Step 1 – Chop into inch cubes 500g of pork shoulder, 500g of pork belly and 500g of bacon. Cut away and discard any fat from the meat.

Step 2 – feed the cubed meat through a mincer, extracting any fatty strands where possible.

Step 3 – finely chop 3 cloves of garlic and 2 large onions. Fry half the onion and half the garlic with a tablespoon of muscovado sugar to caramelise, and add to the minced meat.

Step 4 – add 2 tsps of thyme and 2 tsps of black pepper with a little salt to the meat mixture. Combine all the ingredients together and blend thoroughly with your hands.

Step 5 – roll out some puff pastry thinly into a flat rectangular shape and lay the meat mixture until you are able to roll the pastry to create a tube, sealing it with beaten egg. Trim off any jagged edges with a knife.

Step 6 – cut the roll into sections about 2 inches long and place onto a baking tray, nipping two small holes in the top with scissors. Brush each parcel with egg.

Step 7 – cook on 200C for 20-25 minutes until the meat is cooked and the pastry is golden brown! Eat whilst warm if possible, although cold is also good.

You can also introduce two grated apples into the mixture which adds more moisture to the meat. My substitute for this was to make a few jars of Apple & Date Chutney which complements the dish with a hot, spicy and sweet flavour. Here’s the recipe I used:

APPLE & DATE CHUTNEY

Ingredients:
1kg stoned, dried dates
4 onions (about 500g)
4 large cooking apples (about 1kg)
125g dark muscovado sugar
180g black treacle
1 pt cider vinegar
1tsp salt
1tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp ground mixed spice (if available)

Finely chop or mince the dates, onions and apples. Add to a large saucepan and add all the other ingredients. Bring slowly to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1-2 hours until the mixture is thick, stirring occasionally. Spoon into warm, sterilised jars and seal immediately. The above makes about 8 x 250g jars. Best served after two weeks, although we opened a jar after two days and it was still pretty good. I shall be making more of these in the future as they make very good snacks and are deemed a curious addition to the Polish party table!

Blue skies, early morning sunshine and a thin covering of frost – the perfect opportunity for a stroll before breakfast. The last few days have been overcast and drizzly, so the need to catch the sun’s rays is strong. I’ve also missed getting out and about with camera in hand.

Many people stayed at home last night, including us. At midnight the street outside filled with neighbours, welcoming each other into the New Year, clinking champagne glasses and setting off any remaining fireworks. Always a pleasant atmosphere as optimism fills the air of a fresh start and new thoughts and hopes.

As we walked, there were a few signs that the party had finished late. Discarded bottles and firework rockets occasionally littered the roadside, and shutters and blinds remained closed in the houses we passed. For many this will be a day written off, but for me, the absence of people on the streets makes the walk all the more refreshing.

Happy New Year to all and wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012!!

Someone also warned us that cats and christmas trees don’t mix. As much as we have tried to discipline Sparky, it seems climbing the tree, grasping some tinsel in his jaws and then leaping off the tree and bombing across the room into the study has become his favourite ‘game’. The result is that our once colourful and bright christmas tree now looks abused.

Still, in between shooings and banging the newspaper on the floor just short of his little fleeing tail, I took this rather cute shot of him peering out from the branches with an obvious look of contempt. He knows that he will be forgiven.

This rather well glazed goose fed our family of 12 on Christmas day nicely, leaving little room for the dessert, or so we thought. A platter of home-made cakes appeared shortly after the main course, prompting everyone to gorge on their festive favourites. For me, it will always be good old-fashioned Christmas fruit cake; a recipe passed down through generations of my family and now adopted by my wife. Whoever said that the way to a man’s heart is via his stomach was spot on.

Below: The finished Christmas cake with holly and ivy jointly created by my dear mama and my wife a week before Christmas measuring ca. 10 x 10 inches. We shall eat the final slice tonight which shows that even a cake this size does not last long.

Meals in Poland over Christmas are always laden with a variety of meats. The breakfast platter consisted of a selection of cold-cuts of sausages and hams, mixed with cheeses and fresh bread. Simple, yet hard to resist for a meat-eater such as myself.

As 2012 approaches, yet again, it is time to set a few restrictions on my food intake if I am to play a reasonable game of squash in January. The time of lazy days is passing and a regular exercise regime beckons…

Update 2nd January: My wife saw me smile when I saw this on the shelf whilst hunting for the kid’s Christmas presents. It’s been a long time since I’ve built Lego Technics and this new release appealed to my interest in bikes. Two lazy, happy hours later, and the bike is complete and displayed on a shelf in the study. Albeit only a lego model, the design detail is still pretty clever stuff!

He’s now 2 month’s old and considerably bigger than when we last saw him here. He arrived this morning with his previous owners and is now settling in. His confidence around people and playfulness is apparent and his claws much sharper. Given his patience with the boys, it is obvious he has grown up around noise and children, but still shys away from Benji running headlong at him. Understandable really.

So do the children adapt to the cat? Or does the cat adapt to the children? It’s going to be a tough few days for him, but he is currently curled up on one of the dining room chairs under the table fast asleep away from the bustle of the family. He’s obviously a fast learner.

As Christmas nears, the days are getting shorter. The above was taken from our bedroom window at 15:50 today; the sun almost down. Today was probably the first day this Autumn when it felt like a real Autumn’s day should. The wind was gusty and the temperature was low enough to turn your fingers numb if you left them out of your pocket or gloves for too long. The perfect day for a late afternoon walk to clear the head and add some colour to the boys’ cheeks.

Below: view down the Piaseczno narrow-gauge railway towards Grójec from the crossing in our village.

The best part about a day like today is returning home to a roaring fire and the smell of a Sunday roast in the oven. Sunday has traditionally always been a family day and spending meals together at the table is important bonding time for the family. We can see that the boys also appreciate the relaxed conversation time with Mum and Dad. Even if Benji still doesn’t eat his brussel sprouts.

The Warsaw skyline has changed dramatically in the past few months with a new skyscraper starting to dwarf the Palace of Culture. Złota 44 has now reached the 50th floor, with only 4 to go before it tops out at 192 m. Last time I posted was in June and they were hitting the 29 storey mark. A further 21 storeys since and the building has suddenly become a landmark. The image above was taken from a building on Al. Jerozolimskie on Wednesday, but yesterday the top of the tower could not be seen for fog.

‘Skyscrapers’ in Warsaw still have a long way to go, but the view below is basically the CBD of the city. From right to left: Skylight Office (mid-sized tower), Palace of Culture & Science, Złota 44, Intercontinental Hotel, Warsaw Financial Centre and Rondo 1. The dark building in the foreground is Warta Tower – now a dated office building.

Below: Google Earth has most of the major buildings in the city centre, but as yet, no sign of Złota 44…