Happy birthday mom! (And I just realized I've been taught to love breakfast in bed. Thank you!)

My heart is happy.

Today was spectacular: I found a new favorite plate on a fleamarket (the blue one on the left), got a letter from one of my dearest friends and My New Roots cookbook in the mail, tried a new raw brownie recipe that completely blew our minds (I absolutely will share it here later - now there are no brownies left to shoot..) and ended the day with an impromptu spinach pancake supper in good company.

(I'm in love with the My New Roots cookbook; I knew I would be!)

SPINACH PANCAKES FROM FRESH SPINACH

(makes 10-12 thin, large pancakes, serves 2-3)

200g fresh spinach
300ml oat milk (or milk of your choice)
2 eggs
2tbsp oil
1-1,5tsp salt
200ml light spelt flour
butter for frying


Rinse the spinach well. Mix spinach and milk in a bowl with a hand blender. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix by hand. Fry thin pancakes on a hot pan with plenty of butter. (And really, these are the best if you eat them crispy straight from the pan - that's what I do when I eat them alone!) and serve e.g. with gooseberry jam or a savory filling like this one (I'm a jam girl, I never tried a savory filling for these yet..) Fry only as many as you assume you're gonna eat and keep the leftover dough in the fridge for the next day or two to get fresh pancakes then as well! (And here's a recipe if you want to use frozen spinach instead of fresh.)

The things that make life beautiful (and you happy) can be so very small. (Recipe for one of my favorite breakfasts here!)

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.