The family, thirteen of us, was at my place for Easter breakfast this morning. (I think I'll soon have a rye bread recipe to post!) I am so thankful for this bunch I've been given!

CHILI SIN CARNE

(serves 4-6)

2-3 onions
3-4 cloves of garlic
olive oil
1 large sweet potato
3 tins (400g) of tomatoes
100ml uncooked green lentils
1tbsp balsamico
1-1,5tsp salt
a few pinches of black pepper
2-3tsp ground cumin (juustokumina)
a good pinch of ground chili powder
400g precooked kidneybeans
half a lemon

greek/turkish yoghurt
flat leaf parsley/coriander
salted tortilla chips


Chop the onions and garlic cloves and fry them in a large pan/casserole on low or medium heat slowly, for about 10-15mins (I never really timed this) stirring them frequently so they won't burn, till they're really soft and somewhat caramelized. In this way the onions become really, really tasty (one of my latest discoveries! Slowly fried sweet onions make a wonderful base for omelets too, and...)! Chop the sweet potato into small cubes and add to the pan when the onions are done and fry for a few minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes (if you're using whole, squeeze them with your hands over the pan), lentils, balsamico and some of the cumin, chili, salt and pepper. Season this dish to your taste; keep tasting throughout the cooking and add more spices if desired. All I'm saying is that a lot of cumin needs to go in, a lot. (And enough salt!) Rinse the kidneybeans and add them when the sweet potatoes are done (I haven't timed this either but it takes quite some time, maybe somewhere around 30 minutes.. And if they don't seem to soften enough, and the stew is thick already, add some boiling water). Last, just before serving, squeeze the juice of half a lemon in and taste once more if it needs any more spices.

Serve with a dollop of yoghurt and crunched tortilla chips and lots of flat leaf parsley sprinkled on top. This chili goes really nice with new potatoes too, or rice, if you wish.

Don't eat alone, enjoy in good company!

The chili keeps in the fridge for about 5 days and freezes well too. (I also made corn flat bread to go with this on the basis of my potato flat bread, using only corn flour.)

Sirpa and I have known each other for 27 years, since first grade. We don't meet all that often (we live in different cities) but when we do, it's the best. We both wore light blue jeans today - and had both just started wearing them a few days ago since it's spring again (we don't wear light blue jeans in the winter). We both had wondered how the ducks keep warm in the winter and have started to love going to bed early. We find ourselves talking a little silly with each other like we wouldn't with anyone else. I have the best laughs with her, absolutely. She knows my family and I know hers. I love our friendship that is so honest and fun and enduring and genuine, and how the years just make it better.

Love people, really get to know the ones in your life, cherish your memories together, care for their needs, feed them, take care of their hearts, laugh and cry with them. There's nothing better.

During 13 days in Berlin I took these two photos and had four cups of coffee (my coffee cravings still really haven't come back after the longest flu in January). But we did try one new café, CK (I cannot go to Berlin and not try a new café). And I met Simone whom I've only known through instagram so far - such a lovely new acquaintance. (And, as usual, was spoiled with good food at my uncle's!) Happy days!

I'll be in this kitchen tomorrow, at my uncle's, in Berlin. Don't mind if I do! See in you in two weeks home!

This year I want to be more thankful. I want to be present where I am, also when it's tough. I want to learn more about grace (versus performance) and maybe a new skill, too. I want and need to exercise more - and I hope to actually start loving it. And I want to, more and more, be in touch with the things that make my heart beat faster.

To have my heart fully alive.


(Picture by Helena)

Potato flat bread love

I may have fallen a little in love with potato flat bread.

PERUNARIESKA (POTATO FLAT BREAD)

(makes about 10 little flat breads)

about 700g unpeeled, unboiled potatoes / 500g boiled, peeled potatoes
200ml water or milk
1,5tsp salt
a dollop of oil
2 eggs
200ml flour (barley, oat, wheat etc)


Peel and boil the potatoes, let cool and mash them with a hand blender in a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with a spatula. Spoon dollops of dough on a tray lined with baking paper, sprinkle each generously with flour (the dough will be very wet) and pat them into breads 1cm or a little less thick (about 10cm in diameter). Bake the flat breads in 250 celsius for 12-15 minutes until nice and browned (start peeking in the oven after 10 minutes or so because baking times vary depending on your oven). Eat warm with butter melting on top, or course.

Take it easy when you need to. (And to cure a flu: Rest, sleep, take it easy, drink lots of liquids, take naps, eat garlic, try this ginger turmeric honey from Green Kitchen Stories, read piles of books, cancel and forget all your plans, take it slow and rest some more.)

TOP 5

1) fresh hope
2) home-delivered lunch
3) my home (I've spent crazy much time at home lately but nevertheless I just love this place)
4) meeting Nora yesterday just before she flies back to Tansania
5) these banana peanut pancakes from Eeva Kolu I made the other morning to celebrate the new year a little

Christmas time in the north was cozy and white. It was 13 of us at at our parents place this year, four out of five of us siblings. I am so thankful for my family, such a great bunch! (I wish I had gone skiing but instead I took it really, really easy under blankets with a cold all Christmas. Luckily these sceneries were just 50 meters from the door where I could slowly venture.)

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!

 

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.

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

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)

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.

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.

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

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!)

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.