste by se dala napln  zamrazit i kdyz to nemam odskousene.

 Nadivku muzete pouzit okamzite, bez zavarovani. Ja neodolala a musela vyzkouset jak se povedla, pridala jsem jeste par prave natrhanych malin :)

You can use the filling without canning and I had to try right away and since I had few freshly picked raspberries I added them as well :) 

 Mnnnnn, byla to dobrota!

Mnnnn, good!

 Doufam, ze si vsichni uzivate leta plnymi dousky, omlouvam ze, se prispevku neni posledni dobou vic, snazim se limitovat cas traveny na pocitaci ale rada vzdy zaskocim na vase blogy, podivat se co je noveho!

I hope you are all enjoying summer and I want to apologize for not posting much lately, I am trying to cut down my time on the computer. I appreciate all you comments  and I still love to come and visit your blogs!

birthday celebration

V sobotu jsem z rodinou a prateli oslavila narozeniny. Bylo nadherne pocasi a tak jsme posedeli na zahrade, jedli, pili, povidali ale take hrali ruzne hry, no zkratka pohodovy den, jak ma byt.....

 I celebrated my birthday this Saturday with family and friends. The weather was great and we spent the afternoon outdoor, talking ,eating, drinking and playing games. Lovely, relaxing day, how it's suppose to be....

Dominik a jeho pritelkyne me prekvapili timto vybornym dortem, ktery sami upekli.

Dominik and his girlfriend surprised me with this delicious cake, that they baked themselves.

 

 

Minuly tyden jsem se  pustila do vyroby kvasku podle tohoto receptu, ktery jsem nasla na blogu u Michleny  a znej v sobotu upekla  chleb podle meho osvedceneho receptu. Chlebovy kvasek jsem pridala i z drozdim,  ktere normalne pouzivam a vodu jsem jeste nahradila podmaslim. Chleb byl vyborny, vonavy a chutove opravdu rozdilny od chleba peceneho bez kvasku.  Kvasek byl jen ctyri dny stary a tu "pravou" chut pry docili teprve po ctrnacti dnech "zrani" i kdyz pouzit se da uz ted.

I started Sourdough starter last week and I baked really delicious bread yesterday. I used my bread recipe (with yeast) and added the starter and also some buttermilk. Here is a good video how to make the starter and let me tell you,  the taste and the texture are well worth the extra work!

 Zaujal me jednoduchy (mnou jeste neodzkouseny) navod na "rezani" sklenenych lahvi. Trojitou prizi namocime v odlakovaci na nehty a uvazeme okolo lahve. Zapalime a sklenici pomalu otacime. Tesne pred dohoreni (plaminek meni barvu a zkomira) lahev ponorime do nadoby z vodou a ledem. Sklo by melo prasknout kousek pod mistem, kde byl provazek. Kdyz se to nepovede na poprve, muzete zkusit znovu ale pouzijte novy kousek prize. Ostre hrany obruste smirkovym papirem, pri brouseni pouzijte trosku vody - tolik navod.

I didn't have time to try this tutorial yet, but I can see how can this get addictive :))

Shepherd's pie

 Mame radi tento tzv. pastevcuv kolac a protoze vcera bylo venku zase pomerne chladno a toto je jidlo, alespon pro me, pro chladnejsi pocasi ( ano, na noc jsme zapalili v kamnech ohen ) pustila jsem se do vareni.

We love Shepherd's pie, and because yesterday's weather called for some kind of comfort food ( yes, we lit a fire for the night ), I put together this dish.

 Nejprve si pripravime bramborovou kasi. ( Ja kasi bezne delam na pul s kvetakem a pridam vzdy jeste do hrnce par strouzku cesneku. Po uvareni dodelam stejne jako kasi jen z brambor a verte, ze jestli to zkusite, budou se vsichni olizovat ) Dale si nakrajime mrkev, okrajime zrnicka sladke kukurice, vyloupeme hrasek ( muzeme pouzit i nakladane ) a dame na chvilku povarit.

Start with making the mash potatoes. I almost always substitute half the potatoes with cauliflower  and add few garlic cloves in the water as well.  While the potatoes and cauliflower and garlic cloves are cooking, chop carrots, corn and cook till done but firm.  You can add fresh peas too or use caned as I did.

 Nakrajeny cesnek, cibuly a porek osmazime s troskou olivoveho oleje a mletym masem. Ja jsem pouzila klobasy, ktere byly uz ochucene, kdyz pouzivate mlete maso, okorente podle vlasni chute. Kdyz je maso uvarene pridame povarenou mrkev, kukurici, hrasek, zahustete troskou tmave omacky- instantni tmave jisky?

Sauté chopped garlic, onion, leek and ground beef with a bit of olive oil. I used sausages, that were already spicy but you can use salt, pepper and other seasonings of your choice. When the meat is no longer pink add the carrots,corn and peas and add some gravy or beef broth. Mix well and spread the ground beef in an even layer on the bottom of a casserole dish. Next, spread a layer of mashed potato mixture. You could sprinkle it with cheese as well. 

 Vse dobre promichame, narovname do pekace, prikryjeme bramborovou kasi ( muzeme pridat nastrouhany syr ) a dame na 30 minut zapect do trouby.

Cook in the oven until bubbling and brown, about 30 minutes.

 Latky na quilt, pripravene do pracky.

Fabrics for the quilt, ready to be wash.

Tady uz vyzehlene a pripravene ke strihani.

Ironed and ready to be cut. 

 Tuto latku jsem vybrala na zadni stranu deky.

 I have chosen this one for the back side of the quilt.

Nemuzu se dockat az se pustim do prace, dnes se ale udelalo po delsi dobe hezky a tak jsem cely den stravila na zahrade.

I can't wait to start working on it, but the weather was really nice today so I spent the day outside gardening.