It was Jessika's last day at work before she goes travelling. We had breakfast at Sis.deli (still loving it, all the more) before work and actually started a breakfast review series. We really had nothing bad to say about Sis.deli's breakfast. And Jessika had made a super scrumptious raw cake for work!

I was feeling down after some more phonecalls offering me expensive flats. Coming home I found a package from mom with this beautiful linen tablecloth (we talked about tablecloths the other day on the phone and I mentioned I'd like a linen one). Mom really knows how to do these things. Thank you!!

Whatever difficulty or challenge or waiting you're in, remember, it's only temporary. This is not it; there's a whole bunch of good things ahead in life!

Last night I finished Piiat (The Help) by Kathryn Stockett. A gripping and thought-provoking book, written well and obviously from the heart. I'm having a day off, the sky is blue and the sun is shining. I'm off to my sister's to bake some more of last Sunday's bread.

A calm Sunday after a packed week was welcome. I made spinach pancakes for lunch, a good old favorite. Here's the recipe:

SPINACH PANCAKES

(makes about 9 big pancakes)

400ml whole milk
1tsp salt
2 eggs
about 200ml spelt flour
1tbs oil or melted butter
150g frozen spinach (melted)

butter for cooking (make the pancakes as thin as possible to get crispy edges)


I love these with gooseberry jam. (My mom makes amazing gooseberry jam and I'm terribly sorry she didn't last summer).

Oh the light of day!

My friend moved on Sunday and I made bread that's a little like ciabatta (I've named it Greek Country Bread because I originally put olives in it) to serve the movers. (I also made one for home and had some for lunch yesterday. And blood grapefruit, a new acquaintance!) The bread came out delicious with a lovely hard crust. I love to put lots of time and effort into baking bread; this recipe is a somewhat fast solution for scrumptious bread. I'm still after big, wonderful air bubbles and I'm hoping to make and maintain a good sourdough that could serve me for a long time! But here's Sunday's recipe:

 

COUNTRY BREAD

500ml water (37 decrees)
25g fresh yeast
2tsp salt
300ml spelt flour
about 700ml wheat flour


Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add salt and spelt flour and mix. Last add wheat flour in parts and gently fold it in with your hands (I kneaded the dough a little). The ready dough should be very soft and a little elastic but not sticky. Leave to rise for 2 hours under a kitchen towel in a warm place. (If you want to make one very large bread leave it rising in one bowl but if you want to make two smaller ones separate the dough into two bowls and then let rise.) Very gently lift the dough onto a baking paper (and fold it a few times over itself maybe, very gently) and form into a loaf. Leave to rise for about a half an hour under a kitchen towel. Turn the oven on to 250 celsius and put a baking tray in the oven (the hot tray will ensure you a crispier crust). Sprinkle flour on top of the loaf and with a sharp knife make a few cuts (5mm deep) on the surface. Take out the hot tray, pull the loaf on it and place it on the bottom level of the oven. Pour 100ml of water in the bottom of the oven. (This also helps to create the crispy crust.) After 10 minutes lower the temperature to 200 celsius and pull out the baking paper. Bake for another 25 to 35 minutes; the bread is ready when tapping the bottom of the bread you hear a hollow sound.



It's our sister-in-law's birthday today. Me and my sisters went and surprised Sanni with a cake. Our littlest one (their daughter) is growing so fast; she's 3 months in a bit!

There's something about Africa that steals your heart. There's a deep-rooted joy you don't find anywhere else. And living so close to the earth. There are the smells, the sunrises.

I miss it all. And the thought of yet living in Africa for some time never really leaves me.

(The picture above was taken somewhere in South Africa in 2007 and the one below in Douenza, Mali in 2003, both on film.)

For two weeks or so now I've mainly just been lying on the couch, reading (Vanhan rouvan lokikirja by Kyllikki Villa), watching Jamie's 30 minute meals and cleaning closets. I'm happy I actually managed to spend the holiday with almost no planning ahead (and not entirely in the kitchen either!) Tomorrow it's goodbye holiday, hello work!

I'm going through closets (and making a terrible mess) and I found this on a piece of paper:



People important to you, people unimportant to you, cross your life, touch it with love and carelessness, and move on. There are people that leave you, and you breathe a sigh of relief, and you wonder why you ever came in contact with them. There are people who leave, and you breathe a sigh of remorse, and wonder why they had to go and leave such a gaping hole.

Children leave parents, friends leave friends, acquaintances move on. You think on the many who have moved into your life with hazy memory. You look on those present and wonder.

I believe in God’s master plan for our lives.

People move in and out of each other’s lives, and each leaves his mark on the other. You find you are made up of bits and pieces of all who have touched your life, and you are more because of it, and you would be less if they had not touched you.

Pray to God that you can accept the bits and pieces in humility and wonder, and never question, and never regret.



(Lois A. Cheney)

I turned 31 last week and celebrated a little in good company. One of the birthday cards had this lovely poem:


I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

(Maya Angelou)

Hello, new year!

I woke up at twelve, had breakfast and stayed in bed until three finishing Kirjallinen piiri perunankuoripaistoksen ystäville (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann shaffer and Annie Barrows) that I got from Henna for my birthday. Such a lovely book! (And such a lovely way to start a day, haven't done it in ages. I'm on holiday and have absolutely no schedule for the coming I haven't counted how many days, ah. And I need it, the autumn was packed.)

I've often written a TOP 10 of the things I want to see happen in the coming year. (I love writing lists.) Now I don't know where to start and it feels a little weird — but I also think it's a good sign: I guess I'm more satisfied with where I'm at. And that's where I really want to be: present, here, today. I want to love and give all I can today. I want to expect less of myself and have more grace and let the Father's love sink deeper. I want to read more, lie on the couch more and keep dreaming big things.

I wish you all a happy, fulfilling year with loving people and adventures around you. I'll keep telling you about the things I love, the people, the moments, the places, the beauty. I hope you keep coming around and I hope you leave with something.

I have two sisters and two brothers and all of us spent Christmas together at our parents this year. 15 people and a dog. (We might be too many for one house in some years.) I am very happy about this bunch.

I had Eva over a week ago and we had such good times, much of them over breakfasts. On Sunday we went to Goodpie Bakery's Galleria Keidas (Fleminginkatu 7), it was my first time, and I have to say I was very impressed. A beautiful place, gorgeous details, yummy side dishes you get to choose from for your breakfast buffet and perfect old-time Christmas carols. And our deep conversations. Happy days.

On Thursday my holiday started off perfectly. After work I stopped to listen to a string quartet in a metro tunnel; they played Bach so beautifully (and I was so happy and emotional over the holiday just starting) that I stood there tears streaming down my face. The day was topped off by Home alone at a friend's place. Happy days!





On Friday we had pizza at Krisse's new place where she just started renovations.



Now have a blessed, peaceful, beautiful Christmas everyone. Eat well, play your
favorite songs and cherish the good times with your nearest and your dearest.

Nora has an online christmas calendar for Otto who's in Cairo at the moment. (Nora and Otto are such sweethearts, I just love spending time with them.) I promised to do day 13 and here's what came out of it.

 

(The first version of this short film was shot by Helena in Sis.deli after breakfast, with coffee cups and people on the background. I shot this second one when I came home because the light on the windowsill was so good.)

First Aid Kit's concert last night, oh wow. A beautiful, strong, inspiring experience that I will remember for a very long time (Simon&Garfunkel's America as encore!) I was so completely blown away by Klara's singing.

(The photo is from 2005; I was an au pair in England for the summer. Here we're on the backseat with Amber and Ebony heading to a funfair. This photo is one of my all-time favorites.)

Here's fudge number one in my quest for the perfect fudge recipe (that makes them taste like Marks and Spencer's Buttery Fudge a friend of mine brought from London last winter).

BUTTERY FUDGE

200ml raw sugar (mascobado)
300ml light cane sugar
75ml water
25ml golden syrup
60g butter
1 can condensed milk


Put sugar and water into a large heavy saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add butter and syrup and stil until the butter has melted. Add condensed milk and stir until it comes to the boil. Boil very slowly on low heat, stirring every minute or two, until soft ball stage (the mixture will darken to a deep caramel colour and will start to form sugary crystals on the sides, sounding like sand when you scrape it).

Remove from the stove and beat the fudge with a wooden spoon for 5-10 minutes until it starts to thicken. Pour into a 20x20 pan lined with a baking paper and leave to cool. Cut into squares when cold.

I beat mine for only 5 minutes and suspect that I stopped a little too early with the boiling; my fudge didn't quite form sugary crystals on the sides but since it had been boiling for quite some time already I was afraid of burning it. The fudge tasted really good but the texture was not what I was after; mine was soft and velvety but I want a darker taste and a sandier texture. I think I'll have a new go on this recipe and bravely let it boil longer and beat it for another 5 minutes and see if it gives me the Marks and Spencer's texture!

I love the calm of winter and the sound of snow crunching under your feet. I love planning and making and getting christmas presents. I love breakfast. And Jamie Oliver.

I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich.
(Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford)

BANANA BLUEBERRY BREAKFAST MUFFINS

(makes about 8)
(adapted from Donal Skehan)


60g light spelt flour
40g oat flour
100g rolled oats
30g muscovado sugar
0,5 tsp salt
1,5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
0,5 tsp cardamom
1 egg yolk
125ml milk
1,5 tbsp oil
1 very large or 2 small ripe bananas mashed
1 egg white
130g blueberries


Mix the dry ingredients. Add egg yolk, milk, oil and mashed banana and mix with a spatula. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold the egg white gently in to the batter and last add the frozen berries (mix quickly; the blueberries color the batter easily when they start melting). Divide the batter into 8 paper cases on a muffin tray and bake in 200c for about 20 minutes.

I keep coming back to this recipe, these are my favorite breakfast muffins!

My niece turned seven on Friday. I remember so much from being seven. The watch I got for my seventh birthday, the smell and the feel of the desk at school, how I was nervous when I didn't want to eat the orange bits in the salad one school lunch and stuffed them in my pocket, my best friend on the same street, watching telly with her and singing along, her mom's cinnamon rolls, forests on the way to school. I've realized later what a tremendous impact that year I went to school and those people that became my friends then (and along the years) had on me and my life. It's intriguing.

The postman brought this jewel, What Katie ate, yesterday. It must be the most beautiful, mouth-watering cookbook I own. So much inspiration, ah.



These days I'm loving Endless Ocean by Jonathan David & Melissa Helser, good hot chocolate (need to post the recipe!) and the nearness of Christmas.



Here's my newest darling nine days old. I can't wait to know her name.

I love this picture of me by Helena. She took it a while ago when I was over for some beetroot soup at her place. Good times.

I love friendship. I love breakfast. I love freshly baked things and invitations. I love long, slow mornings and having to hurry nowhere. I love sharing lives, big and small things.

Kata made me breakfast (really one of the best ways to love me) and among other yummy things she had made these sweet potato nut biscuits (known as Panellets in Catalonia). Very addictive.

My brother's babygirl was born on Wednesday and we went to see her yesterday. There's really nothing quite as wondrous as a newborn baby; I could have held her forever and just stare and stare.

Welcome to my heart little darling. I love you lots already.

Helena and I have almost a weekly breakfast date these days. This morning it was Brooklyn Café (on Fredrikinkatu 19 in Punavuori), our newest favorite. Their latte good be better but the cinnamon raisin bagels cover over a lot of shortcomings, oh wow. They're just as scrumptious and mouth-watering as the ones I fell in love back in 2009 on my trip to Boston. The place is tiny and cozy and I loved the broad american "Good morning" when coming in from the cold.

Have a good trip to Canada Helena!

We had family brunch at Laura's and Jooel's today and the smallest one took three steps!

"In every place, all the time some stories happen. Just next to us, though usually we don't pay much attention to that. Places are filled with hundreds of emotions, thoughts, feelings. With joy, moments of carelessness, hope, laughter, sorrow, disappointment, despair. People meet, people part, people pass each other. Our ways are crossing. Are you sure that person you just met, you indeed see for the first time in your life? Maybe you already met, passed each other? Maybe you once touched his coat, felt ger smell? You don't remember this, but places do remember. Buildings, sculptures, trees, trains have been watching people for hundreds of years. How many people sat on this bench? How many kissed for the first time and how many for the last? How many emotions, thoughts, ideas were born here?"

Tanja Turpeinen/Memento Express

(Picture by Timo Hakkarainen, taken from Memento Express' facebook wall)



I went to see a performance tonight directed by a good friend of mine. It took place in an old railway carriage, beautifully and whimsically decorated. There was a perfect amount of drama, nostalgia, surprise, laughter and even tea and biscuits served. I cried through the songs and loved the painted view passing by our window. It was unlike any show I've seen, it was en embracing experience, a journey you took (I actually waited for the train to start moving as they announced it would be leaving) and lived through, remembering places and people. Thanks a million Tanja! I'm so proud of you and I love what pours out from your soul!

If you want to experience something very unique and beautiful, please go see this! (more info here)

This morning it was snowing as I cycled to work! I felt all exuberant (a word I've never used before but now it feels like just the right one) and sang Jingle bells and then had a very good time at work all day though there was a mad amount of laundry from yesterday's shows.

Monday morning! I got up early to do laundry and made rice porridge while waiting for the first load. (Boy it tastes comforting.) I also made pumpkin coconut muffins with a recipe from Green Kitchen Stories (for which I bought my first ever pumpkin yesterday! An exciting and very yummy recipe; next time I think I'm leaving the ginger out though and using a little more pumpkin. The hint of orange gives the muffins a really nice taste!) I love my roomie's bedding!

I dream of

my own breakfast café
a house with fruit trees in the garden
Africa and flamingos
a man who brings me flowers
days filled with music

I don't know many things that beat rye bread warm from the oven. (If you'd like to bake your own, tell me and I'll give you the recipe and the sourdough needed! And thanks a million Caro for mine!) I've also had a craving for mashed potatoes for quite some days and today I finally made some with meatballs. Ah. It's interesting how food has such an ability to comfort, bring back memories and inspire. I have so fallen in love with tastes, cooking, the magic of baking, cookbooks..

The autumn has been exceptionally packed and busy with two premieres and two weddings (Henna&Markus' and my sister's) but now it's all done and I'm back to normal schedule. It actually feels weird and a little empty. I feel I need something happening, something new..

The best thing lately, had me smiling for days: I went to my favorite café and was served by the guy who owns the place; we hadn't met in a while. "Where have you been?" he asked.

My sister is getting married today. I'm at home, listening to Diana Krall's Live in Paris, eating banana bread fresh from the oven (I'm mad about this bread, I'll post the recipe sooner or later!) drinking coffee and curling my hair. I am so ready to celebrate!