Wedding Crafts

Thursday, A and I departed for Prague to participate in the wedding of two of our dear friends. The groom is originally from Prague, but has lived in Helsinki for the majority of his lifetime, and the bride to be is Swiss. The two met on a volunteer project in S. Africa. It's a great story.

Anyway, as the wedding is a destination wedding for most of the party, coming from Finland or Switzerland or elsewhere in Europe, the bride and groom have asked a few small favors and money instead of gifts, which otherwise would have to be shipped or flown back to Helsinki. This can be an expensive hassle.

Instead, we will decorate mini-bottles of alcohol, bring pass-port photos of ourselves for a guest book, and prepare to have a hat to wear whilst on a boat ride from the vineyards and the ceremony, to the park near the historic zoo in Prague. Fun and funny, our friends like to keep it light.

I made a trip to our local Tiimari, the Joanne Fabrics of Finland, to pick up some odds and ends to decorate the mini-bottles. (Mine in picture is the one with the angel wings, and A's next to it has the tux on) On the way, I stopped into a Salvation Army to see if there was anything I could scrounge up for a hat. I was hoping to find some cheap fedora for A, but this seems out of the question so last minute and on a budget. Instead, I got the idea to make either a pillbox or a bird-cage hat with a small veil for myself. Since I have matching accessories and ribbon to match A's blue dress shirt, I was looking for something baby blue.

What I bought:

Now what?

I looked throughout the internet for pictures of pillbox and birdcage hats and found some great bloggers out there into vintage fashion, from the Vintage Style Files. This site shows vintage fashion divas all about DIY, from retrofitting earrings to Christmas decorations. I wanted to remember this site, it's a real gem.

The end result:And how it looked on me at the Wedding:

No one could tell I used a bra for this hat!

All in all, we had a great time, as always, in Prague. Congratulations T and G!

Asalha Puja Day

On the full moon of the eighth lunar month, Mahayana buddhists celebrate Asalha Puja, a day to commemorate Buddha's first sermon to his newly created sangha in Deer Park, India. The sermon addressed the Four Noble Truths that explain the source of all suffering. In more literal translation, these truths are realities. And as Buddhists typically center their teachings about impermanence and what is real, this teaching is particularly fundamental to the understanding of Buddhism for those interested in learning more about this religion.

The significance of this day is that is officiates the introduction of Buddhism as a religion. When five Brahmins, or those seeking enlightenment, coincidentally met Buddha, they were keen to know what many of us would like an answer to: what are the causes of suffering and how do we end it?

1st: Change is a nomal condition of existence, and therefore inherent in any being. This includes aging, weakness, illness, and separation from loved ones.

2nd: Suffering is cause and effect! If you eliminate the causes, you will not suffer.

3rd and 4th: the solution: Find happiness by taking the middle way in life. This entails effort, for right speech, action mindfulness and concentration.

Therefore, I would like to take the time to reflect with you the day when Buddhism set the wheel of Dharma in motion!

How do we take the middle path as human beings in a modern world? First we must realize that everything we have come to know in our lives is impermanent. Jobs, lovers, family: they all come and go. We are often not in control of these phenomena. Since many Americans recently celebrated Independence day, the idea of liberation is not far off. We can celebrate our land of opportunity, but we must also be free from attachment. I suppose in this way, I must enjoy those phenomena in my life that I have been blessed with, but know that they will not last.

Since I am not as poetic as the Buddha himself, I quote here some of those teachings in connection with the Middle Way that we strive to achieve in our every day actions and thoughts.

"If we can see the truth of the causes of worldly sufferings,we will not be attached to the view of nothingness. If we can see the truth of cessation in the world, we will not be attached to worldly existence. By avoiding the two extremes, the Tathagatha teaches us the Middle Path, which is, what this is, that is; this arising, that arises…"
(Chapter 12, Samyuktagama)

"One who thinks of impermanence will understand the truth of ego-lessness.
The Enlightened One lives in the state of ego-lessness,renounces self-conceit and hence progresses towards liberation and Nirvana."
(Samyuktagama, Chapter 10)

Go with that today. Namaste.

Amidst Summer Distractions

Well the summer weather certainly has been a distraction from my otherwise fastidious studying and recipe hunting. But who can complain about a Finnish summer in which sunshine has out performed the rain? According to my Finnish friends, this has been one of the most pleasant summers in years. Lucky me. :)
As we go to Prague in a few days for our friends' wedding, I am trying to make all of our meals from things already in our fridge. Using it up won't be easy, and some things might have to be prepared and frozen so as not to waste. With extra quark, yogurt, cheese and eggs, and a few odds and ends of vegetables and fruits, there's certainly enough to go through.

Alas, while I ought to be in the library, I have been soaking in the rays at Pikku Koski (little falls beach), or taking 8k jogs around the beautiful Töölö lahti (and consuming more than a few gnats in the process). Despite also that Antti and I have been trying to take on a summer friendly (or bathingsuit friendly) diet, I can't resist indulging on more than a few occassions.

Unfortunately, I have a tendency to eat whatever I have made fresh out of the oven, without pausing for a photo opp. This is something I need to practice the habbit of. On occassional triumphs, I have posted pictures to AllRecipes.com for the benefit of other recipe seekers out there. But now I have an additional reason to take the pictures: my own blog!

Yesterday, I made a wonderful take on the summer treat strawberry roll up cake. For this recipe, I took a basic sponge cake recipe and substituted quark for cream cheese and lingonberries and black currants in place of strawberries. Quark is more available and less expensive than cream cheese, and despite that it's strawberry season, I had a lot of extra berries leftover. I always keep these black currants and lingonberries frozen for sprinkling into my meusli in the mornings when berries are not in season, and now was time to use them up!

Finnish berry roll up cake

Sponge cake
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk (I used coconut milk for creaminess and a little flavor)
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbs vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1 tsp white vinegar
2 tbs water

Fillling:
1 cup plain quark
1 cup mixed berries (I used lingonberry and black currant)
sugar to taste

1 package berry flavored gelatin
1 c boiling water

Starting with the pancake, separate the eggs, and mix the yolks with the coconut milk. Mix dry ingredients together. Mix egg yolk mixture with dry ingredients until smooth, minimizing lumps. Whip egg whites with vinegar and water, adding a pinch of sugar if needed. Whip until eggs hold a peak for a few moments. Fold whites into mixture, slowly to hold the volume.

Pour pancake batter into a jelly roll pan, 9X12 inches. Since I don't have one, I used a 15x15'' pan, and tried to pour the batter onto only one side. As the diagram below explains, this is not ideal. This pancake needs 12-15 minutes in an oven at 200C. The pancake should be slightly golden and spongy.

Then, mix the gelatin with boiling water until dissolved. Pour mixture, still warm, over the pancake and allow to absorb. Once cool enough, spread the quark and berry mixture evenly over the pancake, and roll slowly lengthwise. Cool until the gelatin is set.

Serve chilled with extra berries for garnish.

Weekends are for breakfast!

Since I try to be up early on the weekdays, and my roomie isn't, the weekend are my best chance to make a nice breakfast for two. With only two of us, many of the recipes aren't suitable for two people. So this one I adapted from several other strata recipes I found online. This is another great way to use up stale bread.

Individual Veggie Stratas

4 eggs
2 stale bread rolls
1 cup milk
2 slices cheddar cheese
1 onion
butter for frying
1/2 bell pepper (any color)
1/2 cup sliced zucchini
1 tsp prepared mustard
salt and pepper

Whisk eggs, milk, mustard, salt and pepper together. Sautee onion until yellow and soft, add pepper and zucchini and cook through. Dice bread rolls and mix with vegetable mixture. Divide into two soufle cups and pour egg mixture evenly over both. Top each with a slice of cheddar cheese. Bake at 200C for 30 minutes covered with foil, then take foil off and bake another 15 minutes, or long enough to melt the cheddar.


Ich liebe deutsche Küche: Quark Spaetzle

I admit, I'm a bit of a Germanophile. I love the language, the food, the Weinachtmakt, the Berlin bears.... I remember once our German friends making Spaetzle for dinner at their place in Helsinki one night. It was the first time I saw such a process- strange drops of eggy doughy goodness and lots and lots of cheese....mmmm.....

3/4 cup plain quark
2 eggs
1 cup flour
salt
nutmeg
2 tbs butter
2 cloves garlic
1 onion
pepper

Start by boiling a large pot of water with 1 tsp salt. While the water is boiling, mix quark, eggs, flour and salt together and mix until no lumps remain. Using a spaetzle maker (or in my case, a collander with round holes) scrape dough mixture, one spoonful at a time, through the collander. Let the dough simmer until they rise to the top, scoop out with a strainer or spoon and rinse with cold water to prevent from further cooking. Continue until all batter is used.

Add butter to a skillet and heat. Cook onions until yellow, add garlic and cook. Add spaetzle to the onion mixture and continue to heat. Take skillet off heat and add cheese last, in order to avoid browning. Serve with cabbage, sauer kraut, brat, weinerschnitzle or any other food you might enjoy!