Don't you just love bureaucracy?

Obviously both our families would like to meet Adam. Not everyone can come to us though, so it's up to us to go and show him off. Therefore, we needed a passport for him. You would think it's a straightforward operation, right?

Adam automatically has my nationality. So now I need a Polish passport, but since we are in UK I can only do it in the consulate in London. If it was back in Poland, I could just go to a local passport office, fill in the application form, attach pictures and wait about a month, then go and pick it up. Simple. Here? Hell no. You can't just pop in to the consulate, you book an appointment. Fair enough, I get it. I don't quite get why the waiting time is minimum a month. It requires both of us to be there to sign the forms, as you can only get one at the time of the visit. Back home I'd just grab one, fill it at home and go whenever it suits me, but hey. Then they reserve 6 weeks for the passport to be ready. To sum up: it takes a month wait, round trip to London from wherever you live, 6 weeks wait, another round trip to London. Plus my mum was told in our local passport office that often parents living in UK get babies' passports make in Poland, as consulate tends to issue 1-year passports instead of 5-year ones. I don't know how could they actually do this, but I'm not enthusiastic about the prospect of doing it all over again in year's time. Oh happy days.

But wait! Family is suggesting that maybe he's eligible for the British passport. So I go online, read the UKBA website all over again and still don't understand - is he or is he not? No one around seems to know, but then we go to visit a friend. She's in the same situation, but good news - she was clearly told at the post office that due to her immigration status the baby IS automatically a British national. Yay! So we go to the post office, pick up an application form, fill it in, attach appropriate supporting documents and to avoid trouble use the check&send service. We made a mistake - happens - we take another form and fill it in correctly. Finally it gets sent, so now time to wait. Last Monday I received a text from the passport office, that they'd received the application, so I anticipate further 3 weeks from then. Today morning a small envelope popped through the letter hole, making me think my passport (supporting Adam's application) came back. To my surprise, it's actually Adam's passport. Dated 13th September. It took whole 4 days to make.

My consulate appointment was supposed to be this Wednesday. I managed to get one passport ready before I could even apply for the other one. Welcome to the Polish way of getting anything sorted. Screw it, now I can go to Poland and sort it out there, for fraction of consulate fee.

Time to start planning some holidays!

A year ago yesterday we said "I do". To mark this occasion, I decided to make a cake. I think I got a bit overambitious at some point, had a few mishaps but I'm quite pleased with the result. And even my chocolate-hating Hubby seems to like it ;) It was first meant to be covered with a white chocolate ganache, but since I burnt it... Crème patisserie it is ;)

Wczoraj obchodziliśmy z Mężem pierwszą rocznicę ślubu :) Z tej okazji postanowiłam upiec tort. Trochę zbyt ambitnie do tego podeszłam, nie wszystko poszło zgodnie z planem, ale efekt końcowy mnie zadowala. I nawet mojemu niezbyt lubiącemu czekoladę Mężusiowu smakował ;) Ciasto miało być pokryte kremem czekoladowym, ale ponieważ go przypaliłam... Mamy śmietankowy crème patisserie ;)

White chocolate cake:

Bring the milk with half of the sugar to the boil. In the meantime beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar to a pale, fluffy mixture. Add the flour and mix to combine. Once the milk reaches the boiling point, remove it from the heat and slowly add about the half to the egg yolks, stirring constantly to avoid eggs getting cooked. Pour the mixture back into the remaining milk in the pan, then cook on low heat stirring continuously, until it thickens. Remove from the heat and let it cool.  Whip the cream. Once cooled, whisk together with the whipped cream. 

Use about 1/3 of the cream to sandwich the cake together and the rest to cover the sides and top of cake. 

To finish off, melt 100 g of milk/dark chocolate and spread onto baking paper. Once it sets, break into pieces and cover the sides of a cake.

Chill before serving. 

• 175 g masła
• 175 g drobnego cukru do wypieków
• 4 rozbełtane jajka
• 200 g mąki samorosnącej (lub 200 g mąki pszennej, pół łyżeczki sody i łyżeczka proszku do pieczenia)
• 50 g roztopionej białej czekolady

• 500 ml mleka
• 100 g drobnego cukru do wypieków
• 6 żółtek
• 4 łyżki mąki
• 250 ml śmietanki kremówki

Welcome to a whole new section. From the beginning I wanted to incorporate some mummy thoughts in this blog, but it never quite went with food posts. So I'll keep it separate. If you don't want to read these, just skip to the food. If you do, enjoy short stories of my life with Adam. It's Mama's blog after all.

Today I've discovered Adam's another cheeky quality. 

If I ever wonder what he took after me, it's his constant snacking. He wants to eat pretty much all the time. At least he seems like, but often when he gets onto breast or bottle, the little monkey will suck couple of times and then look  up at me with his biggest cheeky smile, and start his little chat. 

What mummy decided to do? Have her own quick meal. But fear not mummy, Adam is on the guard of your weight! As soon as I started eating, Adam gave me his most surprised look and decided he wanted his bottle after all. Cheeky, jealous little guy. If he's not eating, mummy can't either. No wonder I've shed 10 kg off my pregnancy weight by my 8 week check-up. 

It's all part of my bedtime routine struggle. I know he's still very small, but led by all possible baby clubs and guides I decided to give it a go. I don't expect miracles, if it doesn't work then tough. So far it's not entirely bad, but after an hour in his cot Adam woke up sucking his fists. However, as soon as I picked him up and put on my chest, he fell back asleep. Many of you, including my mum, would say he's already spoilt rotten and I won't be able to get him to sleep on his own. I prefer to believe it gives him sense of security, and if he's too small to understand routine then he's also too small to get spoilt. Besides, I know that when he's just been fed and had a nappy changed, and is clearly sleepy, he is able to fall asleep on his own - I tried him twice last night and after a good while of wiggling he did eventually sleep without mummy's cuddle. 

We'll get there slowly. He's only 11 weeks old now.

Super easy, super quick, perfect when you fancy freshly baked buns for breakfast. No yeast, no waiting, no fuss.

Ingredients (about 6 small or 4 larger buns):

Preparation:

Chop the butter into small pieces. Add the flour and baking powder and combine together, until you achieve crumble-like texture. Add yoghurt and egg and knead until all ingredients are combined in a smooth dough (it will be quite sticky). Form the buns and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake in 180C for about 30 minutes. 

Super łatwe, super szybkie, idealne gdy macie ochotę na świeże bułeczki na śniadanie. Bez drożdży, bez czekania, bez wydziwiania.

Składniki (na ok. 6 małych lub 4 większe bułeczki):

• 300 g mąki
• 200 ml jogurtu naturalnego
• 100 g masła
• 1 jajko
• 2 łyżeczki proszku do pieczenia

Masło drobno siekamy, wyrabiamy z mąką i proszkiem do pieczenia, aż powstaną grudki. Następnie dodajemy jogurt i jajko. Wyrabiamy do uzyskania gładkiego ciasta (będzie dosyć klejące), z którego następnie formujemy bułeczki. Bułeczki wykładamy na blachę wyłożoną papierem do pieczenia i pieczemy w 180C przez ok. 30 minut.

My ultimate comfort food. I think it's actually so much quicker to make than a meaty one, which with Adam's crazy sleeping and feeding patterns means a lot. Luckily today Hubby took over for a bit, I cooked us lunch, and we finally managed some time together. I'm slowly forgetting how nice it is to just sit and have a meal together. Bonus: a meal went without Adam stuck to me :)

This recipe actually came together by accident, but after making it once we fell in love with it!



Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 6 tomatoes
• 1 aubergine
• 1 small corugette
• 6 new potatoes, boiled
• 6 mushrooms
• 1/2 small tin of sweetcorn
• white sauce
• 50 g grated cheese
• mixed herbs, salt, pepper
• lasagne sheets

Moje "comfort food". Wydaje mi się, że dużo szybsza do zrobienia niż wersja mięsna, a przy szalonej Adasiowej rutynie (lub raczej jej braku) jest dużym plusem. Szczęśliwie dzisiaj mój kochany Mąż przejął na chwilę pałeczkę, zrobiłam więc obiad i w końcu udało nam się chwilę spędzić razem. A wspólny posiłek bez Adasia przyklejonego do mnie? Już nie pamiętam kiedy ostatnio tak było :)

Ten przepis powstał kiedyś przez przypadek, a skończyło się miłością od pierwszego kęsa!

Składniki:

• 1 cebula
• 6 pomidorów
• 1 bakłażan
• 1 mała cukinia
• 6 ugotowanych młodych ziemniaczków
• 6 pieczarek
• 1/2 małej puszki kukurydzy
• beszamel
• 50 g startego sera
• mieszanka ziół, sól, pieprz
• makaron do lasagne