TOP 5

1) losing track of time and having nowhere to hurry in the afternoon sun in good company
2) slow roast portobello mushroom for lunch in Sandro (Kolmas linja 17)
3) birdsong
4) wonderful workmates
5) the smell of lilacs and how it brings back memories of childhood summers

Yesterday it was my roomie's last night reading for entrance exams. It's exciting; pages of our lives are written full with beautiful handwriting and then, when it's time, they turn. These are precious times, we should be so thankful and embrace whatever we're in the middle of today. There's always something good (but the best is yet to come)!

My workmate dumbed five too ripe bananas in the bin and I just couldn't leave them there so I made a banana cake from two of them, sliced two and put them in the freezer for later experiments and made raw porridge from the remaining one. Bananas!

Saturday was Siivouspäivä (Cleaning Day) when anyone could set up a flea market stand anywhere. We had ours in Karhupuisto. It was packed with people and the atmosphere was so nice and laid-back. I found a bunch of lovely things.

Our chestnut tree is in bloom. (I don't know what it is about blooming trees but there's magic in it for me.) It's starting to feel like summer.

I am not really into raw food but I do like eating things that are healthy and good for me and taste scrumptious. My roommate introduced me to raw chocolate back in the day and it was love at first sight. This is a new recipe I found when I accidentally bought a huge pack of cocoa mass in place of cocoa butter. I'm happy I did. These are amazing. (The recipe calls for ingredients that are rather expensive and some of them are only found in special stores, but trust me, getting them is worth it. In Helsinki you find everything for example in Ruohonjuuri.)

HEAVENLY RAW CHOCOLATE

(makes about 40)

100g cocoa mass
100ml grated cocoa butter
100ml coconut oil
4-6tbsp organic honey
a good pinch of himalayan salt
200ml lucuma
1tbsp maca


Break cocoa mass into small pieces and melt in a bowl over hot water (bring the water to boil and then turn the heat off). Add grated cocoa butter and coconut oil and stir till they melt. Add honey and salt and whisk thoroughly. Whisk in lucuma and maca. Spoon the mixture into two ice cube trays and sprinkle coconut flakes on top. Place in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Store the chocolate in the fridge.

Restaurant Day, gourmet hot dogs (seriously the best hot dog ever with a superb salsa) with ginger beer at Amores Perros (I want a party with them catering!) and a waffle for dessert at Lintu Sininen in Linnunlaulu. Ah, I am so in love with the villas of Linnunlaulu.

Next Restaurant Day is in August. I think it's time I finally open my own restaurant then.

I love our garden. And that it's warm enough to eat outside! We sat there with Tanja yesterday talking about places we want to go to this summer. It's Friday afternoon and I'm spending it in the kitchen with Lisa Ekdahl, Susan Tedeschi, a carrot cake and Leila's New York cheesecake.

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
(C.S. Lewis)

INSPIRED BY:

Rachmaninov No.2 in C minor
this room:

Without Words by Bethel Music
these photos, especially the wild horses
The meals Jamie cooks in Marrakesh
coconut

the photography of Nelli Palomäki (photo above) and Jonathan Ong
handwritten letters
knowing that I'll soon be in Ahola beholding the meadows and listening to the wind play in the trees

The Green Kitchen Stories, recipe no.3

I had my little brother stay over and I wanted to make something from The Green Kitchen for breakfast (I'll soon be done with the breakfast section of the book, dang!) I knew these would be good; will make again!

And happy news: Good Life Coffee now sells coffee beans from the new roastery of The Barn (my favorite café in Berlin)! So good!

 

THIN OMELETTE ROLLS WITH APPLE & COTTAGE CHEESE

(makes 1)

1 egg
1tbsp milk
a good pinch of salt
coconut oil for frying

FILLING:
half an apple, cored and coarsely grated
3tbsp cottage cheese
1tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds
a pinch of cinnamon


Combine the filling in a bowl. Whisk the egg, milk and salt with a fork in a glass and pour in a 20cm pan. Fry the omelette for 1 minute on the first side and 30-45 seconds on the other. Place the omelette on a plate, spoon the mixture in the middle and roll up. Cut in half before serving.


Soundtrack for the recipe: Bottles and Birds by Johan Örjansson

Four years ago I had just met Helena and I took her to Taikalamppu (she thought for a long time it was Sateenkaari). Today she moves to Canada. Flip flip, pages turn.

I had my little sister over for lunch and I decided to try a raw brownie recipe I ran across the other day. I was a little in a hurry making them in the morning so they didn't end up as pretty as I wanted to. They tasted amazing though. In the evening I rolled the remains into pretty truffels! (Next time I'll propably substitute almonds with cashews. Cashews are just so good.)

ALMOND DATE TRUFFELS

(makes about 30)
(adapted from My New Roots)

250ml raw walnuts
300ml good quality, soft organic dates, pitted
125ml raw cacao powder
125ml raw almonds
1/4tsp sea salt


Put walnuts in a food processor and blend on high until they are finely ground. Add the cacao and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the dates one at a time through the feed tube of the food processor while it is running. (What you should end up with is a mix that appears rather like cake crumbs, but that when pressed, will easily stick together, My New Roots says. And that if the mixture does not hold together well, add more dates. Well, I added dates till it went from crumbly to a big soft ball but I didn't mind.) Remove the batter to a bowl and mix roughly chopped almonds by hand. Press into a lined cake pan or mold. Place in freezer or fridge until ready to serve.

PS. I recently got myself a food processor inspired by Jamie's 30 minute meals (gosh, I haven't been watching them in ages!). This was the first thing I made with it. A very happy start! Spreads and nut butters, see you in a bit!

TOP 5

1) family
2) buds in the chestnut tree in our backyard
3) peace that surpasses circumstances and uncertainty
4) Bound for glory by Tedeschi Trucks Band
5) wild dreams about the future

The Green Kitchen Project, recipe no.2

This was definitely not one of the most enticing recipes in the book. But as I was buying groceries the other day radishes just looked so pretty and tempting that I had to buy them. And as I remembered seeing this recipe calling for radishes, there it was. A pleasant surprise, really. I liked the crunchiness with the soft eggs. The Green Kitchen recommends making their Danish Rye Bread with this but I had some beetroot bread from Goodpie Bakery left in the freezer. On its own the salad is a little lame but on dark bread it's perfect. I am definitely trying their rye bread another time.

 

CRUNCHY CURRIED EGG SALAD

6 eggs
a small handful of pumpkin seeds
1 apple
10 radishes
5 sticks of asparagus spears
(chives)

For the dressing:
120ml organic turkish yoghurt
(2tbsp mayonnaise, optional)
1tsp ground curry
(a pinch of cayenne)
sea salt


Place the eggs in boiling water and let boil for 10 minutes. Let cool in cold water. Toast the pumpkin seeds in a frying pan. Cut the asparagus spears into small sticks and the radishes into thin slices. Halve and core the apple (leave the skin on) and cut it into small pieces. Put everything in a bowl, make the dressing (I didn't use mayonnaise) and mix altogether. Cut the eggs into 8 pieces each and gently mix them in. I forgot to buy chives so I just sprinkled asparagus bits on top.