So, here is another series of pictures. Since I am lazy and unable to post more often, the following shall be divided into three groups. The first, most significant group of food pics has to do with the time of the year we arrived at. The fall is here, has been here for a while, and the winter is around the corner, too. This season is marked by my inability to walk further than from the bed to the kitchen to pick up a pot with boiling tea and head back, by an irresistible urge to crawl under the duvet and stay there until the end of March at least, and by attempts to shoo away the cold with a variety of pacifiers in the shape of warming soups, home-made apple strudels, and other soothing, pleasant foods from this season's repertoire. The following four pics show the process of making an apple-pear puree (spot the variety of other ingredients), the final result consumed for breakfast, another peek into the kitchen in the course of the preparation of Thai pumpkin soup with whole spinach leaves, and, last, but not least, an apple-pear strudel in the process of making, this time perhaps a bit unusual, with the addition of dried apricots, nutmeg and a sprinkle of chilli powder (to really warm you up, you see).
Následují obrázky dokumentující odlišný přístup k pokusům o zahnání zimy, totiž skrze připomínku slunného jihu Evropy a místní kuchyně. Postupem času jsem zkoušela steak ze svíčkové na fazolkách a kukuřici, špagety s rukolou a sušenými rajčaty, brambory pečené ve slupce a plněné směsí jarní cibulky, semínek a parmazánu, a salátu z rukoly, cherry rajčátek a sušeného špeku, opět sypaného čerstvě strouhaným parmazánem. Ač to tak nevypadá, i poslední foto se zaháněním zimy souvisí. Lidová moudrost praví, že zahřát se dá i zevitř, a to alkoholem. Tahle metoda bohužel není příliš účinná, a navíc po ní obvykle následuje kocovina. Jednu z těch, které mě poslední dobou přepadly, jsem se pokusila vyřešit volskými oky z domácích vajíček, které mi věnovala teta Stáňa během dušičkové návštevy Lochenic. Kocovině to moc nepomohlo, ale bylo to dobré.
The following pics document a different approach to attempts of forgetting the cold, that is, via meals reminding of the sunny, Italian South. I've tried steak on a bed of green beans and corn, spaghetti with rocket and sundried tomatoes, jacket potatoes filled with spring onion, sunflower seeds and parmasan, and a salad of rocket, cherry tomatoes and grilled prosciutto, again sprinkled with freshly grated parmasan. Although it may not seem so, the last photo also has to do with getting rid of the ever-present cold. Anecdotal evidence has it that alcohol may help warm you from the inside. Unfortunately, this method rarely helps in practice, and, to add insult to the injury, it is usually followed by a heavy hangover (at least when one knows how to drink with moderation, just as I do). I tried to solve one of the recent hangovers with 100% free range fried eggs given to me by my aunt while I was visiting the relatives in Lochenice. It did not help the hangover much, but they were tasty, indeed.
Třetí skupina obrázků s jídlem tak moc nesouvisí, a stačí jim stručné popisky:
Růženka ve Stromovce, dokud podzim ještě ukazoval tu přívětivější tvář / Růža in the park, still during the pleasant part of autumn.
zeď lochenského hřbitova, a státní nivelace / Lochenice cemetery wall; most of my Neuman ancestors rest there
já, Růžena, a Marianina Červená Mikina / me, Růža, and Mariana's Red Hoodie
večer u babičky: lentilky a chlebíčky, ozvěna dětství / an evening at grandma's, and the icons of my childhood
druhá část dušičkového víkendu, aneb narozeninový výlet k prameni Labe. Jak je vidět, Růža NENÍ horský pes. / second part of the All Souls weekend, a walk in Krkonoše mountains. Apparently, Růženka is NOT a mountain dog.