I’ve always been very picky with food, basically I prefer fish and salads to anything else, but recently I’ve also started baking my own bread, as it is virtually impossible to find anything baked without additives these days. I’m also what you’d call moderately intolerant to lactose. I can cope with small quantities of hard cheese and I actually love mozzarella, but when it comes to fresh cheese, I usually give up. There is one little exception: the light white cheese from Mt. Jastrebac. I love it !
In fact, Serbia is famous for many varieties of cheese, the most famous being the so called cachciavallo kačkavalj, a speciality from the southern small town of Pirot, situated in the vicinity of the famous historical city and the birthplace of Constantine the Great, the city of Naissus (Niš). And of course, the dairy spread KAJMAK (kuy-mukh) from Šumadija, in Central Serbia.
The cute hot-pad in the picture is my most used kitchen item. It’s actually one of my first crochet makes, and the one I created in one go without any written pattern, being a crochet novice, but very enthusiastic about it. I saw a picture on Pinterest a couple of years ago when I was just starting to teach myself to crochet. It was handmade by a crochet artist from Argentina and I wanted one just like it, so I made one.
Traditionally, women in my part of the world and in all of Balkans possess the inborn talent to improvise in order to “reproduce” (read: knit or crochet) a nearly exact replica of almost anything they see, without written instructions, that’s how I was taught to knit, first by Mum, then by my Dad’s mother grandma Mila and later my mum’s baby sister Jadranka (Adriana in Italian), who never spent a day without needles or those tiny thread crochet hooks in her hands :-).
I made this crochet heart relatively recently, just for fun, improvising on a circular vest chart I saw in a Japanese magazine. Looks like a nice stitch for a shawl, maybe ?! But with thinner yarn and a smaller hook, don’t you think.
Anyway, I’m sending it to all of you my regular and less regular blog readers including invisible visitors, with Love, wishing you a happy Sunday 🙂
Graziela Leah · Inspirational Ideas for DIY Fashion & Fun 
My grandmothers also never used patterns but sadly I missed the chance to learn from them… Still, like you I find crochet -and always have- very intuitive and I love that about it! And your little hen is very cute 🙂
Also, bread in Ireland is sadly inedible 😦 so we bake it too, but I am so lucky that my boyfriend does it most of the time, as I’m not crazy about cooking or baking 😉 Whenever I go to Poland I just can’t stop eating all that delicious bread that can be bought there! Oh and seasonal fruits, berries of all kinds – I miss them here so much!
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Kat dear, you’re lucky to have a Mediterranean boyfriend, they are born gourmets !
I’m glad you like my little kitchen aide 😉 I always enjoy hearing about other places in the world, it’s great to learn more especially about Poland and its natural abundance from you.
Talking of traditions, I’ve come to realize only recently how nice it is when skills and knowledge are passed on to the next generation. Mum taught me what she knew – the basics, I was too young to learn more while grandma was still alive and to my regret, just like you with your grannies, I didn’t get the chance to spend more time with Mum’s crafty sister. She spent all her life in Boka Bay in Montenegro and somehow my ferhweh spirit took me elsewhere. The short two weeks with her almost two decades ago were such an inspiration, I’ve got the knitting bug ever since. 🙂
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When I was a child we lived far away from my grandparents and other extended family, so I only spent time with them during summer, but then I was usually too busy being outdoors with my cousins. I only learned some basic sewing from my taylor Grandma, and then from my own Mum. And yes, it must be awesome to learn from the relatives from the older generation… but then, I feel that in some way they are with me when I knit even now! At least in my DNA, if not in a more spiritual way 🙂
As for Poland’s natural abundance… yes, I always loved it and miss it now. It feels a little weird because whenever I went in the past, it seemed like every place had its own types of fruits, good local food etc. – just Ireland doesn’t (unless you count awesome beer as the local natural wonder) 😉 I mean, with this climate it’s no wonder that they can grow very few kinds of fruits or vegetables, all the rest must be imported. Plus, they make up for it with how awesome they are as people here 🙂
And Balkans are beautiful too, I think my parents spent last summer in Boka Bay area last year and I loved the photos!
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I’m happy you liked it, Mum and me were both born there. 🙂 She says it’s been a popular destination for tourists from Eastern Europe since her teenage days. Norwegians also have been regular guests at the local spa center in Igalo for decades. Boka Bay has a unique scenery, unlike any other place in the rest of the Adriatic coast, hope you visit there too one day 🙂
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I love good bread.
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Very cute design 🙂
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