Christmas Fruit Cake

The cake was sooo good. Even the making it was a pure pleasure. Combining the ingredients: dried fruits,liqueur,cocoa, spices...and the smell while baking...omg.On Sunday morning we unveiled the cake. It was beautiful. Unfortunately I didn't have the recommended decorations but I will leave that for actual Christmas time. The taste was unbelievable, very, very rich and moist. Pure delight.

Today is a busy busy day. We are getting the keys to the new apartment so we will slowly start to move out. Eh, I like this apartment...I hope I will like the new one two. I don't like changes, I hope everything will go smoothly.

Long autumn evenings with a book

"If you could see me now" is an amazing book. It's the one that takes you to that nice cosy place where there is only you, cup of tea, the warm blanket and the book. I learned from King's " Memoir of a craft" that you can sum up a book in just one sentence so here it will be: a women struggling after a disappearing of her mother long time ago is helped now by an imaginary friend that only she and her nephew can see. The sentence lacks the magic and warmth though so it would be better to read it for yourself. It's definitely a nice distraction from the chilly weather outside.

Book Six: Nigella Lawson "Christmas Kitchen"

Pages:277 (well with lots of photos I have to gladly admit:) and frankly I wouldn't buy it if there weren't any)

I'm holding a precious gift in my hands. The book "Nigella Christmas" arrived today. It's gorgeous. The cover, every page looks perfect, so delicious. It's exactly what I was looking for. Every recipe has it's story. It's so much I want to learn about the traditional English feast. Well, I know I should be learning about Irish traditions but Nigella just happens to be British. What I've learned so far is not to panic. No one can prepare everything perfectly without nervous breakdown so if you want to stay sane just buy some of the ready made food. You can use then the time you would have spent on cooking on pouring yourself a glass of something nice and relaxing and just enjoying all the smells, feeling the Christmas spirit.

Last week I made the Christmas Rocky Road (a recipe from the very book) and it was sooooo good. Melted chocolate with golden syrup, Brazil nuts, marshmallows, glazed cherries...as Nik said it's all you can expect from the real treat. Very festive,very heartwarming. A definite on my Christmas table. I uploaded the photo so you can see for yourself.

This week I'm making and you can start to laugh now: "Incredibly easy chocolate fruit cake". I like the title and the promise that it's delicious. I already have most of the ingredients but I will leave that for the weekend as it's a bank holiday Monday so it will be nice so have something special to celebrate.

Ah, and in a week and a half we will be moving to the new apartment. I can't wait.I like when everything is new. I like to figure out what I will put on the windowsill or where is a perfect place for a Christmas tree:).

What I love the most in all this preparation is the time I spend with my family. I feel so cosy to hold Nataniel and Nik in my arms. I just wish I could spend this Christmas with my parents too. I miss them so much and although I know that they will come to visit us in January I'm sad that this will be the second Christmas without them...next year.

Book Five: Cecelia Ahern:" If you could see me now"

Pages: 330

Oh I'm so happy I finished A little beach book. Although it had just 150 pages it took me the longest to read it. Well, the short stories would be definitely more interesting if read on the beach as prescribed if not they are just a bunch of stories and most of them was created around birthday parties. The strange thing I noticed-the more luxurious surroundings the more boring the story. Maybe the author is so busy describing intricate jewelery, designer clothes and scrumptious food that there is no place for the action left. That's probably the case.

My new book is thankfully Cecelia again. For now I can say it's about a lady that takes care for her sister and her son...oh and there is an imaginary friend involved...that bit of magic which I love.

As for Christmas preparation the book Nigella Lawson -Christmas Kitchen is on it's way to me, ordered yesterday from amazon.co.uk. I also recorded the show last Christmas and when I watch it now it brings about all the smells and warm feelings of the festive season. Today I'm going to prepare the Christmas rocky road. That's a dessert made of chocolate, nuts and marshmallows (??? we don't eat them in Poland so it will be interesting)...And I took out the CD with Christmas music so now Nikodem, Nataniel and I enjoy each other's company while listening to Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Nat King Cole.

Book Four: "Little Beach Book"

Pages:150
My new book or rather compilation of short stories written by various artists is an easy read.I chose that because I wanted to see how short stories are built, how the plot evolves and how short exactly they are. Everyone knows that I'm not really exuberant, I tend to stick to the point and I'm not a big talker. Maybe I opened up a bit in Ireland because Irish people like to talk and I like Irish people:). I like simple talk, everyday talk without worrying that I won't get a Nobel Prize for the kind of words I use.I like when someone listens, when someone is really interested in your point of view. That is a really nice.

I didn't really have time for lots of reading this weekend. We had a Nataniel's first birthday party. I baked a cake. Chocolate cake with summer fruit filling. It tasted good but didn't look as cool as I hoped for. Nikodem saved the appearance by writing Happy Birthday Nataniel and drawing a nice flower. I'm not a big detailer you know. Oh... and there was a candle on top. We took Nataniel to the Zoo later during the day, although he enjoyed looking at other people more than at animals:). We were so lucky with the weather, it was warm and very Autumny...and Autumn is my favourite time of year.

Exploring the world

A friend of mine reminded me of the movie "Neverending story" today. Do you remember it too? I guess I'm still a baby hidden in the body of 27 year old woman. I loved the story, my dad took me to the movies to see that. I wanted to get The Book that transferred you to fantasy world, I wanted it so much that 20 years later I created my very own fantasy world... through my writing.
I finished Cecelia Ahern's "A place called here" yesterday. I devoured it in 4 days to my husband's amazement. Story was so captivating that I just couldn't stop reading. And it's so good to read about places I know.
I forget to tell you how it went with my Christmas preparation last week. Well, it was goooood. Roasted vegetables, with herbs, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.Yummy. I'm also looking for an ultimate apple pie recipe. Last week I made apple shortcake and French Apple Claufoutis. They were both good but still it's not what I'm looking for. This week I probably skip the Christmas dish as I'll be making my son's first Birthday Cake. His birthday is on Friday but we are making the party on Saturday. We plan to go to the zoo so lets hope for beautiful weather and if it's miserable outside we will go to the children's interactive museum Imaginosity.
Last Sunday we took Nataniel to his first exhibition. Mani: The Lost Religion of Light. It was held in Chester Beaty's Library. It was so interesting. I've read about this religion already but seeing the restored papyruses and reading the history just took my breath away. It's really worth a visit.I used to read about religions all the time. Well, I was mostly interested in Buddhism. I went to lectures to the University (they were late so my farther had to pick me up :)), read Dalailams's books. I liked that Dalailama didn't say :our faith is the only one but instead he encourages to seek your own path, read a lot,get experience and then see what suits you best. I believe that you can learn from every religion, philosophy or culture. It shapes your imagination and pushes you to explore the world.