December 16, 2014




I wasn't planning on posting Christmas recipes, let alone creating them - maybe that's why it happened. These easy, yet oh so delightfully yummy, raw truffels will become my go-to recipe, I'm sure, for when I want something sweet fast. They do not call for a lot of ingredients and you will most likely have them in store (I always have dried fruits in my pantry in case of things like this..) Make a few batches for Christmas; and I'm sure your friends wouldn't mind little presents either!


RAW COCOA TRUFFELS


250g dried dates (soaked for a few hours)
250ml shredded coconut
50ml raw cacao powder
0,25tsp ground vanilla
0,25tsp salt
shredded coconut or raw cacao powder for coating


Soak the dates in water for a few hours until they are soft. Drain excess liquid and pure them with a hand blender. Add rest of the ingredients and mix with your hands to combine everything well. Form small balls and roll them in cacao powder or shredded coconut. Store in the fridge for up to a week or so.

Notes:
You can use regular dark cacao powder instead of raw cacao powder; I've stuck to raw since it's less processed and has got a lot more of its valuable nutrients left.


 

RAW FIG TRUFFELS


200g dried figs and/or apricots (soaked for a few hours)
150ml shredded coconut
50ml coarse almond flour
0,25tsp ground vanilla
0,25tsp salt
0,25-0,5tsp cinnamon
shredded coconut for coating


Cut off the hard stems from the figs. Soak the figs and/or apricots in water for a few hours until they are soft. Drain excess liquid and pure them with a hand blender. Add rest of the ingredients one by one and mix with your hands to combine everything well. Form small balls and roll them in shredded coconut. Store in the fridge for up to a week or so.


Notes:
I prefer organic on most products and apricot is definitely one of them. They’re not treated with any sulfur or artificial color and so are very different from the non-organic ones. You can go for either figs or apricots or a mix or really any dried fruits! For almond flour I pulsed almond flakes in the food processor because I had them at hand, but you can of course use ready almond flour, and preferably coarse. You can also use fine almond flour, your truffels will just become a little more dense. You can, all in all, play with this recipe a lot; substitute almond flour with more shredded coconut or oatmeal. Leave out cinnamon or use more! Taste after adding each ingredient to get just the truffels you'll love!

December 11, 2014


 

RUTABAGA CASSEROLE


1,5kg rutabaga
1-2tsp salt
2-3tbsp maple syrup
0,25tsp ground nutmeg
0,25tsp ground ginger
1 organic egg
about 50g butter


Cut the rutabagas in pieces and boil in salted water until soft. Drain, but keep some of the water you boiled them in. Puree the rutabagas with a hand blender; add some of the water as needed. Add spices and egg and some knobs of butter (50g is an estimate; I really just threw some in and tasted when it was good). Be generous with salt and also go for more maple syrup (or any syrup) if you like it sweeter. Pour the whole thing in a greased oven pan, make patterns on the surface with a spoon (my pretty pattern was a little spoiled by the cracks) and bake in 175 celsius for 1,5 hours.


This is a classic in the Finnish christmas table. We also eat carrot and potato casserole (and some even liver) but if I had to pick, this is the one. This version that I just tried is also the best I've had! The recipes usually call for cream but I like how without it the taste of rutabaga gets to come out more (still tasting very soft though rutabaga has got some attitude). You can make this already now and freeze for christmas, if you will. Or just eat it straight away like I'm doing.

December 3, 2014










If I had to choose between the sea and the forest, I would so choose forest.

December 2, 2014







I love celebrating. With good food and music. I'm wrapped up in my new blanket and reminiscing the best party so far (when I turned 30).


(Pictures by my sweet friend Helena)

November 23, 2014



Mom was visiting for the weekend. She brought along the most amazing granny square blanket she just finished for me.

On Saturday I made Marta's savory muffins for breakfast with salmon, pesto and ricotta (I'd been drooling over her post about them for days) and this morning I had the leftovers for breakfast. So good.

November 14, 2014





Here are some glimpses from a lovely breakfast I was served a while back and from a trip to Lammassaari one sunny day.

There's good in life, always, however hard it might also be. There's always something good. Find it and embrace it! Concentrate on the good and try to laugh at the tougher things; they'll pass. (Later there'll be other things rising up against you - keep concentrating on the good stuff. And with everything you are lean on the love of God; from there you can face anything.)

I am also learning grace so much. That really, I was never even supposed to make it on my own. That in my weakness the perfect strength and goodness of God is at its best. I am learning (some days it feels so brutal) to accept that I am human and I make mistakes and fall short - but that it's ok. I'm good. I'm loved.

October 28, 2014

TOP 5

1) grace; that I was never even supposed to make it on my own
2) overnight oats (inspired by Green Kitchen Travels)
3) (73) The nearness of you by Loud Harp
4) friends and family who love me so well
5) the feeling that a new season is just around the corner

October 11, 2014



Not many at all have stolen my heart like she did on an ordinary day in South Africa seven years ago. There's something about Africa; it gets into your heart and never leaves. I wonder when (or whether) I'll be back. (I'm almost booking tickets every time The Kenyan Children's Project or Abide Family Center in Uganda post pictures of all them brown babies!)

October 5, 2014


Meet my new love: beetroot pesto. It works both on bread and as a dip. And also I finally got around to making this life-changing bread. So tasty, nutritious and supereasy to make! Happy Sunday folks!


BEETROOT PESTO

(from Glorian ruoka&viini)


400g beetroots (you can use beetroots in vinegar or boil fresh beetroots and let them cool)
2 cloves of garlic
100g grated parmesan
100g cashewnuts
1 bunch of basil
about 100ml extra virgin olive oil
salt
black pepper


Throw everything (but salt and pepper) in a food processor and mix until smooth. Season to taste.

September 22, 2014






This was all captured in about an hour of sitting on my windowsill some weeks ago. I absolutely love living here with this view and the cloud shows. I love watching the clouds, like paintings or moods, in how they keep changing.

September 18, 2014



“We do not want merely to see beauty; we want something else which can hardly be put into words - to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it." (C.S.Lewis)


I love the feeling of new beginnings that comes with Autumn. And I love the beginnings of new friendships, getting to know darling hearts like this one. And how the littlest things sometimes bring us together. Yay for life and new chapters!

(And I'm loving apples! I'll post a sugarfree crumble recipe soon!)

September 12, 2014





Mornings around here are calm and slow. I am taking everything out of this time I now have with no agenda; I make good breakfasts and spend lots of time with the Bible. I've also finally gotten around to trying baked oatmeal. Here's how I've been making it, in praise of autumn.


BAKED APPLE OATMEAL

(serves 2-3)

300ml oatmeal
0,75tsp salt
0,75tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
0,5tsp pure vanilla powder
400ml coconut milk
1 organic egg
1-2 apples
coconut oil (or butter) for greasing
natural yoghurt, almonds, blueberries etc. for serving


Mix the dry and wet ingredients first separately and then all (except the apples) together. Grease an ovenproof dish (about 25cm in diameter) with coconut oil and pour the mixture in and top with sliced apples. Bake in 175 celsius for 30 minutes. Serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt, blueberries and chopped almonds (or go crazy like we did one morning with a little bit of everything; bananas, homemade apple jam, dried mulberries, and everything I already mentioned!)

September 9, 2014




Somehow the best memories almost always revolve around food.


 

CANNELLINI BEAN PASTE

(adapted a little from Eeva Kolu)


300-400g cannellini beans
half a clove of garlic, cut in small pieces
a squeeze of lemon juice
1tsp grated (organic) lemon zest
a handful of parmesan
some tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
flat leaf parsley for garnish


This is one of those recipes that's hard to give exact measures for; just trust your tastebuds as you make this!

Rinse the beans in a colander. Throw everything (except salt, pepper and parsley) in a food processor (or blender) and blend until smooth. Season to taste and add more olive oil (and a little water, too, carefully, if it seems to need it) until your paste is nice and smooth. Garnish with olive oil and parsley.


(Recipe for the banana coconut pancakes here. The porridge recipe is coming later!)

August 22, 2014






My friend's family's cottage on a small island. I've quickly grown to love the place. (So I did take my camera with me after all. Here's to a great summer!)

July 7, 2014


This is where I'm going. I'll listen to the wind play in the trees, make pancakes outside on the open fire and sleep in the yellow little house (the one in the picture is just the outhouse!) or one of the granaries. We'll also continue on our summer house project I suppose (and at least test the new sauna!) and I'll go check on how the red and black currants are doing after last summer's pruning. Read more about the summer house project from two years ago and from last summer. (It's my dad's old home we're slowly making into a family summer house.)

I have a radical feeling I'm leaving my camera at home for the trip (I'm still a little smitten with my new phone and its camera and how easy it is to bring everywhere) which means I won't be blogging until I come home again in some weeks. But welcome to follow me on Instagram! (And I'll also come to Oulu, let's get together sweethearts!)

Have a beautiful, blessed July peeps!

July 2, 2014



Love people. Love them if they deserve it, love them if they don't. Make space in your agenda for them. Think of ways to give. You'll be blessed as you do; there are so many fantastic people out there! Get to know people you wouldn't normally spend time with; your world will expand and so will your heart! Look people in their hearts. What do they love? What makes them happy? What makes them laugh? What's their favorite memory? What are they passionate about, what are their dreams?

Loving looks different to different people. To me it can look like baking a loaf and taking it to a neighbor who's stuck at home with a broken leg. You could clean someone's house or car, volunteer to babysit their kids, listen to someone with a heavy heart or invite them over for dinner. Go wild and invite a stranger who has no one to invite them. For love sees people. Love trusts them and has faith in them.

"Love comes from God" (1 John 4:7). And 1 Corinthians 13 breaks it down more: "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."

Get out there. Give time. Find a new best friend, who knows.


(I am very inspired by this article.)


(photo by dad: me and mom all matchy-matchy back in 1986)

June 18, 2014




I love this season I'm in. I've got so much time in my hands: time to listen, time to rest, time to heal, time to dream, time to be with friends and family, time to eat breakfast slowly, time to try out new recipes, time to make music all day if I want to. I really try to savor every day; I know that in time I'll have my hands full again!

In the summer I tend to not add any dried fruits in my granola because I love having it with fresh berries or fruit (strawberries and nectarine are my favorites). I tweaked my basic granola recipe (coming here as well) a little yesterday:


CRUNCHY CHIA GRANOLA


800ml rolled oats
300ml buckwheat
200ml coconut flakes
200ml almonds
75ml cocoa nibs
50ml sesame seeds
50ml chia seeds
0,25tsp salt
150ml sunflower oil
2 heap tbsp honey


In a big bowl mix all the dry ingredients. Heat up the sunflower oil in a kettle, add honey and mix until they merge. Pour the mixture in to the dry ingredients and mix well. Line an oven tray with baking paper and bake the granola in 150 celsius for about 20 minutes; after baking for 10 minutes mix a few times to bake evenly. Let cool completely before storing.