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!

Cream soup with green peas and spring onion - Vellutata di piselli e cipollotti - Krem juha od graška i mladog luka

Who doesn’t like the surprise?! It’s something mysterious and fresh, something that touch our curiosity! Like a thick pod of green peas. You never know how many peas are hidden in it. Will the peas be big and solid, or small and flat…how many questions about a vegetable? Nevertheless I love shelling peas and hunting some fast and cheeky peas all around the kitchen table. When the green peas appear in the market, it’s time to put definitively away dark, winter coats. The nature is already fully awake and multicoloured. Except some rainy days, the spring is shining and green branches full of leafs are moving slowly following the rhythm of the air. It’s called light breeze and I find it adorable.

Didn’t you noticed so many green peas soup recipes all over the blogosphere? I did and I couldn’t resist from cooking this dense and creamy soup that warms us a bit in these cool and humid spring days.

Asparagus frittata in gluten-free crust - Frittata di asparagi in crosta senza glutine - Fritaja sa šparogama u bez glutenskoj kori

My kitchen is not big and my kitchen shelves are full, but so, so full that I’m building skyscrapers with my dishes and pots to optimize the space. Every single piece has its precise position and all is neatly fitted in the shelves. Nothing get lost in my kitchen, there is only small risk to brake some ceramic bowl or glass cover when I need a pot that is not in the very first skyscraper!
Nevertheless I always need some new pots, or dishes, or…and then starts this bizarre game of seduction. Each time I notice an new kitchen attraction, the culinary center of my brain start to pulse and get enchanted by the novelty. And I start to observe it first and start to think about its utility. If it won’t be useful in the kitchen, for sure it will be useful for the photo session, or maybe not…
The clever voice is whispering: “Run away from it, there is no space for it at home, neither in the closed on the balcony!”
And I must obey, because that’s true. If I buy it, something else will have to leave…for the garbage dump.
Each time I look at the shop window and I see my desired kitchen tool waiting for me, I must at least take it in my hands and admire it for a while…waiting for the right moment to…buy it or to leave it to someone else who desire it more then me!