I got chills, they are multiplying

So as I type this, the temperature outside is -13.3C. Normally around the January/February changing of the months it is the coldest in Warsaw. This year with the very mild winter we have had then plunging into the double figures of minus temperature has been a really huge shock. If you are ever interested in the weather in little old Warsaw then you can check it here, at the website of the technical university. It updates every 5 minutes and, being technical boffins, I am sure they are accurate.

So with all this coldness about I thought it was time to show some photos that reflected this.

Frosty trees

Frosty bits

Frosty tips

Frosty twigs

Frosty tips

ok I am running out of rhyming things - Frost

Frosting points

spikey sticky

Spiken and Lichen

Everything will be all white

Setting sun

All blue

Will it be the end of winter?

What is it?

Haven't had one in a while, let me know your thoughts. I am leaving it small too, just make it a little tougher, though, it is pretty easy.

Oz Day

Happy Australia day!! Well in a sense it is no longer Australia now that I am typing this as in Australia it has moved on to the 27th. But, I am holding a torch up for it still. I have just proceeded in making my first ever pavlova and it looks more like a squashed hat. I am having some international guests come over tonight, but not I am going to try to get another one done before they get here. Also we have the Lamington, ANZAC biscuits, and a couple of meat pies. Should be a hoot with a couple of glasses of wine. The mean time I shall stream the Triple J's hottest 100 as mood music.

Mount Lamington sitting outside to stay cool and fresh

The first failed pav and the Anzac biscuits

Liquid refreshments

Aussie Aussie Aussie Pie pie pie

Roo pie

That sad pav again.

Now some food.

I haven't posted anything about food for a long time. Apart from the Christmas gingerbread house, I guess. So just a quick one today then, to warm you Northern Hemisphere residents up.

I've been baking bread like crazy of late

So why not use it to save dishes

Add some delicious cheddar cheese

Pile in the pumpkin soup

A sprinkle of basil

Chief taste tester.

She seemed pleased.

Pumpkins aren't so popular in Poland even if they grow quite well here. It just hasn't been a traditional food source, I guess with them originating somewhere in the Americas maybe it was thought of being too exotic. In the last 3 years I have noticed an increase in Pumpkin availability in the markets which is a great thing. As a kid growing up, there was little more that I hated more than pumpkin. But, I found out why. It tastes horrific if steamed with other vegetables. We make soups, breads and roast it here and it is great. We are also thinking about adding it to pierogi as well, maybe curried.

For a decent soup recipe:
1-1.5kg pumpkin
.5-1kg potatoes
A good pinch of ground white pepper
A tablespoon of salt
a pinch of nutmeg
a couple of bay leaves
Enough chicken stock to be about 2cm below the level of vegetables.

Cut up the pumpkin and potatoes (skinless creates a smoother soup). I tend to cut the potatoes smaller as they take longer to cook so cubes of pumpkin should be about double the size of the potatoes. Add stock, bring to the boil then turn back to simmer until the potatoes are soft. Then mash to your hearts content. If you like a thick soup use a blender and maybe reduce a little if it appears too watery for you. We like to leave ours a little chucky, so we just use a hand masher and that is it. Ready to serve. We find it is best to cook, and then sit outside (in the minus temperatures) then reheat as the flavour is better. I have no idea if this is passible in food hygiene courses. Someone with knowledge would have to let me know, either way, it tastes great!

The river Biebrza at Goniądz is famed for its crystalline water and the beautiful wilderness around it. It is in the middle of nowhere, and being the middle of nowhere the roads are like driving on velvet. If that velvet has been land mined and was a testing ground for high explosives.

The family that paddles together stays together

Paddle ho.

I heart fluffy clouds

See, more clouds.

Stroke, stroke. Forwards go forwards

This makes me think of Dutch paintings like Vermeer.

Look at this unison.

Now someone isn't even trying

Gotta love a man with the hooters.

Me being an impressionist

More Vermeerian

Weedy good.

Reflections of a deck

Pier reflections

It was all just too much for some.

There you have the Biebrza, beautiful not just because it is beautiful but because there are few people there.

Sokolka photoworld

Time to head to the East of Poland for some of the late last 2011 photos. Showing some of the landscapes about the area commonly referred to as "Poland B" for the feeling of its residents that it doesn't gain the investment of the rest of the country. It may be true, I am yet to see the books balanced per population, but what the lack of highways, airports and train lines does is that it makes it a beautiful wilderness, full of forests, which are full of mushrooms and wildlife. All of Poland's remaining Zubr (Bison) live in this region and when you are here it just has a real earthiness to it.

Weedy

Weedy sun

Pow.

Fruit and fly

Lonely Apple

I am Beaver

Leave it to Beaver

A great straight drive

The final Axe. Take that dead tree

You have to admit this ruptured boiled egg looks a little like a chicken coming out, no?

Next we shall paddle the Biebrza River.