Tea Time

I am a big coffee drinker but when the weather gets colder I start to infuse teapots of tea. And I do it several times a day. I became interested in quality teas when I was a teenager but at that time there were not that many places where to buy good tea. I mostly shopped at Stockmann department store in Helsinki. Now a days we are more lucky as there are many good tea shop e.g. Théhuone.

My favorite tea is oolong. Oolongs are something between black and green teas and it contains a lot of antioxidants. I prefer tea leaves but sometimes I am in a mood for easier tea bags. As a big Morocco lover I love mint and peppermint teas. I have also grown my own peppermint at the cottage and dried it to drink during the cold winter.

As an aesthete I like to collect beautiful tea caddies and packages. I have bought them from my travels but also from my home town Helsinki. Some I have gotten as a present or souvenirs from my friends.

Read more of teas from my old blog Koemaistaja.

Pukka and Higher Living teas in the pictures were given to me as a gift from Sugar Helsinki.

Eastern Finncattle Dinner and Some Delicious Ice Cream

Pete & I invited Marina & Ilkka over for a dinner two weeks ago.

For a starter I cooked the classic French pea soup crème ninon. I found the recipe from Hans Välimäki's cook book called Ruokaa Ranskasta (translation: Food from France). I had some game broth left and it really gave a perfect flavor for the soup, and the added sparkling wine made it nicely foamy. Crème ninon is defenately one of my favorite soups.

For the main course Pete cooked entrecôte of Eastern Finncattle ("kyyttö" in Finnish). The Eastern Finncattle we had was raised in Pappilanpuisto farm at Loppi in Finland. Finncattle is a Finland originated cattle breed. You can't buy the meat often as the breed is endangered with only about 600 heads. But the few times I have eaten Finncattle it has been the most delicious bovine. Eastern Finncattle is the oldest farm animal breeds in Finland.

With the entrecôte Pete made a hollandaise sauce and some roasted root vegetables. It was almost a nerve breaking moment when Pete was whisking the hollandaise. It is so easy to fail but somehow he managed to succeed. The whole dish was perfect and it was accompanied with Chapoutier's Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2006 redwine.

Instagramming of course!

Redwine from the year Pete & I met. Madeira wine from my birth year. I love to drink wines with stories!

During this autumn seeing all the apples in the trees I have been dreaming of a tarte tatin. Now I finally baked it. Tarte tatin is one of my favorites. We accompanied the tart with Madeira wine (Malvasia 1980 ABSL) and Mövenpick ice cream. I had two different flavors of Limited Edition Oceania to try. At first we tasted Meringue & Berries Pavlova and after that the Vanilla & Macadamia. The last one was a perfect match for the tart. But the Meringue is my favorite if you feel like having just the ice cream without a tart. You can find these Limited Edition Oceania ice creams during this autumn.

In cooperation with Drum & Mövenpick.

Mushrooms and Kale with Buckwheat

Once again this is one of my quick meals after the workout at Helsinki Core Trainers. I had some funnel chantarelles I collected from the forest this weekend at the cottage. So this is what I cooked today.

Just a quick iPhone photo.

Mushrooms and Kale with Buckwheat (serves 2)

• 3-5 dl forest mushroosm (I used funnel chanterelles)
• 1 small bell pepper
• 1/2 fresh red chili
• 1 clove of garlic
• few slices of fresh ginger
• 2 big leaves of kale
• 2 tbsp mushroom sauce or soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1,5 dl buckwheat
• 1 tsp seasalt
• butter or olive oil for frying
• grated pecorino or parmesan

Clean your mushrooms and tear them smaller. Cook the buckwheat in boiling water with seasalt (it will take 10 minutes). Meanwhile slice the bell pepper. Chop the chili, garlic and ginger. Remove the stems of the kale leaves and slice into thin strips. Heat the pan hot and fry the mushrooms until the liquid has evaporated. Add some butter and / or olive oil. When it has melted add the rest of the vegetables. Stir in the mushroom sauce and the vinegar. After frying for about 5 minutes add the cooked buckwheat and stir. Taste if the seasoning is good and add some sea salt if needed. Garnish with pecorino or parmesan cheese.

Funnel Chantarelle aka suppilovahvero.

You get the protein from the mushrooms. Funnel Chantarelles even have vitamin D2. Read more about the nutritional values from here.

Bon appétit!

I still have some funnel chanterelles and black chanterelles left. I am planning to cook some mushroom risotto tomorrow after the workout.

Stay tuned, I will write more about my training at Helsinki Core Trainers soon!

Welcome to My Kitchen

I was just reading the latest issue of Deko Magazine this morning. There was an article about kitchens. I remembered that my friend Eveliina Mustonen, with who I studied photography together, took these beautiful photos of my kitchen two years ago.

Photo © Eveliina Mustonen

Photo © Eveliina Mustonen

Photo © Eveliina Mustonen

At the moment my kitchen doesn't really look this neat and beautiful. The photos were taken one and a half years after we had moved into this apartment. After cooking and eating in this kitchen for three and a half years the kitchen is filled with a lot of stuff. I really don't get it, why does the cupboard space always run out? I feel that I haven't been buying anything for a long time but still my kitchen is too full of stuff. So today I decided that I will clean this kitchen out of the things I don't really need. I will do it soon, I promise.

Photo © Eveliina Mustonen

Photo © Eveliina Mustonen

Photo © Eveliina Mustonen

Photo © Eveliina Mustonen

Photographic print "Rhubarb Kissel" on the wall by Marina Ekroos / Visual Recipes. Photo © Eveliina Mustonen

I just realized I have already started the cleaning. I just sold all our old blue Teema dishes. When I am done with the rest of the cleaning I will post some new photos. I even might sell some more dishes.

Do you have any good tips how to get more storage for a small kitchen?

Hounds and Hunting in Lapland

I think Pete has already been hunting for 10 years or so. And at the moment he is in Lapland hunting with our vizsla Mimi. Mimi is accompanied with Arran the vizsla.

Tomorrow Mimi will turn 10 months old and this is her first hunting trip. Arran is 6 months older so he has a little bit more experience.

Photo © Pete Salonen

Photo © Timo Haanpää

I am still awaiting for news if they will catch any birds.

Mostly I have just been enjoying my time here at home without the crazy and energetic puppy. But I am sure our 10 years old galgo Nuba misses her even she thinks the puppy is a pain in the ass. Next Tuesday we will get the hunters back home.

Metro Helsinki Hunt Club

Today's Outfit from the Concrete Prairie

Today I was wearing Samuji dress, COS jacket, Kenzo bag and Vagabond shoes. All bought second hand but the shoes and the pantyhose. My colleague at work said that the dress is Little House on the Prairie style. I guess it kinda is. Though I always thought that Laura Ingalls was somewhat boring, this dress definitely is not!

iPhone Photo © Minna Kurjenluoma

Tomorrow I am going to try Nike sneakers my friend is selling. Let's hope they'll fit me!

Wanna read more about my love for second hand clothing? Click here!