I started cooking when I was 9. I often wonder how does it feel when you did not start at an early age. I mean, some of us started just few years back, few months, or even few days back. I wonder how does it feel not being able to love cooking just because you believe you can’t cook? There’s Lori who started less than a year ago. And now, here’s Ivy who didnt like cooking about a year ago. The feeling must be really great. Right, Ivy? NOW, they rock in the kitchen. 😀 Well, Ivy here is such a funny gal and she made me smile especially when we excanged so many emails regarding the guest post. I met her at Fiesta Friday (thanks to the wonderful and amazing Angie). I was really happy when she emailed me, telling me that she wanted to do a guest post for me and this is the first time she’d be a guest blogger. Emails, emails… and it was really fun. Friends, I will not let you wait any longer… Here’s Ivy who’s blogging from Ivy Mosquito. And oh, her blog is amazing – you’d be inspired; you’ll shed a tear, smile and laugh. You are an inspiration, too, Ivy. (Please check one of her posts.) Okay, here’s Ivy – Dumplings With Plums Hello!!!! Or can I say, Pozdrav! That’s hello on Croatian… 🙂 I am so happy to do this guest post on Jhuls blog TheNotSoCreativeCook for many reasons. First, this is my first post as a guest blogger. First of many, I hope. Also you won’t believe it, but just a year ago, cooking was something I really didn’t like to do. I know! Shocking, right? 😉 I just wasn’t into it. I cooked to eat, that’s it. Then, blog came along, Fiesta Friday’s came along, my love for photography and eating collided and… I started loving to cook and prepare different dishes and desserts. OK, shhhhh, we still won’t share the news… Lets just say I like it now much more than I used to. Other bloggers inspired me to experiment and to get involved, even though it is hard for me to understand recipes most of the time. (Confusing measurments – we use metric system – and ingredients being not available or very expensive in Croatia.) But photos of delicious food and amazingly prepared meals and desserts kept me drooling all over my screen every week (Jhuls one included! 🙂 ). And as I love to explore new stuff, I started to search for recipes interesting to me, something I haven’t eaten ever. But this time, I have decided to make something very special. A meal traditionally from Međimurje, area on the northwest of Croatia. My grandma was from there and my mum knows a lot of traditional recipes. This one we eat a lot at home. I bring you – KNEDLE. Or dumplings. It is pronounced Kneh-dleh. 🙂 First, you need six average size potatoes and about ten plums. If you end up with extra dough, you just grab more plums. And yes, I did start cooking at 10:30 pm. (Microwave clock) Boil the potatos for about 45 minutes, check if they’re done with a knife. Carefully peel the skin off. Do not burn your fingers multiple times like I did. Squash the potatoes for a while, the more you mash them, there will be less unwanted lumps. Add half a kilogram of flour (smooth), half of tablespoon of salt and one egg. Mix together with hands. Be careful that the egg doesn’t get directly on the still hot potatoes, because it will cook itself. 😀 Knead the dough until it has a nice form. Now it’s time for plums. Grab a spoon and use it do make a portion of dough to fit inside your hand. Put the plum in the middle and make a ball out of it. Add one full tablespoon of salt in the water. Put the dumplings in the boiling water and stirr a little. Let them boil for about 10 minutes. If they are floating and the dough has the color as the one in the photo, they are done. Now it’s time for topping, the best part. Grab bread crumbs, put oil in the pan and fry crumbs until they are brown. Pour over the dumplings. If your meal has to stay over the night like mine had to, pour some oil on the sides of the bowl to keep them fresh. Oh yeah, when you slice them to eat, pour sugar on them. Sour taste of plums goes excelent with sugar on top. I really hope you will like this, I have made so much effort to make it happen. Thank you Jhuls again for allowing me to do this! Ivy