‘On a little hill’ IN THE MIDDLE OF BILOGORE

Did you know that Bilogora is one of the largest mountains in Croatia? It stretches for as much as 80 km.

And this is where our first autumn trip started, where I will explore this area through three different stories and three different trips.

So last weekend we headed to Bilogora, to its peaks, forests, gentle fields, arable land and hills. We discovered small picturesque places hidden between the hills and I fell in love, because even though I live near Bilogora, I never walked through its heart, and this trip was a nice occasion for me.

I found out that here on a small hill there is a family farm that won an award at the Days of Tourism the year before last as the best host of a tourist farm, so we headed to that hill.

The estate and picnic area itself is called “Na Malinom brijegu” – “On a little hill”, and it is run by Vladimir and Vesna, completely family. They have a small restaurant with local food that is open to all guests on weekends, while during the week they work only by appointment.

They are the only restaurant in this area that offers on its menu almost all of Grandma’s dishes we grew up on and if you want to go back to your childhood head here.

Here Vesna prepares dumplings with plums and jam, cabbage cloths, white and corn grits, buns, homemade rolls, homemade bread, sarma (stuffed cabbage lives), stuffed peppers, strudel with apples and zljevanka (Corn bread). This is just part of the menu, and the whole menu is available online and when you read it it’s like reading grandma’s recipe booklet, to me this was wonderful.

If you want to try some of these dishes, you need to make an appointment the day before with wishes for what you would eat so that they can prepare them for you. If you find yourself there without notice, know that you will never stay hungry, because there is always something on the daily menu on weekends, as well as strudels and zljevanka from their sour milk with homemade jam, which they also cook themselves. We had a chance to taste it fresh just the day it was cooked.

And this house on the hill is not accidental here, it has a history, the story is interesting and if you are romantic read it. Namely, the century-old black pear occupies a central place on the estate.
“In the 1960s, two young people, Vlado and Milka, met under a lush black pear tree canopy. In the middle of the vineyard, Vlado promised Milka eternal love and fidelity, a small cottage and children who will swing on big pear branches. He fulfilled that promise to her. Later, after about 30 years, under the same century-old lush pear tree, young Vesna and Vladimir, the owners of this estate, met, and they fulfilled their promises, they have a cottage, children and the same pear tree under which we now sit as guests.”

Today, they also have sheep on their property, they also grow their own fruits and vegetables, so this is a wonderful story.

Elderberry, apple and cherry juices that you can also drink up on the terrace, in the shade of a large walnut, are homemade, and there are also homemade walnut and cherry liqueurs with which they will treat you.

This fall they don’t have grandma’s cake with walnuts on the menu because the year for walnuts was bad and they don’t have them, so there’s no cake either, just what’s available.

Aren’t you familiar with this cooking policy? The policy of our grandmothers? What is available at home, in the pantry, what is now in season is being prepared, and they have kept it up on the hill today.

The wine is also local, everything is home-made, the atmosphere is light and slow, there is no running, the enjoyment is there. Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, just soaking up the view that stretches to the forests of Bilogora.

If you love horses, they are part of the estate also, they walk under the terrace through plums and figs, catch shade, and if you come close to them they will come to greet you. Along their fence stretch benches with which you can observe both them and the country side, move into solitude and breathe clean forest air.

You can also ride horses, and if there are teachers among you who like to take children on trips, know that this property is subordinated to children because of its programs for that purpose.

I don’t know if you know about the Bilogora giants of the Vedas? According to folklore, they settled here before today’s Bilogora people. The Vedas are good house spirits and are invoked here with a humorous song, and when he arrives (owner Vladimir is the one who dresses in costume) the treasure hunt begins throughout the estate, the children work in teams, get Glagolitic puzzles and have to figure out a solution .

All the way down in the forest in Carski jarak there are stands and a wide clearing where the search takes place, this is very interesting for children. Tradition says that the Turkish pasha Ulama Beg himself encamped there in that ditch before the attack on the old town of Đurđevac, as evidenced by the Legend of the Picoks. It is also said that a Turkish treasure was buried somewhere in the coffin of the Golden Goat, hence the idea for the search.

In addition to such treasure hunts, Ms. Vesna also organizes culinary workshops for children on the estate, where she makes dumplings or trganci with the children.

During the week, they mostly do that, groups come to them to which they are completely dedicated, and on weekends they are engaged in tourism for those of us who are eager to explore the surroundings.

If you would stay here, there is also a rural holiday house known as “Grandma’s cottage” which is located just below the restaurant in the middle of the vineyard.

And you can use this property and its surroundings for picnics, because they also have Picnic baskets in their offer. There is something magical in these little places with a soul, I hope that one day you will find yourself in research.

Until then, I’m sharing with you a recipe for that grandma’s cake from the story, it’s totally to my liking and I think I have a new favorite recipe with walnuts and apples!

In delight to the new story!

Grandma’s cake

A simple recipe for a really juicy and delicious cake with apples and walnuts.

Ingredients:

• 80 g of finely chopped walnuts

• 2 large apples

• 4 eggs

• 220 g of sugar

• 120 g of smooth flour

• 90 g of ground walnuts

• 2 dl of oil

• 2 dl of milk

• 1 baking powder

Preparation:

1. Place the oven to heat to 200C.
2. Line a 22 * 32 cm baking tray with greaseproof baking paper.
3. Arrange the finely chopped walnuts on the bottom of the pan.
4. Peel the apples and grate them (using a cucumber grater). I put two really big apples, if you have smaller ones take 3-4 apples.
5. Arrange them all over the walnuts thickly to cover the walnuts.
6. Mix eggs, sugar, flour, ground walnuts, oil, milk and baking powder with a whisk and pour over the apples.
7. Place to bake in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes, and if your oven bakes harder lower the temperature slightly to 180C.
8. Sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar if desired.