Few weeks ago I had a great opportunity visiting Blueberry Hill farm and spending the day with a family Lisjak who are blueberry farmers in Croatian region of Medjimurje and I had such a beautiful time meeting Jasminka and Leo, their sweetest little girl Frida and Leo’s parents, talking about their life and work, the passion they have for what they do and walking through their fields with blueberry bushes and with my hosts offering me to taste the sweet blueberries every few steps we made. Who could say no that, right!? 😀
They are the kind of people that welcome you in their home like an old friend and make you feel warm and cozy and very much welcomed. I was so excited from the first moment I stepped into their garden all lush and green and full of every possible Summer fruit, from raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries of course till sweetest little pears and apples, cherries, peaches and so on… Pretty much heaven if you ask me! And all eco and organic so you can just reach out your hand and pick up one of nature’s gifts! I think I told them about hundred times how blessed they are for living in such a peaceful little green oasis… I also had the cutest guide possible as you’ll see in the photos and she gave me a little tour of ‘her’ garden before we went inside for a glass of cold homemade elderflower juice. Oh and my cute little guide was a little bit shy and cautious at the beginning but we became best of friends by the end of the day! 🙂
Have you ever seen such a cute hotel before? 😀 It’s a definitely 5* hotel for all the good bugs who can spend the winter here warm and safe, I loved it! Everything is in tune with nature on this farm and nature gives it back with abundance of its fruit and produce…
So we haven’t even arrived to their blueberry farm yet and I was already in heaven with all those gorgeous fruit trees, cute little details that I could photograph all day long and such a pretty garden that I wanted to sit in one of those chairs with a basket of all my favourite fruit in my lap, feeling the warmth of the sun and listening to the wind whispering in the branches… How amazing it is to be able to make so many delicious things with the produce from your garden, like cherry, strawberry or blueberry jams, elderflower cordial, juices and liqueurs and so much more…
Those of you who follow me here on my Travelling oven know already that food is one of my biggest life passions and not only the food that is on our plates but the whole story and process of food coming from the land, farms, trees, bushes in its raw beautiful form till our ability to transform it into something equally magical and satisfying. This passion I have is my biggest motivator and inspiration in doing this job, even when it gets challenging, because when you do something from the heart and it just feels right, than that’s definitely what you should continue doing. The same passion I recognized in this young family who 7 years ago started their blueberry business that is so much more than a business to them. It’s the way they live, it’s the way they raise their little girl, the way how they respect nature and get so much in return and what I love the most is that they are truly aware of their blessings and have huge appreciation for it.
Did you know that eating blueberries is such a serious business?! 😀 All these lovely blueberries are eco and organic, totally untreated but the family do have a little help in fighting those snails and bugs who are a threat to the berries. Their little helpers are Indian Runner ducks, a special breed of domestic ducks that stand like penguins and they run rather than waddling, I find them adorable but they are also very useful workers on this blueberry farm! I’ll admit, I did bother them a bit and disturb their peaceful day since I ran around trying to photograph them as they are so fast and they can run faster than me haha! 😀
When we finished the work part (that didn’t feel like work by the way!) and the lunch, there was another sweet surprise for me! A delicious and refreshing no-bake yogurt blueberries cake, that was made using the recipe from one of my talented colleague food blogger Matejka and her blog Like Chocolate. That cake was perfect ending of my visit to Blueberry Hill farm and I couldn’t be happier when Matejka said yes to my question if I can share the recipe here with all of you! She has a great video about making the cake on her Like Chocolate blog so make sure you check it out!
- Base
- 200 g (2 cups) cookies crumbs (cookies like Digestive, McVities, Grancereale...)
- 125 g (1/2 cup) melted butter
- Cream filling
- 200 ml (3/4 cup) whipping cream
- 360 g (1½ cup) yogurt
- 50 g (1/4 cup) sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or seeds from 1 vanilla pod
- grated zest from 1 lemon (untreated)
- 1 gelatine sachet (4 leaves of gelatine) + 4 tbsp water
- 250 g (1 cup) fresh blueberries
- mint leaves for decoration (optional)
- Note: these quantities are for 22 cm / 9 inch baking pan, if using 26 cm / 10 inch, increase the quantities by 50%.
- Prepare cake baking pan by greasing it with a little bit of butter and line the sides with baking paper.
- Crush the cookies until you get crumbs and mix them with melted butter. Using a spoon or your fingers press the cookies mixture into the baking pan.
- Leave to cool.
- Whip the cream.
- Put gelatine leaves into small bowl, add 2 tbsp of cold water and leave for 5-7 minutes. Add another 2 tbsp of water and melt over low heat stirring continuously.
- Mix prepared gelatine with yogurt, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest and finally gently fold in whipped cream.
- On previously cooled base add ½ of the quantity of blueberries. On top pour the prepared cream and than add the rest of blueberries. Shake the baking pan so the cream gets equally distributed.
- Put in in the fridge for at least 6 hours, carefully remove from the baking pan and serve with more fresh blueberries and mint leaves. Serve cold and enjoy!
After a slice of delicious cake and some more refreshing elderflower cordial I was escorted with warm embrace and an invitation to come back whenever I feel like enjoying their little green oasis in beautiful Medjimurje region. With the heart full of positive energy (and stomach full of berries :D) I was on my way to explore the nearby charming little town Cakovec that I haven’t had a chance to visit before. So with those photos I’m saying goodbye for now and I hope you enjoyed this little story ! I know that I enjoyed creating it! 🙂
*This post is sponsored but all opinions are mine, as always.
**Thank you so much for being here, that makes me so happy! You can also follow my Travelling oven on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, as well as subscribe to receive new blog posts via email.
lILI, thank you FOR TRANSPORTING ME TO THIS BEAUTIFUL MAGICAL GARDEN 🙂 i REALLY ENJOYED READING THIS STORY AND SEEING THIS BEAUTIFUL PLACE AND THE CUTE LITTLE HELPER, TOO! tHOSE BLUEBERRIES LOOK SO HEAVENLY, i THINK I COULD EAT THOSE AND NOTHING ELSE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE HEHE THEY LOOKED SO PLUMP AND PERFECT. tHE PLACE LOOKED REALLY CUTE AND PRETTY TOO, AS DID THE TOWN ITSELF. THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS WONDERFUL STORY! i SEE IT WAS CREATED WITH PASSION AND LOVE 🙂 PS ALSO THE CAKE LOOKED AMAZING 🙂
Thank you so much Tiina for taking the time to check out my blog post and for your kind sweet comment! I am so happy you liked it as I really created it with so much love and passion! Oh and the cake was delicious! 😀
haha sorry for the funny writing above, it seems I have caps lock on 🙂 🙂
Haha, I figured that’s what’s happened! 😉
Divno i predivno! <3 Thank you! :-*
Hvala, jako mi je drago da vam se svidja! Ja sam uzivala u stvaranju ove price! <3
What A beautiful post. Love the little one already learning the lifestyle!-Laurel
Thank you, I’m so happy you like it! And I also love that about the little one, kids are the future! 🙂
What a gorgeous post, LIli! Thank you so much for sharing it all – it must have been such a lovely day. Little Frida’s eyes are as bright as those blueberries – what a joy! Love the pictures of the town, too – it so incredibly reminds me of my own hometown, unbelievable resemblance – the church and the old walls. Beautiful, great job as always, Lili! xx
Ps: And you know you need to send the Duck Picture to the Pink Lady.. Please!
Dear Miriam, you made my day with your comment, thank you so much for taking the time to write! I enjoyed creating this little story and hope to have many more of these in the future so I am so so happy that you liked it! What is the name of your hometown? I’m so glad my photos reminded you of home! P.S. As for the ducks photo, not sure about that but thank you! 😀
Very welcome, Lili! My hometown is Trnava in Slovakia, and the town of your story has a very similar architectural style, and I would say some history, too. YOu have the ability to take people places.. or evoke memories, even emotions, thank you!
Ps: I love the Duckiesss.. Sooo much! 😀
Thank you Miriam, you are so kind and your support means a lot to me! <3 P.S. It seems quite a few people love those duckies haha! 😀
Your beautiful and easy story brought me back to Croatia for a while…the old and charming Austro-Hungarian city of Čakovec is full of story itself and seeing these clean and preserved buildings and squares make me thinking how the city reflects the nature of its people. Hardworking and modest people, like this nice and young family you have described in a perfect way.
I enjoyed reading you!
Thank you so much Aleksandra for taking the time to write and for your kind comment! I am so happy you like the little story I created about this, as you put it so well, hardworking and modest lovely family! <3
Orchards are little health and beauty factories from heaven 😉 and you presented it so vividly and with so much detail and love that you took me there with you also! Thank you for this beautiful yourney, Lili 🙂 and as for blueberries and cake… pure heaven too!
That is so sweet and kind of you! Thank you so much for taking the time for write and I’m so glad you liked my story and photos! <3
Beautiful! everytime I see your photos, i think – #photogoals 🙂
Aww that is so sweet of you Ana, thank you so much! <3
Beautiful story. Beautiful photos and really delicious looking cake. Thanks for sharing this story with us lili. I enjoyed looking this simple living country life THROUGH your eyes.
Thank you so much dear Natalie for your kind comment! I’m so happy you like my story and photos of this lovely Croatian family as I enjoyed so much creating it! 🙂
wanderful story and photos. Love this little hands and eyes. 🙂
Thank you so much Kristina! <3
Joj, divnih li malih ručica i borovnica u njima.
Divne fotke ,sa uživanjem ih je gledati.
Kolače je verujem isto tako predivan i veoma ukusan. <3
Hvala puno, bas mi je drago da vam se svidja prica i fotografije jer sam uzivala u stvaranju! 🙂