Blankets!

We were pretty excited to receive a parcel from Nordic Interior Design the other day and have been snuggling to these beautiful blankets ever since! Although the sun is beginning to shine its warmth on us down here in New Zealand, the nights have still been cool enough to enjoy these 100% wool blankets that are handmade in Finland. Pretty clever stuff, at least we think so!

Cookies

There's nothing quite like a freshly baked cookie with a glass of milk! I got this recipe a long time ago from a friend and it has been one of my favourite cookie recipes since. Enjoy!

200g soft butter
100ml sugar
200ml brown sugar
2 eggs
450ml flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla essence
170g crushed chocolate & nuts

Whisk the soft butter and sugar together. Add eggs. Add all remaining ingredients and mix well.

Place spoonfuls of the cookie dough on to a lined baking tray a few centimetres apart.

Bake at 170°C for approximately 15 min.

Waiting for bebé

We are all set for the arrival of our bebé. Got a comfy wee hammock for her to sleep in, clothes sorted in the drawers and dad's first toy Naughty Bunny watching over it all. It's a waiting game now. So exciting!

Cabbage Casserole

Every now and again I get a craving for some traditional Finnish food and Kaalilaatikko aka Cabbage casserole is one of my favourites. It's simple, cheap and oh so tasty - perfect dinner for a cold winter's evening.

Recipe:

1 kg cabbage
1/2 cup cooked short grain rice
1 onion
1/2 l water
2 tsp salt
2 tsp marjoram
black pepper
3 tbs molasses
2 cups soy protein (soaked) / 400g mince
2 tbs butter

Cook the rice and set aside. Remove the inner stalk from the cabbage and chop small. Chop the onion. Heat water in a large pot, add salt and cabbage and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a pan and add onion. Add either soaked soy protein or mince. Cook until well done, add marjoram and black pepper to taste.

Mix the soy or mince and rice with the cabbage and add molasses mixing well. Grease a casserole dish and pour the mixture in. Place 1 tbsp of butter on top and cook in 200ºC for an hour.

Serve with lingonberry jam and enjoy!

Since the cold weather set in, we've been desperately looking for a nice coat rack for our entrance. That's a task harder than I could've imagined. With no luck of finding one we liked, my handy man decided to make one himself - and he did a pretty good job if I say so myself! While at it, we also gave some old drawers a face lift with new handles and a bit of a sand. How nice to have a place to lay your hat, or coat as it usually is.

Banana Loaf

One of my favourite recipe blogs is the wonderful collection of vegetarian yummies, Veggie Num Num. I had to try this Banana Loaf recipe out curiosity when I saw it as I've never before baked anything vegan. Using Chia seeds instead of eggs was a first for me, but it was easy and the end result oh so delicious and healthy.

Here's what you need:

2 tsp chia seeds
½ cup water
1 cup plain flour
¼ cup spelt flour (I used wholemeal spelt flour)
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
¼ cup linseeds
¼ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup raw sugar
2-3 mashed over-ripe bananas
¼ cup sunflower or rice oil
1 tsp pure vanilla essence
¼ cup dried figs, roughly diced
¼ cup dried apricots, roughly diced
1 tsp pumpkin seeds

Combine the Chia seeds with water and leave to form a jelly-like consistency, approx. 10 minutes.

Meanwhile sift the flours and baking powder into a bowl and add spices, seeds and sugar.

Chop apricots and figs into small chunks.

Mash the bananas and mix with vanilla, oil + chia seeds once ready.

Stir banana mixture together with the dry stuff until just combined and fold the dry fruit through.

Bake in a greased loaf pan for approx. 40 minutes at 180°C
 

May

Tulips and May. The usual indicators of spring time to a person from the Northern Hemisphere. It's a bit of an illusion unfortunately, as it has definitely gotten cold down here in the South. But with a touch of sunshine and bright colours one can fool herself, if even for a moment.

Greetings from Sydney

We had a bit of a city escape to Sydney where we were lucky enough to visit the amazing new showroom of Koskela. All of their beautiful furniture is crafted in Australia from recycled timbers and designed by Sasha Titchkosky and Russel Koskela, the later of whom I'm guessing must be of Finnish descent - at least according to his name. After marveling at all that the showroom housed in an old factory has to offer, it's hard to walk out without sitting down to enjoy the mouthwatering goodies at Kitchen by Mike in the same building.

Photos by Koskela

Morning light

We've had our fare share of grey mornings since the autumn finally decided to arrive, so the other day when I woke up to a beautiful stream of sunlight I had to capture it. I love the colour of the early morning sun and all the shadows it creates in our home. It's amazing what a difference it makes to wake up to such light. I hope we get many of these mornings to keep us going over the winter.

Rye Sourdough

One thing I really miss from my home country is the bread. There's such a sense of home in the taste and smell of bread. It's nearly impossible to find good rye bread here in New Zealand, so the best remedy for this of course, is to make my own.

I have always thought that making a root for sourdough is something really difficult, and that has kept me from trying it out. I found out, however, that it was actually rather easy. Perhaps this is a cheaters way, but it worked and the result was tasty.

Rye Sourdough

2 1/2 slices of rye bread
1/2 l of water
1/2 l of rye flour

Cut the crust from the bread slices and crumble into a dish. Add the luke warm water and mix. Add the rye flour and mix well. Cover the dish with cling wrap and leave in room temperature for at least 24h until there's bubbles forming and the root smells sour.

12 g of fresh yeast
50 ml water
1 tbsp salt
750 ml rye flour

Soak the yeast in luke warm water and add to the root. Add salt and flour. Knead the dough well and leave to rise under a tea towel until doubled in size. Tip the dough onto a surface covered with four and roll into two loaves. Sprinkle with flour and tap with a fork to make nice patterns.
Bake at 200°C approximately 1 hour. The breads are ready when they sound hollow as you knock on the bottom.

Separate a piece of the dough and freeze it in a freezer bag, this can be used as the root next time.

   
This recipe is adapted from the book Mummola by Finnish chef Hans Välimäki.