Fritule s bazgom - Fritters with elderflowers - Frittelle con il sambuco

Neka digne ruku tko nije radio sok, tj. sirup od bazge. Ja svake godine berem bazgu i radim sirup od bazge po starom receptu (možete ga pročitati ovdje). Radim ga u malim količinama, jer Mr. M. nije ljubitelj ni mirisa niti okusa bazge. Uvijek imam sirup od bazge u hladnjaku, jer mi je bolji od najboljeg soka i baš mi osvježi dan u ove ljetne sparine! Bolje i od najboljeg klimatizatora!

Možda ste vi svoj sirup i potrošili, jer je poznata stvar da sok od bazge brzo nestane, on nestane istom brzinom kao što se brzo njegovi cvjetići pretvore u bobice. Kad pripremim sirup, teško mi je odoliti, a da ga odmah ne isprobam, ali bi ga trebalo ostaviti da barem malo odstoji prije upotrebe, barem dok se ne pojave prve bobice na grmovima bazge, i dok zadnji grozdovi cvjetova još uvijek opstaju na najvišim granama. To čekanje traje samo par tjedana...
Do tih zadnjih mirisnih cjetića može se doseći samo uz pomoć dugačke kuke privlačeći grane polako i nježno da ih ne biste slomili, jer će vam se sigurno i druge godine brati bazga za sok i za čaj, a i da vam osvježi dan bez da uključite klimatizator.
Znači, kad vam sirup odstoji par tjedana i postane najbolji za upotrebu, a još uvijek uspijete nabrati i najzadnje cvjetne grozdove koji krase vrhove grmova bazge, onda si pripremite ove fritule. Zapravo su cjetovi samo fora, tako su minijaturni i nježni da se niti ne osjete u fritulame, pa ako ih  napravite i bez cjetova biti će vam odlične!

Pears poached in pomegranate syrup - Pere affogate nello sciroppo di melagrana - Kruške poširane u sirupu od nara

I'm attracted by rubber boots, I may say I really want them! I mean the black ones and without imperfections. The ones that will last for years, even if you don't wear them every day! Usually after some time rubber boots get fissured in almost invisible point of the sole or on the bottom side edge, but this miniscule crack get the foot immediately soaked when you plunge in a cold and dirty water of the first puddle on your way!

When I went to the countryside last time, during one of those humid and foggy days, I was wearing my brown suede shoes. It was a big mistake. I really regret I haven't bought black rubber boots! When I was a child I did have them, ohhh yes, every child used to wear black rubber boots during rainy autumn days. Then we were free to jump in every puddle on our way to school...untill one small, quite invisible abyss started to filter the liquid and the puddle suddenly started to grow inside the boot!

Sirup od cvjetova bazge - Elderflower syrup - Sciroppo si fiori di sambuco

Friday evening I went out from the office very late, but the sun was still high in the sky, shining warm and bright. The air was warm and I felt it! Linden perfume arrived to me mild and hardly perceptible, but I felt it, I know it so well, I like to so much. This spring is changing perfumes in so short time. Each of them is so special and announces new surprises. I like to immerse my face in the scents of plants and flowers. Smelling the flowers strongly tickles my nose and the perfume stays impressed in my mind for long time. It’s a beautiful feeling.
Extracting essences from flowers and plants is so fascinating. It’s incredible how some flavours and scents remain unchanged after preservation. Some of them get even stronger and more intense. Elderflowers have very intense fresh perfume and are full of pollen. When I came back from foraging few days ago, the seams of my jacket were yellow and some tiny flowers were hidden in my hear. It’s such a fun wandering in the fields and foraging herbs and flowers. When I start foraging, nothing can stop me and I always bring home too much stuff. It happened again with elderflowers…now I’m drying some flowers for a tisane too. The baking pan is in the oven full of flowers. This is the only space I have in my small kitchen away from dust, light and humidity - all you need to get quality elderflower tisane.
I’ll keep dried flowers in the glass vase for the winter and I’ve used fresh flowers to prepare this flavourful and refreshing beverage for hot summer days! If it’s well preserved it can last few months in the refrigerator.
Enjoy foraging elderflowers, but you need to go away from the city and the traffic. Flowers must be clean and without small black bugs that sometime hide in the hart of most beautiful flowers!

Rose-water syrup – Sciroppo di acqua di rose – Sirup od ružine vodice

The temperature in these days is so hot and last week it was even worse. I’ve tried to avoid cooking complicated stuff and staying long time near to the burner. Nevertheless I haven’t lost the appetite! But during hot summer days my preferred food is something fresh and ready to go (out) from the fridge. Now the fridge is full of fruits, vegetables and water. Everything must be fresh and almost icy. I usually don’t prepare ice – now I have ice in deep freezer too!
Despite of the big heat I haven’t lost the will to prepare something new and interesting. And despite of big heat, my red rose is full of flowers again. I’ve decided to use some blossoms and to prepare the rose-water. Rose-water is so fascinating to me and it’s incredible how many recipes you can prepare with it. My red rose is so perfumed and so red that the rose-water has very good flavour. Its coloure is deep and almost dark violet. I like to prepare it and to smell the beautiful scent rose’s petals give off while immersed into boiling water. This year I’ve decided to make something very easy (last year I’ve prepared Lokum, do you remember?), so the syrup was the perfect choice.
I’ve read several recipes of rose-water syrup and I’d like to share the recipe that I’ve used (I’ve adjusted a bit and combined more recipes). So the idea of making rose-water syrup is not mine, but this one is prepared the way I like it. It is so exquisite and refreshing, I’m sure you will like it a lot, it’s worth to do it homemade.