Bread with cute figures

Last Sunday we visited the newly opened IKEA Tampere (website only in Finnish). Being thoroughly exhausted from the Christian youth event called Karkkugospel that had been organized the previous day and us being there from dawn til dusk, we didn't make any big purchases, but one thing (and actually the only thing) we bought (cost only 3.95 €) were these immensely cute cookie cutters that I have been wanting to try our ever since getting hold of them.

Today then, I made up an excuse to use them for something. Because I've developed a sudden urge to get more fit (although that sadly hasn't yet forced me to exercise a great deal) and thus to pay attention to what I eat and especially the health factor of food, I ruled out the possibility of actually making cookies with these cookie cutters. I thought about cutting cute animal figures out of watermelon slices (which I might just still do later on, I thought it as a fun idea) but as I forgot to jot "fruits" down to my husband's list of grocery shopping yesterday and hence being without them at home and getting more and more anxious to do SOMEthing with these wonderful shapes, I googled a recipe for the kind of bread that is thin and fills the whole of the baking sheet (if anyone knows the real name for this kind of bread, please educate me!) and decorate it with the outlines of different animals. (Wow, wasn't that a long sentence!) And here it is, straight from the oven!

And here it is, about 3 minutes later!

I wouldn't have believed that the recipe searched for so quickly and without much of an effort could produce such a delicious outcome! The crust was crisp and the bread tasted and felt like it had a lot of yummy roughage. The texture was perfect and even though the bread wasn't thick enough to be halved, it worked just fine as a thick one layer. And the figures are just so fun! I didn't much plan how I placed them on the sheet of dough and that's why the end result is so haphazard, but I learned from this experience too and next time I will place the figures in even lines and cut them into squares with a e.g. pizza cutter so that it's easy just to break up the bread into pieces. I made some slight alterations with the recipe itself. There wasn't a mention about what flour to use, so I used one third of wholewheat flour, second third was medium-coarse wheat flour and the last part was a ready-made flour mixture for making rolls. When flattening the dough on the baking sheet, instead of using more flour, I oiled my hands and flattened it like that. I though it gave the bread some extra crispness as well.

Bread made easy and fast

500ml / 2.1 cups water

4 dl / 13.5 oz oatmeal

1 bag (á 11 g) dry yeast

1 tsp salt

1 tbls sugar

50 ml oil

6 dl / ca 20 oz flour

Mix the oatmeal and dry yeast in the warm (42 C / 100 F) water. Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix smooth. Pour on a baking sheet and flatten the dough as an even layer. Let rise for 30 minutes. Cut into squares (and cut the figures as well, if you will). Bake in the middle level in 225 C / 440 F for 15 minutes.

Print this post

New measuring cup set!

Here it is, my new measuring cup set! Isn't it wonderfully green! They even have little spouts!

I like it from all angles! I'm thoroughly in love with this set! It includes four parts: 1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, ½ cup and 1 cup. I really like having this, because it makes it so much easier to make American recipes. As the European and Finnish way is to use the metric system, i.e. liters and their parts, like deciliters and milliliters etc, practically all my measuring cups are for measuring metric measurements. I have two bigger measuring cups, that hold 500 ml all in all that have cup measurements on them as well, but having only a couple of big ones is a bit difficult when I need to use cup measures more then once while making something. It means that with liquids I have to wash the measuring cups to be able to use them again, even though I might need it just to measure 1/4 cup. This new set means that I can let the dishwasher do the washing, like it should be in the first place.

Print this post

Oatmeal thins

The most exceptional thing (not!) happened one evening: I started to crave for something yummy. But as I was having a bit of a flu and felt tired AND was pretty low on some of my ingredients (no chocolate at home, yikes!), I didn't want to to anything very complicated, just a quick bite of something good. I scanned some of my trusted sites on the internet and came across a recipe for low-fat oatmeal thins. Indeed, filled the spot in me that needed to be filled and to top it all, they were easy, quick, addicting, low in fat and from ingredients I have at hand practically at all times. The recipe in Finnish is to be found here.

They had something to be noted, though, and these I will tell you first.

• The batter needs only a quick stir.
• You should start taking dabs of the batter on the baking sheet right after mixing everything together. The oatmeals should take as little of the liquid in as possible, not swell.
• The dabs should be fairly far from another, the thins will be (surprisingly!) thin and wide, if the batter has not swelled, and if they are too close together on the baking sheet, you'll end up with one big biscuit.
• You can spray or brush the baking paper lightly with some oil, so the thins won't stick. Do this preferably already before making the batter.
• Be careful, when baking. The thins burn easily.

Makes about 30 thins.

No-fat

3 dl / ca. 1.2 cups oatmeals

½ dl /  ca. 1.6 oz flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 dl / ca 0.5 cup sugar

1 egg

100 ml / 0.4 cups orange juice or milk

Mix together the dry ingredients, add the egg and juice/milk, mix smooth quickly. Right after take small dabs of the batter on to the baking sheet well apart from one another. Bake in 225 C / 440 F on the middle or next to top rack for 5-7 minutes.

Print this post

Sohwi

Last week I met a few friends from the university in order to have an early dinner. We chose Restaurant Sohwi to be the place. It is located just next to the part of campus where us humanists mostly spend our time. None of us had eaten there before and two not even been there. But as Sohwi has a reputation as students' place, we thought it proper to fill our student duty and dine there.

First of us preferred Smoked Whitefish Pasta over all others from the menu. She said she liked her meal, but would have wanted her fish in larger pieces instead of them dissolving in the sauce.

Another of us chose Chicken Sandwich with a Salad and fries on the side. It also received positive comments. Although it came as a surprise that the citrus syrup, as the sauce of the salad, was indeed syrup, that is sweet, which is something one does not think when one thinks about citrus.

I bravely ordered Giant Burger. The meal was tasty and very fulfilling. The fries wanted a bit more salt, but luckily there was a salt shaker on the table.

The service was somewhat sluggish and brief, which was a thing I would've wanted to change there. Otherwise, it was a pleasant meal and the food was tasty and simple in a good way. I'm not yet sure, if the place impressed me enough to be going there again. That remains to be seen.

Print this post

American Dinner

Today I hosted my first dinner party. On a small scale and not a very sophisticated one, though, but you gotta start somewhere, right? Nevertheless, I am feeling a sense of satisfaction, pride and delight that is hard to describe in words, which is very unusual to me. As the aftermath for the evening I am having a warm feeling and am tempted to smile, whenever thinking back how smoothly and perfectly everything went.

A friend couple was invited over for a dinner and a movie (thanks for the company and the visit by the way, we enjoyed having you here a lot!) and to unwind myself from the exam of yesterday (who decided that exam dates ought to be on Saturdays anyway?) I planned and executed an American themed dinner for four with the priceless help of my DH. He helped me through every step of the way, from planning the scheduling of the different dishes and then in prepping, chopping and the actual cooking and baking. How wonderful is he! How lucky am I!

To make it all just a little bit more special I printed out a menu card:

Even looking at the card makes me smile again. Sigh. A little dream come true. And little dreams are just as important as the big ones, right?

Like you can read, for main course we had Sloppy Joes and Coleslaw (recipe courtesy of Simply Recipes, the coleslaw one slightly modified), with Fresh Lemonade by Food Network that you can see a little bit in the glass and jug beneath. The hamburger buns are made with the previously posted recipe.

And for dessert I made Rocky Road Brownies (which I've been dying to make for a while now and I took the opportunity with pleasure and enthusiasm) and followed the recipe by Deborah in Taste and Tell. Messy, but oh so gooey and yummy! A perfect ending to my first dinner party, in my opinion.

Everything turned out very well, even though all of the recipes were ones I had never tried out before. But this definitely was not the first and last time I will make these dishes, as they tasted so good! After eating our tummies full, we continued the evening by watching the movie Up which was sweet and touching, I liked it very much. It isn't too often that an animated film makes you think about things and that's what I liked about it.

After a wonderful, wonderful evening with friends and food I am ready to start the new week with fresh energy.

A little dream come true can sure give one big boost to life.

Print this post

Blogloving'

Seuraa blogiani Bloglovinin avulla

Print this post

Jamie's Italian

I'm terribly late with this story considering that the visit I am telling about took place in last November. The blog all in all has suffered from my intense work load during the winter. But because I started it mainly for my own amusement and pleasure to begin with, I'm not going to feel guilty about not having time to post as often as I would like. I trust that once my life calms down a bit, it will show as a more active blog as well.


Anyway, last November my husband and I spent a week in Great Britain. Our time was spent mainly in London and during that time we pampered ourselves in the culinary field by dining in the Canary Wharf installment of Jamie's Italian restaurant chain. 

Picture from JamieOliver.com

It was a very pleasant visit. The restaurant was cozy but still afforded a certain Wow factor.

Service and food was excellent and the surroundings of the restaurant were pleasant as well, the modern district of Canary Wharf with its tall, glassy buildings was a refreshing and surprising change coming above ground after traveling on the Tube from the more traditional parts of London.

Picture from JamieOliver.com

           


 The menu was appealing as well and prices affordable for a couple like us, of which the other half is still a student. We both had Jamie's 'flash steak' as a main 

and divided ultimate chocolate raspberry and Amaretto brownie with bourbon vanilla ice cream

and Tuscan chocolate and hazelnut cake served with seasonal fruits for the dessert. 

Everything was very tasty and we left the place our tummies full and perfectly satisfied. We can warmly recommend the restaurant and will definitely go dine there again, if and hopefully when going back to London.

Print this post

New York Cheesecake

Here it is... my first cheesecake!

The recipe is from a Finnish blog called Suolaa&Pippuria (Salt & Pepper). It tasted absolutely heavenly! I didn't serve a berry sauce with it, like the blog writer suggested, because having to transport the still warm cake to a friends' flat, where it was eaten in a get-together, was challenging enough. But the cake was just divine even without it! Soft and full-flavored. There wasn't enough biscuit crust, as I used gluten-free biscuits that usually are sold in smaller packages than normal ones, but it didn't make much of a difference.


1 package digestive biscuits
2 tbs butter
2 tbs cinnamon
1 tbs water


600 grams of fresh cheese
400 ml créme fraiche
7 eggs
100 ml (0.4 cups) sugar
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1tbs vanilla sugar


Heat the oven into 150 C/300F. Crush the biscuits in a blender and add melted butter, water and cinnamon. Spread on the bottom and on the sides of a springform cake pan. Beat the cheese soft in a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer). Add créme fraiche and mix well. Add the eggs one by one and mix well in between. In the end add the lemon juice and zest, sugar and vanilla sugar. Pour on top of the crust and bake for 40-50 minutes or until firm. I let it bake for over an hour.

Print this post

Strawberry cake with gelatin

First of all, I so apologize for the unforgivable silence. What can I say? I just seemed to need a break. Anyway, I mean to be publishing some recipes in the near future, that have been waiting to be published a long time. And I will probably publish all of them in English. I'm not yet sure, will all my future postings be only in English, but these most probably will. If you have any comments or suggestions to make as to what kind of blog you hope this to be, or to the language it shall be written in, feel free to leave a comment!

This cake I made for a wonderful get-together with friends in August. The recipe is from a Finnish site Pirkka. On top of the cake I have raspberries, I had not looked at the recipe carefully enough before shopping for ingredients and took only a liter of fresh strawberries, which went into the filling. I had some fresh raspberries however and thus I decorated the top of the cake with them.

16-20 servings

Ingredients:

Cake:

2 eggs

100 ml / a bit over 4 cups sugar

3 tbs boiling water

3/4 dl / 2.5 oz flour

2 tbs potato flour

3 tbs cacao powder

½ tsp baking powder

Moisturizing:

50 ml juice, for example blackcurrant

Filling:

1000 ml fresh strawberries (or 500 g defrosted strawberries)

100 ml / ca. 0.4 cups sugar

300 ml double cream

250 g milk curd

3 tsp vanilla sugar

2-3 tbs lemon juice

On top:

ca. 50 ml strawberry jam

100 ml fresh strawberries

150 ml blackcurrant juice

100 ml / ca 0.4 cups gelatin/jelly sugar

1. Heat up the oven to 200 C / 390 F. Grease a pringform cake pan (about 24 cm / 9.5 inches in diameter) and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Measure the flour, cocoa powder, potato flour and baking powder and stir together. Boil the water. Beat the eggs and sugar into a thick light foam. Add the boiling water into the egg foam little by little, stirring the whole time. Sieve the flour mixture into the foam in a few patches. Mix on the lowest speed of the mixer. Pour the matter into the pan. Bake in the lower part of the oven for 11-13 minutes. The cake is done, when it comes off from the sides of the pan.

2. Let the cake cool for a moment and take it off the pan and let cool on a rack. Wash the pan and cut pieces from baking paper in order to line the pan. Cut the cooled cake into two same sized round pieces and lay the bottom part on the bottom of the pan. Moisturize the cake with the juice.

3. Slice the fresh strawberries for the filling. Sprinkle half the sugar on top of them. Let the leaf gelatins soak in cols water for at least 10 minutes. Whisk the cream, add vanilla sugar and put in the fridge to wait. Mix together the milk curd, strawberries and the rest of the sugar. Heat up the lemon juice in a small saucepan. Add the dry squeezed leaf gelatins into the juice and let dissolve. Let the mixture cool down a bit and add into the milk curd-strawberry mix and stir well. Add the whisked cream in and mix well. Pour the mixture into the pan. Place the other half of the cake on top and let set over night in cold.

4. Take the rim of the cake pan away as well as the baking paper piece lining it. Spread a thin layer of strawberry jam on top of the cake. Cover the top with sliced strawberries. Prepare the jelly according to the instructions in the package. Spoon it over the strawberries first little and then as a thicker layer. Let the cake set in a cool place for a little while. Serve.

Print this post

BBM: Package has arrived!

This year I participated in the Blogging By Mail event that Stephanie from Dispensing Happiness organizes. The idea is that you send a package to somewhere in the world to another blogger and then you get another package somewhere else. There's usually a theme too. I have seen entries from other rounds of BBM in other blogs before now, but have missed the sign-up time and have only seen participants blogging the content of the packages they've received. It has sounded so much fun and I have been sad to miss it so just imagine my joy when I noticed a post in Dispensing Happiness that another round is coming up! This time the theme was indulgences. 5 items that help you rewind. I packed up and sent my package just before our trip to England and a week after that, this Friday, I got my own.

Nupur from One Hot Stove had shipped her 5 indulgences to me and what a wonderful package it was! And how excited I was to get it!


Inside there was a pretty little Christmas cards that had an explanation for each item in the package. And self-made too, I loved the idea of having paper clips as the skate blades! 

Here's the whole of what came out!

A little glass jar of saffron and a recipe for an Indian dessert that includes saffron. This was a real treat for me as I've never ever before had saffron! I can't wait to try it out the recipe of Shrikhand, it sounded delicious! Plus the glass jar is so incredibly cute! I can figure out uses for that once the saffron is all used up.

Nupur said in her note that she enjoys taking warm showers with a scented good soap. I can totally relate to that! This soap has Christmassy fragrances. This will definitely give a whiff of luxury to my life!

Don't you just love this little woollen sweater with a heart shaped button in front! Nupur had knitted this for me, as one of her favorite indulgences is knitting! Even the thought of this is enough to cheer up on a windy gray day, of which we've had our share of here in Finland. This sweater is meant as a key ring and that function it shall have :)

Oh the chocolate! You could resist these! I really do love chocolate and to have two kinds that I've never tasted before... of the joy! I will open up one or both of these to unwind while...

... reading this wonderful Martha Stewart magazine that was the last item in the package. I've already taken a peek and can't wait to have to time to submerge myself in the different recipes and ideas for decorating and gift packaging!

Thank you Nupur for this delightful package, you don't know how cheerful it made me! And thanks for Stephanie for hosting this great event!

Print this post