Kremilek a Vochomurka

I have introduced you to The Little Mole in Niki's room. Today I'm going to show you what cartoon characters  have I painted in Matysek's room. These guys live in a stump cottage. The author of these two cartoon characters is Czech illustrator Zdenek Smetana.
To tell you the truth I had no idea what to paint in Matysek's room. I had several choices. Rakosnicek,  Maxipes Fik, Bob a Bobek or Vceli medvidci. At the end these two from moss and fern won.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Uz jsem vam predstavila Krtecka v Nikove pokojicku. Dnes vam ukazi, jake pohadkove postavicky jsem namalovala v Matyskove pokoji.  Urcite je poznate. Jsou to dva skritci z parezove chaloupky. Samozrejme tvurcem techto dvou postavicek je Cesky vytvarnik Zdenek Smetana.
Abych rekla pravdu, nejdrive jsem nevedela, co v Matyskove pokoji nakreslit. Dlouho jsem premyslela nad nekolika moznostmi. Rakosnicek, Maxipes Fik, Bob a Bobek nebo Vceli medvidci. Nakonec vsak zvitezili tito dva z mechu a kapradi.

Poem / Basen

 My husband and I just had an aniversary few days back. He was so thoughtful and romantic, he wrote me a poem. It is not his first one he ever gave to me but every time he does, it is beautiful way of saying how much he loves me.

My love, she is a bright snowflake.

Crystal structure will not break.

From the clouds, she has escaped

To my tongue.  I'll steal a taste.

And like a little flake of snow

Holds the hoof-prints of a doe,

Into giant mountains grow,

She can stop the traffic flow.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Muj muz a ja jsme pred par dny oslavili vyroci svatby. Je to romantik a nikdy mi nezapomene  napsat krasnou basen.  Vzdy me potesi, kdyz mi vyzna svou lasku i takovym zpusobem.

My love, she is a bright snowflake.

Crystal structure will not break.

From the clouds, she has escaped

To my tongue.  I'll steal a taste.

And like a little flake of snow

Holds the hoof-prints of a doe,

Into giant mountains grow,

She can stop the traffic flow.

Gluten free Christmas cookies / Bezlepkove Vanocni susenky

It is Christmas time. I want to wish everyone beautiful holidays and lots of great adventures in the New Year.
This year I have improvised with my Christmas cookies. It is not easy to make something gluten free that tastes good and my three year old would love. I think I have it this time. I have made Gingerbread cookies. Here is the recipe.

•  2 1/4 cup rice flour
•  1t ginger
•  1t cinnamon
•  1/2t xanthan gum
•  3/4 cup shortening
•  1 cup sugar
•  1 egg ( I use one puréed apple instead )
•  1/3 cup molasses

Mix it together until you have a nice dough. Cut in half, roll it out and use cookie cutters. Place on a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake at 350 about 12 minutes. It depends how thin your cookies are. We like them little chewy inside so I make them about 1 cm thick. If you like them crispier, make them thinner.

Decorate them however you like.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Vanoce jsou tady. Preji vsem krasne a pohodove Vanocni svatky a spoustu dobrodruzstvi v Novem roce.
Letos jsem vyzkousela trosku neco noveho s vanocnimi susenkami. Ono neni zrovinka jednoduche upect bezlepkove susenky, ktere jsou dobre a chutnaji memu triletemu synovi. Ale povedlo se. Zazvorove susenky, ktere muzete delat na vanoce nebo mimo ne. Tady je recept.

• 2 1/4 hrnecku ryzove mouky
• 1 lzicka zazvoru
• 1 lzicka skorice
• 1/2 lzicky xanthan gum
• 3/4 hrnicku tuku (neohrivat)
• 1 hrnek cukru
• 1 vejce (ja davam 1 nastrouhane jablko)
• 1/3 hrnecku melasy

Smichejte vse dohromady az mate krasne testo. Uriznete pulku, rozvalejte a pouzijte vanocni a nebo i jine vykrajovatka. Dejte na plech s pecicim papirem a pecte pri 175 C asi 12 minut. Zalezi jak mate silne testo. My mame radi mekke vevnitr a tak je delam asi 1cm silne. Jestli mate radi krupave, delejte je  slabsi.

Pak uz jenom ozdobite podle vasich predstav.

The Mole / Krtecek

The Mole is probably the best known Czech animated cartoon character. Small or big, everybody knows him in the Czech Republic and not only there.
Only one year ago his author and animator Mr. Zdenek Miler died. To his anniversary I would like to say: Thank you for the adoradble stories about The Little Mole. Your work is immortal.
I grew up on The Little Mole and many other Czech animated cartoons. I love The Little Mole. I wanted my kids to know him too.
I painted The Mole on the walls of Niko's bedroom before he was born. Niki's aunt Sarka and grandma brought him lots of things with The Little Mole on it, even a stuffed one with his blue trousers.
Matysek loves him already too. Whenever he sees The Little Mole he smiles at him.
So you should turn on your TV or computer, find The Little Mole and watch it. It doesn't matter if you are not Czech. Everyone can watch it, even if you are Chinese or Brazilian.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Krtecek je asi nejznamejsi Ceska kreslena postavicka. V Cechach ho zna kazdy, maly i velky divak. A ne jenom v Cechach.
Uz to byl prave rok, co nas opustil jeho tvurce, ilustrator pan Zdenek Miler. K jeho prvnimu vyroci, bych chtela rici: Dekuji za krasne pohadky o Krteckovi. Vase dilo je vecne.
Ja jsem na Krteckovi vyrustala a take na mnoha dalsich kreslenych pohadkach z vecernicku. Krtecka mam moc rada. Take jsem chtela, aby Krtecka znaly i moje deti. Nez se Niko narodil, namalovala jsem mu Krtecka na zed v jeho pokoji. Potom mu jeho teta a babi privezli z Cech plno veci s Krteckem i samotneho Krtka s kalhotkami. Ted ma rad Krtecka uz i Matysek. Kdykoli ho vidi hned se na nej smeje.
Takze dnes si zapnete televizi nebo pocitac, najdete si Krtecka a kouknete se sami. A nevadi, ze nejste Cesi. Na Krtka muze koukat kazdy, i kdyz je Cinan nebo Brazilec.

Thanksgiving / Dikuvzdani

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. At least on the calendar. We had it today already. My husband has to go to work tomorrow so we moved it one day forward. Even his parents came. They are leaving for Arizona in the morning just like the birds for the winter. Speaking about birds, our bird came out of the owen looking fantastic. Good appetite everyone and thank you.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zitra je Dikuvzdani. Alespon podle kalendare. My ho vsak meli jiz dnes. Muj muz musi jit zitra do prace a tak jsme to posunuli o den dopredu. Prijeli i jeho rodice, kteri rano odjizdeji prezimovat do Arizony jako stehovavy ptaci. No, kdyz o ptacich, tak ten nas se povedl naprosto skvele. Nechte si vsichni chutnat a dekuji vsem.

Gluten free oatmeal cookies / Bezlepkove ovesne susenky

You know my older son Niki has wheat, dairy and eggs allergies. When Matysek was born everything seemed good. In the third week of his life he got a rash and cried more than usual. We knew what to do. I had to give up wheat, eggs and dairy. The rash dissapered and he didn't cry that much anymore. He still doesn't want to sleep much, but that is another story.
I am still breastfeeding Matysek so I have to stay on his diet. It is challenging not to eat bread or cheese but I would do anything for my children.
I love to eat sweets. I have to have something everyday. My friend once brought gluten free oatmeal cookies to our house. Niki and I just loved them. I asked her for the recipe and now I bake them at least twice a week. They are very good.

Recipe for Oatmeal cookies:

mix:  3/4     cup of oil
            1     cup of sugar (I use 3/4)
            2     tbsp of molasses (or use brown sugar)

add:   1/4    teaspoon of salt
             4    cups of rolled oats (quick oats)
             1    cup of unsweetened applesauce
             1    cup of dried cranberries

The dough is sticky. Drop by spoonful onto baking sheet and bake for 30 mins at 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

This is what happens to a fresh tray of cookies in our house.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jak vite, muj starsi syn Niki ma alergie na psenici, mlecne vyrobky a vejce. Kdyz se narodil Matysek, prvni dva tydny byly velmi dobre. Treti tyden jeho zivota, vsak zacal mit vyrazku a dosti casto brecel. Tak jsme hned vedeli, ze musim opet vynechat psenici, mleko i vejce ze sveho jidelnicku. Vyrazka mu zmizela a uz tolik nebrecel. Jen nechce moc spat, ale to si nechame az na nekdy jindy.
Kazdopadne ho stale kojim a tak musim zustat na teto diete. Je to dost tezke nejist chleb nebo syr, ale jinak se to neda. Pro me deti udelam cokoliv na svete.
Ja miluji sladke, musim mit neco kazdy den. Moje kamaradka jednou prinesla bezlepkove susenky, ktere me i Nikimu moc zachutnali. Rekla jsem si ji o recept a ted si pecu susenky alespon dvakrat do tydne. Jsou moc dobre.

Recept na Ovesne susenky:

smichat:    3/4      hrnku oleje
                     1     hrnek cukru (ja davam 3/4)
                     2     lzice melasy (nebo hnedeho cukru)
     
 pridat:                 spetku soli
                     4     hrnky ovesnych vlocek
                     1     hrnek jenme nastrouhaneho jablicka
                     1     hrnek ususenych brusinek (muzete dat cokoliv jineho treba rozinky)

Vse poradne zamichat. Potom vzit trochu do dlane nebo na lzici, uplacat a dat na plech. Pect 30 minut pri 160 stupnich Celsia. Dobrou chut.

 Cerstve z trouby. Skoro zadna nezbyla.

Things are tough / Tezkosti

Things are very tough right now. Lots of crying and frustration. I think it is finaly sinking into my mind that we will have to leave our home. The house were my chidren were born and spent their first years. Lots of good memories here.
We have to get rid of one car right away as well. Can not afford to pay for it any longer.
So my husband will be driving to work and I will have to stay home witout a car. I don't know how long I can make it before I get crazy.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Nase situace je dosti slozita prave ted. Ja to moc dobre nezvladam. Casto brecim a jsem zoufala. Konecne mi dochazi, ze se musime stehovat z naseho domu. Domu, kde se narodili nase deti a stravili tu prvni roky sveho zivota. Mame tu spoustu hezkych vzpominek.
Take jedno auto musime dat pryc. Nemuzeme si ho uz dovolit zplacet. Takze muj muz bude jezdit do prace autem a ja budu muset byt s detmi doma bez auta. Nevim, jak dlouho to vydrzim, nez se z toho zblaznim.