Chocolate Cream Pastry

Chocolate Whipped Cream Pastry

This is one of my favorite desserts.....I've been making Chocolate Cream Pastry since I was 15 years old and my Home Economics professor at the Hotel Academy taught us how to make the simplest yet most delicious cake and pastry filling.....EVER.

Chocolate Cream pastry is basically CHOCOLATE Swiss Roll filled with flavored and cooked whipped cream.....simple....easy....delicious....

Potato Pancakes Stuffed with Spicy Pork

Stuffed Potato Pancakes

........Stuffed Potato Pancakes......is your mouth watering, yet?

What can be better then Potato pancakes?......Potato Pancakes stuffed with juicy and spicy meat.....

I grew up in a hotel in Slovakia and the restaurant that belonged to the hotel used to serve this specialty dish........ It was Potato Pancakes stuffed with delicious Chicken Livers and something else I no longer recall.

That gave me the idea to Potato Pancakes Stuffed with Spicy Pork.

No Bake Sour Cream Cherry Tort

No Bake Sour Cream Cherry Tort

I've been in love with this TORT since I was 15 years old living in a dorm while attending Hotel Academy.

We didn't have kitchens or kitchenettes in our dorm rooms, but we had a fridge on every floor.

My friends and I used to make this tort often during the warm months when fresh fruit was in season......sometimes we made it during winter months using canned fruit we brought from home.

Noodles With Cabbage & Smoked Sausage (Kapustové Fliačky )

Kapustové Fliačky s Klobasou - Noodles with Cabbage and Smoked Sausage

Noodles with Cabbage and Bacon also know in Slovakia as Kapustové Fliačky is very simple, filling and cheap dish to make.

You can make it without smoked sausage as a vegetarian dish. You can also make it with bacon instead of sausage.

I like to make my noodles and cabbage (Kapustové Fliačky) with smoked sausage. I do not add sausage to the meal, but I put it on top in case one of my boys or myself doesn't feel like eating meat that night.

Potato & Onion Salad

Potato & Onion Salad

I don't know about you and where you live, but here...... this summer has been crazy....so far.

I mean weather....CRAZY!

One day is freakishly hot.....the next morning super cold and windy....mix in some heavy rains and occasional thunderstorm....add rainbows and weatherman being always wrong.....you will get weather in my neighborhood.

Sorry.....I forgot about that awful humidity we are having pretty much daily now.....

It is hard to make any menu plans because you never know if you will turn your house into an oven.

To be on a safe side I am trying to stick with SUMMER DISHES.....most of the time.

One of my favorite summer dishes......SALAD....is another dish from my childhood.

Chocolate Cherry Strudel

Chocolate Cherry Strudel

Last week I was inspired by Catalina and her Strawberry Vanilla Strudel.

Being raised in Central Europe loving strudels is in your DNA and every mom should be able to make a good strudel (not mine, sorry mom).

However, my dad....well, there is a man who knows how to bake.....and STRUDELS....are his specialty.

To make my dad proud and my country I ventured into the cherry orchard in my backyard last night and picked myself bucket of cherries for my famous well at least around my house CHOCOLATE CHERRY STRUDEL.

Simple Cinnamon Loaf

Simple Cinnamon Loaf

SIMPLE.....MOIST....DELICIOUS.....

Everything you want in a loaf.....SIMPLE CINNAMON LOAF will deliver.

I found this recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks and I've been making this

simple Cinnamon Loaf ever since.

Ricotta Garlic Roasted Potatoes

Ricotta Garlic Roasted Potatoes

Few times a week I try to make meatless dishes for our family dinner......even when we are camping.

Both of my boys are meat lovers, but slowly they got used to mom's meatless nights and actually look forward to it.

Having a meatless dinner few times a week is not only good for their health , but it keeps my food budget in check.

Potato Sausage Casserole - Francúzske Zemiaky

Potato Sausage Casserole - Francúzske Zemiaky

Potato Sausage Casserole is another dish from my childhood. In Slovakia it is called Francúzske Zemiaky.

This casserole is simple cheese and potato dish with boiled eggs and Farmer's sausage.You can call it deluxe Scalloped Potatoes.

My dad and my grandma had their own variations and techniques to make Potato Sausage Casserole (Francúzske Zemiaky).

Blue Cheese Wedge Salad

SUMMER....HOT....SUNSHINE.....and of course SALADS....

Yes, my friends the fresh fruit and veggies season officially started and I am loving every minute of it.

It’s time....finally... to introduce reasonably priced salads, fresh fruit and yummy produce into my daily diet without leaving all of my money at the grocery store.

It's time to turn crispy Iceberg lettuce into WEDGE SALADS.....

I am not talking about ordinary salads....I am talking about 5 STAR fancy restaurant salads made in a comfort of your own home and on a budget.