December countdown -1

I have always enjoyed this last month of every year at the bloggers' land! There are a lot of you who start with this final countdown and post beautiful pictures with numbers. Well, I want to join the fun this year, but the point is that it is not that easy to find numbers and make nice pictures at the same time. I am not disencouraged yet, I still want to go through it, but I am afraid that my photography won't be such inspiring...

I also don't have any luck with light this time of the year. It is raining already 3 weeks in a row, there is no sun and taking pictures inside is a coplete disaster! I have little light sources in my appartement, s my pictures are always turning out too dark and out of focus if I have to take them indoors. But I will try anyway ;-)

As some of you already know the 28th of November has started the Christma Lent for the Orthodox Russians. It means we do not eat from now on and till 6th of December any anymal food, like meat, cheese or milk. This is why I have to look for new recipes to make my menu a bit more variated. Today I have made a celery soup with potatoes.

Its recipe comes from the last year's edition of AllerHande - it's a free magazine from Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn.

The recipe is very easy - you just have to cut you celery root in smaal blocks together with 250 gr of potatoes, one onion and two garlic cloves. Then you fry it during 3-4 minutes in 2 ts of olive oil, add water or boullion, salt and herbs and let it all cook for another 20 min. Then you pour your soup in the bender, mix it all till the structure is smooth, cook it on a soft fire for another 10 min and it's ready. You can serve it with rye bread and some ham. Very very easy-peasy and healthy as you can see.

As my mom follows this blog but doesn't speak English quite well, I will post translations of the recipes for her.

Суп-пюре из сельдерея с картошкой:

1 корень сельдерея

250 гр рассыпчатой картошки

1 луковица

2 головки чеснока

2 ст л оливкого масла

бульон говяжий или овощной

Сельдерей помыть, нарезать ломтиками и очистить. Порезать на кубики. Картофель почистить и также нарезать кубиками. Лук и чснок мелко пошинковать, обжарить в масле, добавить порезанные сельдерей и картофель, попассировать еще 3-4 минуты. Добавить бульон, дать закипеть и варить на малом огне около 20 мин. Миксером сделать суп-пюре, поварить еще 10 мин и подавать горячим с кусочком ржаного хлеба (можно добавить немного порезаной ветчины или бекона для непостящихся).

Here you go. Enjoy your day and a nice meal.

Raw food - something for you?

I have been surfing around and happened to find this interesting blog. I have tried to find a suitable diet for me for years, but the biggest problem is that I love cooking (and eating). I think baking and cooking in general is creative. I just can't imagine that I would eat raw food for the rest of my life. Don't get me wrong, I really do admire people who can do it. But it's impssible for me, I would miss the process of cooking and creating too much...

I am Orthodoxe, which means that I have Lent from time to time. I must admit and I am so NOT proud of the fact, that I don't follow all the rules strictly. I do not have Lent on Wednesday and Friday, as I should; and I even allow myself to skip Lent periodes occasionally. Especially during the summer it's almost impossible for me to lent. I don't want to excuse myself and give you all the reasons I do not succeed in Lent. To be honest, it's because my will is not strong enough and my faith is not deep enough. These are the only reasons. Nothing else. Shame on me, I mean it!

And what about you? Do you follow any diet or way of life? Do you know 80/10/10 diet? What do you think about veggies? Please, feel free to share in the comments.