Today, I’d like to wish you a wonderful and calm Christmas, and a most prosperous New Year 2026.
Thank you for reading my blog and let’s meet here in 2026!
With love,
Kinga
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I read these books over the last few months. It’s an eclectic choice, but I think they might be perfect reading companions for the long winter evenings, or can be given as a Christmas gift for your loved one(s). The list was supposed to be longer with another three books, but I only managed to read these two. Also, there is my book review of Fluent Forever on the school’s blog. I hope to add the other three books soon and will update you about it.
The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery
If you have read Anne of Green Gables, you’ll love this book too. It takes us back in time, but the topics it touches (to some extent) are as relevant today as they were 10 decades ago. Uneasy family relationships, staying true to oneself, expressing one’s own thoughts and feelings, choosing to live to one’s own values. But, at the same time, it’s a heart-warming story, romantic and dreamy. I read it in a couple of evenings, as I was so curious to know how it all ends. A beautiful story.
Atomic Habits by James Clear
“The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom.” James Clear
When I ordered Atomic Habits at the library, I was number 146 in a long list of waiting readers, and eventually I got my copy after half a year. Once I read it, I understood why I had to wait so long: it’s a life-transforming read. Honestly, if you only read one book in 2026, let it be Atomic Habits. (Btw, last year I recommended Breath, have you read it?). Atomic Habits shows a different way of looking at motivation, goals and habits. I knew habits played an important role in our everyday life, but this book is solid proof of it. The book guides you through the process of building good habits and eliminating the bad ones. One of my favourite points is that you can start (very!) small. If you want to read books, start reading one page a day. That’s it! Just one page and see where it takes you after a while, especially when you start enjoying your short reads. And finally, a reminder if you progress too slowly: “Complaining about not achieving success despite working hard is like complaining about an ice cube not melting when you heated it from twenty-five to thirty-one degrees. Your work was not wasted, it is just being stored. All the action happens at thirty-two degrees.”
TBC…
This is one of my favourite Christmas cakes and I’ve been making it for many years now. I often bake the first gingerbread cake of the winter season at the beginning of December to start Advent and pre-Christmas preparations. Then I usually bake it every weekend in December, as it’s easy to make and yummy to eat. It’s a Polish tradition to eat gingerbread cake at Christmas and the recipe was inspired by Kwestia smaku. It’s gluten-free and you can make it healthier without sugar, eat it as it is, or make it fancy with plum jam and covered in melted chocolate. Enjoy!
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
130g butter, ghee or coconut oil
80g honey
30g sugar (you can add more / less or even omit it)
1-2 spoons of gingerbread spices
2 teaspoons of soda
300g flour (100g rice flour, 50g coconut flour, 50g almond flour (or grounded almonds), 50g potatoes flour, 50g corn flour)
250g milk (diary or plant, e.g. almond or hazelnut)
½ glass of finely chopped walnuts (optional)
2 eggs
Extra: you can fill it with plum jam and / or cover the cake in melted chocolate (1/3 glass of a coconut cream or diary cream and 100g of dark chocolate)
Preparation
Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees. Use a loaf tin (cca 12x25cm) and line it with paper parchment. In a pan using a little heat, melt butter with honey, sugar (if used) and gingerbread spices. Take the pan off the heat and add all the flours and soda and mix it with a spoon. Add milk and walnuts (if used) and mix it and finally, add eggs and mix it again. Pour the dough into the loaf tin and put it into the pre-heated oven. Bake it for 40-45 mins: check if the cake is ready with a wooden skewer. Once ready, take it from the oven and cool it down. Keep it in a cake box.
You can fill the cake with a plum jam and/or cover it with melted chocolate (warm cream with chocolate up and keep stirring till it’s finely combined).
What’s your favourite Christmas cake? Please let me know in the comments below.
PS. If you’d like to try another Christmas recipe and bake ‘pierniczki’, Polish gingerbread biscuits, my recipe is on the school’s blog.